Holy Spirit-Filled (1) – Self-Will Submits

This topic discusses a type of non-physical death, and the new birth/new life in the Spirit for Christians.  The life of the apostle Paul, as recorded in the New Testament (NT), is used as an example.

Before Paul became converted, he was known as Saul (Ac.13:9).  Saul terrorized Jewish Christians.  Ac.8:1-3 “Saul was consenting to his death [Stephen’s, Ac.7:58-60]….Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he put them in prison.”  House churches were springing up then, around 34 AD.  In Ac.22:4, Saul/Paul later said of his past, “I persecuted the Way [followers of Christ, Jn.14:6] to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons”.

But in Acts 9, Saul had a dramatic conversion experience!  Ac.9:1-2 “Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [Jesus].”  Authorized by the high priest, he left for Damascus in search of Jewish Christians to bring them bound to Jerusalem.  v.3-9 as Saul neared Damascus, he was blinded (for 3 days) by a light from heaven…and the voice of Jesus spoke to him!  v.10-22 Ananias said, “Saul…you may be filled with the Holy Spirit”.  v.17 Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit (HS), his sight returned, all his past sins were ‘washed away’ via water baptism in Jesus’ Name (Ac.22:16).

Saul/Paul was never the same after that encounter!  Paul wrote in Ga.1:12-14, “I received it [the gospel] by revelation from Jesus Christ. You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond my peers, being very zealous for my ancestral traditions.”  Religious Pharisaism highly valued Jewish oral law traditions.  Saul was a devoted Pharisee (Ac.23:6)…and then he saw the Light that day on the Damascus road.

We understand Paul received mercy & forgiveness from Father God.  And yet God is also just; we reap what we sow, as Paul wrote (Ga.6:7).  Ac.9:16 the Lord told Ananías that Paul would suffer (for His Name’s sake).  Saul had caused many to suffer.  2Co.11:24-27 Paul’s own sufferings.  A murderer sentenced to death, who becomes converted in prison, may still die physically in the electric chair.

Subsequently Paul wrote in 2Ti.1:3, “I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience”.  Maybe it seems strange that a man who was party to the murder of Jewish Christians could claim a pure conscience?  Paul acknowledged in 1Ti.1:13, “I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.”  He mistakenly had thought the Lord Jesus was just a dead man who was worshiped as a false god.  Saul had zealously sought to eradicate that which he viewed as idolatry (as per De.13:6-9, 17:2-7. also see “Stephen’s Stoning in Acts”.)  Yet murder was murder.  Saul/Paul repented, changed, was forgiven, his conscience was cleansed.

The NT reflects a connected level of meaning.  It has to do with submission, the symbolic death of Paul’s old man/old self (Saul), the old “body of sin” (Ro.6:6), begun through Christ’s work on the cross.

Paul wrote figuratively in Ga.2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it’s no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me.”  Christ’s HS and word indwelt the new Paul.  This enabled Paul to subdue his self-will and live a life of submission and obedience to God, as Christ did.  Ellicott Commentary Ga.2:20 “It is through the power of the cross…that the Christian is enabled to mortify the promptings of sin within him. Death upon one side of my nature does not prevent me from having life on the other side.”  Benson Commentary Ga.2:20 “The apostle proceeds in describing how he was freed from the dominion as well as the guilt of sin.”  But it’s not a pain-free process.

Crucifixion by the Romans was usually a slow, lingering, painful death!  (see “Jesus’ Death – The Physical Cause”.)

Quitting old wrong practices and beliefs can involve mental turmoil/pain, and isn’t instantaneous.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Ga.2:20 “A real crucifixion of heart and will. By this figure he [Paul] describes the intense agony of spiritual conflict.”  Saul’s old self, ways, self-desires didn’t want to ‘die’.

The first verse where Saul is called Paul is Ac.13:9. “Saul, also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit….”  He wasn’t referred to as “Paul” prior to his becoming Spirit-filled in Acts 9.  Saul was a persecutor…but Paul is the Roman name of an apostle to the nations.  The Lord Jesus told Ananias in Ac.9:15, “He [Saul/Paul] is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear My name before the gentiles”.

The old Saul ‘died’ with Christ, as he (Paul) later put it.  The man Saul who’d persecuted the Way…himself became a follower of the Way.  Paul later said of his new way of life in Ac.24:14, “I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect do I serve the God of our fathers, believing everything written in the Law and the Prophets”.  The man Saul, regenerated, became the new Paul.

