Why A Second Baptism?

Acts 19:1-7

INTRO: Good morning church. In Acts 18 we find the record of Paul’s second missionary journey and near the end of the chapter after some time at Antioch in Syria, he begins his third journey. Luke next records some background material on the work at Ephesus relating to the preaching of Apollos and the further instruction given him by Priscilla and Aquila. We learn that Apollos was a man mighty in the Scriptures. Although his information regarding the gospel was incomplete, Apollos knew enough to proclaim the kingdom of God, which John had declared to be "at hand," and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as John had done (Luke 3:3).

After receiving additional information from Priscilla and Aquila we learn at the end of chapter 18 Apollos “27. … when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28. for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”

Apollos was a devout man and a good teacher yet he inadequately taught people because he himself did not have full knowledge.

As we teach people, we often find that they have gaps in their knowledge. This is true even among Christians, for learning of God is a continual process. When we are teaching someone that maybe attended some religious group for years, we may find as they study the question arises; do I need to be baptized again?

Of course, that's a very important question, but it's a question that we only want to answer from the Bible. We certainly don't want to base it on traditions or opinions or anything else, because none of those are important. The only thing that's important is what God has said about it.

The critical point when that question comes up is simply, what was the understanding and what was the purpose of the one being baptized?

That's the critical, the really important question, what was the understanding, and what was the purpose of the one being baptized? We have an account that answers the question for us, found in Acts chapter 19, and that's going to be our text today.

I. Let's see what happens in Acts 19:1-7 – “1. And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2. he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.'' 3. And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?'' So they said, "Into John's baptism.'' 4. Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.'' 5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7. Now the men were about twelve in all.”

A. Luke calls these people disciples, which means “learners”, and then Paul indicates in his question that they were believers. The people here in Ephesus that Paul encounters, these twelve men, had experienced a baptism. There were lots of baptisms in the first century, and there were baptisms in the Old Testament. The Jews considered gentiles unclean and immersed proselytes to wash away their uncleanness. There have always been baptisms.
B. When Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus in Ephesians 4:4-6 he says, “4. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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.” Paul says that under the New Covenant in Christ there is only one baptism, which is Christian baptism.
C. Paul encounters these twelve men, and he asked them about their baptism. Had they been baptized? Absolutely. Then Paul wanted to know if it was a valid, acceptable baptism that saved, because Paul said there was only one baptism that could save a person. It says in this text, these men had experienced a baptism that they called what? John's Baptism.
D. This event in Acts chapter 19 is years after the death of Christ. Peter's first sermon on Pentecost was years before. All these individuals were living in the same age that we're living in—the Gospel Age, under the new covenant; the one covenant that Paul said only had one baptism.

II. The baptism these twelve experienced was what kind of baptism?

A. We read about the coming of someone in Isaiah 40:3-5 described this way, “3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; 5. the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.''” In John 1:23 when he is asked who he is John said “… "I am `The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord,'' ' as the prophet Isaiah said.''” It had been prophesied about John that he was going to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
B. We read in Luke 1:13-17 what the angel Gabriel told Zacharias about the birth of John – “13. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14. "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15. "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16. "And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17. "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, `to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.''” We know who John was, the forerunner of Christ.
C. He did preach a baptism of repentance. In John 3:27-30 – “27. John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28. "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, `I am not the Christ,' but, `I have been sent before Him.' 29. "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30. "He must increase, but I must decrease.”
D. Remember that this is years before Acts 19. John was saying at that time that I'm decreasing, my role is being fulfilled. I'm not going to be around that much longer. John did practice a baptism of repentance. Now Christ was in the world, but Christ hadn't died on the cross when John was preaching this baptism. That's a critical point. Jesus was still alive when John was baptizing.
E. Back in Acts 19 these people we are reading about were sincere. There's nothing to indicate that they were not sincere. There was nothing to indicate that they had experienced this baptism in some sort of deceitful way.

1. Now obviously, there are people who don't want to know the truth. We know about the Pharisees and how they didn't experience baptism because they didn't want anything to do with it.
2. The Pharisees completely rejected the counsel of God, but there were people that the Bible talks about who needed teaching and guidance. Remember the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:30? He's reading from Isaiah, and Philip comes running along and He asked the eunuch, “"Do you understand what you are reading?'' And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?'' And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” Then we are told “… Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, (that’s the one the Eunuch was reading) preached Jesus to him.”
3. Cornelius was another very sincere, very faithful, very moral person. He needed some guidance. In Acts 10 we find how he got the guidance.

F. As I said there are people who don't want to know the truth, but there are also some people who just need guidance. That's what these people in Acts 19 needed. They just needed some guidance. They needed someone there to help them understand the full truth.

