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In the days of Jesus when you were baptised you were identifying yourself with a teacher or school of teaching. When you are baptised today you identify yourself with Jesus and The Kingdom of God.

There are three types of baptism mentioned in The Bible: that of Water (given by anyone), that of The Holy Spirit (given by Jesus on behalf of The Father) and that of suffering for Jesus (The Father plans for you). The first is a physical sign, the second, a spiritual sign, and the third, of complete dying to self and identification with Jesus.

It is to be noted that the only Water Baptism mentioned in the Bible is by complete immersion in flowing water as if the flowing water carries away the past. Sprinkling just does not have the same symbolism as immersion. It i hard to rise to newness of life if you are just sprinkled (Col 2:12).

1 Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

These verses are interesting as water baptism is mention as are the other two types of baptism, of The Spirit and of Suffering.

Water Baptism is a rite included in many religions, not just Christianity. It is an identification with the teacher whom you are following and his beliefs and in a sense, a rite of passage turning from all you have believed before to embracing and doing that which the new teacher preaches.

You joined a teacher and were baptized to show that he was now your mentor. So, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, Jesus was saying I am identifying myself with him. This is why John the Baptist had to point people back to Jesus away from him. When the people were baptized with the disciples, they were saying that they were identifying themselves with Jesus. When John said that he must decrease and Jesus increase, he was saying that Jesus was to be followed, not he and so people then went to Jesus for baptism.

In Christianity, baptism is administered by a Christian and there is no Biblical qualification for the person giving the baptism but usually it is a mature Christian who understands what baptism involves and can prepare the person properly for baptism. It is to be noted that in the early church the deliverance ministry was carried out before baptism so that the residue if the kingdom of Satan was removed before they identified themself with the Kingdom of God.

Jesus did not baptise, rather, His disciples did as He would baptise after His death with The Holy Spirit (as prophesied by John the Baptist Mat 3:11). His Baptism would be that of The Holy Spirit of which the first example was at Pentecost where the anointing was given to enable (authorise) the disciples to serve Him.

Baptism signifies repentance (a rejection) of one’s former worldly lifestyle and adoption of the teachings of the new lifestyle (Matthew 3:11) If this change in attitude does not occur then it is a baptism of the flesh an not of the spirit.

By declaring Jesus is your Lord in Baptism, you satisfy the requirements of salvation (Believe in Jesus and His teachings and declare Him to be Lord) and obtain the remission of sins (a result of salvation). This confession is necessary for Salvation and is usually done publicly at Baptism so this is why salvation is said to be affirmed there (Romans 10:9-10). This public profession can be done elsewhere and will have the same effect. It is the confession and not the baptism that affirms the decision to make Jesus Lord and to follow Him. Baptism is just the sign you have made these choices and is described as the act of a good conscience (correct attitude) towards God.

To keep your salvation you need to work at your side of the relationship (called holiness), obeying Jesus as your Lord and doing His work on earth. Your fruit will show whether you belong to Him or not.

The baptism signifies a correct attitude to Jesus as you want to identify with Him (1 Peter 3:21). It is this attitude of identification that is important and is a result of the attitude that led to salvation.

Baptism was an immediate consequence of the preaching in Acts and was not postponed to a more convenient time (Acts 2:41, 8:12).

It is a ceremonial cleansing from all that is before (Mark 7:4 the words "they wash" is the one used elsewhere for the word translated as baptism). Baptism is symbolic of the washing away of all that is in you that does not belonging to the new teachings (of Jesus) whom you are identifying with and embracing.

The Baptism of The Spirit can occur after baptism of water according to Acts 2:38. However, to limit this Baptism of the Spirit to only those who are baptized with water, is to deny all who have followed Jesus as Lord, who have confessed Him publicly as Lord but are not baptized by immersion and yet who walk in the Gifts of The Holy Spirit.

We are Baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27) and into His death (Romans 6:3) and are raised up into newness of life (Romans 6:4) Just as Christ was raised from the dead by The Father, we are raised from the dead through deliverance from the Kingdom of Darkness (we die to Satan’s Kingdom) and by putting on Christ (accepting Him as Lord, accepting His salvation and believing in Him and all He has done and taught). Baptism is a two-fold symbolic act signifying this dying with Jesus and then the rising with Him from the dead into a new life as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

As a citizen of The Kingdom we are commanded to go out and evangelize and baptise (Matthew 28:19). This baptism cannot be that of The Holy Spirit as only Jesus can do that, so it has to be Water Baptism. Evangelism to be done properly appears to need to be accompanied by Water Baptism.

We are to preach the Gospel and not preach a salvation needing baptism by water (1 Corinthians 1:17) or we negate Grace and make baptism a requirement for salvation. Baptism is the outward sign that affirms salvation and declares fully that you are saved, but this act has no power to save as baptism is a response to Jesus and the salvation He offers.

