Our quote will include verses 1 through 7 of Acts 19, "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve."
None of the quoted grammatical variations of the term "baptize" are applied as an explicit reference to water immersion. One could reasonably conclude that when the term "baptism" is used in reference to the overall ministry of John the Baptist, the usage could infer some acknowledgment of the water "baptisms" administered by John and required under Hebrew law, but ONLY as a PART of his ministry. However, I don't believe that rationale applies to the above applications.
The twelve Ephesians, mentioned in the above quote, had only heard, and obviously accepted, the message John preached concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus. They had probably also subjected themselves to the traditional Jewish water washing, by immersion, (baptism) that was administered by John the Baptist. They had NOT, as Paul determined, been taught salvation by grace through faith in the completed sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of ALL sin. Remember, John did NOT preach salvation through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, since that had not yet been completed.
Therefore, having not been yet "saved", those Ephesians had, "not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." When Paul heard that he immediately taught them about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and how His sacrifice had atoned for all sin for those who would simply believe in Him.
The fact that, after obviously accepting Christ, Paul had to lay his hands on those twelve Ephesians in order for them to receive the Holy Ghost, is a mystery seeing that others had received the Holy Ghost without the laying on of hands. (Acts chapter ten.)
The last application of the term "baptized" in this reference is found in verse five of the quote, "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
By this usage, Paul was simply affirming that those twelve Ephesians had indeed been "baptized" into, accepted the doctrine of, or had put on the "name of" Christ Jesus. ~
By this usage, Paul was simply affirming that those twelve Ephesians had indeed been "baptized" into, accepted the doctrine of, or had put on the "name of" Christ Jesus. ~
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