One Baptism

Ephesians 4:
[1] I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
[2] With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
[3] Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
[4] There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
[5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
[6] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

I believe that there is only ONE baptism for us in the dispensation of the grace of God....and I do not believe it is water baptism. I believe that baptism into Christ is the only baptism that God has put in operation in this dispensation. Baptism into Christ is the baptism by one Spirit that joins the believer to Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:15-17 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

When the believer is joined to the Lord, they become "one spirit" and the believer is made a partaker of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4, Gal. 2:20). The believer spiritually becomes a member of Christ's body, flesh, and bones.

Ephesians 5:
[23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
[24] Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
[25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
[26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
[27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
[28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
[29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
[30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
[31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
[32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Being a member of Christ makes you "complete" with no need for being "made perfect". In other words, the christian life is not a series of steps that will gradually make you better and better. Christ is already in you and you are already saved (Col. 1:27, Rom. 5:1-11) and all you need to do is "work out" what is already in you (Phil. 2:12-13).  

Colossians 2:10-12 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 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.

However, the Baptists believe that it is water baptism that makes a believer complete in Christ. Some Baptists do not even believe in baptism into Christ, they only believe in baptism with water. The Baptists cannot stand people that believe that the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 is baptism into Christ by the Spirit. ALL Baptists believe that you need more than one baptism to be a real Christian. I have even heard Baptists say that they did not believe that a person was really saved if they did not get baptized with water.

ALL Baptists believe in two baptisms. However, Paul said that there was only ONE baptism for you today and it is by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Paul did not follow the Jewish ordinance of water baptism that the Lord gave under the Gospel of the Circumcision.

GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION: 

Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION:

1 Corinthians 1:
[14] I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
[15] Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
[16] And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
[17] For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
[18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
[19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
[20] Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.


The so called "great commission" has nothing to do with Gentiles under grace (Eph. 3:1-9, Col. 1:24-28, Rom. 6:14, 11:13, 15:16, 16:25). Gentiles do not need the Law water of purifying (Num. 8:7, John 3:25) because they are purified by faith (Acts 10:43-48, 15:7-11). There is no record of heathen Gentiles being water baptized in the Bible, it is always Jews and proselytes that are water baptized (Acts 2, Acts 10, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33+Phil. 3:3, Acts 18:7-8).

Those who practice baptism with water apparently do not know about baptism into Christ, for why would anyone that knew that they had been baptized by the Spirit into Christ care about a so called "water baptism"??? I do not believe that anyone who practices water baptism really cares about the "one baptism" "by one Spirit". "One baptism" means ONE. Anyone who believes in water baptism plus baptism by the Spirit has made Ephesians 4:5 of none effect (Mark 7:13).

There is not a commandment for Gentiles under grace to be water baptized, it ceased with the fall and diminishing of Israel that we see recorded in Acts chapters 7 through 28 (Rom. 11:1-15). Water baptism was a Jewish sign (1 Cor. 1:17-22), going all the way back to the first baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2, Acts 7:36). Water baptism was part of God's Law for Israel (Num. 8:7, John 3:25) but not God's dispensation of grace for Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:17, Eph. 3:1-9, Rom. 6:14).

Acts was a transition away from the doctrines of Israel and the Kingdom of Heaven to the dispensation of grace and the Body of Christ.

1.) The signs of the Kingdom of Heaven (tongues, healing, etc.) ceased when the elect remnant of Israel was in the Body of Christ and the Jews were no longer being provoked to believe (Rom. 11:1-15, 1 Cor. 1:22, Exod. 4:8, John 4:48, 1 Cor. 9:16-20, Acts 28:25-28). Those signs, such as healing, had ceased after Acts was over (Phil. 2:27, 1 Tim. 5:23, 2 Tim. 4:20).

2.) Nobody that believed the gospel of the grace of God was required to follow the Law anymore (Gal. 2-6, Rom. 6-7, Eph. 2, Col. 2, etc.) but sometimes Paul and others would keep it in order to make the Jews happy (1 Cor. 9:16-20, Acts 15:28-29, Acts 16:3, Acts 18:18, Acts 18:21, Acts 21:26).

