Baptized Again
by Edwin Crozier
Apollos had been corrected. But his former influence was still felt in Ephesus after he left. In Acts 19:1-7, Paul came to Ephesus. He found some disciples–though we will discover this term is used accommodatively here–who had clearly been taught by Apollos or his former ilk.
Paul asked if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. Their response completely shocked him. “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Recognizing this, Paul’s next question followed from this extreme statement. Remember what John the Baptist had taught about the difference between the baptism he promoted and the baptism of the One he was pointing to.
"After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:7-8 ESV).
How could one be baptized into Jesus’s baptism and not even have heard that there is a Holy Spirit? Paul’s question was not prompted by the mere assertion that they had not received the Holy Spirit. After all, back in Acts 8:14-17, Samaritans had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus but had not received the Holy Spirit until apostles came and laid hands on them. But these men hadn’t even heard of the Holy Spirit. Since the baptism of Jesus Christ is a birth of water and Spirit (see John 3:1-8), one simply can’t be baptized in the name of Jesus without knowing about the Holy Spirit. But one can be baptized in the name of Jesus without receiving the Spirit in the sense meant in Acts 8:14-17 and Acts 19:2.
When the men said they were baptized into John’s baptism, Paul didn’t retrofit their previous baptisms with the teaching about baptism in Jesus’s name. Instead, he taught them the way of the Lord more accurately, and these men were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Interestingly, though, baptism in Jesus’s name for the remission of sins means they received the “gift of the Spirit,” as Acts 2:38 says. It did not mean they received the Holy Spirit in the sense of having miraculous gifts. That didn’t happen until, as in Acts 8:14-17, the apostle laid his hands on them.
I imagine you want to dig deep into the Holy Spirit aspect of this right now. And there is a time and place for that, no doubt. But I want to focus more on a simple pragmatic point. The twelve men had been through something called baptism. But it was not baptism in Jesus’s name. It was not the baptism Jesus authorized and commanded. So they needed to be baptized…not again, but for the first time. Oh, sure, they were immersed in water again. In that sense, we might call it "being baptized again." But it wasn’t being baptized in Jesus’s name again. That only happens once. And they hadn’t done it. They needed to.
Being baptized in Jesus’s name includes some things. It is a birth of water and spirit (John 3:5-8). This means the Spirit is involved (Acts 2:38; 19:1-3), but it also involves immersion in water (Acts 10:47-48). It is a burial (Romans 6:3-4). It is a response from faith (Mark 16:15-16). It is based on repentance (Acts 2:38). It is accompanied by confession of Jesus’s Lordship (Romans 10:8-10). It is for the purpose of remitting sins (Acts 2:38). Many preachers, like Apollos, have been eloquent, fervent, competent in Scripture, knowing the way of Jesus accurately, but knew only some baptism other than the one Jesus authorized. That leaves people in the exact same state as these twelve men. It leaves them outside of Christ. It leaves them outside of His death. It leaves them outside of His forgiveness. It leaves them outside of His salvation. It leaves them needing to do exactly what these men did. It leaves them needing to be baptized in the name of Jesus.
Yes, yes, I know God can save people however He wants. Yes, God might make exceptions in exceptional circumstances. Yes, I’m sure you can come up with a hypothetical situation in which even I might say God would save the person without baptism…maybe. But notice these men didn’t rely on potential exceptions, and Paul didn’t encourage them to hope in exceptionalism. He taught them to do what Jesus commanded, and they did it. Have you?
