Spirit Baptism According to Peter

Posted on July 16, 2025 by David

Is Spirit baptism a separate concept from water baptism?

Painting by Jen Norton, taken from fineartamerica.com


EDIT: I decided to repost this because I had cited Lewis Sperry Chafer on Romans 6:3, who said it spoke of Spirit baptism. I now think the passage refers to the ritual. The distinction remains valid, and I think the argument I present from Acts is conclusive.

What does the New Testament mean by the word “baptism”? It at least means a ritual involving water, but scriptures also seem to apply the word to an act of the Holy Spirit. Is the ritual performed by Christians also an act of the Holy Spirit in some sense? Or are these two different but related things?

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How Ecclesiology Affects Eschatology on Gulfside Ministries

Posted on October 25, 2023 by David
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Interview with TMCP on Dispensationalism

Posted on October 11, 2023 by David

Jonah M. Saller (@jonahmsaller) was kind enough to have me on The Mere Catholicity Podcast to introduce his audience to Dispensationalism. He is a vocal critic of the theology and the evangelical tradition more broadly, but he is charitable and irenic and wanted to have an adherent on to talk about the position.

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The Rapture and the Nature of the Church — Conclusion

Posted on August 8, 2023 by David

Pretribulationist J. Dwight Pentecost asserts of both posttribulationism and mid-tribulationism that they rest on “a denial of the distinctions between Israel and the church.”[1] Gundry writes an entire chapter attempting to rebut Pentecost’s statement.[2] He begins by arguing against a total disconnection, a clean break, between the programs of the Church and Israel and then concludes the chapter by calling his a “measured dispensationalism” that allows for a posttribulation rapture, yet does not blur the present economy with the Jewish features of the seventieth week.[3]

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The Rapture Part 9 — The Saints in Revelation

Posted on July 31, 2023 by David

Pretribulationists contend that the Church is never mentioned in the tribulation chapters of Revelation. It is never mentioned by name, so if the Church were there, it is at least peculiar. Gundry says:

None of the “mysteries” distinctive of the Church—such as the equality of Jews and Gentiles in one Body, the Church as the bride of Christ, and Christ’s indwelling of believers—are ever applied specifically to tribulational saints. But this acquires significance as an argument for pretribulationism only on the premise that the burden of proof rests on posttribulationists to show that tribulational saints will belong to the Church.

Because of the argument for the time of the Church given in part 5, the burden of proof does rest on the non-pretribulationist. On the other hand, if mid or post-tribulationists can show that the Church is referred to in these passages, it would disprove pretribulationism.

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The Rapture Part 8 — The Restrainer of 2 Thess. 2

Posted on July 24, 2023 by David

Ecclesiology matters for the rapture debate beyond the argument given in Part 5. It is decisive for the interpretation of battleground passages like Matthew 24, the Thessalonian epistles, and parts of Revelation. This brief post will continue the series on the Rapture and the Nature of the Church by examining the effect ecclesiology has on `interpreting 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and the “Restrainer.”

2 Thessalonians 2 is vital to the rapture question. In his chapter dealing with this epistle, Gundry is largely defensive.[1]  He does argue that if pretribulationism were true, Paul could have simply reminded them of it. Paul could have calmed their agitation—caused by the mistaken belief that the day of the Lord had arrived—if he simply reminded them of the imminent pretribulation rapture.

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The Rapture Part 7 — 1 Thess. 4:16

Posted on July 17, 2023 by David

Ecclesiology matters for the rapture debate beyond the argument given in Part 5. It is decisive for the interpretation of battleground passages like Matthew 24, the Thessalonian epistles, and parts of Revelation. This brief post will continue the series on the Rapture and the Nature of the Church by examining the effect ecclesiology has on `interpreting 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

"I am... the Bright and Morning Star" Revelation 22:16

One potential problem for reconciling Matthew 24:31 with the rapture, is that this passage describes angels gathering the elect, while 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says the Lord Himself will descend and get His Church. Gundry argues that these two descriptions are compatible because the Lord will gather His elect even though He does so through the agency of angels. He acknowledges, “a strong emphasis does lie on the word ‘Himself,’” but notes that this refers to his act of descending out of heaven, not His gathering.[1]

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The Rapture Part 6 — Matthew 24:31

Posted on July 10, 2023 by David

The nature of the Church matters for the rapture debate in more ways than just the argument given in Part 5. It is decisive for the interpretation of battleground passages like Matthew 24, the Thessalonian epistles, and parts of Revelation. The following examples will attempt to show that when these passages are read with the ecclesiology outlined in the previous parts of this series, they lead to a pretribulation rapture.

Is the Rapture Described in Matthew 24:31?

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The Rapture Part 5 — An Argument for a Pretribulation Rapture

Posted on July 3, 2023 by David

The Gap in the Seventy Weeks

The seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 is hugely important for the rapture question. It establishes the timetable for the consummation of God’s plan for Israel, and it defines the tribulation period (Dan. 9:27). The proper name for the tribulation is Daniel’s seventieth week (the prophecy is given in groups of seven years, or weeks of years). The chapter begins with Daniel praying to the Lord, confessing on behalf of his people (Dan. 9:20). “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth” (Dan. 9:13). Israel should have repented after seventy years of Babylonian captivity, but they did not.

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The Rapture and the Nature of the Church — Part 4

Posted on June 26, 2023 by David

The Unity of the Church

The Church is uniquely related to Christ and its members to each other. The NT speaks of the Church as a single organism, receiving life from Christ (John 14:19; John 15:1-8). Jesus referred to the Church as Himself when He said to Saul, “why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). The Church is the very body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-14):

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