From the ministry archive
One Baptism
Well, I’ve decided that I’m not quite done with the water baptism issue yet. The Lord has really moved me to deal with this subject recently, and there is more truth to be manifested on the topic. Today I just want to make the post on the basis of this question: Who missed the point, Peter or Jesus? Here’s what I’m talking about. In Acts chapter 10, God sent Peter to preach the Gospel for the very first time to the Gentiles, and the Lord had something in store that resonates very loud and very clear to this day, though relatively no one has heard it yet. Now let’s understand that the Gospel had only gone to the Jews and the Samaritans by this point in time, and the significance of that is that the Jews had been under the law for over thirteen hundred years, and the Samaritans were a mix of Jew and Gentiles who were circumcised like the Jews; and thereby were partial partakers of the law in a sense. But the Gentiles on the other hand had NEVER been under the law to any extent, so as the apostle Paul stated, they “were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). And that has absolutely everything to do with what took place when Peter preached to the Roman Centurion Cornelius and his household. It also had everything to do with the special revelation of truth that God gave to the apostle Paul, whom he ordained and anointed to be THE apostle and teacher of the Gentiles (Gal. 1:11,12; Rom. 11:13). I’ll get back to that revelation of truth that Paul received in a few moments, but first let’s look at what happened at the house of Cornelius. I’ll pick up at the end of Peter’s short sermon: “To him [Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:43-46). Okay, here it is: Peter preached Jesus, and these hungry Gentiles fully believed the report, and because of their faith Jesus baptized them with the holy Ghost (Gal. 3:14). And it’s interesting to note here that the only way Peter and the brethren who accompanied him KNEW that these Gentiles had received the Spirit is, “For [because] they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.” It is just as noteworthy that this all Jewish group of believers “were astonished… because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
So what was so astonishing about what took place with Cornelius and his household? Well, first of all, before this time the only way any Gentile could be a partaker of the covenant of God was by becoming a Jew through circumcision and the law. Any Gentile had to convert to the law that God gave Israel in order to be in covenant with God. Otherwise they remained “strangers and foreigners” to the promises of God (Eph. 2:19). And it was equally astonishing because there was absolutely nobody who had received the holy Ghost to this point who had not first been water baptized, including the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8. What happened there at Cornelius’s house was truly a brand new thing in the earth, and the significance of it was and is of enormous importance to us. These Jewish believers had every reason under the sun to be astonished at what had just taken place before their eyes. But one thing is certain; these Gentiles were not baptized with the holy Ghost by Jesus by accident. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the only person who baptizes with the holy Ghost, and he does NOTHING accidentally. And he does NOT make mistakes either! So why DID Jesus bypass Peter’s instructions on the day of Pentecost regarding how to receive the holy Ghost? “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37,38). Yes my friend, any way you cut it, Jesus DID most assuredly BYPASS those instructions. In fact it is quite evident that Jesus made it A SPECIFIC POINT to baptize these Gentiles with his Spirit before Peter even had a CHANCE to baptize them with water. The point is clear. Water baptism was an ordinance of the law, regardless of the fact that it was given at the end of that dispensation (Mat. 3:15; Mat. 5:17). Someone commented on this point a few days ago and said that water baptism was NOT under the law, and that Jesus did nothing pertaining to the law when he was here. Are you serious? I mean, what Bible are you reading, to make a comment like that? Just read the two scriptures I referenced there, and that discussion is over very quickly. Do I really have to say, read them slowly and honestly? Here is the point of the whole matter: The law served the purpose of bringing the Jews to faith in Christ (Gal. 3:23-25). The Gentiles were NEVER UNDER the law to begin with, and Christ had already been manifested, and had already sent back from heaven the witness of all that he had done; which witness was and is the holy Ghost (Jn. 15:26; Heb. 10:12-15; I Jn. 5:6).
The holy Ghost was and is the promise of God that the old testament was pointing to, and which Jesus came to provide (Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:33; Gal. 3:14; Mk. 1:7,8). And lest some naysayer says, “No, JESUS was who and what the old testament was pointing to!” Awww, your kiddin?? “Now the Lord IS THAT SPIRIT” (II Cor. 3:17). With that issue clear, let’s go back to the apostle Paul’s revelation for the Gentiles. “Know ye therefore that they which are OF FAITH, the same are the children of Abraham… And the [ceremonial] law is not of faith” (Gal. 3:7,12). One does not have to have faith in order to be a partaker of a ceremony. That is what the apostle was saying, that the ceremonial law, which constituted the “middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile, was not an element of faith because it is something that can be done by sheer instrumentality of men. But being baptized with the holy Ghost with the sign from heaven of speaking in other tongues CANNOT happen EXCEPT through FAITH IN the death and resurrection of the Son of God who gave himself for us (Jn. 7:38, 39; I Pet. 3:21). So if we truly want to be “of faith,” and thereby be blessed as “the [true] children of Abraham,” then we need to put all of our eggs in that basket. The apostle Paul made it very clear that “ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, [who] is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:10). And he was every bit as clear on how we GET “in him:” “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body [of Christ]” (I Cor. 12:13). So getting back to Peter, it is perfectly understandable that after seeing his instructions overwritten by Jesus with Cornelius and company, he asked the question; “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” (Acts 2:47). He was astonished at what had happened, and his question was genuine. And his question was clear evidence that he did not know the answer. Neither did his friends. So instead of making a backward moving doctrine out of the fact that he DID go ahead and baptize them in water AFTER they received the Spirit, we should look to the scriptural fact that the apostle whom God ordained to the Gentiles [Paul] eventually arrived at the understanding that “Christ sent me NOT to baptize [in water], but to preach the gospel;” and that there is now ONLY “one baptism” (I Cor. 1:17; Eph. 3:5). I don’t know about you my friend, but I refuse to put ANY of my eggs in the basket that Jesus did not die and resurrect in order to establish. I will give all honor to Jesus and what he had to give his life for, and none to those things that only led the way TO him, and are now abolished (Gal. 3:3; Philip. 3:3; Eph. 2:14,15). Amen.
