Three Baptisms

The Bible speaks of three baptisms that the believer needs to have. The word baptize comes from the Greek word, baptismo (baptizw) which means to immerse.

Baptism of Death

The first immersion that a believer partakes in is the death of Jesus Christ.

As this passage in Romans shows, we die with Christ at the time of our regeneration. Paul told the Galatian church:

When we asked Christ to come into our hearts, it was not possible without our dying first, since God is holy and cannot be in the presence of sin. As Romans 6:6 & 7 says, "our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed...For he that is dead is freed from sin." But this is not any of our own doing. As Galatians 2:20 says, "and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." That is, we have died and have been raised to a new life by faith, not our faith, but the faith of the Son of God. It is Jesus who believes that we are dead to the old man and alive in Him.

This baptism of death by God's faith is our victory over sin. If we think we have to die by our own strength, then we are operating under the law of works (Rom 3:27), and will fail. But when we die by faith, we come into agreement with God's faith, and experience victory over sin.

This baptism into the death of Christ is not make believe. Paul said,

The Greek word for "reckon" is logizomai (logizomai) and has the meaning of an accountant counting up a sum, that is, to take an inventory, i.e. estimate conclude. No one takes an account of imaginary funds. One only counts that which one actually has. We do not pretend that we are dead with Christ, rather, we acknowledge the truth of what Christ has already done for us. Since the "Old Man" has died, we are free of the sin nature that drove us to sin. We, are not, however, free from our environment and Satan who tries to persuade us to choose to sin.

Baptism of Repentance in Water

The baptism of repentance is water baptism and is a public ceremony declaring your renouncing of sin in the future. Water baptism demonstrates to the world that which has already happened in your heart. We get water baptized because it is an act of our resolve to maintain our repentance. Peter said,

Water baptism precedes the era of the Gentile church. The Jewish people under the Mosaic law practiced water baptisms in what in Hebrew is called a mikvah (%8/). John the Baptist was not practicing something new when he water baptized the Jewish people in the Jordan river. It is probable that he dwelt with the Essenes of Qumran near the Dead Sea. There are still many mikvahs left over in Qumran. When Jesus submitted Himself to be baptized in water by John, John objected.

The reason John objected is because it was the baptism of repentance, and John knew that Jesus was sinless, therefore had nothing to repent of. But Jesus partook in the ceremony because the people understood the custom and that He was symbolically baptizing Himself into our humanity. The fact that He was sinless, and did not need this ceremony for Himself was confirmed immediately by God when the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and God said that this was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased (Matt. 3:16 & 17).

So, we too, who are born again, partake in water baptism to declare our resolve to remain repentant and to acknowledge that we have already died with Christ and have been raised with Him by faith - His faith, and ours agreeing with Him.

Baptism of Fire

The church of Jesus Christ is divided into two camps, evangelical Christianity and Pentecostal Christianity. Both camps are true believers in Jesus Christ and have been born again. The Evangelical camp believes that the Holy Spirit is given at the new birth, therefore there is no need for the Holy Spirit to come again. Furthermore the evangelical camp believes the miraculous power demonstrated in the New Testament was only for the first century church. The Pentecostal camp believes you get the Holy Spirit at the New Birth, but a second impartation of the Spirit came at Pentecost. They also believe that God does not change and that His power is still available today. This second impartation of the Spirit is the Baptism of Fire, or the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

The Bible states two experiences of the Holy Spirit were given to the Apostles after Jesus had resurrected. In the first account, Jesus had not yet ascended and was showing himself to the believers. In John we read:

The salvation experience is based upon our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostles knew Jesus had died, for they were all witnesses to His death. When Jesus appeared unto them in this account, they also knew that He was resurrected because they were beholding Him. They had to receive the Holy Ghost and to experience the new birth, because they believed in their heart that He was raised from the dead!

Baptism as a Second Move of the Holy Ghost

What does a second move of the Holy Ghost mean? The new birth is referred to as a well of living water. In speaking of the Holy Spirit to be received at the new birth, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well:

Likewise, Paul speaking on the unity of Christ through the Spirit said:

The new birth is the joining of the Lord's Spirit with our own.

This means that Holy Spirit and our created spirit are joined together like the well of water inside us. But Jesus also spoke of a second attribute of the Holy Spirit.

Unlike the image of still water as a well, here Jesus speaks of flowing water like a river. This is not speaking of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, because John says that the Holy Ghost was to be given after He was glorified. Remember that Jesus breathed on the Apostles (John 20:22) before He ascended, which was their time of new birth, but 10 days later on the day of Pentecost tongues of fire came upon them in Acts 2:1-6. This is the second move of the Holy Ghost.

The word baptize means to immerse. To have the Holy Spirit in the new birth is not to be immersed, but to contain. The rivers of living water that flow from the belly is the immersion of the Holy Spirit throughout the believer's very being. This is what is meant by immersion. The Greek word baptismo (baptizw) is also used in the sense of the textile industry in dying fabric from one color to another. Like a Holy Ghost dye, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to dye the believer in God. It is with this experience that the faith for the miraculous exists.

Tongues of Fire

Before Jesus ascended up to heaven, he told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem.

This scene is just before He ascends up to heaven. It should be pointed out, too, that He forbid them to leave Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. In other words, they were not to begin their ministry until they had the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Pentecost is the 50th day after Passover, and was first fruits festival. Pentecost is a Greek word (penthkosth) meaning 50. In the Hebrew the festival is called the Feast of Weeks, or shavuot (3&":;). It was one of the 3 pilgrimage feasts where Jews from all over would come to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh (%&%*), which is the Old Testament name of God. Pentecost is usually considered the birth of the church. However, that is not correct. The church was born when Jesus was resurrected, for His is the first fruits. The early fruit was the disciples receiving the new birth as stated in John 20:22. But on Pentecost, the new birth was given to 3,000 souls at once after Peter gave his sermon (Acts 2:41).

