Paul came to Ephesus and found disciples; and he asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? when you believed and they answered, No, we have not even heard if the Spirit is present Acts 19:2. So he asked, Into what then were you baptized? and they said, Into John’s baptism Acts 19:3. And Paul said, John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him Acts 19:4. And when they heard this heard they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus Acts 19:5. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them Acts 19:6.
John’s baptism was repentance; it was not the Spirit. John said, I baptize you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit Mark 1:8. After me comes One who is mightier than I Mark 1:7. The lesser cannot give what belongs to the Greater. Water cannot give what belongs to Christ. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing John 6:63. The Spirit is received not by works but by hearing. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law or by hearing with faith? Galatians 3:2. And again: The blessing of Abraham might come to the nations so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith Galatians 3:14. Not by water, not by ritual, not by washing. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel 1 Corinthians 1:17. If water were essential, Christ would send His apostles to water. He did not. He sent them to preach.
Whoever believes has life. He who believes in the Son has eternal life John 3:36. Whoever does not have the Spirit does not belong to Him. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him Romans 8:9. Therefore those who belong to Him must first have the Spirit, and the Spirit is received by faith, not by water. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body 1 Corinthians 12:13. Spirit-baptism makes the body; water never has. Water is a sign; the Spirit is the reality. The shadow cannot give what the substance gives.
Peter says the same: Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit Acts 2:38. But he already said, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved Acts 2:21. Calling is faith. Faith precedes everything. And later he explains baptism not as water removing sin: Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience 1 Peter 3:21. The appeal saves faith. The conscience purified saves faith. Water touches flesh; the Spirit touches heart.
John’s disciples in Ephesus prove it: They had the water of repentance, yet they were without the Spirit. They had the sign, yet not the substance. They had the washing, yet not the life. For life is in the Son. He who has the Son has life 1 John 5:12. And the Son is received by faith. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name John 1:12. Children by believing, not by washing. Born of God, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God John 1:13. Water is man’s hand; rebirth is God’s act.
Thus the word stands: Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Galatians 3:3. If one begins by the Spirit, then one begins before water. If one receives the Spirit by hearing, then one receives before washing. And if one belongs to Christ by the Spirit, then one belongs before entering any pool.
The Spirit is the seal. In Him, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise Ephesians 1:13. Heard believed sealed. No water between. No ritual between. No human hand between.
For the promise is to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself Acts 2:39. The called are the believing; the believing are the sealed; the sealed are the saved. Water never did this. The Spirit did. The Son did. God did.