WATER
OR SPIRIT BAPTISM
How are water and Spirit baptism
related? Are they two separate baptisms or two parts of the same baptismal
process? Both John the Baptist and Peter called upon their listeners to repent
and submit to water baptism for remission of sins. To this extent, their
messages were identical.
John preached the urgency and
commanded God’s people to prepare for the eschatological arrival of God’s
kingdom. Hence the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
(Matt 3:1). Or as Mark tells the story—“John the baptizer appeared in the
wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”
(Mark 1:4-5; Matt 3:6).
The phrase “baptism of repentance”
describes the nature of John’s water ritual. Repentance and baptism are a
couplet. The phrase “for the forgiveness of sins” (εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων) is the purpose statement. John’s
and Peter’s messages look very similar (εις αφεωιν των αμαρτιων).
Peter’s baptism, however,
differed from John’s in two ways. First, Peter administered water baptism “in
the name of Jesus Christ.” Second, he promised that his respondents would
receive the Holy Spirit (Spirit baptism). For Peter, water baptism “in the name”
and the resultant Spirit baptism was interconnected and logically could not be
separated. (Peter will eventually learn that God may give the Spirit prior to baptism
or delay giving it until long after baptism) They worked in tandem.
When John’s and Peter’s baptism
are compared, we discovered a pattern:
|
John’s Baptism |
Peter’s Baptism |
|
Called for repentance |
Called for repentance |
|
Called for baptism |
Called for baptism |
|
Element—Water |
Element—Water |
|
|
“In Jesus’ Name” |
|
Result—Forgiveness of Sins |
Result—Forgiveness of Sins |
|
|
Result—Receive gift of the Holy
Spirit |
|
Purpose—Preparatory |
Purpose—Participatory |
John’s baptism prepared God’s
people for the kingdom’s arrival and pointed them to Jesus’ “baptism with the
Holy Spirit” that was to follow (Mark 1:8; Acts 1:3; 11:16), through which God’s
people might enter the restored kingdom. The baptism in the Spirit did not
supplant baptism in water. The church continued to minister the rite of water
baptism, but now “in the name of Jesus” along with the exception that God would
give his Spirit to the baptized ones. Peter baptized with water, but God
baptized with the Spirit (Acts 1:8).
John’s baptism of Jesus served as
a model for Peter’s baptismal practices. Although John the Baptist originally protested
John’s need for water baptism, Jesus knew it was his route to receiving the
Spirit, which identified him as God’s son and empowered him to fulfill his
kingdom mission. In Christian baptism, believers likewise receive a new identity
and become kingdom citizens through Spirit baptism. (R. Alan Streett, Caesar
and the Sacrament—Baptism: A Rite of Resistance [Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade
Books, 2018], 90-91)
