Some sincere Christians believe that worship must be as close as possible to apostolic times. Of course, John the Baptist baptized. In apostolic times, others baptized as well. The first instructions on how to baptize in apostolic times follows:
Now concerning baptism, baptize thus: Having first taught all these things, baptize ye into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. And if thou hast not living water, baptize into other water; and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm (water). But if thou hast neither, pour [water] thrice upon the head in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But before Baptism let the baptizer and the baptized fast, and any others who can; but thou shalt command the baptized to fast for one or two days before. (The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles; 60-80AD; Philip Schaff's translation).
One of three things had already changed since John baptized in the Jordan River: (1) The mode of baptism was not so important; to wit: whether immersion, pouring, or sprinkling; (2) that the place of baptism was unimportant, but that moving water was; or (3) that the apostles had already changed the method of baptism. To this day, theologians still fret over baptism and even what baptism is for!
Of course, looking to the apostles’ way in the Didache is only second best, but some zealots still insist that their style of worship was the same as in apostolic times. To be consistent, therefore, it makes sense that they would baptize in running water at a minimum. In that situation, if that is correct baptism, pouring would be running water, or as others translate “moving water” and the mode of baptism would be unimportant.
The best source of baptism was not what the apostles did, but what scriptures says: John baptized in the Jordan River. [i]
Apparently, it was soon discovered that baptism in the River of the Garden of Eden (The Jordan) was impractical because most lived some distance away. Even Jesus was baptized in the River of the Garden: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him” (Mat 3:16). Jesus, after he was baptized “went up” out of the water. At the least, he was standing in the water, but whether John immersed, dipped, or sprinkled is ambiguous. So, the minimum, for the baptism of John, it seems, is standing in the water.
Luke wrote this about the same baptism of Jesus:
Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)
Standing in water was important to Matthew. What happened coming out of the water was paramount to Luke. The heaven opened and living water poured forth from the heaven. For Luke, the importance was not the moving water below, but the Living Water from above from Heaven! God, not John, had ultimately baptized His Son because it pleased Him to do so. God blessed His Son with His Holy Spirit. A great amount of Bliss from Paradise in Heaven poured forth on Him. All the people were baptized by John, but Jesus alone was baptized by God!
That is reinforced by other scripture: John the Baptist gave his view of the baptism of Jesus:
And John bare record, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost”. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (John 1:32:34)
The focus of John was not on water at all but what was happening to Jesus. John looked at the Living Water from the heaven and paid no attention to the washing in the Jordan, but the washing from above. The water from below was of secondary importance because John only saw the Water from above.
Among all who were baptized by John, the Spirit came only on Jesus, and it remained on Him. The others did not receive the Holy Spirit of God, only Jesus! Hence, the baptism of John was much different than the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. John’s baptism of Jesus was a “Christening” – giving Jesus a new title. Hence, Christening is not truly baptism by water, but baptism of the Holy Spirit, the “Living Water.”
There is no evidence that the Holy Spirit was transmitted by water baptism to any others besides Jesus. Hence, water baptism is inefficacious. John only did for sinners what the priests did for themselves. Other than Jesus who was without sin, water baptism is for one purpose: “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). Hence, water baptism is not for the “remission of sins” but repentance. “Repentance” is a “change of mind” (Strong’s Dictionary), or conversion (fully persuaded). John reinforced that. [ii]
Ritual washing was a practice in Temple worship. There was only a laver in the Tabernacle for the washing of hands, but God had Solomon to build a baptismal in the Temple to cleanse the whole body and enough water for many “three thousand baths”. [iii] And because He is God, God gave directions to Solomon to create moving water whereas the laver in the Tabernacle was still water; to wit:
1 He made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about… 6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. (2 Chron 4:1,6)
Therefore, the priestly baptism was for the cleansing of those who repented… enough for 3000 who repented, and for the priests, ten lavers for their baths. [iv] The design was such that they stood in the water and flowing water poured on them from the Molten Sea above.
Of course, the Molten Sea was made in the image of the heavens, according to the descriptions of its decorations in that it was held up by oxen beneath. In other words, the Molten Sea was a huge baptismal for the Jews whose waters were no more than for ritual purification. Indeed, that is the same purpose of the baptism for repentance in water. And if, it is done as the apostles would do it, pouring would be enough to cleanse. The Molten Sea is symbolic of the Sea of Glass beneath the throne in heaven. The water for them was not coming from the ground but the heavens.
