by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Matthew 28:18-20 says that Jesus declares that He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He commands His disciples to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He instructs them to teach others to obey everything He has commanded. He closes with the promise that He will always be with His followers, even to the end of the age.<\/p>\n
Now let’s analyze what is true and\u00a0what is not true in today’s controversy over whether water\u00a0<\/strong>is involved in this baptism, or whether\u00a0the disciples were to baptize with the Holy Spirit, as some contend today.<\/p>\n Only Jesus can “baptize with the Holy Spirit.<\/em>” John couldn’t do it, and neither could Jesus’ disciples. If they could impart some spiritual gift powers through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:13f), it was only until Scripture was fully revealed, and not every disciple was given miraculous powers of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:27-31; Acts 2:43).<\/p>\n Matthew 28:19 commands us to baptize every disciple. In fact, this baptism was part of the process of “making a disciple.” Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not for any purpose but to give miraculous power to reveal and confirm the words of the apostles and prophets (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:1-4).<\/p>\n Only Jesus could baptize with the Holy Spirit, and He did so from heaven. John admitted that he could only baptize with water, but said Jesus would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). He explains the fire in Matthew 3:12 as burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. That would end those who resisted the Spirit’s work. So, baptism with the Holy Spirit would get the church started on Pentecost, and baptism of fire would end the entire program of life in the flesh. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was the first demonstration of Jesus using His winnowing fan, or pitchfork, to throw up the grain for the wind (Spirit) to carry away the lighter chaff and let the heavier good grain fall to the floor.<\/p>\n This is exactly what you see the baptism of the Holy Spirit beginning to do on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The twelve witnesses, the apostles, were given “power from on hig<\/em>h” (Acts 1:6-8) and began speaking in tongues they had not learned, showing they did not self-produce these powers. This was the Holy Spirit, and this was Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. It was not to save <\/strong>the apostles, as they were already breathed on in John 20:20-22 and given His peace and His sanction to extend forgiveness to others. So, the demonstration from heaven was to empower them with the new Spirit revelations, with miraculous confirmation that God was clearly with them in their words and directions. The baptism Jesus performed here was “baptism of the Holy Spirit<\/em>“, which empowered the apostles (Acts 1:8). Not everyone on Pentecost was empowered this way. Only the apostles were doing these “signs and wonders<\/em>” (Acts 2:43).<\/p>\n The baptism of the Holy Spirit came directly from Jesus in heaven, and nobody else could do it. The proof of baptism of the Holy Spirit by Jesus was that it fell from heaven (where Jesus is) directly and demonstrated power<\/strong>. Jesus promised the apostles that if they believed, signs would follow them as they preached the gospel. They would do “all <\/strong>these signs<\/em>” (Mark 16:15-18), not just some of them: casting out demons, speaking new tongues, taking up serpents without harm, and even drinking deadly poison without harm, healing the sick, etc. These signs began following them, from Pentecost in Acts 2 forward, when Jesus “baptized them with the Holy Spirit<\/em>“.<\/p>\n So, power <\/strong>was always displayed to show that Jesus was baptizing with the Holy Spirit. But the Great Commission instructed disciples to make disciples and baptize them. Disciples cannot baptize with the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus did this, and there are only two recorded cases: Acts 2 and Acts 10.<\/p>\n The disciples can baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as they make other disciples. It is immersion done by divine authority, with heaven’s blessings. The power to save is in the gospel (Romans 1:16). So, preaching the gospel comes first in making a disciple of Christ, and baptism in the name of the Lord is the moment God wipes the disciple’s sins away. This is why the Ethiopian Eunuch said, “Here is water; What hinders me from being baptized?<\/em>” Philip did not correct him about baptism being immersion in water. Baptism is in water, but when it is done “in the name of the Lord<\/em>” (Acts 8:33f; 10:47-48), heaven’s blessings are applied. Thus, baptism in the name of the Lord is immersion in water in the name of the Lord. God never authorized us to think that there is magical power in the water, but there are blessings given in the name of the Lord when we bury the old self in baptism, unite our faith with Jesus’ death for sin, and rise up from the burial of baptism into the newness of life that He <\/strong>gives in this moment of faith (Romans 6:3-6).<\/p>\n The Ethiopian Eunuch knew there was a connection between submitting to Christ in baptism (water). He said, “Here is water<\/strong>! What hinders me from being baptized?