DOES WATER BAPTISM SAVE

Water Baptism

Water baptism is a ritual that is practised by nearly every Christian denomination. However, some denominations among those who observe this ritual do not hold to its biblical meaning, thereby perverting its purpose and implication in the life of a Christian. Lutherans teach that “Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God's command and connected with God's Word”; and that “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.” Similarly, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that baptism is the ordinary means of salvation; that it cleanses people not just of the original sin but also of their personal or actual sin, and allows them to be born again as children of God. According to Paragraph # 1213 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.” Paragraph # 1215 of the same catechism reads, “This sacrament is also called “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one “can enter the kingdom of God.”  

     All these assertions are utterly inconsistent with the Word of God on regeneration, and constitute a heresy that undermines the prerogative and the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit, who alone gives life. For water baptism does not wash away sin or set sinners free, nor does it bring them from death to life or turn them into children of God. Never can regeneration be effected by rituals and performances of man, never does it depend on the will of man. For children of God are “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The Lord Himself declares in John 6:63a, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” Water is not the source of life as the Roman Catholic Church claims in Paragraph 1218 of its catechism. God is the Fountain of life. It is God who, according to His tender mercies, graciously raises sinners from spiritual deadness and gives them life in the Spirit, thereby setting them free from their captivity to sin, death and Satan and making them heirs of His Kingdom. 

     Regeneration is a mystery that we cannot control or comprehend. Neither the will of man nor his power nor his efforts can bring about his new birth. Unless the Spirit of God, according to His sovereign grace, will and eternal purpose, moves within us and breaks our bonds, we can never experience the new birth. So says the Lord to His disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.” Regeneration is not the result of one’s decision to submit to a ritual, nor does it depend on human achievement; everything depends on God alone. God sovereignly chooses to give life to those who sit in darkness and are held captive by death and ruled over by Satan. And God’s choice does not depend on what we ourselves have done, but upon His mercies. For we all have sinned and our wages is death. Moreover, the Lord Almighty graciously draws us into this experience at His appointed time. According to the counsel of His will, the Spirit of God circumcises our hearts and implants within us faith in Christ Jesus the Son of God, and by this faith we are saved. Thus, the Lord Jesus declares in John 6:44, “No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him to Me; and I will raise him to life on the last day.” 

     Any denomination that teaches that water baptism regenerates or saves shows contempt for God’s sovereign will in election and usurps God’s prerogative and sovereignty in regeneration. For instance, Rome’s claim that water baptism is the sacrament of regeneration by which people are freed from sins and reborn as God’s children implies that every Roman Catholic who intends to be baptized with water knows in advance the time when his regeneration will take place: he decides when and where this should happen, and parents, in the case of an infant, decide on his behalf. Nothing is more heretical and deceptive than such an assertion. For the Lord God Almighty sovereignly initiates, at His own discretion, the call to salvation; He draws men to His Son at His appointed time. God and God alone plans and brings about our new birth, thus making us His children and heirs of His Kingdom.  

     The aim of this message is not only to rebut the claim that water baptism regenerates and saves, but also to sharpen our understanding of what water baptism really represents in the Christian life. However, to set the ground for this message, I will begin with a biblical definition of the term regeneration, followed by an exposition of the difference between the two types of Christian baptism, both of which are fundamental elements of life in union with Christ.  

What is Regeneration

Regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who, through the agency of God’s Word, according to His sovereign will and grace, convicts people of their sinfulness, of the coming judgement, and of their need for Christ at His appointed time, and implants in their hearts love for and faith in the Son of God. It is the circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 2:29), a circumcision that produces new desires, new will and new affections in the souls of God’s elect. For in their previous state, they, like the rest of mankind, were spiritually dead, hostile to God, unwilling and unable to submit to God’s law.  

     Therefore we must keep in mind that every person who responds with faith to the Word of God has been initially circumcised spiritually by the Holy Spirit and enabled by Him to desire and love the things of God. For by nature, we are all haters of God, scornful of His will and contemptuous of His sovereignty (cf. Romans 3:10-18). By nature we are inherently evil, spiritually dead. Being nothing but a dead corpse, the natural man does not and cannot seek for God, because there is no life in him; he has no power, no sensitivity at all. Being nothing but a scorner, he refuses to submit to God’s will; he reviles the Word of God, although it is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Being just a fool, he despises instruction and hates discipline (cf. Proverbs 12:1). He is full of pride and wise in his own eyes. The natural man despises the sovereignty of God and hates Him with all his faculties.

     Every human being is by nature a child of the devil; for pride, foolishness and rebelliousness are the fruit of his heart. As fallen creatures, we love darkness and are unable to come to the light. The experience of life in the Spirit is entirely the work of God. Paul testifies to this reality when he writes to the Christians in Ephesus and to us who are in Christ, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-7). 

     It is God Himself who quickens us, leads us to repentance and gives us faith to believe in His Son, by both softening our hearts of stone and equipping us with a new mind. He puts His Spirit within us, cleanses us from all our idols and impurities, and causes us to obey His precepts (cf. Ezekiel 36). God initiates the call of those whom He foreknew, and regenerates them according to His own schedule. No one can plan their own or anyone else's regeneration. No ritual or work of man can cause a person to be born again. Water baptism does not and cannot regenerate anyone. The story of Simon the Magician in Acts 8:9-24 testifies that water baptism does not regenerate. It is heretical to assert that through water baptism people become sons of God and receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Roman Catholic Church infringes upon the sovereignty of God by ascribing to water baptism the power to purify from all sin and the ability to give life in the Spirit. Likewise, Lutherans disregard God's exclusive prerogative to implant saving faith in the heart of man when they assert that water baptism regenerates.