The Latin name Paul/Paulus (Strongs g3972, Greek) meant ‘small’ or ‘little’.  His physical appearance wasn’t impressive (2Co.10:10).  According to tradition, Paul stood only 5 feet tall.  John Chrýsostom (347-407 AD) Homily On Romans “The apostle Paul was short in stature, modest (?), bald on the head, bow-legged…pale colored, well-bearded, sensible…full of grace, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”  (For an exposition of Paul’s doctrine/ideology, see the series “Paul the Apostle”.)

Saul/Paul was from the Israelite tribe of Benjamin (Php.3:5).  Benjamites had assimilated with the tribe of Judah (the Jews) when God divided the united kingdom of Israel after Solomon died (1Ki.12:23-24).

Of note…ca 1050 BC Israel’s first king, Saul the son of Kish , was also from the tribe of Benjamin.  But King Saul was a very tall man (1Sm.9:1-2), who had initially been small/humble in his own eyes (1Sm.9:21, 15:17).  However, he changed for the worse.  This Old Testament Benjamite Saul became a persecutor, wanting to put David to death (1Sm.19)!  Whereas the NT Benjamite Saul/Paul the ‘little’ was a persecutor who changed for the better…the reverse of King Saul.

At his repentance and conversion, Paul became a new creature, born from above (Jn.3:3-ff).  2Co.5:17 “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away, they are become new.”  The NT Saul’s old deceitful heart (Je.17:9), his past self/old man, was figuratively crucified.

The Lord had foretold in Ezk.36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh”.  God gave the HS, and a metaphorical new heart (called “Paul”), to Saul’s physical body.  Again, Paul wrote in Ga.2:20, “It’s no longer I [Saul] who live….”

Paul’s persecutions (as Saul) became obsolete.  Saul had figuratively died!  The new, submissive Paul didn’t persecute Christians.  So Paul’s conscience was clear when he wrote to Timothy in the 60s AD – and the new changed Paul could make the claim of having a clear conscience (2Ti.1:3).

Paul wrote in Ro.6:6-7, “Knowing this, that our old man [self] was crucified with Christ, so that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin.”  Here Paul includes all Christians…our old nature to be rendered inactive.  This concept may be hard to comprehend or seem like Christian mysticism.  But Paul writes with absolute assurance – “Knowing”.

Cambridge Bible Ro.6:6 “This knowledge is to be a working motive in the new life.”  JFB Commentary Ro.6:6 “Our old selves’ – all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ.”

Paul to the church at Colossae in Col.3:3, “For you died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God”.  Our own way of following our unsubmissive, selfish inclinations perishes.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Col.3:3 “For you died’, that is to their old life, at the time of their conversion.”

2Co.5:15 “He [Christ] died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for their sakes and rose again.”  Cambridge Bible 2Co.5:15 “And thus made obedience possible for us…freeing us from our bondage to sin.”  Our attitude and service should now be, “Thy will be done” (Mt.6:10)…not…my will be done.  We’re to submit to the HS.

Paul wrote further in 2Ti.2:11, “If we died with Him [Christ], we shall also live with Him”.  For some believers the realization of this self-death may begin with intellectual agreement, after reading Paul’s letters.  Others may understand this operation of death to sin and regeneration to Life through revelation from the HS.  I feel no death within my body; we can’t explain this new birth miracle by the five senses.  But we can have faith in the operation of God; and believe the above verses were inspired.

We’re not aware of an exact time of death for a Christian’s old man or old self, as he/she/we undergo the waters of baptism.  But as Jesus was dead prior to His burial, the Christian was already dead, symbolically, before his baptismal burial.  (also see the topic “Baptisms and Washings”.)

This baptismal burial isn’t what killed us – in cultures of the world people are not customarily buried alive!  It is only after a person dies that he/she is buried.  The previous verses indicate that we died to sin (on a cross, metaphorically), being crucified as was Jesus.  And then only after this death were we buried (immersed in baptism) with Him.  This burial is also a public testimony of the (prior) death of our ‘old man’, according to the faith we had in Jesus when we first believed (before baptism).

Ro.6:3-5 “We have been buried with Him through baptism unto death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”  Our baptism under water symbolizes this burial, and our surfacing the regeneration/rebirth to real Life via the Spirit.