When a person is baptized in a denomination the understanding is that they are baptized into the denomination and not The Kingdom of God. However, the act of baptism confirms their faith publicly meets the requirement to confess Jesus before men. The problem is when they ar taught to follow the denomination and not The Kingdom of God as there is a difference between the two. When this is repented of there is no need to be baptized again if you declared Jesus as Lord and did not knowingly commit yourself to the denomination at that baptism. If you were baptized into the denomination you were not baptized into the Kingdom of God and will need to do that separately.

Most people are unnecessarily troubled by this. People believe The Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost to the churches. Since this happened only once, the conclusion is that you are only filled only once with The Holy Spirit, but Paul talked about being filled with The Spirit constantly, and not being just a one time event when talking about The Holy Spirit’s filling and so the Holy Spirit’s filling is not just a one-time event.

People do not realize that Pentecost was the second time The Holy Spirit had been given to the disciples. The first time it was given to mark them as belonging to Jesus.

John 20:23: Jesus gave the disciples The Holy Ghost to mark them as His.

Luke 24:49: and Acts 1:8 They were to wait until they were empowered from on high (by The Holy Spirit).

Acts 2:2-4: They were empowered from on high - the anointing for empowerment and service.

We are all sealed by The Holy Spirit when we choose to follow Jesus but we are not necessarily empowered by The Holy Spirit for any ministry as firstly we need to grow in "The Grace and Knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ". This empowerment comes as we align ourselves more and more with God’s purposes, as we grow into a more intimate relationship with Him, and as we separate ourselves from the values of the kingdom of darkness so that He can entrust us with a ministry (a service for Him). When we are ready to minister then He empowers us to minister. To minister without this empowerment is to minister in the flesh.

The Christian receives The Holy Spirit as His seal (or mark) that he belongs to Jesus:

"Romans 8: 16 The Spirit himself doth testify with our spirit, that we are children of God;"

The disciples again received The Holy Spirit from Jesus after He had died. The Holy Spirit could not come in His fullness until the requirements for His coming had been fulfilled (Jesus had to leave so that The Holy Spirit could replace Him). So the disciples could not receive the empowerment of The Holy Spirit until then because Jesus had not died and ascended and The Holy Spirit could not be sent until this had happened.

"John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"

So the event in Acts 2:4 was separate from their receiving The Holy Spirit as a mark of being a disciple of Jesus and belonging to Him. A subsequent filling is noted in Acts 4:34 (as a result of disciples wanting to do the work of Jesus).

We can see that the infilling is for the purposes of doing the work of God and a request of this for any other purpose is not scriptural. Examples of non–scriptural fillings are when people want the filling for the pleasure of the experience, or in the belief that it marks them as being spiritual or when the denomination requires it as a mark of conversion. These are selfish reasons or man made reasons and not for The work of Jesus so Satan happily obliges these people. This is why the Pentecostal churches have problems because people ask for The Holy Spirit’s filling for the wrong reasons and, as a result, they get a demon instead or have no filling and work on in the flesh as if they have had this anointing because they assume they can control The Holy Spirit to anoint them at their pleasure.

This anointing is a reward for obedience as God gives you it so you can serve Him in a greater capacity and do His Will in a new ministry area of your life. It is also a sign of spiritual maturity and promotion so that a ministry you are in will be enhanced and increased as a reward of faithfulness in serving Jesus.

We do not receive all of our empowerment at once, but as we mature in the Christian life, we are given more responsibility (spiritual authority) and empowerment to serve in these new areas, in other words, we are filled with more with the Holy Spirit Thus, we not only are given more empowerment but also the wisdom and maturity with which to deal with this new empowerment.

A very clear distinction between receiving The Holy Spirit as a seal of being a follower of Jesus (discipleship) and as a separate event is found in Acts 8:14-17:

"Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."

The Holy Spirit was granted to the Samaritans so they could minister as Christians. Obedience to Jesus results in doing His work. This is the other condition for the infilling - a desire to do His will as evidenced by the person’s purposes and lifestyle lining up with what God wants these to be.

Either this passage is incorrect or the Baptism of The Holy Spirit is a separate event to initial infilling that marks people as being a follower of Jesus. Sometimes these events may simultaneously occur but normally the infilling is an empowerment for the purposes of doing the work of Jesus and The Father. Sometimes is it is called an ‘anointing’.

Ignore this infilling and you have a church that has no power from God and no spiritual direction or guidance, and is one which is relegated to using reason, and/or man’s rules and regulations in order to maintain its presence in the community in the way Jesus requires us too.

