In this lecture, Neville Goddard reinterprets the Christian rite of baptism as an inner, symbolic immersion leading to the realization of being God the Father. Drawing on Pauline epistles, he emphasizes one true baptism that precedes spiritual rebirth, likening humanity’s water-body to the womb from which divine consciousness emerges. Goddard describes a personal, invisible experience in which the soul rises, sees the heavens open, and hears God’s voice after a dove-like Spirit descends. He contrasts external church rituals with the solitary, transformative version of baptism that unfolds within each individual. Anecdotes—from his mother’s concern over an infant’s physical baptism to his own visionary encounter—underscore the difference between outward ceremonies and the profound inner awakening. The lecture culminates in a promise that one day all will share this true baptism, unifying into the one body, one Spirit, and one God and Father of all.
Baptism on this level is a symbolic representation of being raised to the realisation of being God the Father. In his letter, Paul tells the Ephesians that there is only one baptism. This occurs prior to the realisation of being God the Father. And in Paul’s letter to the Romans he states: “We are buried with Christ by a baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also may walk in newness of life.”
Baptism implies complete immersion. It is said that when Jesus rose out of the water the heavens opened, and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon him.
Has it ever occurred to you that you are immersed in a body which is 90 per cent water? This is the great water in which God is buried and will remain until – now individualised as you – He will rise out of the water to see the heavens become transparent and the Spirit – in bodily form as a dove – descend with his gift of a new form, a new manner of existence, and a new unification, so that each – while preserving his individuality – becomes God the Father.
In his great eulogy, Paul places baptism as sixth in order. Beginning with the one body, Paul speaks of the one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and finally the one God and Father of all. So this baptism takes place just before you become aware of being – not just God the Father, but the Father of all!
Now it is said that when the heavens opened to complete translucency, Christ – now risen – not only saw the Spirit take on bodily form as a dove, but heard a voice speak directly to him. This event takes place in an individual’s soul, and is not seen or heard by anyone else!Jesus is the personification of redeemed humanity. He represents all those who have fulfilled scripture. His story takes place in the soul of the individual who has the experience, and it is not shared by another on this level. “I have had a baptism to be baptised with, and now I am constrained until it is accomplished.” All scholars interpret this statement to mean the crucifixion, but it is not.
The crucifixion began with a creative act, when the Spirit of God moved upon and was baptised into these bodies of water. At that moment we were united with Christ in a death like his. After incubation, we will all hatch out and be united with Him in a resurrection like his.
Now inundated in a world of illusion, the Spirit is hovering, incubating, and one day will be raised out of this body of water. Then the heavens will open and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, will descend.
Bear in mind that Jesus represents redeemed humanity. His is the one body into which every being is incorporated. Jesus is the one Spirit, the one and only hope of man, and the only Lord. He is the only faith by which one should live, and the one baptism culminating into becoming the one God and Father of all. This is baptism in the true sense of the word.
In 1926 my mother came to see me in New York City, and was quite upset when she discovered my two-year-old son had not been baptised. She believed that if he died without being baptised he would not go to heaven, so we had him baptised for her sake.
But we are told that unless you are born of water – which you are dwelling in right now, and the Spirit – which is a spiritual experience, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. When this vision possessed me, my head became transparent. Through its translucency I saw a dove floating above me, and I had fulfilled the story in Genesis.
Man is not a fantasy of the earth and water, but the true ark of God, containing everything within him. The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. When Noah stretched forth his hand he received the dove and brought her in unto himself, and there she remained.
In my own case, I came out of the water from which I was inundated. I extended my right hand and the dove lit upon it. Then I brought the dove to my face and it smothered me with love, as the voice of God – personified as a woman – said, “They avoid man because he gives off such an offensive odor; but his love is so great that he penetrated the ring of offense to demonstrate his love for you.”
Just recently I was reading the dialogues of the pilgrims of Buddha (translated from the Sanskrit by Mr. Rhys Davids), where he said: “In the eyes of the gods, human beings are seen as disgusting, revolting, and are accounted as such.” I know in my own case the voice of God spoke similar words, but not in the same manner. And on this level they may not be wrong, when you think of the tremendous amount of advertising is placed upon deodorants. But I do not believe Buddha was speaking of human beings in that manner.