Yet Christians still maintain in our souls most learning, abilities and muscle memory patterns that date from the years/decades of our ‘old man’.  Some sinful responses were also learned and internalized.  So we still have wrong desires, and will sin occasionally (or too often).  Paul sinned occasionally too (cf. Ro.7:23).  We have a (daily) battle against lapsing into sin.  He wrote, 1Co.15:31 “I die daily”.  Paul died daily…to keep his flesh crucified (and from enemy threats).  see “Repentance from Sin”.

Daily repentance and asking God that the blood of Jesus be applied to any recurring sins…will result in our being continually forgiven and our consciences cleansed.  He.9:14 “The blood of Christ…will cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”  Jesus’ sacrifice is fully efficacious.

As we yield to the HS, our (old) self-will should become less and less operative or dominant.  Webster’s Dictionary: Self-Will “The persistent carrying out of one’s own will or wishes.”  Collins Dictionary: Self-Will “The stubborn adherence to one’s own will, desires, etc.”  Rather…God’s will be done.

We’ve been baptized in/by the HS.  The HS leads us into doing the will of God.  1Co.12:13 “By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”  There’s no baptism into another, ref Ep.4:5.  (Note: Humans cannot baptize one another into the HS, e.g. Mk.1:8…but Jesus can.)

Few Christians undergo a name change from their former life, as Saul became known as Paul.  Yet as Christians, we too should say (Ga.2:20), “It’s no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me”.  We ‘died’ in Christ, and He has become our life too, as we submit to God.

I keep one nail spike in my key tray on the bedroom dresser.  So in the morning when I dress and reach to the tray…I see the spike.  I’m reminded that the old me ‘died’, figuratively ‘crucified with Christ’; and that new day I am to let Jesus live inside via the HS.

But how much time do we live filled with, or aware of, the Holy Spirit?  Paul exhorted the church in Ep.5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit”.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Holy Spirit-Filled (2) – Be Refilled”.

Baptisms and Washings

Many Christians view water baptism as a requirement for all who believe that Jesus died for their sins.  Others don’t.  Some churches consider it a sacrament.

Water baptism is apparent throughout the New Testament (NT).  But when did this practice originate?  Actually, Biblical cleansing and immersion originated before John the Baptizer and NT baptisms.  In He.6:1-2 the writer to the Jewish Christians reminded them of the foundational “instructions about washings” they should have known.  The Greek term here for “washings” is baptismós (Strongs g909).  Greek Bible scholar Spiros Zódiates describes baptismos. “Washings, as constituents of rites of Old Testament law.”  Let’s look at some Old Testament (OT) background for the practice of baptism.

The OT priests of Israel were required to wash (racháts h7364, Hebrew) before serving God.  Le.8:5-6 Moses washed Aaron & his sons for their initial priestly consecration.  Nu.8:5-7 Levite non-priests were also cleansed.  Those acts were a type of baptism.  At God’s ancient tabernacle, a copper/bronze laver was filled with water for washing, and placed near the altar of burnt offering.  Ex.30:17-20 priests must first wash their hands and feet in the copper laver before ministering in the tent (copper kills bacteria).

In the OT, washings and purifications were applied to various unclean conditions (He.9:10), and were for sanitation.  Some examples: Le.14:7-9 the procedure for cleansing the leper.  Le.15:1-7 the man who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with him.  Le.15:16-18 after sexual relations.  Le.15:19-22 after a woman’s monthly menstruation and whoever came into contact with her blood.  (Menstruation is a state of being, not a sin.)  Le.15:25-27 the woman who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with her.  Le.15:31-33 uncleanness could be a dangerous condition!  And it defiled God’s tabernacle.  YHVH didn’t ‘tabernacle’ with those unclean, or in sin!

Also, the person who ate an unslaughtered animal which had died of itself (“strangled”, Ac.15:29) was unclean until his evening shower, so to speak (Le.17:15-16).  Nu.9:10-11 relates to the person who was unclean in the first month of the sacred year due to contact with a corpse, and therefore couldn’t take the Passover then (Nu.19:18-19).  A corpse was the most virulent kind of pollutant.  In Jn.11:55, many were going up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before Passover.  Whitewash was customarily applied to grave stones in the Holy Land so pilgrims going to the feast could easily spot them and avoid contact.  (Jesus alluded to this in Mt.23:27, calling the scribes & Pharisees “whitewashed tombs”.)

