By Sidharth Mohandas
We hope you have been following us in the foundational series we’re going through. In my previous post I shared with you the various kinds of baptisms Scripture talks about. I also shared that out them only 2 are applicable to us today, the other two don’t even come in the foundational doctrines. In this post I will be particularly dealing with one verse before we go into the details of the doctrine of baptisms.
You can find this verse in Ephesians 4:5. Paul says, “There is….one Lord, one faith, one baptism”
One baptism? Now does that mean that the Holy Spirit baptism is invalid?
Whenever the writer of Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit baptism, he uses the word “baptism” with “in the Holy Spirit” or “in Spirit” [Acts 1:5; Matt 3:11; 1 Cor 12:13]. But when the writer simply mentions “baptism” or “baptized”, he is referring specifically to water baptism [Acts 2:38; Acts 8:13; Acts 8:36; Acts 9:18; Acts 10:47; Acts 16:15 Rom 6:3-4; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:5; Col 2:12]
Therefore, the text under consideration is specifically dealing with water baptism. But what is the context of this verse? Why did Paul say this?
Allow me to explain. In the letter to the Church at Ephesus, you find that Paul’s emphasis throughout was on what God did to bring all things in heaven and on earth under one head- Christ Jesus [Ephesians 1:10]. Paul wrote to the church explaining how Jesus had destroyed the barrier–that dividing wall of hostility between the Gentiles and the Jews [Ephesians 2:14]. His [Jesus'] purpose was to create in Himself ONE new man out of the TWO [Jews and Gentiles] …in His ONE body He reconciled BOTH of them to God through the cross… and through Him BOTH have access to the Father by ONE Spirit. [Ephesians 2:15-18]. Therefore, there is only ONE Lord for both the Jews and the Gentiles, not two. There is only ONE baptism [in this case water baptism] for the Jews and the Gentiles, not two. There is only ONE faith for the Jews and the Gentiles, and not two.
By no means was Paul disregarding the baptism in the Spirit in his letter. He simply conveyed the truth that both Jews and Gentiles are acceptable before Abba through Christ. Neither Jew nor Gentile are superior. Both have to come to Abba the same way–through the finished work of Jesus/Yeshua on the cross.
