Baptism #5; Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Hey Bryan, my continued thanks for our discussion and the time and thought you have put into your responses. In this post, I wanted to deal with one of the issues you raised in your last comment: what is Baptism of the Spirit, and is it different from the water Baptism in Christ. In today's Christianity it is fairly easy to distinguish between these two Baptisms – for many Christians they are Baptized as infants, and then if they become part of the elect, they have some sort of "born-again" experience by they become sealed with Holy Spirit in response to hearing the Gospel message. Are we together on this understanding?

But I think early 1^st century Christianity this was completely different. That there was generally a combination of the two experiences. For the Apostles and the early followers of Christ, the Baptism of water and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit were one and the same experience. And I believe this is supported by the Commentators – for example, here is what the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology says about this - "…But, in fact, the early church consistently used "baptism" without any qualifiers to refer to water-baptism. None of these passages, even when taken to refer to immersion in water, implies baptismal regeneration, but they do demonstrate how closely linked water-baptism and conversion were (and hence Spirit-baptism as well) in New Testament times."

 

Along this line, I want to keep pounding on John 3:5, and I don't believe you have directly explained how you understand Jesus' teaching here. Let me quote John 3:1-7, the famous story of Nicodemus, and Jesus' teaching that believers must be "born again":

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." ³ Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:1-7)

So in this portion of the Gospel of John Chapter 3, Jesus encounters Nicodemus, a humble searching Pharisee, and Jesus teaches him that only those who are "born again" can see the Kingdom of God. Jesus then equates in John 3:5 being born-again with being born of water and the Spirit. When Jesus speaks to Nicodemus of being born of water, the context would have led Nicodemus to think of John's water Baptism, a baptism of repentance. And so, this looks like fairly strong evidence that for the Apostles and early Christian Church, Water Baptism and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit are one and the same thing. Let me give you three more quick reasons to believe this is true:

 

What does the Old Testament prophesy about Baptism? This is amazing to see. Take a look at these three verses that speak of water Baptism:

Ezekiel 36:24-27 – I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. ²⁵
I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (See also, Psalm 51:1-2, :7; and Zechariah 13:1)

And so, we see that in the Old Testament, there were prophesies of a future day when God's people would be washed and sprinkled with clean water, that is described as a "fountain opened for Israel. And we also see what this water from God does – it cleanses us from all sin uncleanness, and washes us so that we are whiter than snow. And more, the Ezekiel verse looks to paint this sprinkling of clean water of forgiveness is the process by which God gives the people of God a new heart and a new spirit – the born again experience, where believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

 

Next, let me bring up John Calvin, you are a Calvinist, right? <grin> Did you know that John Calvin described John 3:5 as follows - "He connects water with the Spirit because under this sign He testifies and seals the newness of life which by His Spirit God alone effects in us. It is true indeed that we are excluded from salvation if we neglect Baptism;…" And so, Calvin connects water Baptism with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is brought out further in Vincent's 'Word Studies in the New Testament' (one of my favorite Logos resources when I'm studying Greek passages.). Here is a quote that I think is helpful from 'Word Studies' on the John 3:5 passage, although Vincent does contradict Calvin's understanding:

 

Born of water and the Spirit. The exposition of this much controverted passage does not fall within the scope of this work. We may observe,

1). That Jesus here lays down the preliminary conditions of entrance into His kingdom, expanding and explaining His statement in ver. 3.

2). That this condition is here stated as complex, including two distinct factors, water and the Spirit.

3). That the former of these two factors is not to be merged in the latter; that the spiritual element is not to exclude or obliterate the external and ritual element. We are not to understand with Calvin, the Holy Spirit as the purifying water in the spiritual sense: "water which is the Spirit."

4). That water points definitely to the rite of baptism, and that with a twofold reference — to the past and to the future. Water naturally suggested to Nicodemus the baptism of John, which was then awakening such profound and general interest; and, with this, the symbolical purifications of the Jews, and the Old Testament use of washing as the figure of purifying from sin (Ps. 51:2, 7; Ezek. 36:25; Zech. 13:1, above). Jesus' words opened to Nicodemus a new and more spiritual significance in both the ceremonial purifications and the baptism of John which the Pharisees had rejected (Luke 7:30). John's rite had a real and legitimate relation to the kingdom of God which Nicodemus must accept.

5). That while Jesus asserted the obligation of the outward rite, He asserted likewise, as its necessary complement, the presence and creating and informing energy of the Spirit with which John had promised that the coming one should baptize. That as John's baptism had been unto repentance, for the remission of sins, so the new life must include the real no less than the symbolic cleansing of the old, sinful life, and the infusion by the Spirit of a new and divine principle of life. Thus Jesus' words included a prophetic reference to the complete ideal of Christian baptism — "the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Tit. 3:5; Eph. 5:26); according to which the two factors are inseparably blended (not the one swallowed up by the other), and the new life is inaugurated both symbolically in the baptism with water, and actually in the renewing by the Holy Spirit, yet so as that the rite, through its association with the Spirit's energy, is more than a mere symbol: is a veritable vehicle of grace to the recipient, and acquires a substantial part in the inauguration of the new life. Baptism, considered merely as a rite, and apart from the operation of the Spirit, does not and cannot impart the new life. Without the Spirit it is a lie. It is a truthful sign only as the sign of an inward and spiritual grace… Vincent's 'Word Studies in the New Testament', entry for John 3:5).

Conclusion – OK, I know I've provided too much information here. But let me see if I can boil down what I am trying to convey in a short paragraph: First that to the Apostles and the early church, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was the same as water Baptism. This means for the believer they respond to the Gospel Message, they would receive the water Baptism, which provided not only the forgiveness of sins, but also the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And so, water Baptism was the means by which the Holy Spirit sealed the new believer (see, 1 Cor. 6:19, 2 Cor. 1:21-22). And this also means that with forgiveness, and the new righteousness of Christ, the Holy Spirit now dwelling provides a new life to the believer, sealed for eternity in union with the Triune God. Does this make sense? And so, from all of this, it does not seem to me that Baptism can be considered merely a symbolic act. But I would like to hear your take on this.

 

It's getting cold here in Minnesota – we should be below zero for most of the week. And Olivia is going for a school field trip where they want to have the kids go on an outdoor high ropes course! Yikes. God's blessing peace to all who stop by.