5. Baptized with the Spirit,
The New Covenant Mystery Revealed
The next two stories of salvation proclaim the
historic change in the direction of the proclamation of the Good News.
Together they reveal a vital turning point. Since the leadership of Israel
continued to oppose Yeshua and His Messianic Kingdom, the door of salvation
was opened to the nations. Only the remnant of Israel
would find grace, like faithful Joshua and Caleb centuries earlier. At the
same time, Israel’s
New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 was ratified by the sufferings of the Lamb of
God, and the entry way is still wide open, God has not shut it. The day soon
approaches when this Covenant will be filled up more fully in the nation Israel,
to the glory of God! The Lord will rule over all Israel
and all the nations. Until then He is calling out followers from both, two
remnants forming the “Body of Messiah.”
Yeshua sovereignly chose
Shaul (Paul) as His special apostle to the nations, Acts 9:1-30. Then He
immediately confirmed His decision by saving the gentile house of Cornelius
in the presence of the Judean apostle Peter, Acts 10:1-11:18. Both stories
are mentioned three times each in Acts. Both have a major impact on
how we view baptism in Acts, and the entire New Covenant. First we consider
the story of Shaul.
As the number of Jewish believers in the
resurrected Messiah grew, so did opposition in Israel.
By his own confession Shaul was among the most zealous opponents of the
Lord’s disciples. A star pupil of the highly respected Pharisee Torah sage Gamliel, he received recommendations of the high priests
to persecute Jewish believers in Yeshua, including those outside Israel.
On one such journey to Damascus Messiah appeared to him and changed the
direction of his life forever.
Shaul’s salvation is quite unlike previous stories.
Until this time we read of apostles and evangelists who proclaimed the Good
News to crowds in Israel.
All who believed humbled themselves and were added to the remnant. In stark
contrast Shaul had heard the message and rejected it, forcefully. He sought
to eradicate any trace of the Good News among the Jewish people who were
“calling on the name of the Lord,” Acts 9:14.
It was not an apostle, but the Lord Yeshua Himself who confronted this
violent rabbinical student face to face. Not because he had humbly believed,
but because Messiah selected him to be a special vessel. Shaul was a “tzadik,” i.e. righteous according to the Torah,
and Messiah made him an object of overwhelming grace. What follows is part of
the story of his salvation put together from two of the three accounts found
in Acts.
9:17 “And Ananiah went away and entered the house; and having laid
his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Shaul, the Lord, Yeshua, who appeared to
you in the road in which you came has sent me that you might receive sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
22:13
Brother Shaul, look up,...’
9:18
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he received
sight...
22:13
...And in the same hour (Shaul) looked at him.
22:14
And (Ananiah) said, ‘The God of our fathers
appointed you to know His will, and to see the Just One, and to hear a voice
from His mouth.
22:15
For you shall be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and
heard.
22:16
And now, why do you delay? Rise, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling
on His name.’
9:18
...And having risen, he was baptized.
9:19
And having taken food was strengthened.
Traditional Christian exposition says Ananiah baptized Shaul with water. But looking closely,
the text does not say he did. Shaul was urged to “be baptized” and he “was
baptized” but we simply do not read that “Ananiah
baptized Shaul.” Perhaps Messiah baptized Shaul with His Spirit instead!
No direct statement says that Ananiah
baptized with water, or that Messiah baptized with His Spirit, but there is
strong evidence to believe the latter. Ananiah, who
had received a miraculous vision of Messiah, said in Acts 9:17 that he had
been sent for two reasons:
1. To heal Shaul’s eyes and,
2. To fill him with the Spirit.
The next verse, 9:18,
records the fulfillment of both tasks; Shaul’s eyes were healed, and being
filled with the Spirit is directly indicated by the word baptize. If
not, why were details about healing, taking food and being strengthened
given, but the supreme goal of being filled with the Spirit bypassed? That
makes little sense. Shaul was in some way “baptized” and that “filled him
with the Spirit.” Ananiah was familiar with
supernatural vision, knew of miraculous healing and of being filled with the
Spirit. He could not have accomplished his task if not. And Acts does equate
being filled with the Spirit, 2:4, with being baptized with the Spirit, 1:5.
