One Baptism?

[B-A-C]

A lot of doctrine is built on one verse sometimes.

Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

But should we go with the one verse, or should we go with all of the others?
When there is one verse that says one thing, and a dozen verses that say another thing, why not go with the dozen verses?

Acts 19:2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
Acts 19:3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
Acts 19:4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
Acts 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.

The passage above mentions a baptism of repentance, a baptism in the name of Jesus, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

Mark 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Matt 3:13 Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

Mark 1:8 "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"
Acts 8:38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Acts 10:47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
Acts 10:48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

Acts 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 8:17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

Gal 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

1Pet 3:21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Matt 3:11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Mark 1:8 "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
Luke 3:16 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John 1:33 "I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'

 

[Rhema]

@B-A-C

There might be only one baptism that matters....

For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.​

(Acts 1:5 KJV)

And one can see across the ministry of Paul that water baptism was minimized almost to the point of insignificance.

But the letter to the Ephesians was, after all, written to those in Ephesus.

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.​

(Acts 19:1-7 KJV)

Even today the Mandaeans (Link) consider John's Baptism to be the only "true" one. So I can see a clash between other John tB followers in Ephesus and these "new fangled" Jesus people (since I can't say "Christian" )

So I don't think it's a distinction between "water" and "Holy Spirit" as much as a John tB verses Jesus legitimacy concern.

ONE baptism, being "in the name of Jesus."

Kindly,
Rhema

 

[B-A-C]

So I don't think it's a distinction between "water" and "Holy Spirit" as much as a John tB verses Jesus legitimacy concern.

There are five places in the book of Acts where people were already baptized in water, but not the Holy Spirit.
( or vice versa in one case )

Acts 19:2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
Acts 19:3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."

These people had already been baptized, but not in the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
Acts 10:46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
Acts 10:47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
Acts 10:48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

Cornelius and his family were the opposite, they had received the Holy Spirit, but hadn't been water baptized yet.

Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
Acts 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 8:17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

The Samaritans here had already been baptized in water, but they hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet.

Acts 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Acts 9:18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

Paul himself was baptized.. "and"... filled with the Holy Spirit.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

 

[Rhema]

@B-A-C
My apologies that it would seem I hadn't made my point clear.

First, I'm not one to lightly throw out a verse because of some supposed contradiction, accepting a truth based upon the amount of other testimonies (the one verse in Ephesians verses all those other verses). I'm am surprised that you would. And if you hadn't explicitly said this, it was assuredly a strong implication.

Did the author of Ephesians make a mistake? I don't think so. There were those already in Ephesus that had only received the Baptism of John. While the book of Acts records that Paul met about 12 of them, I would find it incredible if there were not more. I can then see those who did not hear Paul directly start a religious conflict between the Baptism of John and the Baptism of Jesus. (I already gave an instance of a people who to this very day preach Jesus as an impostor and John as the legitimate prophet.)

The letter sent to these people (the epistle to the Ephesians) said, "One Baptism," to mean a baptism in the name of Jesus - even though this would be composed of a water baptism (of repentance for the remission of sin) and a baptism of the spirit.

In peace,
Rhema