September 15, 2005, Vol.4, No.18.

Baptism

Part 2

Keith Sharp

Points of Disagreement

As Mr. Lane further explains the significance of baptism, a crucial difference arises. We disagree on the purpose of baptism. Mr. Lane writes, “It is therefore not baptism that makes people Christians but the preaching of the gospel and the response of faith” (50). I shall seek to prove that it is at the point of baptism that penitent believers become Christians and that baptism, rather than being in contrast to “the response of faith,” is a response of faith.

Thus, Mr. Lane denies baptism is a condition of salvation (Ibid). He affirms, “... baptism symbolises salvation...” (11). He further writes:

If we ask about the grace of which baptism is the means.... It is not the grace of salvation, for that is assumed to be present in those who come to baptism. (119)

I shall seek to prove that baptism is a condition of salvation.

The other area of disagreement is the substance of baptism. In effect, Mr. Lane teaches we should receive two baptisms, baptism in water and baptism with the Holy Spirit. He recognizes these are not one and the same baptism and that one can be received without the other. He writes, “... it is still true to be baptised by a Christian minister in water is far less important than to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.”

Holy Spirit Baptism or Water Baptism

When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus from prison in Rome between 60 and 64 AD, he affirmed there is “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). If Holy Spirit baptism is still administered by Christ from heaven, we must not administer water baptism. If we are to administer water baptism, then Holy Spirit baptism, as the baptism of John the Baptist, has served its purpose and ceased.

Remember, the one baptism now in effect is in the name of the Lord. Baptism in the name of the Lord is a command we must obey (Acts 10:48). But Holy Sprit baptism was a promise to be received (Acts 1:4-5). Surely we understand the difference between a promise and a command. If I commanded one of my sons to mow the lawn, it was his duty to obey. If I promised him he could take the car, it was his privilege to receive. A promise and a command are not the same. Holy Spirit baptism could not be the one baptism in the name of the Lord.

Further, Holy Spirit baptism was administered directly by the Lord Himself (Matthew 3:11), whereas the one baptism is administered by men in the name of the Lord (Matthew 28:19). Holy Spirit baptism is not the one New Testament baptism.

Baptism in the name of the Lord, the one baptism, is water baptism. After the household of Cornelius had also received the Holy Spirit as a witness to the Jewish disciples that uncircumcised Gentiles were to be accepted in Christ on an equality with Jews (Acts 10:44-45; 11:15-18; 15:7-9), Peter inquired, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:47) The baptism Peter referred to was water baptism. “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48). Baptism “in the name of the Lord” is water baptism. And Mr. Lane and I agree that there is only one baptism in effect today with divine approval, and it is “in the name of the Lord.”

In response to the preaching of Christ, the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36) Before Philip baptized him, “both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water.” (Acts 8:38) After the baptism, “they came up out of the water.” (Acts 8:39) Now what substance was the eunuch baptized in?

The only people who were ever promised baptism in the Holy Spirit were the apostles of Christ. (Acts 1:1-5) To be an apostle, one had to be an eye witness of the resurrected Lord. (Acts 1:21-26) Paul was the last witness of all. (1 Corinthians 15:8) Why should we think people today are to receive Holy Spirit baptism?

There are only two examples of reception of the Holy Spirit in which baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned: the apostles on Pentecost (Acts 2) and the household of Cornelius. (Acts 11:15-17) In both cases those who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues. (Acts 2:1-11; 10:45-47) Has not the gift of tongues ceased? (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)

The author of the book argues:

So Peter went on to say (in Acts 2:38 - KS) to his hearers that if they repented of their sins, especially of the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah, they would be forgiven their sins and ‘receive the gift of the Holy Ghost’. Although he did not use the same word (which, after all, is only a metaphor not a doctrine), he was clearly promising them what Christ had promised him and his fellow apostles - to be baptised by the Holy Spirit (15).

This statement has several important errors. Christ did not promise to baptize the apostles by the Holy Spirit but with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). They were baptized by Christ Jesus himself (Matthew 3:11), But, in contrast with water as a substance of baptism, the substance in which they were baptized (metaphorically, we are agreed) was the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5). Thus, if Holy Spirit baptism is still in effect, there are either two baptisms, or water baptism is not in effect with God’s approval.

The promise Peter refers to (Acts 2:39), the promise of “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (verse 38), is not baptism with the Holy Spirit. Why go all the way back to Acts 1:4-5 to identify the promise of Acts 2:39, when Peter is developing a text (Joel 2:18-32; Acts 2:17-21) that contained two promises: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and salvation for those who call on the name of the Lord? That is the promise of Acts 2:39. In Acts 2:38 Peter tells the people how to call on the name of the Lord, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,” and then promises they also could receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as promised by Joel. Later examples show that disciples received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:12-19; 19:1-7). The Holy Spirit dwells in Christians today through His inspired word (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16).