We are here for a purpose. Ours was a deliberate descent, and not because of anything we did that was wrong. And when our incubation is over, we will once more rise from this world of death to be infinitely greater than we were prior to our descent. This water-body called man is the limit of our contraction and opacity, but there is no limit to our expansion and luminosity.
Do you know that when a body weighing 300 pounds is cremated, the amount of ash which remains could be placed in a Campbell’s soup can – so where did the 300 pounds go? It evaporated, because it was all water! We are all individually wearing a garment of water. We are buried with Christ by baptism unto death. And just as Christ rose by the glory of the Father, we too will rise in newness of life.
When this happens to you, no one here will know it, for they cannot see the events you encounter. No one will see the dove descend upon you, the transparency, or hear God’s voice tell you of his love. These events transpire in your soul, and when you share your experience with others some will believe you, while others will not. The majority will not believe, for having been conditioned to think of Jesus as a little individual who lived and died two thousand years ago, they cannot think of him as the personification of redeemed humanity. They cannot see Christ as a cosmic presence buried in all, but only as a mortal man – and that is not his story.
If you cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless you are born of water and the Spirit, then you must emerge (be born out of) the water in which you, as Spirit, first entered.
Your birth as Spirit qualifies you for the new form, the new manner of existence, the new unification of Christ on an entirely different level. One person at a time is called to enter into and form that one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is above all, through all, and in all.
Whether you have been baptised here or not does not matter, for it is only a symbolic representation of this – the final mystery in the great series. And when you have experienced the true baptism, you are an entirely different being. No one in the outer world can see the being you know yourself to be. But you will become completely absorbed into that one body, one Spirit, one God, yet you will never lose your individuality. That’s the great mystery and that’s the purpose of it all.
We were individualised before we descended, and tend forever and ever towards ever greater individualisation. Having descended into these bodies of water, Spirit hovers over the water, incubating something precious that is buried there until it hatches. And when the water breaks the heavens open, and the Spirit in bodily form as a dove, descends. Then the voice of God declares his love, for he has raised up his glory and you become one with God the Father.
When this experience is yours, you will remain here to share your experiences in the written form, that in the tomorrows your words may spark something in those who read them. In this world of Caesar money and security, love and affection, are sought; but the day will come when nothing will satisfy the individual but an experience of God. Then he will know the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Your baptism in the Christian faith is only a symbolic representation of this great mystery of dying, being buried, and rising again with Christ. But you do not have to be baptised here in order to fulfill scripture.
I hope you will soon fulfill the real baptism and know the mysteries of scripture. My mother had me baptised at the age of three or four. At the time I had no knowledge of what was taking place; but in the real baptism I was the sole actor, alone on the stage where the vision took place.
In his book, John implies that others saw the event, as he put words in the mouth of John the Baptist. Luke suggested others were there, but told us he was only telling a story, saying: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished within us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from above were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seems good to me also, having followed all things accurately, from above…”
The phrase “from the beginning” is a translation of the Greek word “anothen”, which means “from above”. This same word is translated as from above, when the Risen Christ spoke to the Sanhedrin [member] Nicodemus, saying: “Unless you are born from above you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Luke is telling you that he has had the heavenly experience and knows what he is talking about, but he does not claim his story is chronologically exact. Luke rearranges the story, ending with the crucifixion, yet knowing that it came first.
Tennyson once said: “Truth embodied in a tale shall enter in at lowly doors.” Luke told his story as though it took place in the outer world, and unfortunately the world has accepted it on that level. Luke cannot be condemned for telling it that way, for it has kept the story alive. But it was written for you, most excellent one who loves God, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
Having been told these stories, you have been informed of the truth which will one day come to the surface. Believing they happened to one man, you have worshiped an exterior Christ, joined a church, and done all that the church demands of you. But one day the true story will erupt within you. Then there will be no judgement concerning what the evangelist did.
