Water and Spirit: Understanding Baptism in Christ.

John the Baptist clearly states his reason for water baptism, and he also makes it clear that Jesus Christ would baptize us with the Holy Spirit, not physical water. This means water baptism is not a requirement for the believer. Salvation has one requirement: embrace He who is our solution #TheChrist.

John 1:31, 33 (NIV)

31 “I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.

33 …‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”

Question: Do we need water baptism for salvation in Christ?

If the answer is no, then why is water baptism still a requirement in many Christian circles?

Let’s examine what Jesus meant when He spoke of being “born of water.”

John 3:5–8 (NIV)

5 “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

7 You must be born again.

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases… So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

So when Jesus references “water,” what does He mean? Let’s look at Scripture:

Ephesians 5:25–26 (TPT)

“…cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God.”

James 1:18 (NIV)

“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth…”

1 Peter 1:23 (NIV)

“You have been born again… through the living and enduring word of God.”

Water baptism was a natural, physical practice that continued for a short time after the resurrection, mainly because the early church was still growing in revelation. As understanding of the Spirit-led life became clearer, the practice naturally faded.

It’s not wrong, but it has zero bearing on salvation in Christ. It is not required for anything.

Mostly, it is practiced today to:

1. Feel “spiritual,” or
2. Fulfill an expectation, rule, or self-imposed regulation.

In other words, it is a practice rooted in natural observation, not Spirit.

But the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from such natural constraints.

Again, it’s not wrong until it is turned into a requirement for acceptance into the body of Christ. But the deeper issue is this: in many Christian circles, it is used as a requirement that produces guilt rather than understanding. This stunts our ability to walk fully in the life of the Spirit. It keeps us tied to material, external activities while missing the beauty, depth, and liberty of life in the Spirit.

Let’s wrap this up. According to Jesus, “the words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.” The words water, spirit and the word are often interchanged in new testament scriptures. Water is symbolic of the Spirit. The phrase “water and Spirit” is a figure of speech.

In John 7:38–39, Jesus references “water,” but He was speaking about the Spirit:

John 7:38-39 NIV

“[38] Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [39] By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

In John 1:39, John baptizes Jesus so that He could be identified as the Christ, since no one yet knew who He was.

Some water-baptism practices continued in the book of Acts because the newly formed church was still growing, transitioning, and learning maturity in a Spirit-led life.

Paul clarifies this shift in 1 Corinthians 1:17, saying that Christ did not send him to water-baptize but to preach the gospel, adding that he only baptized a handful of people.

Why? Because the mandate is not water baptism, but preaching the gospel unto baptism—immersion—by the Spirit of Christ.

Water symbolizes washing. But the true washing and cleansing is the indwelling of, and immersion into, the Spirit of Christ.

There is water baptism—the one Jesus received from John at the Jordan. And there is Spirit baptism—the one we receive at salvation (Ephesians 4:4–5). The real, functional baptism is the baptism of the Spirit.

“For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 1:5, echoed in Matthew 3:11).

The true, actual baptism is the one Jesus performs—baptizing us with the Spirit, not John’s baptism.

To use the words from my friend  Edwin at #HisDivineCouncil:

“Water baptism was a shadow of what was to come.

What was to come was baptism/immersion into Christ, aka born-again.

Of course, folks love their traditions and backgrounds but the truth is that water baptism is extraneous.

It might be a symbolic event for some, steeped in natural observances, but it is not necessary for us to experience anything God has for us in Christ.”

We will continue unpacking truth in scriptures by His Sprit, enabling the body of Christ let go of the “mind of the flesh.”

“God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”