     It is the Spirit of God who gives us life and makes us children of God by taking residence in us. What happened in the house of Cornelius in the Book of Acts is one among countless events related in the Bible that clearly reveal that the Holy Spirit is the exclusive Author of the new birth. The Spirit of God came upon Cornelius, his family and close friends as they were listening to Peter's preaching, and it was only after their regeneration by the Holy Spirit that Peter ordered them to be baptized with water (cf. Acts 10:34-48 & 11:15). 

     Regeneration is a sovereign and supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit accomplished through the instrumentality of God’s Word. The analogy made by the Lord in John 3 between the new birth and the movement of the wind makes it clear that the birth that we receive in the Spirit is something that happens outside the scope of human will, control, knowledge and power. Thus says the Lord Jesus in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We cannot understand the wind or control when the wind blows or where it goes, any more than we can understand or control the power of the Spirit who brings the dead back to life. Just as we can only see the effects of the wind around us, we can only perceive the evident work of the Holy Spirit in someone who is born of the Spirit. For everyone who is born of the Spirit surely bears the fruit of the Spirit. 

     It is plain to us that God alone controls the wind. Likewise, He sovereignly appoints us to eternal life and single-handedly brings about our regeneration (cf. Acts 13:48). According to His own schedule, the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts and seals us into the love of God; He quickens us and baptizes us into Christ in order that we may live by faith in God’s Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One’s baptism into Christ by the Holy Spirit is essential; for it sets the foundations for another type of baptism which all who are born of the Spirit must obligatorily receive, this being one of the ordinances prescribed by Christ to His Church. That is to say, baptism in Christianity can either refer to: one of the ordinances that the Lord Jesus commands His Church to observe (cf. Matthew 28:19) or to the circumcision of the heart (cf. John 3:5). The first is known as water baptism and the latter is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Both are important to the life of every Christian, but are administered by two different persons, for distinct but closely related purposes. Moreover, they do not take place simultaneously.

What is Water Baptism

Water baptism is the means by which we identify with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. It is a public affirmation of one’s faith in Christ, a testimony of one’s union to Christ. Water baptism symbolizes the death of the old self and the new life that we live in and for Christ. It follows spiritual baptism and serves to affirm the internal work of regeneration initially accomplished by the Holy Spirit. It is a ritual through which we declare publicly that we have turned from sin to our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we get baptized with water to show that we have been brought from death to life and adopted as children into the family of God by the Holy Spirit of love. For instance, when the Lord sent Peter to preach to Cornelius and to his household, the Spirit of God came upon them while they were listening to Peter. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:47-48a). 

     Water baptism, like the Lord’s Supper, is an ordinance given by the Lord Jesus Christ to His Church. From the beginning of His earthly ministry, He charged the Apostles to baptise new converts with water (cf. John 4:2). However, Christ’s ultimate delegation of this charge to the disciples happened after His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. The Lord appeared to His disciples, and before His ascension to glory He charged them to go and spread the Gospel everywhere on earth, to make disciples, to baptize those who would believe His message, and to teach them His precepts. Thus says the Lord in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” A parallel account to this pronouncement, commonly known as the Great Commission, is found in Mark 16:15-16, where the Lord commands His disciples, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” 

     However, to justify their heresy, many of those who claim that water baptism saves wrongly cite Mark 16:16. This verse is as clear as high noon, for it gives no supposition that anyone would be baptised who did not believe the Gospel. The order in which the words are employed – “Whoever believes and is baptized” – clearly underscores the existence of faith as preceding the act of immersion into water. That is, baptism is not done prior to the reception of the Word – to be baptized one must first believe the Gospel. Thus, he who lacks saving faith but receives baptism is not any different from his neighbor who neither believes the Gospel nor has received water baptism; for both are condemned, since they both reject the person and work of Christ. This is attested by the second clause of this verse, where the Lord speaks of condemnation. He says, “but whoever does not believe will be condemned”. Why did He not make any reference to baptism in this clause? Simply because water baptism, not being the means of salvation, its lack is not and cannot be the cause of one’s damnation. So therefore those who lack saving faith, though they are baptized, cannot escape damnation. But those who believe, even if they are not baptized with water, will be saved, as was the thief on the cross.

     Faith is the means of salvation and its lack the cause of man’s eternal ruin: those who receive the Gospel are saved, but those who reject it are condemned. This is clearly expressed not only in Mark 16:15-16 but also in other verses on the doctrine of salvation. Never has the Lord declared, either directly or through His messengers, that water baptism saves people. To be saved, one must receive the Word of God, one must believe in the person and work of Christ. Faith in Christ is the necessary preliminary to salvation. The Apostle Paul affirms this truth when he reminds the believers in Ephesus how they were saved. He writes, “In Him (i.e., Christ) you also, when you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). 

     Salvation is obtained only through faith in Christ and is graciously granted by God. And “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). So we must hear and believe the Gospel in order to be saved. Those who hear and believe what the Scriptures say about the person of Christ and His work are saved. But those who reject the Word of God (both written and incarnate) are not saved but condemned. What therefore leads to the condemnation of men is their unbelief in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son, it is their rejection of the Word of truth – which is the severest and most deadly sin – and not the fact that they did not receive water baptism.  

