If you read back over the Study With Me post last week, you will find a discussion of baptism and the prepositions involved in those passages. Some of you may immediately feel that it is too complex or detailed to worry about. But I would argue that there are some basic differences among Christians that stem for our interpretations of passages related to baptism.
Take Acts 2:38 for example, this passage reads: Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Some believe that the Holy Spirit and consequently salvation is received through baptism. That’s an important question. Did the Holy Spirit come to dwell in you when you trusted Christ or did he wait until you were baptized?
If you look at the chart I explained last week, you will see that the baptism Peter spoke about in Acts 2:38 is “into” forgiveness and is associated with repentance. If you’ll look through the other passages in the gospels you will notice that this was what John’s baptism was about. This baptism of Peter is not the same as Christian baptism, it is the same as John’s baptism.
But you might ask, Isn’t it all the same thing? Look with me at Acts 19:1-5. Paul asked the disciples if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They said they hadn’t even heard of the Holy Spirit and Paul asked them into what were you baptized. They said they had received John’s baptism. Paul then explained the difference and they were rebaptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. If it was an important distinction for Paul, it should be an important distinction for us.
More next time.
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