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Acts 19:1-10
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Flowers on Crumbling Balcony | Bucharest, Bulgaria | April 2024I bought a “Rolex” watch in Beijing, China many years ago. I paid $5.00 for it. I knew it wasn’t the real thing, even though it looked like the real thing. It never has run. I took a photo of a beautiful flower on the table at dinner on that same trip. It looked real enough to me. And it was real. It just happened to be made of silk.
The real thing when it comes to baptism is twofold. First it is the plain and simple words by which Jesus instituted baptism, “in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Perhaps it goes without saying that those words would be different in each different language. Spanish: “en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo.” German: “m Namen des Vaters und des Sohnes und des heiligen Geistes.” Greek: “εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.”
I mention this because there is another aspect of true Christian baptism that bears considering. There are those so-called churches which may use similar words and even baptize people with those words, but whose confession denies the truth of who Jesus really is, or which denies the Trinity as the true expression of God’s majestic nature. The confession of the gathering of believers is of vital importance to true and authentic baptism.
It would be so good if there was a validating sign showing that a baptism was true and authentic – like there was in Paul’s day. In that case, it was a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was likely speaking in tongues, or some other outward manifestation. It is significant that these are recorded in Acts when the Gospel message breaks new territory. The manifestation seems to be for the sake of the Gospel itself, not to prove the faith of the person being baptized.
This is an echo of Acts 2:43, “ And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” These signs and wonders validate the ministry and mission of the Early Church.
Today the validation is not in the pastor’s character who baptizes, nor even the name of the church in which one is baptized. (Don’t get me started by saying, “I was baptized Lutheran.” That’s simply not true.) The validity of baptism is found in the Words used and the confession of the Gospel held by the community of believers where one is being baptized.
Lutherans acknowledge any baptism with water – by pouring, sprinkling, or immersing – in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. These words, combined with water place us into a community of grace and truth in which God is glorified and sinners are saved. There’s no better validation than that.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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