Disobedience to Divine Commands is not a Work of the Holy Spirit.

[Alan Dale Gross]

One Baptism -- In Water
by Rosco Brong, Former Dean
Lexington Baptist College (KY)

Disobedience to Divine Commands is not a Work of the Holy Spirit.

"There is . . . one baptism." (Ephesians 4:4, 5.)

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into (with reference to) Jesus Christ
were baptized into (with reference to) His death?" (Romans 6:3)

"Our fathers . . . were all baptized into (with reference to) Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (I Corinthians 10:1, 2)

"Use of scriptural terms in an unscriptural sense is a favorite trick of modernists that has been adopted by some so-called interdenominationalism who pride themselves on their supposed orthodoxy or fundamentalism. So it has become fashionable in certain circles to speak of a "spiritual baptism" of which the Bible tells us exactly nothing.

"Satan has never introduced among God's people a heresy so ridiculous but that he has been able to find men willing to prostitute some degree of scholarship in its defense.

A LOST BATTLE​

"But among competent scholars the scriptural meaning of "baptize" and "baptism" is no longer a matter of debate. Everyone knows that the ordinary literal meaning of baptize in the New Testament is to dip, plunge, or immerse in water - and whatever figurative meaning the word may occasionally have must be derived from and based upon this literal sense.
"Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley, whatever their doctrinal errors, were at least, unlike some of their followers, scholarly enough to admit that scriptural baptism was immersion, and that sprinkling in its place was an innovation for the sake of convenience rather than obedience.

FIGURATIVE BAPTISMS
"An elementary principle of honest translation and interpretation is that the literal or ordinary meaning of a word is always to be preferred if it makes good sense in the context; figurative or unusual meanings are to be adopted only when demanded by context.​

"Undoubtedly in Matthew 20:22, Mark. 10:38, and Luke 12:50
> Jesus was speaking of a figurative baptism or immersion in the sufferings of the cross.
> So the baptism in fire mentioned in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16 is evidently not a dipping in water.
Some interpreters think the reference is to the "fiery trial" of I Peter 4:12;
others refer the language to the lost in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15),
in which case the baptism is quite literal, except that it is in fire instead of water.

IN THE HOLY SPIRIT​

"The Bible also speaks of a baptism in (NOT "with") the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:11; Mark. 1:8; Luke 3:16; John. 1:33; Acts 1:5, ll:16 - these six times and nowhere else do we read that Jesus was to baptize in the Holy Spirit.

"This baptism in the Holy Spirit took place on the Day of Pentecost, symbolizing the Dedication and Accreditation of the church as an Institution, even as baptism in water symbolizes the Dedication and Accreditation of the individual believer.
"Just as an individual believer is scripturally baptized in water only once, so the church as an institution was baptized in the Holy Spirit only once, that is, on the day of Pentecost. The additional manifestation in the house of Cornelius was simply to convince Peter and other Jewish church members that Gentile believers rightfully belonged in the same church.

NOT AN INDIVIDUAL​

"Never in all the New Testament is a single individual said to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pentecost was a baptism of the church as such, not of single believers as such.

"Let us not confuse 'fillings with the Spirit' or 'gifts of the Spirit' with Jesus' one-time event of His 'baptism in the Spirit' when Anointed His church He had Built there in Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost.

"That was in Fulfillment of the Prophecy in Daniel 9:24, where it talks about Jesus Finishing the Transgression, making an End to sin by His Accomplishment on the cross, the Special Supernatural Miraculous Instantaneous Gifts and Prophecy ending, which are the 'gifts of the Spirit' we just mentioned.

"And then down to Daniel 9:24g; where it says, "Anoint the Most Holy", which is when Jesus Anointed, or 'baptized' His church assembly there in Jerusalem, "in the Holy Spirit" where the Holy Spirit would Continue with His churches, as "Another Comforter", as Jesus had Promised.

"Until Jesus Comes Again the kind of churches that Jesus Built have been and will always be Serving as a gathering of water-baptized believers Covenanted together by the Authority of the New Testament, when it says there that the Holy Spirit would Dwell and "add to the church" by water baptism and Operate as the Administer and Special Teacher, "In whom ye also are builded together for an Habitation of God through the Spirit.";

"Seventy weeks are Determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City,
to Finish the Transgression, and to Make an End of sins, and to Make Reconciliation for Iniquity,
and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness,
and to Seal Up the Vision and Prophecy,
and to Anoint the Most Holy."

"If we are members of a scriptural church, in scriptural succession from that first (Baptist) church in Jerusalem, then our church was baptized in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, once for all. If we have not such a church, no fake "Pentecost" will change the fact.

Con't for
BAPTIZED "INTO" MOSES
&
ONLY ONE BAPTISM​

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

BAPTIZED "INTO" MOSES​

"A preposition is a weak peg to hang a doctrine on, but the phrase "baptized into Jesus Christ" in the King James version of Romans 6:3 has long been a favorite with 'Baptismal Regenerationists'. They are conveniently or willfully ignorant of the fact that identical translation of the same Greek preposition eis in I Corinthians 10:2 makes "our fathers ... all baptized into Moses."

"Of course, Nobody is ever dipped into Christ, any more than anybody was ever dipped into Moses. The Greek preposition in both these passages should be rendered "with reference to" or "because of," either of which translations will give good sense.

ONLY ONE BAPTISM​

"According to the Bible (Ephesians 4:5), there is only "one" (literal) "baptism",
and that is the baptism in water instituted by John the Baptist by Divine Commission,
the "one baptism", the baptism in water Received by the Lord Jesus,
and the "one baptism", the baptism in water by Him Committed to His church to be Observed as an Ordinance for Disciples (believers) only, as a First Act of Obedience, then that "one baptism", their baptism in water was to be followed by the Observance of all His Commandments.
When men speak of a fictitious "spiritual baptism" not mentioned in the Bible, and belittle the one baptism (in water) that is taught in the Bible, we can be sure that their strange 'doctrine' is not the work of the Holy Spirit."