<\/em>” (Acts 8:29-39). Here would have been a perfect time for Philip to tell him there was no more water baptism in play and that all there is now is Spirit baptism. But Philip and the Eunuch knew the truth: the Spirit leads to water baptism “in the name of the Lord<\/em>” for remission of sins. There is no Holy Spirit salvation that is disconnected from water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and the Lord does not give remission of sins apart from this commanded baptism in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38; 22:16). Holy Spirit baptism is what Jesus did, evidenced by miraculous power, signs, and wonders to equip His witnesses, and baptism in the name of the Lord is in water <\/strong>(Acts 10:47-48) for remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit give their blessings as a disciple immerses another disciple into heaven’s blessings with heaven’s authority. Only two cases of baptism with the Holy Spirit are recorded, and “every creature” immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by another disciple receives the salvation Jesus promised at this baptismal moment of faith-obedience.<\/p>\n No one in the first century merely “claimed” baptism in the Holy Spirit. They “demonstrated” it with signs. Jesus demonstrated that kind of baptism with miraculous signs (I Corinthians 2:2). He promised power <\/strong>and\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0it in the baptism itself (Acts 1:6-8; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46). The gospel was the sword of the Spirit to bring about conviction and conversion (Hebrews 4:12; Ephians 6:17f), and a disciple was always baptized by other disciples in water <\/strong>(Acts 8:29-39; 10:47-48) “in the name of the Lord<\/em>” (with the authority of God behind the action and attending that action with forgiveness of sins and entrance into all the spiritual blessings in Christ (Acts 2:38-41; 22:16; Galatians 3:26-27; Mark 16:15-16). The disciples knew God would cut away their sins in this moment of active faith (Colossians 2:12), and they always rose from baptism to “walk in newness of life<\/em>” (Romans 6:3-6). That is why baptism in the name of the Lord is the moment of the new birth, of being “born of water and <\/strong>Spirit<\/em>” (John 3:3-5). The Spirit guided the believer into submission in water in every case of baptism in the name of the Lord. So\u00a0those today who insist that baptism in the name of the Lord is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/strong>in water are being led by another kind of spirit (I Timothy 4:1f), not the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n The Holy Spirit leads to baptism in water done “in the name of the Lord<\/em>“.\u00a0Today, no one is being baptized in the Holy Spirit with displays of\u00a0power\u00a0<\/strong>as we saw in Acts 2 and Acts 10:44-46.\u00a0Deception is common today, but the true Holy Spirit teaches that there is now one <\/strong>baptism (Ephesians 4:4), the same one commanded in the name of the Lord to all nations and every creature (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:15-16). Every creature will continue to need this baptism, blessed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not everyone, even in the first century, received the\u00a0power\u00a0<\/strong>demonstrated when Jesus was baptized\u00a0in the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n So, the one baptism remains the one God blessed for all nations in making disciples. Have you come to Jesus in faith, repented, and been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins that He died to give you?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Matthew 28:18-20 says that Jesus declares that He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He commands His disciples to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He instructs them to teach others to obey…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-99000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":99000,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-boy-girl-relationships-not-advisable-at-a-young-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":99000,"position":1},"title":"Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age Answer: Youth is a time of impatient desires. They want the things available to adults, but adulthood seems so far away. The typical teenage boy enters puberty around the age of 11. The typical teenage girl enters puberty around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-lost-the-surprise-somewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":99000,"position":2},"title":"We Lost the Surprise Somewhere","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I remember watching Mayberry RFD and related shows most of my childhood. Poor ignorant Gomer Pyle who worked as an auto mechanic was a notable character. 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Answer: We were taught to pray, \"Give us this day our daily bread\" (Matthew 6:11), but God still commands us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":99000,"position":4},"title":"The Book of My Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 19:23-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each week the paper publishes its list of top selling books \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the books are biographies, fictional stories, or fiction placed in historical settings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They hope that others will also purchase the books, if for no other reason than curiosity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many author\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-passages-that-refer-to-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":99000,"position":5},"title":"Are there passages that refer to THE Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have been studying the Lord's supper issues and one of our main concerns is about a second offering in which only a few partake, for the reasons you listed in your article (not doing it together). 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Demonstration of Power<\/h2>\n