     No one can please God without saving faith, which is demonstrated by one’s acknowledgement of his sinfulness and inability to satisfy God's justice. He who has faith in Christ acknowledges his need for Christ, humbles himself before Him in repentance, and entrusts himself exclusively to Christ for the remission of his sins and peace with God. For saving faith is evidenced by genuine humility. So unless we believe the message of the cross – which is possible only through the sovereign grace of God and the activity of the Spirit of life who implants faith in our hearts – we cannot be saved. Thus, the Lord declares in John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Conversely, he who does not believe remains spiritually dead and cannot receive eternal life, but comes into judgement.

     We, believers, receive water baptism to proclaim our union with Christ our Lord and Saviour. Water baptism does not cleanse us inwardly nor does it save us. It is a testimony of our new birth and new life in Christ, which is wholly and exclusively accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 

     To assert that water baptism regenerates sinners is a distortion of the Word of God. This brings about destructive and eternal consequences both against the one who makes such a claim and those who are misled by it. It is illusive to teach people to submit to a ritual rather than to cry out to God, the Fountain of life. Regeneration is a work done by the Holy Spirit, work through which we are adopted into the family of God. And water baptism is simply a testimony to that inward transformation, to that new life in union with Christ, which only those chosen in Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world can experience. Water baptism has no value unless it is preceded by the transformation of the heart wrought by the Spirit of God – a transformation that results in repentance and faith in Christ. 

     When Peter stood in the midst of the multitude on the Day of Pentecost and accused the people of Israel for killing their Messiah, “they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). It is unmistakably clear that at that moment, upon hearing the message of Peter, these people were suddenly convicted by the Spirit of God and, with their hearts pierced, they turned to the Apostles to seek guidance. “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself” (v.38-39). V.40-41 reads, “And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” 

     This event which happened at Pentecost was marked by a sequence of acts: first there was spiritual conviction (“they were cut to the heart”), followed by repentance and faith (those who were convicted by the Holy Spirit “received his word”). That is to say, they repented of their sins and put their trust in Christ. And lastly they received water baptism (cf. v.41) to identify with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. So these people were first regenerated, like every genuine believer, before they were baptised with water. Their regeneration preceded their faith, i.e., their reception of the word that was preached – which is fruit of the Spirit – and water baptism was administered to them as a symbol of their new birth single-handedly wrought by the Holy Spirit.

The Onset of Water Baptism in Christianity

  Under the old covenant, some rituals of purification required people to immerse themselves in water or to bathe their bodies with water, to wash their feet, hands, and clothing, or to be sprinkled with water. These rituals could be performed repeatedly, not just once in a person’s lifetime. However, when Gentiles converted to Judaism, they received a one-time water baptism as a symbol of their adherence to the true faith. During his ministry, John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet and Christ’s forerunner, baptized God’s people in the Jordan River to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. Matthew 3:5-6 tells us that, “People came to [John] from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all the country near the River Jordan. They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan.” This rite which John performed under the old covenant is not identical to what is commanded under the new covenant, even though it is closely linked to it. Therefore, those who received John’s baptism and afterward turned to Christ in repentance and faith were baptized again with water in the name of the Lord Jesus (cf. Acts 19:1-5).

     In order to pinpoint the difference between the new covenant ordinance and the old covenant ritual, it is therefore critical for us to understand why John was baptising. John’s baptism was to point the nation Israel to the coming of her Savior; it was a baptism of preparation, “for the Kingdom of heaven [was] at hand” (Matthew 3:2). The Apostle Paul writes in Acts 19:4, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” But the sacrament of baptism was instituted by the Lord Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry as a sign of the new covenant, a symbol of the internal reality of rebirth brought about supernaturally by His Spirit. And it symbolises one’s death to sin and newness of life in Christ.  

     John was sent ahead of Christ the Saviour to prepare the way for Him. There is no doubt that John himself knew that the baptism he administered to those who came to him at the Jordan River was just an outward symbol of their repentance – a reality wrought by the Spirit of God. John knew that the people he was baptizing needed another form of baptism from someone greater than him. For John declares in Matthew 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” 

     John’s declaration underscores not only Christ’s exclusive authority to baptize with the Holy Spirit, but also the indispensableness of spiritual baptism for the removal of sins and the new birth. For water baptism does not cleanse sinners from their filths. The administration of water baptism without prior circumcision of the heart by the Spirit of Christ is simply what the Apostle Peter calls ‘the washing away of bodily dirt’. It does not bring about salvation, it avails nothing. Unless we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we will remain dead in our sins and trespasses and cannot inherit eternal life. For thus says the Lord in John 3:5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” 

     Many people, however, misconstrue this passage and falsely allege that water here refers to water baptism, and thus make the assertion that water baptism is a condition to salvation. The Lord uses the term 'water' here, not in its literal sense, but to refer to spiritual cleansing, to the purification of the soul by the Spirit through the Word of God (cf. Ezekiel 36:24-27). The same reality is expressed by Paul in Titus 3:5-7 when he writes, “[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  

     Salvation is graciously granted by the Sovereign Lord to those who put their trust in His Son. He “who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (Romans 4:17) purposes our redemption, accomplishes it for us, and applies it to us. He, “for Whom and by Whom all things exist” and by Whom the sons of men are brought to glory (cf. Hebrews 2:10), instituted water baptism as a symbol of man’s reconciliation to God. 

Who can Baptise with Water

The authority to baptize new converts has been given by Christ to the ministers of the Gospel. As the Head of the Church, Christ has instructed them to make disciples and to baptise them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, Roman Catholicism does not side with the truth, but extends this authority to those who do not belong to the body of Christ. It claims that even a non-Christian can baptise someone in case of emergency, provided the non-Christian has a good intent and pronounces the baptismal formula, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, and pours water on the person. 

