The reason why these anointed and God-sent ministers of the New Testament salvation never ministered baptism in man-made swimming pools can be found in their understanding of and commitment to Exodus 20: 25, Joshua 8: 30-31 and Acts 17: 25.

Read and meditate on these verses, so you would understand why all genuine ministers of God, are to administer baptism to eligible people in natural living water, and nowhere else.

It is only an ignorant Clergy who do not see the error in administering baptism in man-made king-sized bath-tubs, Jacuzzis, and swimming pools. It is only a Clergy without the mandate of the Great Commission which does not understand that it is in repentance and baptism that anyone’s sins and the sin-nature inherited from Adam of Eden, are respectively washed away, and uprooted from the spirit of fallen-man.

It is therefore only an ignorant Clergy, one that was not part of and as such was totally unknown to the Church of Jesus Christ in the years 30-100 AD, but came as intruders into it during the post-apostolic era, with their self-awarded titles, who do not know how the Holy Spirit of God comes to indwell the hearts of repentant sinners.

It is this ignorant Clergy, who believe the Holy Spirit of God is received in two tranches: one through the praying of special prayers, and the other in a so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”. How damaging and costly this ignorance of the Clergy is to their followers and to the kingdom of God.

Philip, lived up to his calling and anointing as an evangelist of Jesus Christ, when he led the first ever gentile, an African from Ethiopia and Minister of Treasury to Queen Candace, into the salvation of God, in the desert of Gaza (Acts 8: 26-40).

He so excellently performed his assignment to the Glory of God that, this noble Ethiopian gained the full compliments or complete package of God’s salvation through the administration of baptism, and continued his journey with them firmly rooted in his heart.

Note that this blessed man from Africa, after Philip had ministered to him the “one baptism” of the Great Commission, continued his journey to his destination, where there was no other genuine servant of God to add anything to his spiritual capacity or fervor at some later date.

Neither was he later to meet at his destination with some Archbishop, nor some Very ‘reverend’ Minister, nor some General Overseer, to lead or aid him to receive a so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”. That “one baptism” was enough to meet all his spiritual needs; and so will meet all of yours, my dear reader, if only you exercise faith in it.

Note well again that, after Philip ended his ministration of God’s salvation in baptism, to this Grandfather of the Christian Faith of Africa, he (African) went on his way rejoicing –the evidence that the Holy Spirit had found residence in his heart.

At the same time, Philip was given a sweet fore-taste of how the soon-to-come supernatural flight through outer space to Heaven would be, when in appreciation of his good service to the kingdom of God, he was given a free airlift from Gaza to Azotus. Oh! What a blessing it is to serve the kingdom of God with His wisdom?

And what was the jailor in Philippi to gain later, after his seemingly hurried receipt of the “one baptism” at midnight, at the hand of Paul and Silas, in the days following their miraculous release from jail? Nothing!

Whatever spiritual blessings God wanted to bestow upon him, He did in that midnight baptism. He did not need another so-called “Holy Spirit baptism” as a secondary and higher spiritual experience to the “one baptism”, and to bring him anymore blessings from God.

Let me ask: At which place and time were the over three thousand Jews, who entered the salvation of God on the Day of Pentecost, led into the so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”? And if we find out where and at what time, may one know which servant of God led them into this so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”?

Or were they treated differently from those who claim to have been blessed by God in a so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”? Ask your Clergy to give you the answers.

Obviously, the Clergy do not know how to teach the salvation message of God and therefore cannot lead anybody for a genuine entry into the Born Again experience. This is because no Clergy is part of the people God has called, taught, anointed and sent out as His workforce –a workforce which is indeed commissioned to bring His salvation in Christ Jesus to mankind.

The message of the Clergy to their followers is man-made. It is a hollow doctrine of men. Therefore, it has no power to save. They claim you can be saved by their message and in their invitations to you, to recite prayers after them.

They claim that while on a hospital bed, in the cozy cabin of an airplane in flight, at a breakfast table in a restaurant, or even sitting before a radio or television set at home, you can pray to be saved. But I tell you, that is a deception.