Shaul could just as easily have been filled--baptized with the Spirit as
well.
This concept is fortified when we remember that Ananiah laid his hands on Shaul before explaining
the two tasks, then healed his eyes, after which Shaul was baptized--filled
with the Spirit. Here hands were laid at the start, before anything else, and
in the previous chapter of Acts hands were laid on the Samaritans
specifically that they might receive the Spirit, not to accomplish water
baptism.
Ananiah urged Shaul to
arise, be baptized and wash away his sins. How? By telling Shaul to “call on”
Messiah’s name, i.e. by appealing to Him. Certainly there is liquid
terminology, but Messiah’s work on Shavu’ot
was described similarly with baptize and pour out, but not of water, rather
of the Spirit. We should also emphasize that on Shavu’ot
the Spirit was poured out on the hundred and twenty purely on the basis of
faith, not because they had just previously been water baptized. Compare
these points with Shaul’s personal recollection of the day of his salvation.
3 For we also once were foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living
in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
4 But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
5 not by works done in righteousness, which we did
ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 which he poured out upon us richly, through Yeshua
the Messiah our Saviour;
Titus 3:3-6 (American Standard Version)
Here too we find liquid terminology, but with no
sign of water. The Spirit is exclusively mentioned, poured out abundantly,
through Messiah. According to Shaul’s testimony to Titus his salvation did
not involve any works of righteousness, which for the Jewish mind
would include observance of rituals like baptism. Remember, Messiah persuaded
R. John to baptize Him that they might “fulfill all righteousness,” which in
the sinless Messiah’s case was a perfectly reasonable demand. Shaul realized,
however, he was not sinless and could not perform any real righteous act
before God. Salvation was God’s grace gift, not a reward for works. God now
saves by abundantly pouring out His Spirit through Yeshua the Messiah to
regenerate and renew, washing away the old sinful life. This transformation
through the Spirit fits well with Ananiah’s urging
of Shaul to be baptized and wash away his sins by appealing to Messiah Himself.
Shaul’s salvation did not originate from the
apostles in Judea, but from the glorified Messiah
Himself whose parting word was, “John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Since a command from Messiah for water
baptism is absent in Acts it is just as easy to believe Shaul was baptized
with the Spirit. Compare with the next story.
Messiah unveiled His perfect plan of salvation when
he sent Peter to the house of the Roman centurion in Acts 10. This story is
recounted twice in a row, once in the author’s narrative, then immediately
retold by Peter in Jerusalem.
Later Peter made it the cardinal testimony of the Jerusalem Council in Acts
15. Cornelius’ salvation was one of the preeminent New Covenant revelations.
An angelic appearance and a perplexing vision
nudged the Jewish believers in this new direction. The disciples in Judea,
being zealous for the Torah, were always conscious of ritual defilement. In
the new age of the New Covenant it was not wrong to observe Jewish laws and
customs. Jews in the dispersion were later urged not to forsake their Jewish
calling, 1 Corinthians 7:18-20. But it was quite another story for second Temple
Jews to realize ritual worship
did not give them true holiness in the eyes of God. Dread of defilement was
the reason the early Jewish disciples would not associate with gentiles, Acts
10:28.1 But they were to find
out that now the situation had changed. After Messiah’s sacrificial death a
Purification was permanently established that transcended all defilements of
Torah.