     Rome’s viewpoint promotes an obscure assimilation that raises questions; for it disregards this commandment of the Lord to those who belong to Him, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16a). However, Rome’s disobedience to this command reveals its real identity; its assimilation with the world testifies that it does not serve the Truth but falsehood. Rome is not for Christ but against Him – as the Lord Himself says in John 14:21a, “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me.” 

     Moreover, Rome talks about emergency as if the death of a person could take the Lord by surprise, and that in this case another man had to step in and do what God could not do on time, i.e., turning the heart of a sinful man to God before the man is swept away by death. The Lord does not need anyone to build His Church, and even less the sons of disobedience. He is not constrained by time, but rather He controls time and does everything at the time and place He has appointed. God is never late nor early, because He is sovereign. “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose”, declares the Lord in Isaiah 46:9c-10.

     When our Lord was crucified, most of the people in the crowd, and quite possibly everyone present at Calvary, upon seeing the two thieves nailed to the cross next to our Lord, certainly thought it was too late for the two thieves. After all, they were at the door of death and were receiving the due reward of their lawless deeds. But we should never forget that at all times everything happens by divine decree. Nothing is left to chance or bad luck. Surely, everything at Calvary was taking place according to God’s definite plan at the time He had appointed. Although the sky above the heads of these two criminals looked gloomy, hope was not lost, at least for one of them, the one whom the Sovereign One had predestined for adoption before the creation of the world. 

     What man was there to help God rescue this thief from destruction? The answer is: Nobody. But the King of glory, in the twinkling of an eye, changed this man’s heart. He was a spiritually dead man and was about to depart from this world to face eternal torment in hell. But the Sovereign Lord sprinkled clean water on him and put a new spirit and a new heart within him, and instantly the man turned to His Maker and Savior and said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And He in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10) answered the man, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). But the other thief who was divinely appointed for wrath was given no rest. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!”, as Romans 11:33 says.

     The Lord is self-sufficient. He doesn't need anything nor does He need anyone to carry out His plans. He rules and reigns over all things. He fixes times and seasons by His own authority, and ordains the events and circumstances that govern the life of all things (cf. Matthew 10:29). Nothing can thwart His plan, nothing can prevent Him from bringing to glory those whom He chose as heirs of His Kingdom. Thus, declares the Lord in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Lord will raise from spiritual deadness all those He chose before time began and will seal them into His eternal love according to the counsel of His will and His perfect and definite plan.  

Who Should Receive Water Baptism

Christ instituted water baptism so that those whom the Father had predestined for adoption in eternity past, and for whom the Son died and who would be raised from spiritual death by the Holy Spirit, might identify with the Son in His death, burial, and resurrection. That is to say, water baptism must be administered to everyone who is brought from death to life by the Holy Spirit of grace and is led to repentance and faith in Christ, being justified “by the blood of His cross” (cf. Colossians 1:20). But today, more and more unregenerate people are being baptized with water, mainly because of the heresy of the Roman Catholic church and other denominations that teach that water baptism saves, but also as a result of the activity of false teachers whose hearts are trained in greed: they offer to the world a watered down version of the Gospel and a cheap Christianity that does not require a change of heart. They twist God's Word for their own evil purposes and preach a God who neither punishes sin nor hates the wicked. They make the Gospel palatable to those who love the darkness, thereby attracting to themselves huge crowds of carnal men and women. And as 2 Peter 2:19a says, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”

     Hell will be filled with people who received water baptism without being born of the Spirit, because they were told that water baptism was the means of salvation. The growing number of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and many other so-called Christians whose faith is founded on the destructive heresies they have embraced is astonishing. Not to mention that many of them have already left this world with their sins unforgiven. The world today is full of people who received the sacrament of baptism when they were young adolescents or children, but who now deny the faith they once professed and blaspheme the Truth. Such apostasy is proof that water baptism does not regenerate. Otherwise, they would have continued in the faith. For He who grants the gift of faith preserves all those united to Him by such faith. It is impossible for Him to lose them. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out”, says the Lord in John 6:37. V.39, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it up on the last day.” 

     The Lord cannot lose any of His sheep. He preserves His own to the end (cf. John 10:28-30). He who begins a good work in the  heart of sinful man brings it to completion (cf. Philippians 1:6). Such apostasy also shows that the new birth does not depend on human will, decision, or effort. Salvation is God’s sovereign work ((cf. Acts 2:47b). The natural man is both unwilling and unable to break the shackles that hold his soul captive. He is controlled by the flesh, and being double-blinded by Satan, he has no desire for the things of God – as the Lord says in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Whoever receives water baptism and denies the faith afterward shows therefore that he has never been of the Truth. His wandering away betrays the hardness of his heart and his hostility toward God and testifies that he has not been born of God (cf. 1 John 2:19). 

     The Spirit of Truth abides in those He regenerates “and causes [them] to walk in [His] statutes and be careful to obey [His] rules” (Ezekiel 36:27). If you are regenerated by the Spirit of grace, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” For all who are born again become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (1 Peter 1:4), and they no longer “walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). The Lord Himself affirms this in John 10:27-29 when He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

     Given the fact that water baptism is administered by man, access to it is very easy, especially nowadays. With the rise of false teachings and the proliferation of false churches across the world, many people receive this form of baptism because they have been told that it saves. Moreover, even in churches that are faithful to the Word of God, when it comes to the baptism of new converts, time is often needed to help determine whether the profession of faith made by someone at their baptism was genuine. For the circumcision of the heart, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, is a personal and invisible experience. No man can read the intention of the thoughts of his neighbour’s heart. For instance, Simon the magician’s response to Phililip’s preaching in Acts 8 at it first seemed genuine to Philip and other Samaritans, and so Simon too was baptized with water along with those who genuinely believed. But it was only later that the true condition of Simon’s heart was disclosed as he sought to “obtain the gift of God with money” (v.20).