The problems and excesses in regard to the Baptism of The Holy Ghost occur when the resultant signs and wonders are sought rather than intimacy with Jesus and where the manifestation is sought for for its own sake and exhibition of power, and rather than for the furtherance of the Kingdom of The Father or to bring Glory to Jesus or are assumed to be a right rather than a reward for faithful obedience.

The purpose of signs and wonders is to witness to Jesus and to bring people to Him because of what Jesus has done for them, both spiritually and physically, not to show how spiritual or powerful a church or an individual is. Any fleshly reason for serving Jesus allows the devil entry and will sidetrack and shipwreck that church or revival or individual as has happened in various denominations and revivals during the previous two centuries

The person is marked by The Holy Spirit as belonging to Jesus and as that person lives the life of obedience to Jesus and shows he is worthy of it, he will be infilled (empowered) by The Holy Spirit so that he will be able to do the works Jesus did.

Remember, those who are truly baptised with The Holy Spirit will exhibit the signs that Jesus said they would do:

Mark 16: 17–18 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

The fire of purification is always associated with the baptism of fire and is necessary to serve the Lord but it is not a separate effect but a following on of the Baptism of The Spirit. The Baptism of fire is necessary if you are to go deeper into intimacy with God.

When we become a Christian (a follower of Jesus as our Lord), our spirit is filled by The Holy Ghost so that we are marked (sealed Romans 8:15-17) as belonging to Jesus. Satan sees that and knows we no longer belong to him. Any further filling can only be to our soul (house) where demons and our self ‘live’. As demons are removed, The Holy Spirit fills their place. As we allow more and more self to be removed, The Holy Spirit takes its place. Thus as we are purified and more of the old self is removed, The Holy Spirit fills us to take its place and thus we are filled on a continuous basis by The Holy Spirit.

This type of ‘baptism’ occurs when we deny our self and take up the cross of suffering that He offers us as we serve Him, His Kingdom and His righteousness, regardless of the cost to us. This happens when the purposes of Jesus become more important than our own life.

Jesus embraced this baptism of suffering because of the good that would occur for others (all mankind, Luke 12:50, Isaiah 53:11). Without His going through this baptism of suffering we would still be under The Mosaic Law and not God’s Redemptive Grace.

Baptism is a ritual resulting from obedience to Jesus that should eventually lead us to this depth of commitment to Him. As we do each day what we are asked to by Jesus, we walk in the plan The Father has for us that moulds us into the image of Jesus (in character) that will bring us to this baptism. It is not something for which we can study. Rather, it is prepared and lived out as we seek Him and His purposes.

As we correctly deal with things in this baptism of suffering our worship is also purified more It is also in this baptism that we move from calling Him ‘Master’ to calling Him friend..

Jn 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

It is through this Baptism that we share in the ‘fellowship of His sufferings’.

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

These two verses have been taken to mean Water Baptism is necessary for salvation and receive The Holy Ghost. Anyone taking this viewpoint has completely misunderstood the verses. Calvary resulted in remission of sins and not water baptism.

When Jesus talks about Baptism, He speaks of the anointing of The Holy Spirit and not of water. John the Baptist said Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and not water. Jesus said to the woman at the well in Sychar that He would give her living water (Holy Spirit) so that she would never thirst again.

Mark 16:16 is said in the context of people hearing the Gospel and receiving it (v15). They are advised to be baptized (16) then we are told what they will do (v17-19) . The pattern for ministry was set at Pentecost: anointing then ministry. So here, the baptism is an anointing for ministry.

In other words, you obey Jesus and seek to do His will so He anoints you to do it. So salvation is belief in, declaration of and voluntary obedience to Jesus (that is, Jesus is Lord of your life).

In Acts 2:38, after Peter preached Jesus the people repented and were told to identify (by Water Baptism) with Jesus, that their sins would be remitted, and that they would receive the Holy Spirit as a sign of making Jesus their Lord and of obeying Him voluntarily. The Water Baptism was a result of salvation not a cause of it. It was a public declaration stating that they were making Jesus Lord and with that declaration, salvation was evidenced. This often is why baptism is associated with the declaration of faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Since you can make Jesus Lord without the need for baptism being a confirmation of salvation, this verse does not then mean you have to be baptized in order to be saved, but is an example of people declaring Jesus to be Lord publicly and identifying with His teachings.

In the Old Testament people were saved by faith and were not baptized. If baptism was necessary for salvation then Abraham, King David as well as all the prophets would not be saved.

Baptism by water is a sign in the natural that you identify with Jesus. Unless it is put into practice through obedience and the desire to serve Him as your Lord, it is of no benefit. It is the baptism of The Holy Spirit (anointing for service) that shows you are following Jesus obediently as it is given only to empower you to serve and to follow Jesus in what He had called you too, not to cause you to obey or serve Him and it is the Baptism of suffering that shows you are willing to forsake all to follow Him..