Baptismals to this day are more like the Molten Sea than the Jordan River. Many baptismals do not even have moving water. Not only that, but the baptism is to demonstrate a conversion away from sin rather than a saving from sin.
That was the Jewish baptismal. On the other hand, the laver was used by Pontius Pilate. He repented of the dirty deed that he was doing, and merely washed his hands in a laver, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” (Mat 27:44).
Pilate’s was not even baptism for repentance but to declare his innocence. He had become the “Priest” just like the Jewish priests who believed themselves to be innocent. In other words, no water in any amount would cleanse unless it is to repent.
Pilate himself made the water move with no natural movement involved. God was present yet He did not move Pilate’s water! Pilate remained arrogant to the dirty deed was done, but some historians say that he was converted later. But without a contrite heart, washing his hands in water that he moved, was to no avail! There may be evidence that Pilate was moved, but no place was Pilate saved by water.
The baptism of John was readily received by the multitudes because well versed Jews would know it was ritual washing. The Jews would be quite aware of the Molten Sea, and most certainly it was reproduced in the Second Temple.[1] John’s Baptism was for sinners to turn from their ways. Surely John taught that this washing was for one time only, not a yearly repentance as with the Jews. That would make John’s Baptism very rewarding, having to wash only one time for the sins of the past and the future!
But that too was misunderstood by many. Jesus’s blood would atone for “sins that are past” [v] (sins of the world before His time). Something else was necessary for sins present and future; blood and water! Pilate washed his hands from the blood alone, but not the Water from the belly of Jesus. “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6).
What “water” was that? Baptismal water in a basin or even a river? No! Water from the belly of Jesus:
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. (John 19:33-25)…”Truly this was the Son of God.” (Mat 27:34)
Longinus, the centurion, was converted by persuasion. He saw the blood and water flow from the belly of Jesus. He did not know about the woman at the well, so he did not know what Jesus had said to her about “Living Water.” But he did see the blood and water from Jesus — the blood of the Man Jesus and the Holy Ghost in the Living Water!
Perhaps Longinus was baptized when he pierced the side of Jesus… baptized both in blood and water. Longinus most certainly had the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and he got that not by John’s Baptism but the baptism of Jesus’s Ghost when the Body of the Savior gave it up. The Holy Ghost that Jesus had obtained from His own baptism was passed along to the centurion in the same manner that Adam passed along the Holy Spirit of God that provided life to Eve! [vi] Perhaps Longinus was sprinkled with the blood and water as it spewed forth from the belly of Jesus. Perhaps he saw the bodily shape of the Holy Ghost leave the body of Jesus just as John saw that shape enter Jesus at His baptism.
(By the way, Adam’s “rib” was not specifically a rib but from his “curved side” per Strong’s Dictionary. Just as with Jesus, out of Adam’s belly had flowed Living Waters into Eve!)
Longinus was most certainly converted, and in the end perhaps, he would be saved because he had been baptized both in the Water and Blood of Jesus.
Things were different on the crosses. Dismus was saved that day! Neither John nor anyone else had baptized him, but that day he would be with Jesus in Paradise. [vii] There would be no waiting for cleansing before embalming or anything else. When Dismus gave up the Ghost that same day, Jesus had transferred His Ghost into Dismus, not with water flowing from the River of the Garden but from the veins of the Savior!
How did that happen? How did Dismus go to Paradise without getting wet? Is that possible? Yes, it is, but not by water alone, but by the blood and water from the belly of Jesus. It appears that right before the blood and water from the belly of Jesus went into the Earth’s “well” so to speak, so that anyone could “drink” of it, [viii] that Dismus was sprinkled with the blood and water as the lance entered the side of Jesus.
What I am suggesting is that both Longinus the centurion and Dismus, the thief, repented as Jesus died, and indeed they were baptized, but not in the manner of John! Both were surely baptized in Living Water as well as the Blood of Jesus — a little bit of Man and a little bit of God.
Just how many baptisms are there?
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephes 4:4-6)
Scripture refers often to baptism. One instance is, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). The question is which baptism? The baptism of John or the Baptism of the Holy Ghost of Jesus?
