Section 278
17No more than this need be said on the relation of water-baptism to the Spirit, so far as the exegesis of Ephesians requires. (If baptismal candidates were especially in view, there would be a special point in the inclusion of “one baptism” in the sevenfold unity.) Even J. D. G. Dunn, who minimizes the relation of water-baptism and Spirit-baptism to the point of saying that they “remain distinct and even antithetical,” agrees that water-baptism “symbolizes the spiritual cleansing which the Spirit brings” (Baptism in the Holy Spirit [London, 1970], pp. 227-28). In Acts Christian baptism is regularly followed (2:38; 8:14-17; 19:5-6) or even preceded (10:44-48) by the gift of the Spirit: the time-lag between the Samaritan converts’ baptism and their reception of the Spirit (Acts 8:14-17) is anomalous and calls for a special explanation. See G. W. H. Lampe, The Seal of the Spirit (London, 1951), pp. 70-72 et passim.
18The personal force is made explicit in those later textual witnesses which read “in us all” or “in you all” (cf. p. 335, n. 10).
19Cf. H. Schlier, Der Brief an die Epheser. p. 189.