III. Their baptism was right in a lot of respects, wasn't it? When you look at their baptism, you can see that a lot of it was right. A lot of it was something God wanted them to do.

A. First, it was an immersion. In John 3:23, still talking about John's baptism, it says, “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.” Much water. John immersed people when they were baptized. The Bible indicates immersion. In fact, the word baptize comes to us straight from the original language and its meaning is to immerse, submerge, metaphorically to overwhelm. Thayer G907.
B. These people in Acts 19, they had been immersed. They had been completely buried in water. That was right, and that was good. That was something they were supposed to do. Baptism is a burial, right?

1. Romans 6:3-5 – “3. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4. Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,”
2. It is a burial. It's an entombment. You're entombed by water. Water is all around you.

C. What else about their baptism was right? They had been baptized as adults. In other words, they had been taught. The baptism that saves, the one baptism in Ephesians chapter four is only for adults. In other words, not for infants, not for babies, it's only for people who can be taught, can understand and assent to the grace being offered.

1. Today, if someone comes to you and while you're talking, you find out they were sprinkled or “baptized” as an infant; you know their baptism was not acceptable according to God’s word. It might be considered as a symbol, but it is not done in the faith of the person receiving it. It wasn't the baptism of Ephesians chapter 4, the one baptism of this covenant.
2. These men in Acts 19, had been immersed. They understood at least what John's baptism was, and they had understood repentance. It wasn't that they didn't know what repentance was.

D. If you will go to Mark 1:4 we're going to talk again about John's baptism. They knew about baptism and John's baptism was a special kind. “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” The literal translation would be “John came immersing in the wilderness, and proclaiming an immersion of conversion for forgiveness of sins,”[LSV] John's baptism was a heavenly device for gathering together out of the nation of Israel a prepared people to receive the Messiah. This baptism was of God, and those who rejected it rejected God's message. Luke 7:30 – “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”

IV. These followers in Acts 19 knew about repentance, they understood repentance. They understood what they had been taught. They had been immersed. All of those were right things.

A. The point is their baptism was correct those regards. They were immersed. They understood what was going on. They had repented. They understood repentance.

1. Paul, after talking with them, found out that even though they had undergone all those things, experienced those things, knew those things, understood those things, that their baptism still hadn't saved them. They did what they did in good conscience, yet they were still lost.
2. That's what Paul tells them. Because that baptism, John's baptism, was not valid anymore though it had been at one time for those being prepared for the coming of Christ. It had been valid and acceptable, but not after the crucifixion and the beginning of the gospel age.

B. These men were not saved. Yes, they'd been immersed. Yes, they had repented, yet they were still lost. Maybe the most important point today is that a baptism need not be totally wrong to be essentially wrong. By that I mean that baptism can be partially correct, but partially correct is still wrong.

1. Now we understand this.
2. Mark teaches math, and when someone turns in a problem, it can be partially right, but still have the wrong answer. Even though it's partially right, it's still wrong. That's what Paul is telling these people in Ephesus. Yes, your baptism was partially right, but it's still not acceptable because it does not have the power to save anymore.
3. What did Paul mean when he said that? Notice back in Acts 19, Paul asked them some questions. This is what we must do.
4. We must ask people questions when we're talking with them about their salvation. It's our responsibility to see if they understood their baptism, if they understood what they were being baptized for or why they were being baptized.

C. Here then is a valid example in the New Testament of what we need to do. Paul asked them a very important question. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' This was an important question for them because people did not receive the Holy Spirit when they were baptized with John's baptism. In God's plan of redemption, a new birth is the essential prerequisite. A birth of water and of the Spirit. Jesus says so in John 3:5 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
D. When they answered and said, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit”, Paul immediately knew they had not been baptized appropriately. Because if they had been baptized as they needed to be, they would have known about the Holy Spirit. Those baptized under this new system, the New Covenant, the Gospel age, would have known about the Holy Spirit. Since they didn't, Paul immediately knew they had not been baptized correctly.

