We must understand that the Holy Ghost has different functions in the Scripture. There is the convicting the world of sin (John 16:8), the revealing and equipping function (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19, John 14:26; 16:13) and the saving function of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16, Titus 3:4-7). In Joel 2:28-32 it was prophesied that miraculous power from the Holy Ghost would come upon certain individuals in equipping them with miraculous gifts in the infant church (Acts 2- Jews, Acts 10:47- Gentiles). Peter preached the same plan of salvation that he preached on the Day of Pentecost in that there was no distinction between the way Jews and Gentiles were to be born again. Both groups were to hear and obey the same plan of salvation, which included believing Jesus as the Son of God, confessing and repenting of one's past sins, confessing the name of Jesus before men, and being immersed in water for the remission of sins. This involves the saving function of the Holy Ghost because He has told us what to do in order to contact the blood of Jesus Christ that can wash away our sins through the washing of water.
Ephesians 5:1 says “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” Who came and walked this earth, and who are we to imitate? Jesus! Not just WWJD, but Do What Jesus Did! Was Jesus water baptized? Yes! "I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am-so much greater that I'm not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire." Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said, "so why are you coming to me?" But Jesus said, "It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires [KJV- fulfill all righteousness]." So John agreed to baptize him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." (Matthew 3:11-17)
Notice how it says to fulfill all righteousness, now in Romans 5:1 we can see “Therefore, having been justified by faith [trust and commitment], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The definition of justified is to be declared or made righteous in the sight of God. So by our faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus we are made righteous before the Father. So to fulfill all righteousness one must be water baptized. The book of Acts is the blueprint of the church. Founded by the Apostles who walked with Jesus, and Paul who had a direct encounter with Jesus. Nowhere in this book did anyone who believed not get baptized and they did it almost immediately. They didn’t wait days, weeks or months! We see it in Acts 2, 8, 10, 16, 18, 19, 22. So why is water baptism even questioned? I have yet to see anyone who has fully surrendered to Jesus not be led to fulfill all that Jesus desires us to do. Why just dip your toe in the Kingdom? Jump in and be immersed in it all! Do what Jesus did!!! Hell shakes when that water breaks!!!
Water Baptism Scriptures:
Matthew 3:15
“But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.”
Matthew 28:19
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:9
“One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.”
Mark 16:16
“Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.”
Luke 3:21
“One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened,”
John 3:22
“Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.”
John 4:1-2
“Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did).”
Acts 2:38
“Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:41
“Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.”
Acts 8:12
“But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.”
Acts 8:13
“Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.”
Acts 8:16
“The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 8:36-38
“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.”
Acts 9:18
“Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.”
Acts 10:47-48
“Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.”
Acts 16:14-15
“One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.”
Acts 16:31-33
“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.”
Acts 18:8
“Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.”
Acts 19:4-5
“Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 22:16
“What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’”
Romans 6:3-4
“Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.”
Galatians 3:27
“And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.”
Ephesians 4:5-6
“There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”
Colossians 2:12
“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 3:18-21
“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Early Christian Writings on Water Baptism
Note what early Christians had to say about water baptism and being born again, and how their writings confirm what has already been revealed from Holy Scripture.
The early Christian, Justin Martyr (100-165 CE), wrote:
“Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water; for indeed Christ also said, ‘Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ And for this [baptism] we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father … And in the name of Jesus Christ… and in the name of the Holy Ghost… does he who has been enlightened receive his washing.”
Justin also wrote: “The ‘Constitutions of the Holy Apostles’ also refer to John 3:5. There, the one who refuses to be baptized is to be condemned as an unbeliever, partially on the basis of what Jesus told Nicodemus…. He that, out of contempt, will not be baptized, shall be condemned as an unbeliever, and shall be reproached as ungrateful and foolish. For the Lord says: ‘Except a man be baptized of water and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ And again: ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.'”
The early Christian, Ignatius (35-107 CE), wrote:
“Wherefore also, you appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that, by believing in His death, you may by baptism be made partakers of His resurrection.”
The early Christian, Irenaeus (130-202 CE), described how the healing of Naaman prefigured Christian baptism:
“And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
The early Christian, Hermas (100-150), wrote:
“And I said to him, I should like to continue my questions. Speak on, said he. And I said, I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins. He said to me, That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. Before a man bears the name of the Son of God he is dead; but when he receives the seal he lays aside his deadness, and obtains life. The seal, then, is the water: they descend into the water dead, and they arise alive.”
The early Christian, Cyprian (200 CE), wrote:
“But what a thing it is, to assert and contend that they who are not born in the Church can be the sons of God! For the blessed apostle sets forth and proves that baptism is that wherein the old man dies and the new man is born, saying, ‘He saved us by the washing of regeneration.’ But if regeneration is in the washing, that is, in baptism, how can heresy, which is not the spouse of Christ, generate sons to God by Christ?”
The early Christian, Theophilus of Antioch (181 CE), wrote:
“Moreover, those things which were created from the waters were blessed by God, so that this might also be a sign that men would at a future time receive repentance and remission of sins through water and the bath of regeneration all who proceed to the truth and are born again and receive a blessing from God.”
Chrysostom (347-407 CE), on the epistle to the Romans wrote:
“Baptism is a cross, and ‘our old self was crucified with him,’ for we were ‘united with him in a death like his’ and again, ‘we were buried therefore with him by baptism unto death.’…For as Christ died on the cross, so do we in baptism, not as the flesh but as to sin. Behold two deaths. He died as to the flesh. In our case, the old self was buried and the new self arose, made conformable to the likeness of his death….For baptism is nothing else than the putting to death of the baptized and his rising again.”
Water Baptism & Invitation to Communion
Early Christian historical records confirm how important water baptism was, not only as a sacrament involving one’s salvation, but also as a rite of initiation into the early church. For this reason, an unbaptized person was not allowed to partake of the wine and bread (the Eucharist or Communion), the Lord’s Supper.
The Didache, an early Christian document states:
“No one is to eat or drink of your Eucharist but those who have been baptized in the Name of the Lord; for the Lord’s own saying applies here, ‘Give not that which is holy unto dogs.'”
Justin Martyr (100-165 CE) also wrote concerning the Eucharist, that it only be dispensed to baptized believers:
“And this food by us is called the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but he who believes the truth of our doctrines; and who has been washed in the laver for forgiveness of sins, and to regeneration; and who so lives, as Christ has directed.”
These early Christian writings reveal the emphasis that the early church placed on being baptized, before partaking of the Communion. Certainly, no one off the street, or for that matter an unbeliever, would have been allowed to partake of the sacraments (the wine & bread), which is so common in churches today. To partake of Communion, one had to believe in the true doctrine. They would have also been washed (baptized) in the water for forgiveness of sins, and regenerated or born again. It was also expected that those partaking be living their lives as Christ directed.