A striking vision of a sheet from Heaven, full of
all kinds of animals forbidden as food for Jews, showed Peter that God did
not abhor what had been ritually unfit. The point of the vision: to show him
all men were of equal redemptive value. Before then the Jewish disciples
believed the God of the Universe, who was God of Israel, could only be
approached through the covenants of Israel, and this would naturally include
the New Covenant to Israel, Jeremiah 31:30 (31). They still looked for the
Messianic Kingdom, Acts 1:6, which, it would seem, in their mind ought to
arrive before the outflow of the Torah to the nations.2 Following his arrival at Cornelius’
house, Peter did not take the new knowledge of the vision
as an automatic cue to announce the Good News to the nations. Instead he
asked why Cornelius had sent for him. When Cornelius explained the angel’s
visitation Peter realized God receives men from any nation that fear Him and
work righteousness. Peter summarized the Good News and specifically mentioned
John and his baptism. Then he explained that Messiah had been appointed by
God as Judge of the living and the dead. Following that he proclaimed;
"To Him
all the prophets bear witness that everyone who
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Acts 10:43 (English Standard Version)
Instantly the Holy Spirit fell. The gentiles too
experienced the holy ecstasy of being filled with the Spirit of God. Peter’s
Jewish companions were astonished that the Spirit would be poured out
on the nations. But why should they be shook-up--unless they previously had
believed that gentiles could not share directly in the Good
News? Their reaction tells us Jewish disciples believed that to share in the
Good News at this time all men had to observe the ritual purity requirements
founded in the Torah and Prophets even after Messiah Yeshua ratified the New
Covenant with His blood. Jewish believers were still observant of many
purification rites. In the eyes of Jewish believers it surely could not be
that gentiles were less obligated to the laws of purity.
Messiah however,
declared the eternal power of His Sacrifice, as well as the actual point of
reception into New Covenant divine life, by pouring out the Spirit purely on
the basis of humility and faith in Him. He bluntly revealed the fact that Israel’s
rituals did not give anyone real holiness. They were special symbols for Israel
of eternal purification through Messiah’s Sacrifice which is fully imparted
by the Holy Spirit. The nations were not required to perform the symbols but
to receive the reality. Peter had said that through Messiah’s name, whoever
believes in Him will receive remission of sins. In their simplicity the
gentiles took this statement at face value. Messiah bore witness to their
faith by pouring out His Spirit and at that moment they received resurrection
life.
The Creator and Redeemer of the Universe did not
jump the gun or make a mistake by pouring out the Spirit through faith alone.
He had infinite planning behind it, just as on Shavu’ot.
He had sent the angel to Cornelius with the instructions to send messengers
to Peter, and then given the vision of the sheet to Peter exactly at the moment
the messengers arrived. God knows how to time events. Thus, in the house of
the gentiles nothing was required but humble faith in Messiah, just as on Shavu’ot. Could any work of righteousness now be
added to make the gentiles “more” saved? No, cf. Titus 3:5-7.
Now we must note that Peter did not instantly
command water baptism. Neither did he ask the gentiles if they would like to
be baptized as some kind of sign, or for a public profession. Instead he
asked his Jewish companions if they could forbid the water for the
gentiles to be baptized. But if Peter knew Messiah had commanded water
baptism then presumably he had no reason to ask, he would simply say, “Now we
baptize you.” We see a lack of confidence, but at the same time a desire on
Peter’s part to do something.3
It would also appear Peter used “forbid” as a
technical term which prohibits a practice among Jews. They would forbid an
injunction or permit it; they would bind or loose in their rulings, Matthew 5:17; 16:19.
It appears the agreement to baptize with water was not the result of a
command from Messiah but, for the moment, was reached as a Jewish ruling. It
seems clear that the Jewish disciples believed the gentiles must at least be
purified with the Messianic baptism, just as they had been.
The Jewish disciples, concerned as they were with
ritual defilement, did not realize the transcendent purification through the
Holy Spirit, so they ritually purified the new believers from the nations,
something they will soon understand was not necessary. It should also be
noted that this is the one and only passage in the entire New Covenant that
describes gentiles undergoing the end‑time Messianic water baptism. All
other New Covenant passages about baptism either apply to Jewish believers,
or else speak of a baptism other than water.
