The baptism of the Holy Spirit was never a command to be obeyed but a promise to be received (Acts 1:4-5). No one was ever told to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit never saved anyone. When the angel appeared to Cornelius and told him to send for Peter, he did not say that “you will be saved when the Holy Spirit comes on you” He said, “He (Peter) will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household’” (Acts 11:14). The message Peter preached was the gospel which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). When Cornelius and his household were baptized, they obeyed the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8). I Corinthians 15:1-4 gave the fundamental facts of the gospel which are, (1) The death of Christ, (2) The burial of Christ, and (3) The resurrection of Christ. A person is saved when he dies to his sins, buries the old man of sin in the water of baptism, and is raised from that burial to walk a new life (Romans 6:3-4).
Wayne Burger
Other measures of the Spirit’s power, next week
The Great Commission Baptism
Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel to the whole world and to baptize them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20). Two facts are necessary for baptism to be an acceptable baptism:
The Form of It. The Three D’s of Baptism: (1) Definition: to dip, to plunge, to immerse (Thayer’s Lexicon), (2) Description: a burial (Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-4), (3) Demonstration: “they both went down into the water,” (Acts 8:38).
The Purpose of It: (1) To obtain forgiveness of sin ,(Acts 2:38), (2) To wash away one’s sins (Acts 22:16), (3) To get into a spiritual relationship with Christ, (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27), (4) To be saved, (I Peter 3:21), (5) To enable God to add us to the church, (Acts 2:41, 47; I Corinthians 12:13).
The Conclusions Drawn: (1) Sprinkling and pouring of water is not baptism, (2) Baptism by immersion is not to show that one is already saved. Have You Been Baptized Correctly???
Wayne Burger