There were many washings in OT scripture.  And spiritual realities were portrayed in the OT by outward physical signs & actions.  Also we read in scripture of unclean diet (Le.11, De.14:2-20) and unclean demons (Lk.4:33).  The apostle Paul tied ‘unclean’ symbolism to unbelieving idol-worshipers (2Co.6:14-18), in whom the Holy Spirit (HS) doesn’t reside.

God doesn’t fellowship with sin, and uncleanness can be a type of sin.  Christians desire to stay filled with the HS, but the HS won’t actively dwell with the person who remains in a spiritually unclean state.  Cleansing has a spiritual application in Is.1:16. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.”  After committing adultery & murder, David pleaded with God in Ps.51:1-23, 7 to cleanse and purify him from his sins.

To be cleansed/healed from leprosy, Elisha instructed the Syrian general Naamán to wash (rachats) seven times in the Jordan River, 2Ki.5:10-14.  Naaman immersed (tabál h2881).  That healing relates to Le.14:6-7, the priest “shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from leprosy”.

Ezekiel prophesied a purification ceremony of spiritual renewal in Ezk.36:25-27. “Then I [YHVH] will sprinkle clean water on you, I will cleanse you from all your filthiness. I will put My Spirit within you.”  (Water and the HS in the future!)

A complete bath was required to rectify some impurities & uncleanness.  Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogues have a mikváh (Strongs h4724) tank for ritual cleansing, while prayers are spoken for them.  It’s customary in much of today’s world for a person to take a routine evening bath or shower.

With that background, let’s trace the baptismal thread in the NT.  The concept of purification washings wasn’t unfamiliar to those Jews.  The forerunner John the Baptizer’s mission was vital…water baptism for repentance, Mt.3:1, 6, 11!  The Greek term here is baptízo (g907); it occurs 80 times in the NT.  It meant ‘to immerse, submerge’ (Dr. Zodiates).  In a pickle recipe, Greek poet Nicánder (200 BC) said a vegetable should be dipped (bápto g911) in boiling water, then baptized (baptizo) in a vinegar solution.

Mt.3:13-16 John baptized Jesus.  The sinless Jesus had no uncleanness, and no sin to repent of.  He didn’t need purifying.  Jesus’ baptism showed that He was in harmony with John’s teaching & mission, and it symbolized the transfer of priesthood from the OT Levitical order (John) to the order of Melchisedek (Jesus)!  Also Jesus’ baptism is our example.

At His water baptism, the dove/Spirit descended.  John came to water baptize, Jesus to Spirit baptize.  Jesus declared in Jn.3:5, “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”.  Strong words from Jesus…an able-bodied person who willfully refuses water cannot enter His Kingdom!  Vincent Word Studies Jn.3:5 “The water points definitely to the rite of baptism.”  Cambridge Bible Note “The outward sign and inward grace of Christian baptism are here clearly given, and an unbiased mind can scarcely avoid seeing this plain fact.”  ref Ezk.36:25-27 for the water–Spirit association.  They both go together as necessary components…there’s water baptism and HS baptism.

In Mt.16:17-19, Peter was given the keys to the (Kingdom) city.  Peter will keep reappearing as we continue this thread.  Jn.20:21-22 Jesus gave His disciples a pledge or foretaste of their receiving the HS.  Then Jesus told them in Ac.1:5, 8, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit….you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”  Their soon-coming HS baptism would saturate and empower them, including Peter (who’d even denied Jesus, Mk.14:66-72)!

As Jesus promised, they were soon baptized in (and filled with) the HS, Ac.2:1-4.  Peter, who was given the keys to the Kingdom, was the one who instructed the hearers at that Pentecost in Ac.2:38. “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  v.41 that day 3,000 believing Jews were baptized, ‘mikvahed’, perhaps in the 40–50 mikvah pools reportedly located outside the south wall of the Temple mount there in Jerusalem.  Repentance precedes baptism.  A goal of life for baptized believers is to be/remain filled with the HS!  (see the topic “Holy Spirit-Filled”.)

Later in Ac.8:12-17, Samaritans too were baptized in Jesus’ Name.  Peter was there.  Then when Peter and John laid hands on them, they received the HS.

In Ac.8:32-39, Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian Jew/proselyte (a court eunuch) returning from the Temple area.  He was literate, able to read Isaiah.  Upon hearing of Jesus, the eunuch immediately asked to be water baptized.  Philip must have included baptism in his teaching about Jesus to this foreigner.  Philip then baptized him by immersion.  That eunuch’s name won’t be “cut off” (ref Is.56:3-5)!

