The "One Baptism" is Water Baptism

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:1-5).

Modern evangelicals see Paul’s “one baptism” in Ephesians 4:5 as Holy Spirit baptism, but there should be no doubt that he means water baptism. My reasons for saying this come down to what the passage itself says, what the Bible teaches elsewhere about Spirit baptism, and what the Bible teaches elsewhere about water baptism.

In the text in question, Paul’s obvious point is unity wherein he tells his readers to “diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (V. 3). He then catalogs seven great features of the faith in which all Christians are united: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, and one Father, God. That there is only one of each emphasizes the unifying nature of the Faith. All Christian serve one Father. All Christians are called to one and the same hope. All Christians make up the one and same body (church), and all Christians share in one baptism—water baptism. But how do we know it is water baptism?

THE REDUNDANCY PROBLEM

First, Paul already lists the Holy Spirit in verse 3—“one Spirit,” so baptism of the Spirit would be redundant. Biblically, a baptism means an immersion, and the concept of being “baptized in the Spirit” means being immersed into the Holy Spirit. It is the idea of being figuratively overwhelmed or plunged into the Spirit Himself. John the baptizer first used this terminology as a parallel to literal immersion into water (Matthew 3:11). The idea was that just as people were being plunged into water, they would also be plunged into the Spirit. Though the Greek can also be translated, "I baptize you with water/Holy Spirit, it ultimately means the same thing--John immersed people into water, and Jesus would immerse people into the Holy Spirit. To my point of redundancy, therefore, Paul would be writing in Ephesians 4:3 that all the Lord’s people are united in the Holy Spirit, only to go on to write how all the Lord’s people are united by being immersed in the Holy Spirit. The redundancy makes "baptism of the Spirit" unlikely.

BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT TERMINOLOGY IS RARE

The distinct terminology of being baptized into the Spirit is rare in the New Testament. Yet, there are other ways the spiritual phenomenon is described, such as the Spirit being “poured out” (Acts 3:33), “falling” (Acts 10:44), and being "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Speaking of it with the terminology of “immersion” (baptism) in the Spirit is really only used by John the baptizer (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33), once by Jesus who alludes to John’s use of it (Acts 1:5), and once by Peter who recites that one instance by Jesus (Acts 11:16). Even more importantly, when a “baptism” is discussed in the New Testament with specific contextual details that pinpoint the kind of baptism being addressed, far and away it is water baptism. Water baptism the dominant baptism discussed in the Bible. Thus, there is a burden of proof for those who hold Spirit baptism to be the meaning for uses of “baptism” when no specific qualifier is used.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:13

It is believed by many that 1 Corinthians 12:13 references Spirit baptism, but a careful look at the wording reveals that this is not so evident. It says, “For also by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” The verse speaks of being baptized “into one body”; not “into the Spirit.”

The grammar behind the text adds some ambiguity considering that the phrase "by one Spirit" can be legitimately translated "in one Spirit" and even "with one Spirit," and debate ensues among the scholars and theologians. The historical view is that Paul is speaking about water baptism. The modern evangelical view sees it as Spirit baptism.

To be fair, even though the text as worded doesn't speak of baptism into the Spirit, if it were true that all Christians experience Spirit baptism then it can still be true that Paul has Spirit baptism in mind. The idea would be that all Christians are immersed in the Spirit, become members of the one church, and therefore, "in one Spirit" all Christians by immersion are brought into a unified body of people (the church). The problem is, as will be discussed further below, not all Christians experience the baptism of the Spirit according to the New Testament. On the other hand, it is undisputed that all Christians are water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Thus from the Holy Spirit's work through the Gospel in conversion, sinners are lead to be water baptized in the name of Jesus, and as a result of this immersion they are brought into a unified body.

As a matter of the Greek grammar, it is very unlikely that "by one Spirit" is the correct translation despite being what most translators choose (see Daniel Wallace, Biblical Greek Beyond the Basics; pgs 374-375). "In one Spirit" is far more probable, and the meaning would be through the means of one Spirit. This works well with the context where Paul discusses the various gifts the Spirit has distributed to the Christians in Corinth. The phrases, "in Spirit" (v. 3), "in the one Spirit" and "in the same Spirit," (v. 9), and "in the one and same Spirit" (v. 11), are all used interchangeably with"through the Spirit" (using the Greek word for "through") and "according to the same Spirit" (v. 8). The gifts were all given by God (v. 6) through the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the whole church.

The Spirit's work here is being juxtaposed to how the Corinthians were formerly led in various ways to idolatry as pagans (v. 2). Paul is saying that people are led to Christ in one way--the Holy Spirit (v. 3), and the ministry of gifts within the church is led by the same Spirit. The New Testament teaches that (true) Christianity is a Spirit-led movement. The Spirit of Christ worked in the apostles of Christ, prophets, and other inspired men to spread the gospel, and the Spirit continues to work to this day through the same Gospel. To be born again through the word of God (1 Peter 1:23) is to be born of the Spirit (John 3:6) because the Spirit is behind the message (2 Peter 1:21). Paul says in verse 2 of the context that the Spirit is how anyone confesses Christ as Lord, and we know that it's the Gospel that produces faith in Christ (Romans 10:17). Since the Spirit works through the Gospel converting sinners, teaching them to be believe and be baptized in water, then as a result it's "through the means of one Spirit that we are all immersed into one body."