The Clergy tries to make amends to their followers, when they see they have obviously failed to get them into the power of God by their teachings of prayer for salvation, by leading them into some “upper room” experience, to attempt to “pray-down” Holy Ghost fire upon the heads and into hearts of these followers!

The prayer session in the “upper room” must continue for as long as it will take for some of these seekers of the so-called “Holy Spirit baptism” to be able to speak in some strange tongues or babbles popularly known as “shandar”.

Such a speech by these people is known as “shandar” because of the preponderance of the words “shandarama” or “shandara” in these strange tongues or babbles. And when seekers of this so-called “Holy Spirit baptism” are able to speak in these tongues or babbles (God-given?), a then highly elated Clergy, would pronounce or declare them as having received the “Holy Spirit baptism”.

Those in this prayer session, who are however disappointed in not being able to “shandar”, and are therefore considered not to have received the so-called “Holy Spirit baptism”, are encouraged by their leaders to begin to have a stronger desire for this baptism, so they can be rewarded with it in future “upper room” prayer sessions!

We must understand that, the pre-Pentecost Day occupants of the Upper Room in Jerusalem, in 30 AD, were not gathered there to pray-out their hearts in demand for the Holy Spirit of God. They only gathered there to await the receipt of a gift that had been promised them by the Master himself.

Yes, as these holy disciples gathered there, they prayed. But no prayer was made by any one of these disciples of Jesus Christ, in demand for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who (Holy Spirit) had been freely promised them; never asking for this promise to be made to them.

Can a Clergy, known and called by God, anointed and sent-out by Him, to call and compel sinners into His kingdom, not know the only way the Holy Spirit of God establishes contact with and enters into residence in the hearts of salvation-seekers, through repentance from sin and in baptism in Jesus’ name?

Lord Jesus Christ, where are your genuine ministers of your Gospel you have sent to us? Reveal them to us so we can believe them for our salvation, dear Lord: Or else people perish in ignorance.

Shalom, dear reader.
Chris Bapuohyele is an author, a Bible expositor and an evangelist. His e-mail address is: [email protected]

In the early hours of December 6, 2011, not far from midnight, I was roused from a short sleep, after experiencing a very clear and detailed dream. In the dream, I saw myself teaching to salvation-seekers of this generation, the falsehoods in the very popular “Holy Spirit baptism” doctrine.

Prior to this dream, God had for a long while been leading me to identify the many falsehoods of this doctrine. This He did, between the years 2008-2010, while giving me a series of revelations that formed the bulk of teachings in my first published book entitled: “BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation”. These three years, were to be for me the most crucial of five, I spent in writing this book.

One may ask: What is the “Holy Spirit baptism” doctrine? This is a legitimate question to ask, because the Word of God is very clear in its revelation to mankind that there is only “one baptism” (Ephesians 4: 4-6). This being the case, one may ask: Is this so-named “Holy Spirit baptism” the “one baptism” mentioned in the Book of Ephesians, or is it entirely different?

The salvation-seeker must understand that, the “one baptism” of Ephesians is the baptism of the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18-20; Mark 16: 15-18) and therefore, the one administered by the apostles of Jesus Christ, in their ministrations of God’s salvation to sinners, as recorded in Acts 2: 38-41; 8: 38; 9: 18; 10: 48; 16: 33; 19: 5; and in other places.

This “one baptism” of the Great Commission is also commonly known as “water baptism”, which is the reality of Ezekiel 36: 25-27, and thus, the only one baptism which fits into Jesus’ born of water teaching to Nicodemus in John 3: 3-5.

As a matter of fact, any time the word “baptism” is mentioned in the Bible, it is always in reference to the “one baptism” of the Book of Ephesians; or in typology, shadow, and or figurative forms to this “one baptism”.

Surprisingly, the much-touted “Holy Spirit baptism” neither fits the “one baptism” of Ephesians, nor of the Great Commission, nor of any semblance to “water baptism”. The “Holy Spirit baptism” is, therefore, one that is absolutely different from the “one baptism” revealed and taught in the Bible.

Indeed, according to available teachings by the proponents of the “Holy Spirit baptism” doctrine, this baptism is supposed to be a second (or third?) spiritual experience after one’s salvation, and one that can be experienced by the salvation-seeker, either before or after one has undergone the rite of “water baptism”.

