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Paul's words in the opening chapter of I Corinthians (1: 14-17) make it unlikely that he
would write about water baptism in chapter 12: Again, in I Cor. 10: 2, Paul wrote about
a dry baptism unto (eis) Moses. Commenting upon I Cor. 10: 1, 2 Charles H. Welch
wrote:
"This baptism was `unto Moses', even as in its fullest sense; the baptism of the N.T.
was `unto Christ' but I Cor. 10: 1, 2 prefigures the baptism of the Spirit, not immersion in
water, for we have seen the Scripture seems to go out of its way to impress upon us the
absence of water at this time" (See Exod. 14: 22; 15: 19; Psa. 66: 6; Heb. 11: 29)
(An Alphabetical Analysis Volume 1).
"The Israelites were baptized into Moses by the cloud and by the sea. In this way they
were separated from Egypt and Pharaoh, came under the leadership of the deliverer
(Moses) and identified with him in hope and destiny. Likewise the believer, by being
baptized into Christ by the Spirit, is cut off from the world of Satan, and identified with
Christ, coming under Christ's influence and control, and made one in hope and destiny
with Him" (Merril F. Unger, The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit).
It was the action of being baptized with (en) the Holy Spirit which baptized the
Corinthian saints into (eis) one body and which had caused them all to drink from the
same source (I Cor. 12: 13). It is impossible for it to have been a baptism with (en)
water.
Neither could baptism with (en) water have been what Paul meant when he wrote, "for
as many of you as have been baptized into (eis) Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3: 27).
Again no agency for baptism is specifically mentioned but earlier Paul had dealt with the
gospel of the circumcision and the gospel of the uncircumcision (Gal. 2: 7, 8). He had
raised the issue of the apostleship to the Jews and apostleship to the Gentiles. Common
to both gospels and both apostleships was the one foundation of Jesus Christ but the
buildings on that foundation were different and one of the differences was water baptism.
Thus it is not possible for Paul to be speaking of this ritual in Gal. 3: 27. In fact this
verse is similar to Rom. 6: 3-5 where verse 3 speaks of being "baptized into (eis)
Christ".
This concludes a study of being baptized with (en) the Holy Spirit in the gospels, the
book of Acts and the epistles written during the Acts period. Perhaps, surprisingly, there
has been no association between the baptism with (en) the Holy Spirit and gifts, signs,
evidential miracles and external displays of power. Obviously these are to do with the
Holy Spirit but they do not form part of His baptizing work which identifies the believer
with the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross and so ensures that the believer will be
united with Him in His resurrection and thus eternal life is guaranteed.
But what about the epistles written after the Acts period, after the Jew had been set
aside? Do these contain any instructions on baptism, either with (en) water or with (en)
the Holy Spirit? Did the failure and rejection of Israel cause any changes in God's
economy? A study of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I & II Timothy, Titus and
Philemon reveals that there are two references to baptism in the epistles written after
Acts 28: 28.