     This explains why someone can be a member of a local church and yet not of Christ, but is nothing more than a child of the devil. Receiving water baptism in order to be part of a local congregation, holding a vital role in a church, or devoting oneself to serving others, does not make a person a member of the body of Christ. There is no union with Christ without the circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit and His indwelling presence – as it is written, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9b).

     Water baptism without a prior renewal of the head and heart carried out by the Holy Spirit avails nothing. We have as proof Simon the magician who, prior to the proclamation of the Gospel in Samaria by Philip, “had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed” (Acts 8:9-13). 

     Now when news reached Jerusalem that the people of Samaria had believed God’s Word, the Apostles sent Peter and John. Verse 15-17 reads, “When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” V.18-19 tells us that, “Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the Apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John, and said, ‘Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.’” 

     It is obvious that this magician was not regenerated. Although he was baptised with water like the genuine believers, the intent of his heart did not change at all but remained wicked; he was still a slave to sin. He partook of the sacrament of baptism despite the fact that he was not born of the Spirit. And since water baptism does not regenerate, he could not bear any fruit consistent with repentance. His persistent inclination toward evil exposed his hypocrisy; it revealed the shallowness of his faith, a faith that was motivated by purely selfish reasons (cf. v.19). 

     The unfruitfulness of Simon the magician confirms what the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 7:18, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” A contrast between Simon’s lack of spiritual fruit and the instantaneous yield of fruit by certain residents of Ephesus who, like Simon, were once firmly established in the arts of magic, but came to faith through Paul’s Spirit-empowered ministry, enables us to clearly understand this affirmation. Through signs and wonders and the preaching of the Word, the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified in Ephesus, “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:18-19). 

     A heart that is the throne room of iniquity cannot bear good fruit. It takes the circumcision of the heart of man and its pruning by the Holy Spirit for man to bear the fruit of righteousness. A person’s true identity is known by their fruit. The kind of fruit Simon bore thus revealed to the Apostles that he was a bad tree, one that had not undergone divine circumcision and pruning by the Spirit of truth. And in response to his sinful request (cf. v.19), the Apostle Peter then said to him, “May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God’s sight. Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that He will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this. For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin” (verse 20-23). 

     Anyone who receives water baptism without being regenerated by the Holy Spirit does so at his own peril. It should be noted, however, that given the fact that water baptism is a requirement for membership in many congregations, some carnal men whose hearts are trained in perversity go through water baptism to gain access to the sheep pen and the opportunity to move stealthily among the sheep, carrying out the deeds of their father the devil. In other words, water baptism has become a means through which some wolves conceal their identity and sneak into the church to cause dissensions and divisions among the sheep.

     The devil is a master of discord who likes to create strife among the children of God, and he does so through the agency of his own children. This explains why there is a growing number of carnal men and women who occupy the church pews or stand at the pulpit today. Like Simon the magician who received water baptism while he was still “in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:23), they partake of the sacrament of baptism purely for evil purposes.

     However, their presence in the church does not escape the sovereignty of the Lord: He has predetermined it. Moreover, He does not desire to oust them now, but to leave them until the day of harvest, as He clearly explains to us through the Parable of the wheat and the tares. According to this parable, these individuals are tares sown among the wheat by their father the devil (cf. Matthew 13:25). In other passages of the Bible, these sons of disobedience are called thorn bushes, goats dressed in sheep clothing, ferocious wolves who desire to devour the sheep. But when the King of glory returns, He “will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn” (v.30). Christ will cut down and throw into the fire every tree that does not bear good fruit (cf. Matthew 7:19); He will expose the hypocrisy of the goats and separate them from His sheep; He will put an end to the revelry and viciousness of the wolves and thrust them into the eternal hell of fire. The Great Shepherd knows His sheep: He chose them and bought them with His precious blood, and through His resurrection from the dead, they have “been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God” (1 Peter 1:23), being baptized by the Holy Spirit of love. 

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the act by which the Holy Spirit, at salvation's birth, unites God’s elect to the body of Christ by taking residence in them and empowers them for spiritual growth and perseverance in the faith. By this sovereign and supernatural act of God, the Holy Spirit brings us from spiritual deadness to life in the Spirit and produces in us repentance and faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Which means that our baptism by the Holy Spirit and the regeneration of our heart occur simultaneously. In other words, the moment the Holy Spirit takes residence in us, we become a new creation; the Spirit brings us forth in Christ and seals us into the family of God. We are therefore born of the Spirit through our baptism by the Spirit of Christ, and we are blessed with the gift of salvation the very moment that Christ baptizes us with His Spirit. 