As it is, almost all seekers of God’s salvation know that one must receive “water baptism” in Jesus’ name, as the baptism of the Great Commission, to be joined to the Body of Christ, and or to become a member of the Church.

From the foregoing therefore, it seems strange and in fact ridiculous, for theologians and members of the Clergy, to see two or even more different baptisms in the Bible, which they teach to their followers.

Another wrong teaching of the Clergy, who ever administer “water baptism” at all, is that this baptism (in water) is only needful and significant as a post-salvation ritual. In other words, one must have obtained God’s salvation, be living in it, and be enjoying it, to be eligible for “water baptism”.

For them, this “water baptism” can only be administered to those followers of theirs who are considered to have already entered into God’s salvation in Christ, because they had, in a not-so-distant past, been led to recite some special prayers.

This “water baptism” is administered for such followers, by being immersed in water, in man-made swimming pools, tanks, portable baptisteries, or in natural bodies of living water. The choice of place for the administration of this baptism, by these theologians and Clergy, is always dependant on how modern, affluent, or poor its proponents/recipients are.

The rich and affluent usually resort to perfumed water in modern swimming pools and other large, man-made, water-holding containers, for the administration of the ritual. The less wealthy however, usually resort to natural water bodies, often located outside of town, for the ritual.

What all this means is that, for such people who observe the rite of baptism, it does not matter whether the place for baptism is natural or man-made; it is simply a matter dependant on one’s personal choices, tastes and or social status. For such baptismal faithful, God has no say in this! And so, it is not uncommon in our world today, for baptism to be performed in private king-sized bath-tubs, Jacuzzis, and swimming pools of the rich.

The main reason that theologians and Clergy often give for ever administering “water baptism” to their followers is that, it must be done “to fulfill all righteousness”. Readers must however note that, the words “to fulfill all righteousness” are credited to Jesus in Matthew 3: 15. Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, who never knew any sin, before, at, and after his baptism, spoke these words to urge John the Baptist to baptize him.

So, in the thinking of these so-called men of God, since Jesus the Christ, who knew no sin, had to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness”, any mortal men seeking to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” in their lives must also be without sin, at the point of their baptism in water. In other words, mortal man must be devoid of sin, in much the same state that Jesus the Christ was without sin, when John baptized him, before he can also be baptized!

How mortal man can come to be without sin, many theologians and Clergy are however ignorant about. According to these theologians and Clergy, immediately anyone of their followers, recites after them any one of the special prayers, known to them as the “Prayer for Salvation” and the “Sinner’s Prayer”, one instantly attains a sinless or sin-free state, is saved, and is firmly established in God’s kingdom. It is in this supposed sinless state obtained in prayer, that the sinner then becomes qualified, for these leaders to baptize him “to fulfill all righteousness”.

As part of their recitals of these special prayers for salvation, the salvation-seeker is also led by these so-called men of God, to ask for God’s Holy Spirit to come to indwell one’s heart. Though they accept that the Holy Spirit is a gift of God, they teach that one must demand through praying to Him, to be given this gift. After reciting the special prayer, the salvation-seeker is made to believe that some great blessings of God have been divinely bestowed upon him.

The first of these supposed blessings is that one has become cleansed from all sin, and come at par with Jesus the Christ in His sinless state, during his earthly sojourn. The second supposed blessing is that, one has become a child of God, of the same status as and co-heir with Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

The third deception is that, one now has indwelling in one’s heart, a certain amount or “measure of the Holy Spirit of God”; but to obtain the full measure of the Holy Spirit to indwell one’s heart however, one must await a “Holy Spirit baptism”, for his entire human vessel to be filled to the brim and running-over, with the Holy Spirit of God.

It is very sad that the salvation message of God is presented to a needy world in this ridiculous way. It is ridiculous because the Word of God does not teach the message and good news of mankind’s redemption in this way. (—the continuing part to this article is in Part Two: soon to be published).

Chris Bapuohyele is an author, a Bible expositor and an evangelist. His e-mail address is: [email protected].