V. Well something needed to be done. They were unaware of the Holy Spirit. Notice in verse three, he says, "Into what then were you baptized?'' They replied “into John's baptism.” Paul said, okay, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him”

A. There's a second thing Paul noted about their baptism. John's baptism looked forward, looked in the future to the coming of Christ. Now when these people were baptized, Christ had already come. Christ had already died on the cross. Their baptism, John's baptism, was not the same as the One baptism of Ephesians 4. This was a critical point.
B. John's work was completely in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, for Him coming into the world and dying on the cross. Once that was accomplished, John's baptism wasn't valid anymore, wasn't acceptable anymore, and didn’t have saving power. Paul needed to get that point across to these people—those former practices, and by the way when I say former practices I might include the Law of Moses, were not valid anymore and had been supplanted by the coming of Christ and the resurrection. John’s baptism no longer applied because baptism in the Gospel age, baptism of the New Covenant, is a baptism into Jesus’ death.
C. Please read with me Romans 6:3-4 – “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

1. Those who had experienced John's baptism after Jesus’ resurrection could not have been baptized into Jesus’ death. It was not the purpose of John's baptism. John baptized looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.
2. Verse 4 again – “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father…” Not possible with John's baptism. “Even so, we also should walk in newness of life.” They needed to be baptized into Jesus’ death and in the name of Christ.

D. This is another very, very important point. In Acts 19:5 we see their response. “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” John's baptism was never done in the name of Christ.

1. Why was that necessary? Luke 24 is Luke's account of the great commission. Luke 24:46-47 Jesus says, “… Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” The Christian baptism, the baptism that was valid, the baptism that washed away sins, the baptism that was a burial, the baptism that produced a new creature, was in the name of Christ, in Jesus’ name.
2. John's baptism was not in Jesus’ name. Therefore, after Christ died, was buried, and rose again, John's baptism was no longer acceptable to God. Its purpose had been fulfilled.
3. There was a new baptism, the one into Jesus’ death, the one in Jesus’ name. We see that of course, in Acts 2:38 – “…Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” That was the new baptism.
4. I’m remembering Matthew 28:18-20 – “18. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.''” If that was their baptism, they would have known of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

E. These people in Acts 19 had not heard about the new baptism, the baptism in the name of Christ. They had not heard about the baptism into Jesus’ death. Just because they had not heard and not been taught, did that make this baptism ok? No, it did not.
F. How important is that? Even though these people were sincere, even though they were teachable, even though they were honest, even though they were faithful and obedient, because they had not been baptized correctly, appropriately, they were still lost. That's a very important point. It teaches us that you can not be taught wrong and baptized right.

1. It was not completely wrong. It was sincere and right in some ways the Bible says, but it was still not acceptable. It was still wrong because it wasn't the baptism of the new covenant.
2. There in Acts 2:38 is a truth that is truly, and often deliberately, ignored; baptism must come before forgiveness. Acts 2:38 says that. “…Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…”
3. Our understanding and our reason for baptism is that it is done for the purpose of being cleansed or freed from sins by the blood of Jesus.
4. If we believe that what we have experienced is not a valid baptism, that's like experiencing John's baptism. If all we think is that it's some sort of ritual or right, that it's not explicitly for the remission of sins, the Bible says it's not a valid baptism.

CONCLUSION:
What things have we learned from these scriptures? I guess the first thing is that we can be taught wrong. The incorrect teaching may come from those who deliberately intend to deceive, or that do so for unscriptural reasons, perhaps personal gain, self- glory or financial. It may also come from those who have an incomplete understanding such as Apollo did yet are truly devout. Among those are also the ones who have been taught incorrectly themselves, often by religious groups with a human based agenda.

We want to follow the New Testament example and not our own opinion or human tradition. What the Bible says is the only thing that's important. Baptism must be for the right purpose, not just because people are sincere. These people were sincere in Acts 19, but they were sincerely wrong.

We also learned those who understand the truth should teach those who need instruction. Paul told them they were wrong, he taught them they needed to be baptized correctly, and then they were. It should go without saying then that a baptism that is done without understanding, without knowing why it's being done, and the scriptural purpose the Bible says, is not biblical baptism. A biblical baptism is done with understanding, with knowledge, and the realization of what baptism is. These people had to be baptized a second time, they had to experience biblical or Christian baptism.

What else? Today we have the fullness of scripture to refer to and we bare a responsibility to ourselves. We always must go to the Bible for our answers. We can't think about what other people say, or traditions, or human wisdom, or our feelings, or anything else. None of those things are important, only what the Bible says.

The Bible has our answers, and the Bible does tell us what biblical baptism is. It's one that's based on faith. Not that Christ is going to come, but that He's already come and that He died and that He rose again. That's the basis of our faith as we have been studying. Then our faith leads us to repent and obey, not for just the moment but as a way of life.

How important is that? Turning our lives over to the Lord, confessing that we truly believe, and then being immersed, buried, entombed in water, with the understanding that before we go into the water, we still have sins. It is understanding that it is God who washes away, remits, forgives those sins when we're buried in water for the express purpose of being baptized into Christ.

If you are here and need the prayers of your brothers and sisters or if you are in need of the New Covenant baptism, the Gospel Age baptism, come forward as we stand and sing.
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Taken from a sermon by: Bobby Stafford