As you know, our ministry here at Answers From the Book bases all our answers on the Word of God. We do NOT follow the teachings of the “Baptist faith” or the “Apostolic remnant church.” We will look at scriptures to see what “water baptism” is and what being “filled with the Holy Spirit” is.

Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize believers in Christ in Matthew 28:19-20, “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, 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.” Baptism is the “initial rite” that follows salvation where one becomes a DISCIPLE of Christ, which means a “follower” of Christ and a “learner” of His teachings. Only one who is truly saved will have this desire to identify themselves with Christ and want to “follow Him” according to His Word. Ephesians 4:5 speaks of this, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” In baptism we are not just confessing that Christ is our Savior, but we are owning Him as our Lord. In baptism we are dedicating our life to following “the faith,” which consists of all the teachings of Christ. This is NOT our “personal faith” in Christ; it is all the truths about Christ that we call “Christianity.” Jude 3 speaks of this: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH, which was once for all delivered to the saints.” After all the truths of Christianity were inspired and written down by godly men (see 1 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 2:21), the Bible was complete and now believers in Christ “follow those teachings.” So, “the faith” is “what we believe” and “what we obey.” It is NOT the “Baptist faith,” for their teachings may not always be true to what the Bible teaches, nor is it the teachings of the Apostolic remnant church. We must not “follow MEN”; we must “follow Christ and His teachings” that He gave us when He was here and the teachings that inspired men wrote down that completes the Word of God.

What does it mean to be “filled with the Spirit?” Some confuse this with the “baptism of the Spirit” or the “sealing of the Spirit.” The moment we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ we are SEALED with the Spirit. We see this in Ephesians 1:12-13, “that we who first trusted Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, HAVING BELIEVED, YOU WERE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT of promise.” The moment we believe the gospel we are also BAPTIZED by the Spirit into the body of Christ, which is the true Church. We read of this in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” This truth is also found in Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling.”

The “FILLING of the Spirit” is different, for unlike the SEALING and BAPTISM of the Spirit, which happened the moment we were saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we need to “be filled with the Spirit” moment by moment to live a godly life. We read of this in Ephesians 5:15-18 where the Apostle Paul said, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.” To be “filled with the Spirit” is to yield to the indwelling Spirt so we can be “controlled by the Spirit.” If we do yield ourselves to Him, we will be WISE and we will REDEEM THE TIME, for we will be walking day by day in the WILL OF THE LORD. See also Galatians 5:16-26.  (DO)  (739.1)