Examine that verse closely; non-belief is damning. Just what then is saving, belief or baptism? Belief! Belief leads to the protection and comfort of the Holy Spirit. The sinner converts to belief and then God baptizes with the Holy Ghost. That should be clear from this passage: “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16).
“The Comforter” is the Holy Ghost of Jesus. God would not send the flood waters ever again to preserve mankind. The Comforter would be available forever!
So, there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Again, which is it? John’s Baptism or the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Well, there seems to be two baptisms. One, it is known is for repentance. That is the baptism of John. The other is to preserve forever. That us the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Some have created a third baptism. They have created something that God did not! They have adopted the baptism of the apostles. Jesus questioned the apostles: “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mat 20:27). The answer to that is obvious. The one baptism is the baptism of Jesus.
How did the Person, Jesus, baptize? He did not! “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples” (John 4:1-2). His disciples baptized with water; never Jesus! John was the first disciple to do that. The baptism of John would best be called, “baptism by the Disciples.” Scripture implies that!
On the other hand, Jesus baptized with the Holy Ghost. When Jesus died, He gave up the Ghost. [ix] It was the “Ghost” of Jesus who baptized Dismus, Longinus, and all the converts after the Person, Jesus, gave it up at death!
The baptism of the Holy Ghost was from Heaven. That is known because of the baptism of Jesus was from God in Heaven. Jesus asked the question, “The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me” (Mark 11:30). No one answered for fear of a trap. They then admitted that they did not know. Then Jesus answered it Himself? “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (Mark 11:33). Jesus was testing the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders. [x]
The religious officials did not know what they were doing, and to this day, the officials of the Church fail to understand baptism. They, however, think that water baptism will save them when it is the Baptism of the Holy Ghost — authorized by God because Jesus as the Father to send the Comforter.
The baptism of John was for discomfort which leads to repentance. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is for Comfort because the “wearer” of the Holy Ghost is spiritually wearing the Flesh of the Lamb of God just as Adam was way back in the beginning! [xi] God authorized that comfort right after Satan made Adam and Eve discomfited with their nakedness. [xii] Water baptism, as with John, essentially removes the deception from the flesh. Water baptism is to strip sinners naked in a spiritual context so that that they see their real identity. That leads to repentance.
There was a man from Ephesus after Jesus had arose; he was, “instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). What other baptism should he have known? The Baptism of the Holy Ghost that many of the others had known. [xiii] The baptism of John was minimized. It certainly was not the “one baptism” of which Paul wrote!
So, what did theologians do? John’s baptism was not efficacious for the remission of sins, they cannot detect the work of the Holy Spirit, so they created a third baptism — the baptism of the Disciples who would copy John’s Baptism, and all the while disregarding the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Review John’s own statement: “He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33). John never mentioned the baptism of the disciples, or even the apostles, but his own mode of baptism which could not be compared to the baptism of the Holy Ghost of Jesus!
Just from where did a third type of baptism come? It was created. Water baptism is for repentance. The baptism of Living Water is for redemption itself. The Holy Ghost of Jesus is the “coat” from the Lamb that preserves life in the world. Water baptism is merely the ritual washing before the coat is applied. The efficacious water is the water from the belly of Jesus spilt on the ground for all mankind, not just some who claim to be the real Church.
Note that none of the apostles had the same “baptism” as Longinus and Dismus. So, why endeavor to copy the apostles who stood silently by and did not receive the Holy Ghost until weeks later?
Because there is one baptism, then THE ONE must be the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Jesus never baptized although he had the authority to do so. The disciples who baptized in the Name of Jesus did not have His Authority because they were copying John.
Baptism is described in scripture. In the water goes the old person and out comes the new, but that is symbolic. The truth is, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17). Water baptism does not make one like Christ, but only washes their unclean skin. Jesus did not come to save the flesh, but the living souls of men. Man must be in Christ. How can anyone be “in Christ”? Well, in the beginning God generated man that way: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God” (Gen 1:27). Regeneration is the old creation returning as the image of God, and that is Christ Himself!
What does water do? It physically washes the image in preparation for the new image. The image is washed in the blood and water of Jesus, not by blood alone or water alone just as scripture says. As such the image is “painted” on by god with his “watercolors”…painted to be like Jesus. Water alone does not cover the old image, but the blood of Jesus covers the naked old creature entirely!