By the time Peter went to Jerusalem
in Acts 11 it had become much more clear to him what
had really happened with the gentiles. When he arrived some Jewish disciples
contended with him for ritually defiling himself by associating with
gentiles, and by eating with them. Peter explained the vision of the sheet,
and of going to Cornelius’ house; how he began to speak and how the Spirit
fell on the gentiles. Then he told his Jerusalem
friends that he remembered Messiah’s parting words:
“John indeed
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts
11:16; 1:5.
The astonishing spectacle with the gentiles had
awakened Peter’s memory and the full meaning of this saying finally dawned on
him. R. John had ritually purified Israel
with water, but all of Messiah’s disciples, Jewish or from any nation, were
to be truly purified with the Holy Spirit. This word was Peter’s defense for
eating with gentiles. If the Lord had purified them with the Spirit and was
pleased with them what could keep him from eating with them?
Here in Jerusalem Peter did not mention that he had
ordered the gentiles baptized, but he was not silent about the subject.
He explicitly told his Jewish friends about Israel’s
greatest water baptism, John’s. Now he understood that being baptized with
the Spirit was incomparably more wonderful. This realization would have
occurred some time after the gentiles had been ritually baptized with
water. As Peter contemplated the stunning out-pouring of the Spirit from his
Jewish point of view he eventually remembered Messiah’s word. Then he would
have understood there had been no need and no point in baptizing the
gentiles with water.
The subtle, yet momentous realization of Acts 11:16
is the ancient stumbling-block for understanding baptism by the Christian
world, which has focused on Peter’s command for the gentiles to be baptized
with water. In other words, it is thought that must be the essential issue of
the passage. However, the critical circumstances surrounding that event are
thus ignored. For example:
1.
Just
moments prior to the outpouring of the Spirit, Peter said that since he was a
Jew it was not lawful for him to associate with foreigners. In other words,
up until that point he was deeply concerned with Jewish ritual purity.
2.
Peter
specifically told the house of Cornelius of John’s baptism and gave no hint
of another Messianic water baptism.
3.
The
Spirit fell on the gentiles without water baptism.
4.
Jewish
disciples were stunned that non-Jews could receive the Holy Spirit.
5.
Jewish
believers in Jerusalem who complained of ritual defilement by contact with
gentiles were told of a contrast in baptism in which Spirit supersedes water.
6.
The
contrast in baptisms between water and Spirit decided the issue of Jews
associating with gentiles (it was not an issue of “membership in the
Christian Church”).
7.
Not
to mention that the water baptism was John’s baptism, the Messianic ritual to
Israel, again, with no hint that there was another
different Messianic water baptism.
The usual Christian explanation of baptismal
passages in the New Covenant is based on the belief that Messiah ordered a
new water baptism. But here such a notion renders the passage unintelligible.
Why would Peter remember John’s baptism with water, now supposed to be some
ten years obsolete, and contrast it against being baptized with the Spirit?
(Commentaries simply do not explain the significance of Peter remembering the
contrast, nor the apparent contradiction in view of modern doctrine on
baptism.)
Yet a further grave question arises from this
passage in Acts, namely, just where is the supposed new water baptism
commanded by Messiah? Christianity has long taken Matthew 28:19 as Messiah’s
command for Jewish apostles to go into all nations and baptize them with
water. Yet here in Acts, Peter, the chief apostle, does not give a hint that
he is aware of such a command. The truth is Messiah never commanded a new water
baptism,4
there is certainly no sign in Luke or Acts! Peter remembered the only
Messianic baptism there ever was, John’s, the one he mentioned to the
gentiles, and performed on them. He found out it could not truly please God,
and Messiah never gave a new command for water baptism so there were no
requirements for it.