     Baptism by the Holy Spirit is the mark of a genuine believer, the proof that someone is a new creation. There is no new creation, there is no new birth apart from the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God regenerates us through the instrumentality of God’s Word – as our Lord Jesus says in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Therefore, those who reject the Word of God remain spiritually dead; they cannot experience the new birth and are therefore condemned to eternal destruction – as the Lord Jesus declares in John 3:5, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

Who can Baptise with the Holy Spirit

The baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at conversion and precedes water baptism. And God alone has the prerogative, the authority and the power to baptise people with the Holy Spirit. As the Author of life, God regenerates those He predestined for adoption by baptizing them with His Spirit. By the baptism of the Spirit, they receive a new nature (the divine nature), and this new nature is evidenced by their repentance and faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Which means that regeneration precedes faith. And faith is a gift of God implanted in the hearts of God's elect at the time of their regeneration. So the Lord baptises us with the Holy Spirit, leads us to repentance and gives us faith to believe in Him, and He also seals us into His eternal love. 

     No one but God baptises with the Spirit – the Holy Spirit comes down from above. For instance, when Peter was preaching the Good News to Cornelius and his family and close friends, it is written in Acts 10:44, “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message.” Verse 48a reads, “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” So, through the instrumentality of the Word of God preached by Peter, the Holy Spirit regenerated these people and they began to speak in tongues and to glorify God (cf. v.46). And Peter, a witness of their conversion, ordered them to be baptised with water. 

     There are many false teachers and so-called prophets and apostles today who revile the Spirit of grace by claiming to wield the power to baptise with the Spirit – a prerogative that belongs exclusively to God. These are children of the devil, enemies of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, devoted to the work of their father the devil. They lay their hands on people and cause them to fall into an ecstatic state, and then spuriously ascribe their satanic schemes to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a force that man can draw upon or manipulate as he pleases, nor is He a violent being who knocks people down. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Triune God: He is one in essence with the Father and the Son, and equal with Them in character. He is God and therefore sovereign. Moreover, the Holy Spirit is so gentle that when He descended upon the Son of God at His baptism He had the appearance of a dove. 

     The activity of these so-called miracle workers is therefore an utter blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. For the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an exclusive prerogative of Christ. No one but Christ has the authority and the power to baptise with the Holy Spirit. In John 1:32-34, John the Baptist asserts Christ’s exclusive authority to baptise with the Holy Spirit when he gives this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on Him. I still did not know that He was the One, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen it,’ said John, ‘and I tell you that He is the Son of God.’” 

     In the Old Testament, the Lord promised to make a new covenant with His people – not like the covenant He once made with their fathers and to which they were unfaithful, but a covenant which they would not break. For God Himself would see to it: the keeping of this new covenant by the people of God would be attained thanks to the circumcision of their heart by the Lord. Through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God would put an end to the hardness of their heart and cause them to walk according to His precepts. Furthermore, in His steadfast love, God promised that He would forgive their iniquities and cancel their guilt. Jeremiah 31:31-34 reads, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. ‘For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD: ‘I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember’.”  

     Ezekiel 11:17-20 gives us a promise parallel to that made by God in Jeremiah. It reads, “This is what the LORD God says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.’” 

     God's promise in the Old Testament to circumcise the heart of men and to blot out their sins is not limited to the people of Israel but is extended also to those outside of the Mosaic covenant. The Lord promised in Joel 2:28-32, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” In Isaiah 44:3-5 the Lord declares, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” 

     Before His crucifixion, followed by His resurrection and ascension to glory, the Lord Jesus promised His disciples the coming of the Holy Spirit, saying, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:16-20). Christ had been with His disciples physically during His earthly ministry and would be in them at the coming of the Spirit of promise. For the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, sent by Christ to bear witness about Christ – as Christ Himself says in John 15:26, “when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.”

     On the Day of Pentecost the Lord fulfilled the promise He made to His disciples – “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). This was the first instance where the Holy Spirit came upon many believers at once, about 120 Jewish believers who were gathered together in one place. This primary event, which marked the transition from Israel to the Church, is an expression of God’s design to ensure the faithfulness of His people to the new covenant He has made with them, a covenant sealed with the precious blood of His own Son. It was followed by similar instances which involved Samaritan and Gentile believers. In Acts 8, the Samaritans who received the Word of God spoken by Philip also received the Holy Spirit when Peter and John – sent from Jerusalem by their fellow Apostles when they heard that Samaria had received the Word of God – laid their hands on them after an offering of prayer to God. In Acts 10, the Lord poured out His Spirit on Cornelius, his relatives and close friends – these were all Gentiles – while Peter was preaching the Word of God to them. All these events are a partial fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. For Joel’s prophecy will be completely fulfilled at the return of Christ, when He comes to establish His millennial Kingdom.

     The Lord is the pillar and sure foundation of His Church. He has charged His followers to make disciples through the preaching and teaching of His word and to baptize them with water. But no one but Christ Himself has the prerogative, the power, and the authority to seal sinners into the family of God. The Lord is the One who baptizes sinners into His body; He baptizes sinners with His Spirit according to His definite plan and the riches of His grace. 

Who Can Receive the Holy Spirit

Unlike water baptism, which can be accessed by almost everyone, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is exclusively for God’s elect. It is administered by God to those whom He chose in eternity passed as an inheritance to His Son, according to the riches of His grace. Before the foundation of the world, God chose many men and women as a love gift for His Son. But all of them, like the rest of mankind, were short of the glory of God, because of their enslavement to sin. But in the fullness of His love for them, God purposed their redemption. And when the time appointed by God to purchase them came, the Son took on flesh and came into the world, being sent by the Father. The Son then lived and died as their substitute, thereby cancelling their guilt and setting them free from sin, death, Satan, and divine wrath. After His resurrection from the dead and His ascension to glory, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father, the Son sent the Holy Spirit to infuse their souls with life. 

