1. “He [the Holy Spirit] had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:16-17).
The laying on of hands is also for receiving one who has been baptized into Christ in order to bring him into the church, the Body of Christ. The early Samaritan believers were baptized into Christ, but they had not received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because the apostles had not laid hands upon them. Later, when the apostles laid hands on them, it seems as if they merely received the Holy Spirit, but there is a deeper implication as well. The laying on of hands by the apostles caused them to receive the Holy Spirit because the anointing of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Head, Christ, and on the day of Pentecost it flowed from the Head to the Body, the church. Since the apostles are representatives of the Body, when they laid their hands on people, they represented the Body and received them into the Body. Thus, the anointing on the Body, which is the Holy Spirit, flows to the ones brought in through the laying on of hands. Therefore, hands are laid on believers after baptism to receive them into the Body of Christ and to allow them to participate in the Holy Spirit, which the Body received from the Head, Christ.
2. “When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them” (Acts 19:6).
Paul laid his hands on the Ephesian believers, causing them to receive the Holy Spirit; this is the same thing that Peter and John did for the Samaritan believers. Paul was a representative of the Body of Christ, and through the laying on of hands, he received those who were baptized into Christ into the Body, causing the anointing, the Holy Spirit (Psa. 133:2), who flows from the Head to the Body, to flow through him to those on whom he laid his hands.
Thus, the laying on of hands is for receiving people into the Body of Christ; therefore, those who lay hands on others must be able to represent the Body of Christ, the church. When they lay hands on people, they represent the church, and their laying on of hands is the church’s laying on of hands in order to receive them into the church and to cause them to participate in the things of Christ and the church.
1. “Baptisms and of the laying on of hands” (Heb. 6:2).
We mentioned before that baptism and the laying on of hands have been connected as a pair by the Holy Spirit. This shows that the laying on of hands is related to baptism. The laying on of hands should be based on baptism, and baptism should bring in the laying on of hands. In its negative application, baptism causes people to escape from the self and the world, and in its positive application, it causes them to enter into Christ. The laying on of hands causes those who have escaped the self and the world and have been put into Christ through baptism to enter into the Body of Christ. Thus, baptism stresses individual salvation, and the laying on of hands stresses the building up of the Body of Christ. If we have only baptism without the laying on of hands, we will pay attention only to individual salvation but neglect the Body of Christ. God, however, saves individuals for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ. He led Philip to baptize the Samaritan believers into Christ, and then He sent Peter and John, who represented the Body of Christ, to lay hands on them and to receive them into the Body of Christ (Acts 8:12-17). He saves people in order to make them the Body of Christ. This is similar to a person who buys many stones for the purpose of building them into a house; if he does not build the house, his purchase has no meaning. He must build the stones into a house in order for them to be useful. Therefore, we should not only lead people to believe and be baptized into Christ but also lay hands on them to receive them into the Body of Christ. We want many not only to be saved but also to be brought into the Body of Christ so that everyone can be coordinated together, supply one another, and function corporately. We must pay attention to getting many people saved, and we must also pay attention to building up the Body of Christ. We must stress personal salvation, and we must also stress the service of the Body. Moreover, we must lead people to salvation with the goal of building up the Body of Christ. We are individually saved for the service of the Body. Thus, we should pay equal attention to baptism and to the laying on of hands; we must see that baptism is for the laying on of hands and that the laying on of hands completes baptism.