In Ac.10:1-ff it was Peter to whom the vision of unclean creatures was given.  v.28 “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man common or unclean.”  Gentiles aren’t to be considered unclean.  v.44-48 “Surely none can refuse water for these who received the HS.”  Peter ordered that gentiles be water baptized in Jesus’ Name…even after they’d received the HS!  This outward act was necessary!  God may give the HS before or after water baptism.  Peter was there, when the first gentiles were saved.

According to Ac.18:24-28, Apollós knew the OT well and believed Jesus is the Messiah.  But apparently in Ephesus he’d only taught them about John’s baptism of repentance (Mt.3:11), and not about HS baptism.  Consequently, those Ephesians hadn’t received the HS.  Then in Ac.19:1-6, Paul told them more about belief in Jesus, and even re-baptized them…in Jesus’ Name.  Water baptism was that important to Paul!  He then laid hands on them, they received the HS, and the church at Ephesus had its beginning.

In Ac.22:7-8, 16, Saul/Paul recounted how he too was water baptized and had his sins ‘washed away’, calling on the Name of Jesus (Yeshúa, in Aramaic).  Paul’s water baptism happened after the Lord Jesus had identified Himself to him, and after Paul received the HS (Ac.9:16-18).  Paul was still obedient to the rite of water baptism!

Water baptism is done in the Name of Jesus, since Jesus died for us (Ro.5:6-8).  Paul didn’t die for our sins.  (Paul personally baptized only a few in Corinth, so Christians there wouldn’t be tempted to exalt Paul, 1Co.1:12-17.)  Peter preached in Ac.4:10-12, “By the Name of Jesus Christ…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name by which we must be saved.”  Not Buddha, not Kríshna, not the Talmud, not Mohammed.  Jesus!!

Jn.4:1-2 Jesus had His disciples water baptize even more than John the Baptizer’s did!  Cambridge Bible Note Jn.3:22 “It was a continuation of John’s baptism.”  Benson Commentary “It wasn’t proper to baptize in His [Jesus’] own name.”  (It wasn’t in the name of a denomination, of course.)

The risen Jesus said in Mt.28:19-20, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them….”  Jesus commanded baptism…in water!  Pulpit Commentary Mt.28:19 “They had seen it employed by John the Baptist (Mt.3:6), and had used it themselves (Jn.4:1-2).”  Gill Exposition Mt.28:19 “In water, for with no other baptism could the apostles baptize, not with the Holy Ghost.”  Jesus, not the 12 apostles or other men, baptizes with the HS, Lk.3:16.  As Jesus’ name is invoked at water baptism, one comes up into new life with the triune God.  The NT doesn’t say water baptism is optional for Christians!

There’s more to the significance of baptism.  Ro.6:3 Paul wrote, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death”.  We’re symbolically buried with Jesus.  And death precedes burial.  Paul in Col.2:12-13, “Having been buried with Him in baptism, when you were dead in your trespasses. He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.”  Total forgiveness!  The old man/person is dead, and we no longer follow our old sinful ways.  Water baptism is as a glorious funeral service!  Paul didn’t say it’s optional.  Paul even wrote in Ti.3:5, “He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit”.  Water baptism and the HS.

Water baptism is part of the salvation process, as the outward public witness of inner cleansing.  Peter even wrote in 1Pe.3:21, “Baptism now saves you; not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience”.  It’s so much more than a bath to wash off dirt/sweat.  Again, in Jn.3:5 Jesus indicated that being born of water and the Spirit is necessary to inherit the Kingdom of God.

So this sacred ceremony is very significant and commanded by Jesus as an act of obedience (for able-bodied believers)!  Watchman Nee “Baptism is faith in action.”  It is understood that circumstances beyond one’s control: failing health, imprisonment, a “thief on the cross” (Lk.23:42-43) after Jesus rose, e.g….may make one’s water baptism impossible.  (Of course, neither the thief on the cross nor anyone else was water baptized in the name of Jesus before Jesus rose!)  God knows the intents of the hearts.

Baptism symbolizes a state of spiritual cleanliness to God, and our watery grave is a type of Jesus’ burial.  Then we surface to eternal life!  The baptism of the HS is the kernel of resurrection life.  The HS cannot die.  Ro.6:4 “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead…we too might walk in newness of life.”  Real Life!  Regardless of our race, skin color or status, the HS imbues us with eternal Life!