     The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a precious jewel with which Christ the Lord arrays the souls of those who belong to Him; it is the gift of God’s Beloved to His bride the Church. Christ pours out His Spirit on those given to Him by the Father and for whom He died. Through the outpouring of His Spirit, Christ gives a new mind and a new heart to His elect and makes them all partakers of the divine nature and members of one body (the body of Christ), thereby setting them apart for Himself, the Lord their God. Thus, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” 

     The Triune God works in perfect unity, harmony and love, and with great fervency, condescension and transcendency to complete our salvation – as it is written, “Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30). In eternity past, God chose to bestow His love on some men and women and to make them a people of His own possession. These He draws to Himself, establishes an intimate relationship with them, and conforms them to the image of His own Son. And through the righteousness of the Son, which is graciously imputed to them, they obtain pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin and are treated by God as righteous. Now the day is coming when God will glorify them all.  

Why is the Baptism of the Spirit so Important

As the Lord neared the end of His ministry on earth, He said to the disciples in John 16:5, “Now I am going to Him who sent Me”, referring to His ascension to the Father who sent Him, which occurred after His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. Then in v.7 He said to them, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” This declaration which came from the very mouth of our Lord highlights the indispensableness of His ascension to glory: in His incarnation, Christ had suffered humiliation – “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). After He had finished the work that the Father gave Him to do, it was thus necessary that He should return to the glory that He shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit from before the foundation of the world until His incarnation. In other words, it was essential that Christ be glorified; for only then could He send the Holy Spirit to apply the work that Christ had accomplished to those for whom He died. While on earth, Christ dwelled with His disciples and would be in them after His ascension to glory and the coming of the Spirit of truth (cf.Jean 14:16-17) to finish the glorious work He began in them.

     The baptism of the Holy Spirit is what defines the identity of God’s elect. It is the baptism of regeneration, the mark of Christ's ownership over those whom God, before the foundation of the world, predestined for adoption as sons. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we remain spiritually dead, alienated from God and hostile toward Him. In our natural state, there is no fear of God before our eyes nor do we seek to please Him, but rather we seek to please our flesh; for we are driven by sinful passions, are ruled over by Satan and are held by the sting of death. Through the baptism of regeneration also known as spiritual baptism, the Spirit of the Lord takes residence in us and at that moment raises us from spiritual deadness; He makes us partakers of the divine nature, grants us the free gift of faith in Christ the Redeemer, and unites us to the family of God. The Spirit of Christ breaks our bonds of corruption and frees us from the dominion of Satan by giving us a new mind and a new heart filled with godly desires, reverence, and love for God and the things of God. He causes our heart to magnify the Lord our Savior, and our spirit to rejoice in the glory of His grace. For enmity is replaced by love, as a result of our new birth. For “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). Therefore, we worship the Lord our God and glory in Him. 

     The baptism of the Holy Spirit is what seals our union with Christ; it is in fact what makes us Christians – as the Scripture says, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9b). The Spirit quickens us and enables us for all good works and perseverance in the faith. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us is what distinguishes us from the rest of mankind, that is, those who adhere to the religions of this world, the system of evil ruled by Satan, and those who profess faith in Christ but are not born of the Spirit. These are alienated from God; for they are of the flesh – “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8). “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” (v.5a), and “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot” (v.7). Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, even if he professes to be a Christian, does not belong to Christ and therefore cannot enter His Kingdom. For “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

     To enter the Kingdom of Christ, we must be baptised by His Spirit. For it is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit that sinners are regenerated and led to repentance and faith in Christ. And it is through genuine repentance and faith that forgiveness of sins is graciously granted to us by God on the basis of the person and work of His Son Jesus Christ – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Not only are we unable, because of our corrupt nature, to live to the standard of perfect holiness set for us by God, but also we are unable to satisfy God’s righteous demand for justice; for we are not capable to propitiate His wrath which is kindled by our countless transgressions – as it is written, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). Moreover, the blood of animals cannot atone for our sins (cf. Hebrews 10:4), any more than filthy human blood. Only the blood of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, can expiate our sins. His righteousness is graciously imputed to us through the faith implanted in our heart by His Spirit at our new birth, and through this faith, which is a gift of God, we are saved and thereby receive access to the Kingdom of God.  

     The Spirit of the Lord not only regenerates us and seals us forever into the love of God, but He also sanctifies us. He gradually refines us to conform us to the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Spirit of the Lord infuses in our hearts hatred for sin, He fills us with reverence for God, and causes us to pursue holiness. He works in us to subdue the sinful passions of the flesh, and causes us to obey God's law and to submit to His sovereign rule. Without the Spirit of grace we cannot overcome the evilness of the flesh. For by nature, our hearts are inclined towards the desires of the flesh, and we do not possess within ourselves the strength to overcome those desires, nor do we desire by nature to overcome them. As already quoted, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” The flesh, that is, our sin nature, is constantly at war against the things of God. The Spirit also bears witness about Christ (cf. John 15:26), and teaches us everything we need to know about God. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Moreover, the Spirit of the Lord convicts us of our sins, not only at our new birth, but also on a daily basis and brings us on our knees. 

     The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the cleansing of the heart which the Sovereign Lord talks about in Ezekiel 36:25-27 – “I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that defiled you. I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and I will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you.” It must be noted, however, that although the Lord uses the word ‘water’ in this verse, He is not referring to water baptism or literal water but to living water, used as a symbol for the gift of God’s Spirit to His people for their inward cleansing, for the circumcision of their hearts – just as in John 7:38 the Lord also says, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’”, referring to the Holy Spirit (cf. v.39). Along the same lines, when Peter speaks of the baptism that saves in 1 Peter 3:21, he makes it clear that he is not talking about “the washing away of bodily dirt”. 

