THE THREE BAPTISMS:
by Eloise Gardenier
While listening to a music tape I heard the words; "Go, go, go, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and Son and Holy Ghost", I was reminded of a revelation the Lord gave me some years ago concerning the doctrine of baptisms referred to in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I have always known and believed that God's Word does not contradict itself, even if it seems to at times. The doctrine of baptisms is just such a case.
When still a young Christian, two such verses that seemed to contradict one another were Ephesians 4.5 and Hebrews 6.2. Ephesians says there is "One Lord, one faith, one baptism". Yet Hebrews 6 speaks of baptisms (plural), ... not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment." Because this is an important and serious matter, I longed to have the proper understanding about Scriptural Baptism and so be able to "go on unto perfection" as Heb. 6.1 exhorts us to do.
My husband and I began our "puzzlement in earnest" over these Scriptures when we were urged by some fellow believers to be water baptized. We hadn't been born-again and baptized in the Spirit very long, and didn't know what to think about the former baptism we had received in the churches of our parents. Roy had been baptized as an infant and I had been immersed at the age of 13 in my hometown Baptist church because it was both customary and all my friends were doing it. Concerned by the "one baptism" spoken of in Ephesians, we were at a loss about what to do. So we followed a good spiritual rule of thumb: when in doubt, do nothing. For the next year we sought the Lord and remained alert for the answer He would provide.
The first thing the Lord showed us was that our former baptisms were null and void, because we had not been born-again, did not have a personal relationship with Him at the time. We had not personally and of our free will repented, and made the choice to serve Jesus, and have our hearts circumcised by Him. No other person could stand in for us as in infant baptism, nor could it be a mere religious ritual or something we did because our friends were doing it. We both knew this was not the baptism spoken of in Ephesians 4.
In due time we came to understand that being immersed before the brethren was an act of faith, a public witness of our willingness to proclaim our desire to drink from the cup that Jesus drank from and be baptized with the baptism He was baptized with. That baptism is to die to ourselves, as He died on the cross and "by faith in the operation of God" be risen as He was ... a new creature. Colossians 2.12 makes this clear: "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead." So Roy and I, having been born-again by this time and baptized in the Holy Ghost, and open to receiving the gifts that accompany that baptism, were water baptized together being immersed in a lake by other believers who had done the same before us. My husband had been convicted that this was an act of obedience, through Jesus' words in Matthew 3.13 when John the Baptist said; "I have need to be baptized of thee". Jesus said; "suffer it to be so now: for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness." The Living Bible puts it this way; "But Jesus said, Please do it for I must do all that is right".
A short time after we had been water baptized, while travelling home from a trip to the Midwest, I received another piece to this spiritual puzzle. As He often did, on a long journey, the Lord spoke to my heart that the. "one" baptism of Ephesians had three parts, and the sum of the three parts added up to the whole, the one complete baptism into the fullness of the body of Christ. At that time I didn't fully understand the "doctrine of baptisms", but I knew it was the voice of God. Strong's concordance interprets the word baptism as; "to make whelmed". The New American College Dictionary says, "to whelm" means "to submerge; engulf, to overcome utterly, or overwhelm". But no man was utterly overcome, or overwhelmed with forgiveness and cleanliness from sin until Jesus came and died and rose again. That is why the word "baptism" was never mentioned in the Old Testament, for Jesus had not been revealed as the Messiah. He had to be revealed first and now there is just one true baptism which is an overwhelming of Jesus by a three part process in which He is instrumental in all.
THREE BAPTISMS ALL POINTING TO JESUS!
1) Repentance
The Father draws us to Jesus (John 6.44; "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.") He does this that we might partake of the baptism of repentance, leading us to being born again, by showing us we need a Savior - Jesus. Jesus also set the example by partaking of John's baptism in obedience to the Father, even though He did not need to repent, but we do. "John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1.4). Other citations are; Luke 3.3, Acts 13.24, Acts 19.4. When Jesus, in obedience to the Father, was baptized by John, they saw "the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
2) Water Baptism
When we choose to yield and be water baptized in the name of Jesus, we are testifying publicly to our desire to die to self and become more and more like Him. Once more we see Jesus as the central figure. By being baptized in His name and after His example of death and resurrection we have completed the three parts of that one baptism mentioned in Ephesians 4.5 "One Lord (Jesus) one faith (in Jesus), one baptism (3 parts, but all depend on Jesus)", making it one, in the sense that He makes it all possible, for without Him none of the three parts can happen. Completion in Christ takes place by being immersed or baptized in the Father's baptism of repentance, by being baptized in the name of Jesus and into a complete death and life in Him, and by being immersed in the Holy Ghost by Jesus. Again, I say completely furnished and able to go on unto perfection.
3) Baptism in the Holy Ghost
Jesus offers to baptize us in the Holy Ghost for He is the baptizer as John the Baptist announced in Matthew 3.2. He warned; "Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He also prophesied in verse II; "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, ... He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." As we call on the Holy Ghost to possess us, or engulf us in God's very Spirit, we can be sure that God's Love, which is embodied in Jesus, will be faithful to baptize us. Mark 1.8/Luke 3.16/John 1.32-34 "And when the day of pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place... And they all were all filled (whelmed) with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2.1 & 4
The Trinity
Baptized in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Even though I understood this fundamental truth of the doctrine of baptisms I still occasionally came across three seemingly contradictory verses and wondered how God would reconcile them to the understanding He had given me concerning baptisms. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28.19) seemed to contradict, the two passages that say, "For as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."; and, "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 8.16 & 19.5 respectively)
Over the years I have heard controversies about whether people should be water baptized in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. (Thanks to some friends and a family member we have come to think it appropriate to use the name of Jesus when water baptizing). But in one brief moment, while listening to the song, "Go", that I mentioned at the very beginning of this teaching, discovered the answer to the seemingly contradictory nature of these verses. When Jesus issued what has become known as "The Great Commission" he wasn't speaking of the words to use when baptizing one in water. It is proper to baptize in the name of Jesus because that is the truth of what is taking place, because the person being baptized is being baptized into a life of death and resurrection with Jesus as the example.
No, I realized that "The Great Commission" was Jesus' command to go forth and baptize in the name of: 1.) The Father, or the baptism of repentance; 2.) The Son, or water baptism in Jesus' name; and, 3.) The Holy Ghost, or the baptism of the Spirit. His command was not about what words to use, but about three separate parts of this one baptism, the baptism of being utterly overcome and submerged into a life complete in and with Christ, being fully furnished to go on to maturity, being introduced and submerged in the Godhead: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, being baptized one experience at a time as in the "doctrine of baptisms". So, "let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms ... And this will we do, if God permit." Hebrews 6:1-3
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