The Baptism That Saves: What Most People Miss in Acts 11:16

[bdavidc]

“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.’” (Acts 11:16)

Two Baptisms – One Eternal

This verse is often misunderstood, but when we look at it in context of the whole Bible, the meaning is clear. In Acts 11, Peter is explaining to Jewish believers what had just happened in the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. Cornelius and his household had heard the gospel, believed it, and were immediately filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44–46). This shocked the Jewish believers, because up to that point, they had assumed salvation and the Holy Spirit were limited to the Jews. Peter responds by recalling something Jesus Himself said, “John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 1:5).

This is crucial. Peter is connecting what happened to the Gentiles in Acts 10 to Jesus’ promise before His ascension. They had just witnessed what Jesus foretold, a baptism, not of water, but of the Holy Spirit. It was a real-time fulfillment of that promise, proving that Gentiles who believed in Christ were accepted by God the same way Jewish believers were.

So what does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
According to 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” This is not a second experience, not a feeling, not tongues, and not an emotional high. It is the moment a person believes the gospel and is placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. That is what happened in Acts 2 with the Jews, and again in Acts 10 with the Gentiles. It was not tied to water; it was tied to faith.

John’s baptism with water was symbolic, preparing people to receive the coming Messiah (Mark 1:4). It showed repentance, but it could not save. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, however, is the true work of regeneration and salvation. Titus 3:5 puts it plainly, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

When Peter remembered Jesus’ words in Acts 11:16, he recognized that what happened to Cornelius’ household was not some random event. It was the fulfillment of Christ’s promise that believers would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It proved they were saved, not because they were Jews, not because they kept the law, not because they were baptized in water, but because they believed the gospel and received the Spirit.

That said, water baptism is still important. It does not save, but it is commanded. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 10:48 says that after Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit, Peter commanded them to be baptized in water. Baptism is the outward expression of inward faith. It shows that a person has died to sin and now walks in new life with Christ (Romans 6:4). If someone claims to be saved but refuses to obey Christ’s command to be baptized, that reveals a serious issue in the heart.

So yes, be baptized. But understand what saves you is not the water, it is whether you have truly been born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:9 says, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” That is the baptism that matters most. And if you have received it, then do what the Bible commands: get baptized in water as a public declaration that you now belong to Christ. Obedience follows salvation; it does not cause it.

Acts 11:16 points us back to the promise of Christ, fulfilled in the lives of real people, not through ritual, but through faith. That is the baptism that saves. And water baptism is how we testify to the world that we belong to Him.

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[Scott Downey]

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” Performed by God.
I Agree that a water baptism is not the baptism that saves

Paul was glad, thanking God he had not baptized anyone

1 Corinthians 1
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [d]speak the same thing, and that there be no [e]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Ce’s household, that there are [f]contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Ephesians 4
I, therefore, the prisoner [a]of the Lord, [b]beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in [c]you all.

 

[Scott Downey]

Used to work with a fellow that said you had to be physically submerged in water to be saved.
He went to the Church of Christ.
The guy was very divisive.
He automatically said believing in Christ as described in Romans 10, was not salvation, anyone sprinkled by water in a church by a minister and believing in Christ was going to hell.

He liked to quote how the demons believe and tremble, but are not saved.
He hedged this by saying real believers get submerged in a water baptism by a man, and if you don't do it like his church, you are not a genuine believer, you are a fake Christian. To him, most Christian believers were sons of Satan.

 

[Scott Downey]

So that guy did not believe the scripture himself, the very accusation he threw out against many other Christians.

Romans 10
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”