This revelation of true purification through the
Spirit corresponds to the command of Messiah in Luke 24:47,
“And
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in [Messiah’s] name to
all nations beginning at Jerusalem.”
Messiah did command repentance and remission of
sins, but not water baptism. We saw how the gentiles did receive the
remission of sins, by faith in Messiah and Spirit baptism, which immediately
followed Peter’s words, “whoever believes in Him will receive remission of
sins.” The prophetic idea of remission of sins is foundational to Luke, going
back to the Zechariah’s prophecy over his son John,
“And you,
child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face
of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,” Luke 1:76-77.
R. John’s baptism provided Israel
with the knowledge of salvation which is truly found in Messiah.
Though performed for the remission of sins, now we see in brilliant light
that it foreshadowed the true remission in Messiah through His out-poured
Spirit. Instead of ritual purification of the flesh, now Messiah permanently
transforms the spirit of a disciple, purifying him with the eternal power of
the New Covenant. In Acts 10-11 Peter remembered and finally understood this
transcendent glory, and after hearing these things the Jewish disciples
themselves understood, saying, “Then God has also granted to the nations
repentance to life,” Acts 11:18.5
The great salvation of Cornelius’ house solely
through faith showed Jewish disciples that not just Jews, but even the
nations could come to life, the new life of the New Covenant. Now everyone in
the world is exhorted to come to the risen Messiah to be truly changed. From
this point on in Acts we read of spiritual transformation, i.e. when Luke
wrote of being baptized, his intent was that of being baptized with the
Spirit.
Peter’s comments to the Jewish Jerusalem Council
years after Cornelius’s salvation bear this out.
“Men and Brethren,
you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged
them, by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no
distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Acts
15:7-9.
The assembled leaders in Jerusalem
were told God purified the hearts of the gentiles apart from any ritual
requirements of Israel.
It is also significant to find the Greek word katharizo
here where the gentiles’ hearts were purified. It is found only two other
times in Acts, both times in Peter’s vision of the sheet, of which the
heavenly voice said, “What God has purified, you are not to consider
unclean.” So God purified the hearts of the gentiles and it is explicitly
related to the Jewish idea of purity.
Peter said even zealous Jews were not able to
correctly bear the yoke of commandments in the Torah. Therefore, because of
the overwhelming transcendence of Messiah’s New Covenant, the apostles ruled
that believers from the nations were not bound to be circumcised or to begin
keeping the Torah. Though this tremendous ruling is not strictly comparable,
it certainly parallels attitudes that were developing in the Synagogue of
Rabbinical Judaism. In a word, two decades before the destruction of the Temple,
the apostles decreed for the nations what the Rabbis devised for Israel
after it was destroyed, namely, that a relationship with God did not depend
on the Temple’s ritual service of
animal sacrifice--something at the very core of Judaism--or the associated
requirements of purity in the Torah.
Nevertheless, disciples from the nations must
refrain from idolatry, sexual immorality, from eating strangled animals and
from blood, Acts 15:20, 29. These four negative rulings have been noted
before as part of the Noahic code for all nations
of Genesis 9:1-17. But there are no positive commands concerning gentile
salvation for the observance of any ritual directed to Israel,
including the Messianic baptism.
Just following this ruling Paul found a disciple,
Timothy, whose mother was Jewish, whom he wanted to accompany him in his
journeys. Paul circumcised Timothy that he could serve without being a
stumbling block to Jews, proving that after the Jerusalem Council’s watershed
ruling for gentiles Paul did not ignore or abolish the importance of a
faithful Jewish testimony to Jews, Acts 16:1-3.
Usually it is believed Lydia
and her household, and the Jailer and his household were
water baptized, Acts 16:15, 33. The texts, however, do not say Paul baptized.
Rather, they “were baptized.”
