Tag Archives: Baptism

Baptized with John’s baptism

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waterIn Acts 18 and 19, we run into something interesting. There were believers who knew all about Jesus, but only knew about the baptism of John. The first case we see is Apollos in Ephesus. Luke describes the situation this way:

“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” (Acts 18:24–26)

Luke doesn’t address the question of what happened to Apollos personally. Was he rebaptized? We don’t know.

Another group of Ephesian believers was rebaptized. Luke tells us:

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.” (Acts 19:1–7)

We’ve already discussed the unusual description of how they received the Spirit. If someone wants to comment on that, I don’t mind; I’m just not going to go over that again.

I do want to look at the meaning and importance of baptism, based on these two stories. Like always, Luke doesn’t give us a lost/saved timeline to know exactly what happened with these people. Apollos is merely called a Jew who had been instructed in the way of the Lord; the believers in Ephesus are called “disciples.” Each believed in Christ and had been baptized. Yet something needed to be corrected.

Something real happens when we are baptized. You can know the right things about Jesus and believe in Him, yet still be lacking. You can still be missing something. Something real happens when we are baptized.

I like what N.T. Wright says in Surprised By Hope:

Successive Christian generations have struggled to find language to do justice to the reality of what happens in baptism and of what happens in the Eucharist. It is perhaps not surprising that they have largely failed because in fact the sacraments are designed to be their own language, ultimately untranslatable, even though we can describe what is going on from various angles, themselves all inadequate. (Kindle edition, location 4078)

Just because we find it hard to explain the hows and whys and whats doesn’t mean that baptism is a mere symbol. The water isn’t magical. The hands of the one doing the baptizing hold no special powers. But the act of being baptized in the name of Jesus changes our relationship with God.

The baptism of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16

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waterWe’re looking at New Testament texts about baptism. Lately, we’ve been looking at some texts in Acts, with Acts 8 being the latest.

Now we come to the baptism of Paul in chapter 9… which I want to discuss next week. Chapter 10 relates the conversion of Cornelius, which we touched on before when discussing the Holy Spirit.

I want to move on to Philippi, in Acts 16. In the first part of the story, we see the conversion of Lydia and her household. As is the general rule in the book of Acts, there is a mention of their baptism when telling of their conversion.

Later, we see the man we know only as the Philippian jailer. While he is on watch, an earthquake frees all the prisoners, yet none escape, seemingly because of the influence of Paul and his traveling companion, Silas. Luke then tells the story:

“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.” (Acts 16:29–34)

I don’t know that the jailer was thinking in spiritual terms when he asked about being saved. But Paul seized the moment and spoke the truth to him: You need to believe. Then the jailer and his family were baptized. Luke ends the story by saying that the jailer rejoiced because they had believed.

Modern Christians have an obsession with delineating the timeline of salvation, separating out belief and response. We want to know if a person is saved at the moment they believe or when they are baptized. Do we baptize lost people or saved people?

That wasn’t the mindset of the early church. You were out of the community of faith, then you were a part of it. There was the intellectual belief and the response that accompanied it. They were parts of a whole known as “faith.”

Paul told the jailer to believe. The jailer was baptized, then rejoiced because he had believed. They aren’t separate. They aren’t steps. Conversion is a holistic process, affecting body and mind, intellectual and physical.

It’s all worth rejoicing about.

The Ethiopian’s baptism in Acts 8

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waterAfter Acts chapter 2, we don’t hear baptism mentioned until chapter 8, when Philip is in Samaria. The people that are being converted are being baptized. Their situation is notable because none of them received the Holy Spirit, at least in an outward sense, until Peter and John came and laid hands on them. I discussed this a bit last week and in earlier posts, so I don’t want to replow that ground.

While Philip is in the middle of this highly successful outreach in Samaria, God tells him to go stand by a lonely road in a wilderness area. (Lots of lessons there!) An Ethiopian comes by, and the Spirit tells Philip to go talk to him. The man was reading from Isaiah and told Philip that he couldn’t understand the message without help. Philip then started with that passage and told the man about Jesus.

Let me let Luke tell the story from there:

“Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:35–39)

There are lots of social questions at play here that we need to recognize as being the point of this passage. For the purpose of our study, we’ll focus on a subpoint: after Philip told the man about Jesus, the man requested baptism. The most logical understanding of this passage is that Philip included baptism in the story of Jesus. Or do you see a better way of understanding this?

The man believed the story of Jesus and felt the need to respond. Apparently Philip had told the man that part of that faith response was baptism. That fits with the rest of the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament.

Acts 2:38 – God’s Promise

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waterThere’s one other important facet of Acts 2:38 that needs to be pointed out: more than a command, it’s a promise.

We focus on what it tells people that they are to do. Peter’s focus (Luke’s focus, and therefore, the Holy Spirit’s focus) was on the wonderful things that God had to offer to his people. They could receive forgiveness of sins. They could receive the Holy Spirit living within.

“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” (Acts 2:38–39)

Don’t think of it as a command. Think of it as a promise.

The gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38

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waterAs we’ve seen, in Acts 2:38 the apostle Peter tells the Jews that have gathered that they need to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. He also says they would receive the Holy Spirit.

It’s fair to ask, “Receive the Spirit in what way?” People in the Old Testament had the Spirit of God come upon them and operate through them. Yet John says the Spirit “wasn’t yet” until after Jesus’ crucifixion (John 7:39).

Does Peter mean that everyone will do miracles? Doesn’t seem like it; for some time after this, the only people we see doing miracles are the Twelve (Acts 5:12). In fact, that was long seen as the mark of an apostle (1 Corinthians 12:12). John the Baptist was said to have been filled with the Spirit from birth, yet never did miracles (John 10:41).

Jesus spoke of an indwelling Spirit, a comforter. That seems to be what Peter is talking about, the presence of God living within us (Romans 8:9-11).

Some people have tried to make much of the fact that the word repent is plural, the word be baptized is singular, and the word “receive” (the Spirit) is plural again. They say that Peter was promising the Spirit to those who repented, not those who were baptized. Need we give serious discussion to that? Notice the phrase “every one of you” after the command to be baptized; unless we’re merely trying to be argumentative, we’ll note that all were told to repent and all told to be baptized.

Peter tells them that if they repent and are baptized, they will receive the Spirit. This is the normal way in which God gives his Spirit, at least according to the book of Acts. Everyone who obeys receives the Spirit (Acts 5:32). Are the Samaritans in Chapter 8 and Cornelius in Chapter 10 possible exceptions? Sure. God is still God, as I mentioned yesterday.

But I’m not sure that we’re being told that the Samaritans hadn’t received the indwelling Spirit in chapter 8. What they were lacking certainly seems to have been observable. It seems more likely that they hadn’t yet received tongues or any of the other outward signs. (I discussed this in an earlier post on “Signs of an Apostle“)

And I think it quite possible that Cornelius and family received similar manifestations. Something happened to let those present know that the Spirit had come upon them. It was something so different that it made Peter remember Pentecost (Acts 11:15). Did they also receive the indwelling? Possibly. We can’t really say. Either way, we know that this was an exceptional case.

Just as Peter said that this promise was for “you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call,” so I believe that it remains today. Repent and be baptized, and you’ll receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.