Category: Musings on Baptism
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:14-17)
Here, baptism into Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit are not concurrent events. Not until the Apostles laid hands on them, did they receive the Spirit. This would indicate that there is not [was not] a cause/effect relationship between baptism and the Spirit's descent.
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.) And he arose and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship. And he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." And when Philip had run up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. "In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who shall relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth." And the eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?" And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him (Acts 8:26-38).
According to v.35, Philip preached Jesus to the eunuch, and he must have included baptism in his gospel presentation because as soon as they came upon water, the eunuch asked to be baptized. We notice that Philip did not say, "Look, baptism doesn't save, it's just a public celebration of God's grace in our lives. Why don't we wait until we get you home, then you can join a church and the next time they have a baptismal service you can do it in the presence of many others. Remember, this doesn't save, and it's really a community event." No, Philip stops the cart and baptized the eunuch right there and then.
This would suggest that baptism is not a public ritual. Not that it is wrong for the body to join together for the event and celebrate it in fellowship. But, the purpose of baptism is not for the church, but for the individual. It is his profession of faith, his appeal to God for cleansing (we'll see this again in 1 Peter).