What Happened After Baptism?

Acts 8:15-16 (NIV) – 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; THEY HAD SIMPLY BEEN BAPTIZED in the name of the Lord Jesus.  

Many times we look at baptism as an end game but it is not. The aim of evangelism is not to baptize. The aim of evangelism is to make disciples which happens long after baptism. Baptism is not the end but the beginning of what should happen to anyone!

Baptism is to be born. The aim cannot be to be born! The aim is to grow and be useful to society. In fact after birth one is highly vulnerable because they are weak and susceptible to many things that can harm them. It’s completely unbiblical to aim at baptism and walk away after that!

Those who aim at baptism always aim at numbers for self glory. Vain glory. The more the merrier the glory. God’s interests and purposes are totally ignored when we aim at numbers. We cease to be evangelists in the biblical order. We want baptized numbers for reports, statistics and self glory that we did it. Baptism is not the goal. Baptism is a milestone to the goal.

Those who aim at baptism, end the efforts at baptism. They baptize and abandon new believers after baptism. After the pictures and numbers are captured, their aim is achieved.

Sometimes people desire to get baptized as an end game. This is because of a wrong understanding of what God expects. They think it is fulfilling requirements and walking away. They think it’s school where you collect a certificate on graduation and then go job hunting. Baptism is not graduation where you get a certificate and disappear. Baptism is admission to the school of discipleship.

To disappear after baptism thinking you have succeeded is to run away from school with an admission letter. You get baptized and you feel so good and have a sense of achievement. Then you disappear with the admission letter never to return to church. You missed the point. 

Baptism has succeeded or failed depending on what happens afterwards. Baptism is an admission letter to school of discipleship and not graduation. If after admission you don’t join the school, the admission process flopped. If you join the school the admission process succeeded.

The teacher in the school after baptism is the Holy Spirit. God dwelling in you. After baptism sanctification goes on. Sanctification is the business of the Holy Spirit in us. Without the Holy Spirit in us training us to be like Jesus, the baptism was a waste of water, time, energy and photo session. 

Acts 8:15-16 (NIV) – 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; THEY HAD SIMPLY BEEN BAPTIZED in the name of the Lord Jesus.  

Without the Holy Spirit, you have simply been baptized. Simply admitted to school without learning. Simply baptized means you have not achieved much. Simply baptized!

What happened after your baptism? Did you remain in church to learn more? Did you become an active member of the church? Did you become prayerful and allowed the Holy Spirit to live in you and start changing you to be what He wants completely different from what you were? What happened after baptism? Were you simply baptized?

When you preached and people got baptized, what happened after that? Do you remember? Does it matter to you? Did you organize what happens after baptism so that they get filled with the Holy Spirit and learn the will of God and become who God wants? Did you leave with pictures and spread the report of your successful work without care of what happened after baptism? Did you simply baptize them?

If they were simply baptized, we have failed miserably. While baptism, admission to the School of discipleship, is important, joining the school, being filled and guided by the Holy Spirit, is much more important. That is why, if we end at baptism only, it is being simply baptized! Failed!

Acts 8:15-16 (NIV) – 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; THEY HAD SIMPLY BEEN BAPTIZED in the name of the Lord Jesus.  

To receive the Holy Spirit we need a prayerful life with Bible study. They prayed for the new believers. We need to be very prayerful and study the Bible after baptism. That is the only way we can move from being simply baptized!

After baptism pray for them and with them. After baptism study scripture with them. After baptism guide them to listen to the Holy Spirit and accept to make changes and be new creatures. Without these, they are simply baptized. Mission failed!

Acts 19:3-6 (NIV) – 3 So Paul asked, “Then WHAT BAPTISM DID YOU RECEIVE?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Another batch of disciples who were simply baptized. They didn’t even know the teachings of the Holy Spirit. They had simply been baptized by John. They had to be taught about the Holy Spirit. Bible study. They were baptized again! Because the first baptism was simply baptism that wasn’t followed by joining the school of discipleship.

They were baptized more than once. It is okay to be baptized more than once. It is okay to have a second baptism. They were baptized again! This is because the first baptism was simply baptism, nothing much. What happens after baptism is very critical. Without the Holy Spirit, the after baptism is a waste of the baptism. After baptism be prayerful, very prayerful, unusually prayerful as you study scripture earnestly and you will receive the Holy Spirit and the attendant guidance. You will not have been simply baptized!

John 3:5-7 (NIV) – 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Jesus talked of born of the water and then of the Spirit. After baptism or being born of water, you need the second baptism, of the Spirit. You need to be born of the Spirit. After being born of water.

To celebrate being born of water and forgetting being born of the Spirit is to be simply baptized and that means the baptism failed. Baptism is only successful if you are first born of the water and then secondly of the Spirit.

Being born of water is instant like justification. Being born of the Holy Spirit is not instant, it’s a life time process, it’s sanctification. That is why born of water without Spirit is being simply baptized. This is because nothing happened after baptism. What happened after baptism?

Matthew 3:11 (NIV) – “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John the Baptist was very clear that there will be another baptism. After baptism by water, there is baptism by the Holy Spirit. A life time process of being changed to be like Jesus. The Holy Spirit in us. 

Then there is baptism by fire. This is going through temptations that try our faith. Baptism by fire is enduring temptations. Our faith becomes stronger.

1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV) – 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Trials and temptations prove the genuineness of our faith. Our faith becomes stronger as we endure and overcome every temptation. This is baptism by fire! This baptism by fire and baptism by the Holy Spirt, can only happen after baptism by water. That is why we must be concerned if all these happened. That is why we ask, what happened after baptism?

Matthew 3:16 (NIV) – As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

Matthew 4:1 (NIV) – Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

After baptism by water, Jesus received the Holy Spirit. Baptism by the Spirit. Guided by the Spirit. Then the same Spirit guided Jesus to be tempted. Temptation is baptism by fire. Jesus was baptized by water, Spirit and fire. After Jesus was baptized by water, much more happened after that. What about you? What happened after baptism?

Dear God forgive us for thinking and acting as if baptism by water is an end game. Forgive us for using it to glorify ourselves, yet nothing happened after that baptism. Dear God, baptize us and those we baptize. Baptize us now with the Spirit and fire. Teach us to be concerned about what happens after baptism. In Jesus’s name, Amen!

Someone you know will only know about this article if you share with them. Someone you know needs this article. Share this with one more person. Don’t copy the text. Copy THE LINK or send the website address which is reikesis.com so that they too read the word of God FROM THE WEBSITE and access more. YOU CAN COMMENT on this article at the bottom of the article. Also remember this author has a YouTube channel @ReiKesis which has hundreds of videos for you! Thanks for your loyal support of this ministry!