Let's look at the account of Pentecost.

For most people who receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, there isn't the sound of a mighty rushing wind, nor do cloven tongues of fire appear. The first evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is speaking in other tongues. Critics of contemporary tongues charge that this is from the devil, for if it were of God, then we would speak in known languages since it says that every man heard them speak in his own language. However, the text does not say that they spoke in known languages, but that the people heard them... The miracle of comprehension was in the hearing not in the speaking.

Furthermore, to say that tongues is from the devil is to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Jesus was accused of casting out devils by the Beelzebub, the prince of devils (Matt. 12:24). After Jesus pointed out the folly of their logic in that a house divided can not stand, He warned them of their danger.

In other words, the Pharisees were saying that the Holy Ghost was Beelzebub. The danger is in calling good evil, and evil good. This is a state of hardness of heart that puts a person in a position of not being able to know the difference, hence being unable to repent. So, all who are hostile to the Holy Spirit causing tongues to be spoken, beware!

In the rest of the book of Acts there are many examples of the baptism of the Holy Ghost where tongues accompanied the experienced followed by the laying on of hands. Speaking in tongues is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost but one of the first demonstrations of that baptism. When a person receives the baptism of fire he receives the release of the Holy Spirit. However, speaking in tongues is usually the first move of God because it is an activity that requires the believer to act in faith. You have to believe the sounds you make are inspired by God.

Words are Spirit

Words are not unusual for God. He created the first language that Adam spoke, He divided the tongues at the tower of Babel, He is the Word that became flesh, and He caused the speaking in tongues at the day of Pentecost. More understanding of words can be found in Jesus. After Jesus told the disciples that they had to eat His body and drink His blood, many left Him offended. Jesus looked at the remaining disciples and made this profound comment:

This passage supports the view that the Bible is a Living Word. When Jesus speaks there is spirit and life. But a secondary understanding regarding the speaking with words is also gleaned from this passage.

All words in all languages have two characteristics: a physical sound (or physical image for the written word) and a meaning applied to the sound (or image) that is agreed upon to form communication. The sound by itself (or image) is nothing without knowing the agreed upon meaning. If you do not know Spanish, then, "este palabra es nada". Likewise if you do not know the images, or characters used in the language then, "En arch hn o logos" is all Greek to you. Even the same sound can be something different. In English, when we say "toothpaste" we mean the substance used to clean our teeth, but in Russian, the same sound means the pasta one eats.

Speaking in tongues is the same thing. Paul explained to the Corinthian church:

When one prays in tongues, we make the sounds, but it is the Holy Spirit that gives meaning to the sounds. God the Father and God the Spirit know and agree on the meaning, hence communication is made. However, we do not understand the meaning. So Paul tells us that we should pray both in tongues and in our known language of understanding.

A common misconception about speaking in tongues is the thought that God will "make" you speak in tongues. God never makes us do anything. We do all things of our own volition. We choose to speak. This is our act of faith. We start making the sounds and it is God who applies the meaning. Frequently in the Bible a story will begin, " and he opened his mouth...". We have to open our mouths and make the sounds.

Prayer Language

There is another confusion by evangelicals who do not speak in tongues. They think that tongues is only for prophecy, since Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 speaks much on the need for interpretation of prophetic utterance in tongues. Tongues can be used in two ways: as prophecy, which has to be interpreted; and as a personal prayer language. Paul told the Romans:

This is not to say that in evangelicals the Holy Spirit does not intercede, for He does, even with groans which do not come out as a language in tongues. But it is true, that the Holy Spirit intercedes in tongues. Likewise Jude said:

As a personal prayer language, tongues builds up the believer. How can we edify others when we ourselves need edifying? Praying in tongues is one means.

Ask and You Shall Receive

All things from God require our petitioning. He does not automatically release the power in our lives. You have to ask for forgiveness and confess that you believe the God became the man Jesus Christ, and that He died and rose again for our sins, to receive salvation. The work of the cross is a finished work. Everyone in the world can have salvation, but they do not get it until they ask for it.

All that Christ accomplished is ours now for the asking. All our healing, wisdom, holiness, righteousness, and all the Jesus Christ is, is ours now. But to experience it, you have to ask for it. So, too, the miraculous power of God that comes through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You have to ask for it and act in faith upon it by speaking in tongues. Jesus said:

As with all things in God, you have to believe Him, and you have to believe that He will give you what you petition (Heb.11:6). It is noteworthy that in this passage of Luke, Jesus is specifically encouraging us to ask for the Holy Spirit. Even though the Holy Spirit enters us in the new birth, we usually do not pray for the Holy Spirit when repenting for salvation, but ask for forgiveness and for Christ to come into our hearts. Technically, Christ is the Holy Spirit, but that is usually not in the mind of sinners when getting saved. This is clearly a passage on the baptism of the Holy Ghost. it is also noteworthy that the parable before this passage is on persistence in prayer (the parable of the unjust judge). We have to want this power to get this power.

How do we get it? The same way we get saved. We believe in our hearts that God will endue us with power in through the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and we ask, or confess with our mouth. It is a simple prayer of faith. As a reader of this article you can have this power now, because God is with you. Simply pray this prayer, and believe that God will answer you. Then you must act in faith by opening your mouth and uttering sounds, trusting that God is making the sounds a prayer language. Say,

Now it is up to you. Step out in faith and utter those sounds.