Moreover, Luke used the Greek word parakhreema in connection with the Jailer and his
house, saying they were all baptized “at once.” When we review the six other
times Luke used parakhreema in Acts we find
it specifically connected to a sudden miraculous event. In fact, it was used
to describe the scene when the earthquake struck the jail and the doors were
opened “at once.” In no way does it suggest that people scurried around
opening them, but that miraculously they sprang open. So just a few verses
later when the Jailer and family were baptized “at once” we do not see a race
to the river in the middle of the night, but the Spirit falling on them when
Messiah, in His miraculous way, poured out His Spirit to baptize them, just
as in the house of Cornelius.
It would also be hard to find a “public profession
of faith” (as certain denominations teach of their water rituals) in a
mid-night water baptism. In the context of Acts, being aware that in the last
days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh it is just as easy to believe
Luke wrote they were eternally purified.
So too with the Corinthians of Acts 18:8-11, we
read,
“Then Crispus,
the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all
his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were
baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be
afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will
attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’ And he
continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”
The text does not say Paul baptized anyone but that
they “were baptized.” In view of what we have already seen in Acts we could
easily expect the greater purification, being baptized with the Spirit. We
may then compare Paul’s Corinthian letter, being careful not to jump to
conclusions, because he used baptize in different ways in that letter. Paul
wrote that all disciples in Corinth,
whether Jewish or Greek, had with one Spirit been baptized into one body, 1
Corinthians 12:13, which corresponds very well with Acts 18:8.
On the other hand, according to Paul’s letter, he
did baptize some of the Corinthians with water and that is usually the focus
of attention by Christians. Yet we must not overlook the fact that he also
thanked God he had not baptized more than he did, 1 Corinthians 1:13-17.
Typical Christian exposition has long sought to minimize the force of his
statement thanking God he had baptized so few, but it simply cannot be
avoided. Paul could have baptized more of them, but he gave thanks to
God that he had not.
On the other hand he did not baptize extensively.
But obviously it was not because the Lord had forbidden him. He baptized so
few because the Lord had not even sent him to baptize. It was not crucial to
the Lord so it was not crucial to Paul who did not “know” if he
baptized anyone else. This clearly tells us the reason he did baptize
was something other than a command from the Messiah.6 Moreover, in the same epistle he told
Jewish disciples in Corinth to
abide in their calling as Jews, 7:18,
also telling the Corinthians that to those under the Torah he himself lived
as one under the Torah. He continued his life as a Jew to help Jews believe, 9:20. Since Paul had taken Timothy and had him circumcised for the sake of a Jewish testimony, would
he not also continue to practice the many different kinds of Jewish baptisms,
including the latest Messianic baptism for Israel?
cf. Acts 13:24.
The few disciples Paul baptized in 1 Corinthians 1
may easily have been Jewish. One of those mentioned is Crispus, who was ruler
of the synagogue and obviously Jewish, as well as his house. Gaius could have been a part of Crispus’ house, 1
Corinthians 1:14, but even if not
he could still be a Jewish disciple. So too with Stephanas and household.
Paul wrote that they were firstfruits of the
region, 1 Corinthians 16:15, and Paul’s procedure was to go to Jews first
then to the gentiles, just as we read in this passage, Acts 18:4-6. If
Stephanas and house were the first believers in the region then it seems most
likely they were Jewish. Paul baptized these Jewish disciples with the
Messianic baptism directed to Israel,
but which was not crucial for salvation, nor had Messiah sent him
specifically to administer it.
If Acts 18 were really speaking of water baptism
then it would seem extremely surprising that Paul baptized so few people as
listed in 1 Corinthians. In Acts “many” were baptized, and Paul was there for
a year and six months. But Luke’s words in Acts may easily speak of being
baptized with the Spirit and then Paul’s Corinthian epistle would add weight
since he said “all” had been baptized with one Spirit into one body, 1
Corinthians 12:13.