Ultimately, it cannot be determined with certainty from 1 Corinthians 12:13 by itself which baptism is under consideration, but from the other factors discussed in this article, water baptism is the better option.

HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM IS RARE

As stated earlier, Spirit baptism was an uncommon experience of the early Church according to the New Testament record. Christians today believe that every Christian is baptized by the Spirit because the Bible teaches every believer “has the Spirit” (Romans 8:9), but “having the Spirit” and being baptized in the Spirit are not necessarily one and the same thing. In other words, a Christian can "have the Spirit" in more than one sense. After all, the apostles "received the Spirit" from Jesus in John 20:22 before their baptism in the Spirit in Act 2. The Spirit baptism in Acts is a distinct experience with visual or audible miraculous features such as "speaking in tongues (Acts 2:1-6; 10:44-46), and these features do not occur in the experience of the majority of modern Christians as they themselves concede.

Actually, the baptism of the Spirit only occurs twice. The first is in Acts 2, and careful attention shows that only the twelve apostles were baptized in the Spirit and not, as many suppose, the whole one hundred and twenty disciples from Acts 1. True, the 120 were with the apostles in 1:15, but the focus is on the eleven apostles choosing a replacement for Judas. The last line in chapter 1 mentions the "twelve," and the "they" and "them" who are subsequently baptized in the Spirit and speaking in tongues at the beginning of chapter 2 refer back to the apostles. In verse 7, the observers ask, "Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans," which refers to the apostles. Verse 14 tells us Peter stands up "with the eleven," and then in verse 37, the response to Peter's sermon is to "Peter and the rest of the apostles."

In Acts 8:14-18, we can read that the “many” converts to Christ in Samaria had not been baptized in the Spirit though they were saved believers. They did not receive the Spirit until the apostles came and put their hands on them. So, at the least, it must be admitted that Christians can evidently be saved while not having experienced the baptism of the Spirit.

Note that when they "received the Spirit" from the apostle's hands, this is not called a "baptism in the Spirit." Actually, the Spirit baptism description is never used when disciples receive the Spirit by the apostle’s hands. Nevertheless, there still were supernatural features visually accompanying it, and we know this because we are told that Simon “saw” that the Holy Spirit was given by the apostles. It still refers to a miraculous experience that must be different than "having the Spirit" in the sense that all Christians have the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit fell on the gentile family of Cornelius in Acts 10:44, but in Acts 11 when Peter speaks of this event, he says, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (11:15-16). Of importance here is that Peter had to "remember" the Lord's words about the Spirit baptism, but if this was an experience of every Christian, why would Peter need to remember back 7 to 10 years to the Lord speaking about it? Why would Peter think back to the first baptism of the Spirit instead of to what supposedly had been happening for every Christian since that time? Peter doesn't say, "as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on brother Bob who was saved yesterday." The only reasonable conclusion is that it was a rare phenomenon. While every Christian has the Spirit in one sense (Romans 8:9), they don't all receive the Spirit baptism found in Acts.

In Acts 19:2, when Paul met those whom he assumed were Christians, he asked if they had received the Holy Spirit since the time they believed. Evidently then Paul did not necessarily think baptism in the Spirit was a universal experience of every Christian. If it were, Paul as an apostle of Christ would have known and would not have asked. He would have just assumed that since they were Christians (as he supposed) they would have necessarily been baptized in the Spirit.

In the New Testament, all converts to Christ would have the Spirit in some sense, but not all of them would receive the Spirit in the way that is called a “baptism in the Spirit” (and, as noted, other descriptions are used as well). Thus, in whatever sense every Christian “has the Spirit,” it is not the same phenomenon as being baptized into the Spirit, and the latter was never a typical occurrence for the Lord’s people.

THE TWO BAPTISMS PROBLEM

Lastly, and most definitively, it is undisputed by the vast majority of Christians that water baptism is a command for all converts to Christ. Therefore water baptism must be taken as the one baptism because if both Spirit baptism and water baptism is an experience of all Christians then there are two baptisms in which all are united. The Samaritan converts in Acts 8, as discussed earlier, had not been baptized in the Spirit (and did not receive the Spirit until the apostles arrived), but they had all been “baptized in the name of the Lord” (V. 16). In Matthew 28:19, before leaving earth, Jesus commanded the apostles to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Remember that in Acts 8, baptism “in the name of the Lord” (V. 16) was distinguished from baptism in the Spirit (which had not occurred), so there is no doubt that the baptism of Matthew 28:19 is water baptism, and it's certainly a universal ordinance. In fact, in verses 19 and 20, baptizing and teaching are participles of means, meaning they are how (the means) disciples are to be made. How are disciples made? Baptism and teaching. Water baptism in the name of Christ is for everyone who wants to be Jesus’ disciple. It is the one baptism that unites them all.

• The "one baptism" in Ephesians 4:5 is water baptism

• If it were Spirit baptism, it would be redundant because the Spirit is listed in verse 4

• The terminology of "baptism in the Spirit" is very rare in the New Testament

• 1 Corinthians 12:13 by itself can refer to either water baptism or Spirit baptism

• The experience of Spirit baptism was very rare in the NT

• If the one baptism is Spirit baptism then there would actually be two baptisms in which Christians are united (water baptism and Spirit baptism)