Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

We've been talking about baptism as an ordinance of the church.

And last time we saw that those who believe that baptism is an ordinance argue that all of the

spiritual blessings that are attributed to baptism are also attributed to faith alone.

The second argument that is often given by those who defend a non-sacramental view of baptism

is that when you look more closely at the New Testament, you find that water baptism

does not necessarily coincide with baptism in the Holy Spirit. Remember that for the sacramentalist, these are co-incident.

It is in water baptism that one is baptized in the Holy Spirit. These happen at the same time.

And that's why water baptism is a sacrament or a means of grace. You are baptized in the Holy Spirit

when you are water baptized. But the New Testament doesn't bear that out. Let's look at just some of the

examples of baptism in the New Testament. First, let's

begin with John the Baptist's baptism, and then the baptism as practiced by Jesus himself.

In these baptisms, the Holy Spirit was not received. The Holy Spirit was not given through John's

water baptism or in the baptism that Jesus himself administered. The Holy Spirit was promised only at

Pentecost and in post-Pentecostal experience. Now, the sacramentalist will respond by saying

that this was a unique situation. It was only after Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was given.

These baptisms were all pre-Pentecostal, and therefore, of course,

John and Jesus baptism was unique in not conveying the Holy Spirit. But notice that when Jesus

gives the great commission to the disciples to go out into all the world

and preach the gospel, he commands them to teach all that he has commanded them,

baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So it is a continuation

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