The passage of the Ephesian disciples of Acts
18:19-19:9 is not a simple story. Yet considered in light of what we have
seen thus far, that there was only one Messianic water baptism, John’s, and a
greater event of being baptized with the Spirit, the passage seems to unfold
quite well.
Paul passed through Ephesus,
entered the synagogue and reasoned with Jews. They asked him to stay longer,
obviously to find out more about his message. However Paul wanted to keep a
feast in Jerusalem and could not
agree to stay, but did say he would return, God willing. So in the synagogue
in Ephesus seed was sown and some
of the Jews were interested in the faith. We now read of Apollos in Acts
18:24-28. He boldly spoke to the Jews in Ephesus
about Yeshua the Messiah but was only aware of John’s baptism. Some
commentators tell us that he did not know of the later water baptism
commanded by Messiah even though he was teaching about Him. But it is as easy
to believe he was not aware Messiah now pours out His Spirit to baptize His
disciples.
Paul eventually returned and found certain disciples.
Are they followers of Yeshua? Many modern exegetes believe so. A definite
article is not found before “disciples,” but Ananiah
was described similarly in Acts 9:10 and he was a follower of Messiah. Some
say they are not disciples because they have not received the Spirit, and
according to their notion every Christian “has” the Spirit.7 But in Acts every other usage of
disciple means disciples of Messiah.
Besides, the hundred and twenty were certainly
Messiah’s disciples, but had not received the Spirit until Shavu’ot. That same day three thousand worshipers
heard the Good News and were cut in their heart, but though believing in
Yeshua the Messiah, neither had they received the Spirit. They did receive
soon after. The Samaritans believed and were baptized but did not immediately
receive the Spirit, though they also later received through the laying on of
hands. Paul himself saw an overwhelming vision of Messiah and believed in Him
for three days before hands were laid on him that he be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Moreover, it was obvious to all that the Spirit was poured out on the
house of Cornelius since they all broke into great praises of God in known
and unlearned languages. These disciples of Messiah did not receive the
Spirit the moment they believed, or else had an overwhelming experience to
prove they had received the Spirit. So the Ephesians could as well be
disciples Messiah, but lacking the full New Covenant promise of the Spirit.8 Paul, in Acts 19:2, discovered they
had not received the long awaited Gift, obviously his crucial concern,
“Did you
receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
He must have thought they had believed in Messiah
or he would not have asked such a question, for no one receives the Spirit
apart from faith in Messiah, John 14:26. Beyond that, since they were asked
this specific question we realize, for Paul, receiving the Spirit was
wonderfully discernible. There is no guessing about receiving, all are to
know by a blessed experience. The remainder of this passage, Acts 19:6,
clearly tells us so.
Their answer to Paul’s question, in Acts 19:2, is
comparable with John 7:39. They did not know the Spirit was yet given,9 but were not ignorant of the Holy
Spirit’s existence. Jews surely knew of the Holy Spirit and these disciples
may easily have been members of the synagogue since we later read that Paul
did not separate “the disciples” until after three months of speaking out
boldly in the synagogue, Acts 19:8-9, which could easily include these. In
comparing John 7:39 to Acts 19:2 we understand that they did not know the
Spirit was sent to believers, not a question as to His existence.
Paul asked about being baptized, directly linking
it to receiving the Spirit. Later he will write an epistle to the Ephesians
to remind them that they began their walk with God when they were sealed with
the Spirit of promise, Ephesians 1:13-14. He will tell them there is one
Lord, one faith, and one baptism, Ephesians 4:5. If the Spirit is linked to
baptism in Acts 19 this would have to be the “one baptism” of his concern in
Ephesians 4:5.
When the Ephesians answered Paul that they had
undergone John’s baptism10 he
explained it as a baptism of repentance (compare with Peter’s command
on Shavu’ot in Acts 2:38). Paul said the people of Israel
were told to believe in the One following John, who was Yeshua. In two other
passages in Acts we read that John baptized with water, but the One coming
after him would baptize with the Spirit. It seems natural to believe that
this is precisely what the Ephesians were told, that they now should be
baptized with the Spirit, trusting Messiah to accomplish this.
