Now we’ll look at some statements in the epistles regarding baptism and note the timeline attached to each one, as that can give us some idea of approximately when the writer came to conclude what he did about water baptism and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is usually helpful to see scripture in chronological order to understand it more fully.
The first reference is the one I’ve already mentioned several times from I Corinthians 1:13-21, written by Paul from Ephesus sometime in AD 57 towards the end of his 3-year stay there. Here, again, Paul emphasizes that he was sent to preach the Gospel, not to baptize in water. However, it was just 5 years earlier in AD 52, while in Corinth, he had baptized those he mentions in that passage. And just to be clear, Paul is saying Crispus, Gaius and the household of Stephanas were the only ones he baptized in water in Corinth, not the only ones he had ever baptized in water.
That is clear from Acts 19:1-7 mentioned in the last lesson, where Paul baptized 12 men in water when he first arrived in Ephesus in AD 54. It is only reasonable to assume that Paul had been baptizing new converts in water throughout his ministry. Then, while in Ephesus, when writing to the church in Corinth, he reveals his full understanding of baptizing in water. And, it seems he had not emphasized water baptism in Corinth some 5 years earlier, since he baptized only those he mentions. They were probably not the only converts there. All this aside, when everything is considered and we do the math, evidentially Paul came to the conclusion he states in I Corinthians 1 some time during the latter part of his 3-year stay in Ephesus (about AD 57).
The next reference is Ephesians 4:3-6, “Be earnest in guarding the unity of the Spirit in the binding power of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to the calling you received. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, Who is above all, through all and living in us all.” If there is only one baptism, at this point which one could Paul be possibly talking about? This was written from Rome in AD 60 after he had already settled the issue of water baptism some 3 years earlier.
This brings us to the next reference in I Peter 3:21 and a verse that is almost universally misunderstood by those who insist on the practice of water baptism. This is what Peter says, “And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you – not the outward one that only removes filth from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience before God.” For those who don’t think water or believers baptism every time they see the word “baptism” in scripture, this verse is very straightforward.
In verse 20 Peter explains the fact that Noah and his family were saved from the flood because they were in the ark that was floating on the water that had covered the earth. And, it had been the effect of the overwhelming water that had saved them. Then in the next verse quoted above he says, “this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you”. And he immediately clarifies what he’s talking about, so there won’t be any confusion, essentially by explaining it’s not the outward, ceremonial one that can only wash away the filth on the body, it’s the one that is God’s pledge of a clear conscience (an inward cleanness). Further it’s clear the work of the Holy Spirit at this point had taken Peter from his understanding of the outward, ceremonial forms of the Old Covenant to a new understanding of the inward, spiritual realities of the New – mission accomplished!
Then I believe Paul wrote Hebrews. It is thought that the purpose of the letter was to instruct these Jewish believers who were struggling with their newfound faith, no doubt a result of their lack of instruction and resulting spiritual immaturity. And since they had been immersed in Judaism all their lives, they were tempted to either revert back to it or at least try to incorporate it into what they understood about the Gospel (remember the parable of the new cloth and new wine and the old not being compatible with the new).
In the first 5 chapters Paul talks about the preeminence of Christ. Then in 6:1-2 he says, “Therefore, let us get past the basic doctrines of Christ and advance towards spiritual maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead formalism, and of faith toward God, with teachings about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead and eternal punishment.” The context of this statement is found in the previous chapter where Paul admonishes these Jews, saying they should by now be teachers, but instead, are in need of being taught. In other words, you should have settled these elementary matters long ago. And one of them is “baptisms” (from the plural noun baptismon).
Then in chapters 8 through 10 he begins to explain why the New Covenant in Christ is better than the Old. In the middle of this he says something that is appropriate to our discussion. In Hebrews 9:8 he says the Holy Spirit has made it clear that the new is not attainable as long as the old is still standing. In verse 9 he says the symbolic sacrifices (of the Old Covenant) could not give the worshipper a clear conscience. Then in verse 10 we find this: “For (these ceremonies) deal only with meats and drinks (what is clean or unclean) and different washings, nothing more than external rules for the body, imposed until the time of reformation”.
Now, there are two words here that have to be examined. Can you see this coming? “Washings” is the noun baptismos, from the verb baptizo, to baptize. Then “reformation” is diorthosis, and means, to correct or amend. This word comes from orthoo, to make right. Paul is explaining here that the old understanding of ceremonial washings (including water baptism) has to be corrected or made right with a new understanding. That new understanding is the reality of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The outward forms of the Old Covenant were now changed or corrected to the inward reality of the New Covenant.
And what of the timeline here? Hebrews was written around AD 65, some 36 years after Pentecost. So now we’ve come to the end of it. The Holy Spirit has accomplished the task. Through progressive revelation He has taken the apostles from a beginning understanding of John’s water baptism and the other ceremonial washings familiar to the Old Covenant to an experiential understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit that is the very foundation of the spiritual reality of the New Covenant. In the next lesson we’ll look at the baptism in the Holy Spirit, what it is and what it is not.