3.)  The Gospel of the Kingdom that the 12 apostles preached required forgiving others in order to be forgiven, water baptism, being faithful unto death/enduring to the end, and selling all earthly possessions (Matthew 6:11-34, 10:22-33, 18:35, 19:16-23, Mark 1:3-5, 6:7-9, 10:21, 16:16, Luke 3:3, 7:29-30, 9:1-4, 12:21-33, Acts 2:38, 2:44-46, 3:2-6, 4:32-37, 5:1-11, Rev. 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:8, 3:12, 3:21, 12:17, 14:12, 15:2, 22:18-19). The Gospel of the Grace of God ("glorious gospel") does not require works and is by grace through faith (1 Cor. 1:17, Acts 26:15-20, Rom. 3-5, Gal. 2-3, Eph. 1:7, Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 2:8-9, Eph. 3:17, Eph. 4:30-32, 2 Tim. 2:11-13, Rom. 8:8, 2 Tim. 1:9, Titus 3:4-7, Rom. 11:6, Titus 1:15-16, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Acts 13:38-39, Acts 16:31).

With that in mind, the uniqueness of the ministry that Christ gave to Paul requires "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

During Acts Paul did some Jewish ordinances such as circumcision, observed feasts, vowed, purified himself, and other things (1 Cor. 9:16-20, Acts 15:28-29, Acts 16:3, Acts 18:18, Acts 18:21, Acts 21:26). He did these things in order to not be an offense to the Jews and to provoke them to jealousy (Rom. 11:1-15, 1 Cor. 9:16-20), not to continue the covenant/sign of circumcision and such. For Paul, after Acts 28:28, declared the Jewish ordinances "dung", "tradition of men", "rudiments of the world", and "commandments and doctrines of men". Those things were to "perish" and they were "not after Christ" (Col. 2:10-23, Phil. 3:1-9).



Water baptism means absolutely nothing today. It is just water. It does not identify you with the gospel, it does not identify you with Christ, you are not "following the Lord" by practicing it, and it is "dung" (Phil. 3:8). Why would you want to be immersed or sprinkled with dung?

Water baptism identifies you with religious tradition of men and failure to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

Water baptism has never had anything to do with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The 12 apostles water baptized folks all day long without even knowing anything about the death of Christ (Matt. 16:21-23, Mark 9:31-32, Luke 9:44-45, Luke 18:31-34, John 20:6-10). Water baptism was simply an outward "figure" of cleansing under the Law and showed repentance under the Gospel of the Kingdom (Num. 8:7, John 3:25, 1 Pet. 3:21, Acts 22:16, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Matt. 3:11).

There is now only "one baptism" (Eph. 4:5) and it is done "by one Spirit" "through the faith of the operation of God" (1 Cor. 12:13, Col. 2:10-12). This baptism joins you to the Lord: crucified, buried, risen, and seated (1 Cor. 6:15-17, Gal. 2:20, Eph. 2:6, Rom. 6:3-4). This is REAL baptism, not just some ritual of man's religion. 

The Baptists are thick with Roman Catholicism and are bordering on CULT status.

Why I am not a Baptist
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-i-am-not-baptist.html 

Acts 26:15-20 with 1 Corinthians 1:12-21. Debunking baptismal regeneration  
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/acts-2615-20-with-1-corinthians-112-21.html 

Mode of baptism: sprinkling
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/mode-of-baptism-sprinkling.html 

Why I believe the Body of Christ began with Paul.
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-i-believe-body-of-christ-began-with.html 

Are there any NT books not written TO us? 
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/are-there-any-nt-books-not-written-to-us.html

Galatians 2:7-9: Did Peter and Paul have different gospels?  
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/galatians-27-9-did-peter-and-paul-have.html

Paul's gospel and advanced revelation of Peter.
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/pauls-gospel-and-advanced-revelation-of.html

Important Bible facts
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/important-bible-facts.html

"A CHRISTIAN VIEW" by Steve Finnell 
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-christian-view-by-steve-finnell.html 

Mid-Acts Dispensational water baptism debate.  
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/mid-acts-dispensational-water-baptism.html
 
--Eli Caldwell