“Upon hearing they were baptized in (into) the name
of the Lord Yeshua,” Acts 19:5. We must realize that this verse is Luke’s
remark on what happened, it is not the record of
Paul pronouncing a “formula.” Though it is widely believed the Ephesians were
rebaptized with water, this time in the name of the
Lord, is this really the case? Are we to believe these disciples of Messiah
needed water baptism again, in His name, so they could afterward
receive the Spirit, Paul’s crucial concern? This would be the sequence
because in the following verse the Spirit came upon them when Paul laid his
hands on them, not during a ritual with water.
If this were water baptism it could not be a public
profession of an inward work of the Spirit as some contend, for they had not
yet received the Spirit! Moreover, there is no evidence that the hundred and
twenty on Shavu’ot were baptized with any
baptism other than John’s, just like the Ephesians, yet Messiah
wonderfully baptized them with His Spirit. Also on Shavu’ot
the three thousand were baptized with a baptism “of repentance” to be able to
receive the Spirit and the Ephesians had already undergone the “baptism of
repentance.”
If the contrast between water and Spirit is the
foundation for baptism in Acts, then since they had already undergone
John’s baptism there was only one other. They were baptized with the Spirit
and were truly baptized into the name of the Lord Yeshua, entering the realm
where His name rules.11
Luke narrates that upon “hearing” they were
baptized into the name of the Lord. This indicates a correction of their
ignorance of not “having heard”12
if the Spirit is given. In other words the Ephesians have now heard the
Spirit is given, and having heard, they are about to receive the Spirit by
faith in the ascended Messiah, being baptized into His name, His realm of
authority. John told Israel
to “believe” in the One following him—Yeshua--which we may compare
with Paul’s earlier question of having received the Spirit “when they
believed.”13 When someone
turns to Messiah they are to believe in Him, and having believed, receive the
Spirit from Him. The Ephesians therefore were not rebaptized
with water. Instead, like the gentiles where “everyone who believes into Him
receives remission of sins through His name,” and that, “the Holy Spirit fell
on all those hearing the word,” and that Peter later remembered, “John
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 10:43-44, 11:16)
they too were baptized with the Spirit.
Luke used three verses, 19:5-7, to explain a single
event. By saying they were baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua he
described what occurred. The next sentence tells us how it
occurred. When Paul laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came upon them,
granting them entrance into the spiritual Kingdom. Then we are told to
whom this occurred, about twelve men, 19:7. Now they could answer Paul’s
question with confidence. They had a living experience with the risen Messiah
with no doubts of having received His Spirit. They knew they had been
baptized with the Spirit.14
The greatest water baptism to Israel,
R. John’s, has been transcended by Messiah Himself who baptizes His followers
with His Spirit. Messianic water baptism was, and still is, important for
Jewish disciples as a testimony to their nation, but it must never obscure
the greater transformation of life by the out-poured Holy Spirit. The invitation
to all is clear, come to Messiah and drink of the Water of Life. Today is the
day to receive the promised “last days” Gift of being baptized with the
Spirit.
Now, please consider. All modern Christians who
revere Holy Scripture--in particular the book of Acts--believe the original
Jewish disciples, including Peter, lacked a full understanding of vital
details of the Good News for years. Yet, by reason of humility, the early
believers learned the truth in the house of Cornelius. Such being the case,
should any modern Christian find it difficult, surprising or embarrassing to
admit his own doctrines on salvation, and water and Spirit baptism, may have
been faulty as well? Why?
We now turn to the passage in Matthew that has long
been incorrectly interpreted as Messiah’s command for a new water baptism and
as such has falsely colored the interpretation of every other passage about
baptism in the New Covenant Scriptures. We will see it speaks of a great
transformation of the world.
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