     The Lord must baptise us with His Spirit in order to change the inclination of our heart, because in our natural condition “every intent of the thoughts of [our] heart [is] only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). And we are unwilling and unable to free ourselves from this bondage. Thus to make known to us our inability to turn from evil and our utter unwillingness to do good, the Lord asks this rhetorical question through the mouth of His prophet in Jeremiah 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” We cannot change our sinful nature; for we are by nature slaves to sin, we are hell bound, separated from God by our iniquity. We despise the sovereignty of the Lord and revile His Word because it exposes our nakedness and wickedness. For man to turn from his sins to Christ, he must first undergo a radical head and heart surgery; God Himself must first give him a new heart and a new mind. Otherwise he will never understand the cruel and deadly nature of sin, nor acknowledge his spiritual poverty and his need for Christ the Savior, nor will he trust in Him for salvation. For he is blind to the Truth and dead to the things of the Spirit. Through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God convicts us of our sinfulness, of the coming judgement and of our need for Christ, and enables us to turn to Him in repentance and faith, to accept His Word, and submit to His sovereignty.

     There is no genuine repentance and faith without the quickening of the soul by the Holy Spirit. Therefore a man without the Spirit of Christ remains at enmity with God and cannot submit to God. Even if he spends eternity under the preaching of the Gospel, he can never receive it; for, being driven by his lustful desires and held captive by Satan, he hates God with all his faculties. For instance, there was a great multitude on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching the Gospel in Acts 2; about three thousand persons believed and were baptized. These were those whose hearts were instantly quickened by the Holy Spirit as the message of the cross was being proclaimed by Peter. The Spirit of God took away their blindness and opened their hearts to believe through the instrumentality of the Word of life preached by Peter. These people then received water baptism to testify to this internal transformation initially accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 

     Without the powerful, transforming work of the Spirit of God, none of these men would have turned to Christ. And that’s what we see a few chapters after. By contrast to what happened in Acts 2 at Peter’s preaching, where God added about three thousand souls to His Church, Acts 6 & 7 paint for us a vivid picture of the callosity of the heart of man and his utter blindness and hostility to the things of God. Through signs and wonders, Stephen was bearing witness to the resurrected Christ. But he encountered opposition from some religious groups who reacted to his preaching with hostility, for they were all blind and spiritually dead. According to Acts 6:8-10, “Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” Therefore, they conspired and secretly instigated some men who falsely accused Stephen of blasphemy against God and Moses, thus stirring up the people and the Jewish religious leaders who came upon Stephen and seized him and brought him before the council. And there “they set up false witnesses” against him (cf. v.11-14). 

     However, the conspiracy of the people and their religious leaders did not deter Stephen, but with boldness he delivered before the council an irrefutable and detailed defense of the Christian faith from the OT and ended his speech with an indictment of the Jewish leaders whom he condemned for rejecting Christ. Acts 7:54 tells us, “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.” V.55-58, “But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” 

     No one through the ages or today has been able to turn to Christ, and no one will ever turn to Christ, without being drawn to Him by the Spirit of grace. For saving faith is not inherent to us, but is a gift of God implanted in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit at salvation’s birth. And by contrast to the religions of this world which are man-made, man-centered and which offer salvation by works, Christianity is a God-made, God-centered, faith-based religion – as it is written in Hebrews 11:6, “No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek Him.” 

     Faith is the crucial element to restoring our relationship with God. No feat or ritual ceremony, no amount of man’s good works can ensure his entrance into the Kingdom of God. The only work required by God is the work of faith: we must “believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). We must believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ the Son of God in order to be justified before God. For God sent His Son into this world, and He died for our sins, so that through Him we might be reconciled to God. Through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, God’s requirement for justice has been satisfied for all who would ever believe on Him – as the Lord says in v.40, “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life.” V.47, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” By virtue of his faith, such is counted by God as righteous; the wrath of the Holy One no longer remains on him. For to him the righteousness of Christ is imputed as a gift on the basis of faith.  

     Salvation is a gift that God graciously grants according to the counsel of His will to those who have faith in His Son Jesus Christ. If anyone clings to anything other than the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Christ, his guilt remains and the wrath of God will come upon him. “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:10-11). Romans 4:4-5 reads, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” 

     No human achievement can bring about the new birth, any more than water baptism. Perhaps you have received water baptism or are planning to get baptised because you have been told that it saves. I plead with you, turn away from this heresy, lest you be overtaken by darkness and the wrath of the Holy One be unleashed upon you. Run to Christ – the Righteous One who forgives sins and gives life to sinners. He gives the right to become a child of God to everyone who believes on Him (John 1:12). I beseech you therefore to repent of your sins today and to put your trust in Christ. He will take away all your sins and clothe you with His garment of peace, and you will be justified before God and made heir of His Kingdom. 

     Today is the day of salvation, the day to receive grace from God, the only Dispenser of grace. Do not delay, lest it be too late for you. For the day of wrath is coming, when the King of glory will return to judge the world. On that day He will withdraw His hand of mercy, and from His mouth will come a sharp sword with which He will strike His enemies. He shall say to anyone who has not turned to Him in repentance and faith, “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out My hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all My counsel, and would have none of My rebuke” (Proverbs 1:24-25), “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Psalms 2:12 gives to all this warning, “Kiss the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”