Schroeder said:
maybe we are misunderstanding each other. I do not believe Mark 16:16 is water baptism. and dont believe Christ commanded it for salvation or forgivness of sins. dont believe it is necessary at all to be done. Acts 19:1 should show that Mark 16:16 is about the Spirit as well. for we see that those things mentioned in Mark 16:17 only happened to those that were baptized by the Spirit. John the Baptist baptism was for one purpose to show Christ as the messiah. He never says to do this to believe in christ. only that it was done to reveal him. Than he says you must do as Christ teaches. So i am not teaching a rebaptism at all but that water baptism is not part of the saving grace of God. you receive the Spirit by believing on and accepting God's Son Jesus Christ. People keep using Mark 16:16 as a passage that supports the command of water baptism when it isnt even saying water but the Spirit baptism.
It clear that we misunderstand each other, and also that we do not agree with each other.
I do believe the Mark 16:16
is speaking of water baptism. Also, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus,
"preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4).
Matthew 3:11 states (John speaking) "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."
Water baptism continued all through the ministry of Jesus while He was upon the earth, and was still going on at Pentecost, and later. However, the Holy Spirit baptism, by Jesus, was added to those that repented and were water baptized at Pentecost. Jesus was the baptizer with the Holy Ghost to those water baptized repentants. That was in fulfillment of John's remarks in Matt.3:11.
Mark 16:16 was spoken by Jesus prior to His return to heaven. Water baptism was still to be practised, but it was prior to Pentecost. Jesus was not yet baptizing the water baptized repentants with the Holy Ghost.
Those believers at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) were baptized "unto John's baptism" (vs 3), an no doubt prior to Pentecost. Therefore, they would not have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as those at Pentecost did. The events of Acts 19 took place at least 15 years
after Pentecost.
There are a few things one must keep in mind when we are studying the gospels. First of all, we should keep in mind what Jesus said about His ministry. He said in Matthew 15:24 "...I am not come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He even
commanded His disciples in 10:5 "...Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of Samiaria enter ye not.
What did Jesus and His disciples preach? The gospel of the kingdom/the kingdom at hand (about to be established).
In Romans 15:8 Paul tells us "...that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision (Israel) to confirm the promises made to the fathers."
What were some of those promises? Well back in Exodus 19:3-7 God told Moses to tell the children of Israel that if they would keep His commandments then they would become a holy nation, and a kingdom of priests.
In Exodus 30:17-21 we find that before one could become a priest, they had to undergo a ceremonial washing (baptism.)
So what was John the Baptist's mission as the forerunner of Jesus? He was to prepare the nation of Israel to be that holy nation and nation of priests, which would prepare the way for Jesus to establish His kingdom.
Well we know from studying the gospels that the Jews, as a nation rejected their King and His Kingdom.
Even after Pentecost, the believing water baptized repentances received the promised Holy Ghost. Peter, in Acts 3:19-21, told his listeners that if they, as a nation, would repent of the murder of Jesus, then He would return and restore all things. However, when we read further, Israel's leaders still rejected their King and His Kingdom, when they stoned Stephen in Acts 7, and therefore God set the nation of Israel aside, just as he did the Gentiles back at the Tower of Babel, in Genesis 11.
Today God is not dealing with Israel as His favorite people. God made a new creation (Epesians 2:14-18) known as "the Body of Christ." It consists of believing "set aside" Jews and Gentiles, on equal footing, and without distinction. Salvation/justification is not offered on the basis of doing the deeds/works of the Law
BY FAITH as Isreal was required, but it is
NOW offered by one putting their
FAITH in the Cross work (death, burial, and resurrection) of Christ.
According to Ephesians 4:5 there is "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." It is not the water baptism that was required for entry in the priesthood of Israel, but it is the baptism of the Holy Spirt that baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ -
DRY-CLEANED (1Cor.12:13) .
Hope this gives you a better idea as to where I am coming from.
There are some that say that Mark 16:16-18 are not in the original manuscripts. However, it is basically repeating those thing that Jesus told His disciples to do back in Matthew 10:8.
God Bless.
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!