But people whose sins aren’t washed away are still in an unrighteous and unclean state to God.  Paul in 1Co.6:9-11, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”  Praise God!  As Jesus said, Jn.3:5, water & the Spirit are essential to Kingdom entrance.

Now there’s no need to continually perform other OT ritualistic washings based on their typology.  (Yet some washings are still beneficial health practices.)

And we don’t have to ‘feel worthy’ to be baptized!  None of us are worthy, of ourselves!  Ro.5:8 “God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.”  We were all sinners, Ro.3:23.  No need to delay water baptism until we somehow feel more ‘righteous’ or think we’re a ‘better’ person.  Just confess your sins to God and desire to have all your sins forgiven and ‘washed away’, and for Jesus to become Lord of your life!  Then continually try to do as scripture says and as we feel led to do by the HS…and what we think Jesus would do if He were in our shoes today.

What about infant water baptism?  Some churches practice it, but most don’t.  In Lk.18:15-16, Jesus laid His hands on infants saying, “Permit the children to come to Me”.  The (gentile) Philippian jailer in Ac.16:30-33 asked what he must do to be saved.  He believed, and was immediately baptized with all his household.  In a sense, infants could ‘come’ to Jesus by being carried to Him, and the jailer’s household possibly included infants who were baptized.  Yet the churches who don’t perform infant baptism point to other verses to support their position.  Jesus said in Mk.16:16, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved”.  As Ac.16:33, baptism is necessary.  And belief is a prerequisite for baptism .  Ac.2:38 repentance is a prerequisite for baptism.  But an infant doesn’t know to believe or repent.  Neither does an innocent baby have any sins to repent of or be ‘washed away’ via baptism (Ac.22:16).  It appears the weight of scriptural evidence doesn’t support baptizing a person in water until that one is old enough to make the decision to be baptized…a decision of Christian obedience and a public witness.

It’s been said…‘God has no grandchildren’.  Not even pastors’ kids are God’s grandkids.  Although people should pray for each other, no one can represent someone else in the Kingdom of God by proxy.  Everyone must come to know God and have faith first-hand.

Should a person ever be re-baptized?  In Ep.4:5 we read there’s “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”.  In this verse, “one baptism” indicates that a valid baptism can only relate to Jesus the one true Lord (not to some heathen so-called god/lord).  If a person had insufficient understanding of salvation, but yet was water baptized and didn’t receive the HS…then a re-baptism may well be in order.  Or perhaps one was baptized into a denomination…rather than baptized in the Name of Jesus or into the Father, Son and HS.  Re-baptism may be necessary.  I view re-baptism as one’s personal decision…how the individual feels in his/her own heart about the validity of their water baptism.

What about when we sin after being baptized in water and into the HS?  One reason the elderly apostle John (not John the Baptizer) was writing his first epistle was, “That you may not sin” (1Jn.2:1).  Yet we all still have weakness in the flesh.  John went on to write, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin….” (1Jn.5:16).  Yes, Christian brothers/sisters may still commit sin.  How is that remedied?  1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us for our sins.”  As we confess and repent, the life/blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from sins we commit (v.7)…after baptism too!

The Bible never says one doesn’t have to be water baptized.  There’s no scriptural example of a believer refusing water baptism.  (There may be circumstances where a person desires water baptism, yet is unable to be baptized before their physical death.)  Scripture indicates baptism should be performed.  Verses such as Mt.28:19, Jn.3:5 & 4:1-2, Ac.2:38 & 10:47-48, Mk.16:16, Ac.16:30-33, 1Pe.3:21, and the personal examples of Jesus & Paul’s own baptisms make that clear.

The NT is quite clear…under normal circumstances, all Christians are expected to be water baptized!  It’s not just for Jews!  Samaritans too were water baptized (Ac.8:12).  The water baptism of Cornelius’ household (Ac.10:47-48) and the Philippian jailer’s household (Ac.16:33) shows that it’s for gentiles too.  Water baptism is for all believers.

True believers aren’t ashamed of this public declaration in the presence of likeminded witnesses.  It’s been said, ‘Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers’.

The Biblical sequence: Believe and repent…then water baptism followed by HS baptism (or vice versa).

Water baptism in the Name of Jesus is a wonderful and meaningful ceremony for repentant believers.  And having believed, we’re sealed with the HS…given to us as a pledge or guarantee of our eternal inheritance with God, Ep.1:13-14!  (see the topic “Saved, Sealed, Preserved”.)  Thank You, Lord!!