The Five Baptisms

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Name the five baptisms mentioned in the New Testament and distinguish their meanings.
2. Explain how "one baptism" (Eph. 4:5) can be true when five are named.
3. Identify which baptism is binding on people today.

Thesis

The New Testament speaks of five different baptisms, but only one is the commanded baptism in force for sinners today; rightly dividing the five guards us from both neglect and counterfeit.

Burden

A single word can carry several meanings, and nowhere does that cause more mischief than with the word "baptism." Men read "one baptism" in Ephesians and then read of Spirit baptism, fire baptism, John's baptism, and the Lord's own baptism of suffering, and they either despair of harmonizing them or seize the wrong one and build a doctrine on it. Boles' answer is simple and clean: lay the five side by side, see what each one is, and the "one" that remains for us stands out plainly. This lesson is an exercise in rightly dividing the word of truth.

Introduction

All five of these baptisms appear in the New Testament; all use the same word; not all are the same thing, and not all are for us. Boles lists them: the baptism of suffering, John's baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, believers' baptism, and the baptism of fire. We take them one at a time, then ask which one Paul meant by "one baptism."

I. The Baptism of Suffering — the Atonement (Luke 12:50)

Jesus said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" (Luke 12:50; cf. Mark 10:38-39). This was His being overwhelmed in suffering and death — the atonement. It was His alone to bear; we are saved by it, but we do not receive it as an ordinance.

II. John's Baptism — the Baptism of Repentance (Mark 1:4)

John preached "the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). It prepared a people for the Lord and pointed forward to Christ. But it ceased when the new covenant came: the disciples at Ephesus who had only John's baptism were baptized again into the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:1-5). John's baptism is not in force today.

III. Holy Spirit Baptism — Pentecost and Cornelius (Acts 1:5)

Promised by John and by Christ, administered by Christ, this fell on the apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2) and on the household of Cornelius (Acts 10-11) to open the kingdom to Jew and Gentile and to confirm the apostles' word. It was a promise to particular people, fulfilled and unrepeated — not a command for sinners now (see Sermon 7).

IV. Believers' Baptism — the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19)

"Go ye therefore, and make disciples... baptizing them" (Matt. 28:19); "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). This is water baptism of the believing penitent, for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) — the baptism Christ commanded for all nations to the end of the age. This is the one still binding.

V. The Baptism of Fire — Judgment (Matt. 3:12)

John said the coming One would baptize "in the Holy Spirit and in fire" (Matt. 3:11), then immediately explained the fire: "the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:12). The baptism of fire is judgment upon the unrepentant, not a blessing to be sought. To pray for "the baptism of fire" is to misread the very next verse.

"One Baptism" — Which One? (Eph. 4:5)

When Paul wrote, the baptism of suffering was finished; John's baptism had passed; Holy Spirit baptism had done its confirming work and ceased; the baptism of fire was still future, a thing of judgment. One remained for men to obey: the believers' baptism of the Great Commission. That is the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5 — and it is the only one God commands of you today.

Application

Rightly dividing these five protects you in two directions. It keeps you from chasing what was never offered — a personal Spirit baptism or a "baptism of fire" — and it keeps you from neglecting the one God actually commanded. Do not be deceived by a word used five ways. Ask of any claim about baptism: which of the five is meant, and is it the one in force? The answer to "what must I do?" is always the fourth — believers' baptism in water for the remission of sins.

Conclusion

Five baptisms, one Book, no contradiction. The Lord's was suffering; John's has passed; the Spirit's was promise and confirmation, now complete; the fire's is judgment to come. The one that remains — the one Paul calls "one baptism" — is the believer's burial in water into Christ. Obey that one, and fear no other.

Invitation

There is one baptism that stands between you and the remission of your sins, and it is neither mysterious nor out of reach. If you believe and will repent and confess the Lord, you may be baptized into Christ today (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). Do not wait for a baptism God never promised you; obey the one He commanded. Come while we sing.

Word Study

• "One baptism" (Eph. 4:5, Gk. hen baptisma): one in the list of seven "ones" that define the unity of the body — as there is one Lord and one faith, so one baptism binds the church now.
• "Baptism of fire" (Matt. 3:11-12): identified by context (v. 12, chaff and "unquenchable fire") as judgment, not blessing.

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