In scripture, the eunuch believed. He searched scripture for Jesus and found Jesus. Philip knew Jesus personally. Jesus had seen Philip under the fig tree. [2] The Greeks had come to Philip to see Jesus in person, [xiv]and then Philip came to the eunuch to show him the Ghost of Jesus. [xv] Then the eunuch was baptized. Remembering that there is only one baptism, which baptism was efficacious? Was it water baptism or was it the Spirit? “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, ‘Go near, and join thyself to this chariot’” (Acts 8:29).
Philip had the Spirit — the Holy Ghost of Jesus. Just as Adam transferred the Spirit of God to Eve, Philip joined himself to the eunuch, and he received the Holy Spirit of Jesus via Philip. Philip helped the eunuch to see the invisible Jesus by using Old Testament Scripture: Speaking of Jesus, Philip revealed to him, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer” (Acts 8:32). The eunuch then “saw” Jesus as the Lamb of God. Then he was baptized.
He was not alone. Philip, with the Spirit of God, went into the water with him. [xvi] “And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).
There was one baptism there! Philip transferred to him the Holy Spirit in the water. Was it water that redeemed the eunuch or was it the Spirit of God that Philip had shared with the man? The rational answer is that the Holy Spirit is Power, and the water has none. Jesus made that clear to the woman at the well where He taught her. He emphasized that before he died as well:
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)
The Living Water was not available until Jesus died and was glorified. Philip had “drank” of that Living Water on the day of Pentecost, and thereafter from Philip flowed Living Water to the eunuch as well. John emphasized that, that water was not available until Jesus had died. Thus, water baptism was a symbolic measure until the True Water was available. Although it is ambiguous, perhaps with Philip standing in the water with him, just as Jesus with John, that the Holy Spirit also came on the eunuch in “bodily shape” — in the very image of Jesus!
Belief is much more than understanding; it is trusting Jesus for eternal life and preservation until then! The question, in the case of the eunuch, was he trusting the water or was he trusting the Spirit of Jesus that Philip shared with him? It must be one or the other because, again, there is only one baptism!
What was Philip doing with the eunuch? Fulfilling “The Great Commission”.
Now examine the apostles’ baptism:
14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. (Acts 8:14-17)
Before the disciples of Jesus received the Holy Ghost to share, their baptism was as the baptism of Jesus. Jesus, the man, was baptized in the water by John. In the situation above, prayer conveyed the Holy Ghost on them. It was prayer that the God, Jesus, would share His Holy Ghost. The water had not accomplished what prayer would. Prayer transferred the Holy Spirit in Peter and John to the baptized disciples, and they too received the Holy Ghost of Jesus. Were they re-baptized with water? No, because they then had the Living Water from God that they had not received at water baptism.
Honestly, this seems to be a third type of baptism, but it still must be remembered that there is one baptism!
With that background, it is useful to consider the word “baptism” in scripture. Oftentimes the mode of baptism is not described. Many times, “baptism” is meant to be baptism of the Holy Ghost whereas at other times, it may apply to water baptism. Always keep in mind that there is one baptism and that sometimes it is not even near water and sometimes it is.
In the Old Testament, receiving the Holy Spirit is called “finding grace” as with Noah, Abraham, and Lot. They all found grace where there was no water to be found. In fact, Noah found grace before it even rained, and all that water did was that God “repented” of what He had created and perished them!
Is this conclusive? It is in my mind. But doctrine cannot be force-fed and scripture is the Doctrine of God. To become a Christian, Paul used persuasion and after that, those who were persuaded to be a Christian received the Holy Ghost, even without water baptism! “He reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks” (Acts 18:4) to become Christians. He did not persuade by dunking in water but by reasoning with them. The Power of God in him overcame the deception in their minds and those that were persuaded became Christians.
If it takes water to persuade, so be it. Water, however, did not persuade the world to board God’s Ark then and it will not now!
(picture credit: Wikipedia; "Molten Sea")
[1] Since the Second Temple was built less elaborate, that conclusion needs further research, but Jews were quite aware of ritual cleansing.
[2] “Under the fig tree” came out of nowhere. I believe that Jesus was referring to the soul of Philip before the fig tree — the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
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