Both Matthew and Mark claimed only the one having the experience saw the clarity of the heavens and the descent of the dove. Luke and John told of witnesses, but I know from experience: you and you alone bear witness to yourself.
That is why, when you tell others that the story written about Jesus Christ has unfolded in you, they cannot believe it. In their eyes you are a human being with limitations and frustrations, while they are looking for something entirely different. They do not know that the reenactment is coming to them, for he said: “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.”
When you are baptised with this baptism, you become one with the one body waiting for all to come. You awaken as the one Spirit waiting for everyone to awaken. And as that one being, you will wait for all to set their hope fully upon this grace which comes at the unveiling of Jesus Christ. You will be constrained until everyone is once more brought into the one body, the one Spirit, the one God and Father of all.
After baptism you will take off the garment of flesh for the last time, to become one with God the Father who is above all, through all, and in all; to once more hover and wait for those you have incubated to rise from the dead garments of water where they are buried.
Now is the time to set your hope fully upon the true baptism, when the heavens open and you come out of the water to find the Spirit of God hovering above you. And because you are fulfilling scripture, you will do exactly what Noah did. You will extend your hand. The dove will light upon it and you will bring it into yourself. In my experience, the dove smothered me with love. Then God, in the form of a woman, told me that His love was so great he penetrated the ring of offense. Prior to that experience I had never thought of myself as being offensive; but to those who contemplate this world the ring of death is very offensive.
Throughout the letters of Paul, much is said of this baptism. In the third chapter of Galatians, Paul tells that baptism removes all human divisions of race, class, or sex. That after the baptism we are in Christ and are neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female. Having resurrected from division, we are baptised into the one Risen Lord who is one with every race and every creed; for the Risen Lord is above all divisions.
After baptism you will no longer see people in your dreams, for everything changes. Your little body will remain limited and weak, however, until you are relieved of it. Having fought the good fight and finished the race, you will have kept the faith and received the crown of righteousness and the wreath of the victor. So set your hope upon this – the final of the seven eulogies.
The great confession of Israel, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One,” parallels the Christian creed as the one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one baptism, found in the 4th chapter of Ephesians.
On the first day of January, 1963, I was baptised by the Holy Spirit. Now I, like Paul, spend my days from morning to night telling the story of the fulfillment of God’s promise to the fathers, while many believe and may disbelieve. But I will keep on telling it until I depart this world.
Everyone must and will be baptised into the body of the Risen Lord as the Risen Lord, without loss of identity. Then he will be given a new form, a new manner of existence, and a new unification; because, having been united with Christ in death, h is unified with Christ in a resurrection into a completely new unification.
There is no loss of identity, yet you know you are God the Father of all. I will know you more intimately there than I could ever know you here. I knew you before you descended, and I will certainly know you after we ascend. We can never lose our individuality, but will simply know a greater and greater individuality in that one body, one Lord, one God and Father of all.
Although I urge you to set your hope fully upon this grace that is coming to you, no one knows when it will happen. Do not think that what you have done has any restraining power, because it has none. Everyone has had thoughts which he is ashamed of. I am a perfect example of one who could never have judged myself as kindly or gently, as compassionately or mercifully, as I was judged to become – so how could I claim another as not qualified!
I did not come to judge you. I do not know what you have done and I really do not care, but I urge you not to put a barrier upon yourself because of the things you have done of which you may be ashamed. When His mercy shines upon you, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow, so it doesn’t really matter.
I am not encouraging you to go out and violate your codes, but I urge you not to carry the burden of your past with you. Let it go if you can, and set your hope fully upon this baptism, for the Father is hovering over you. You do not see him because you are immersed in water, but he is incubating you, and one day you will break through the surface and be baptised into the body of the one God and Father of all.
Now let us go into the silence.
In the first paragraph, Goddard dismantles the conventional view of baptism by reframing it as a metaphor for the soul’s rebirth rather than a mere water ritual. He leverages Pauline theology—particularly Romans and Ephesians—to argue that spiritual baptism precedes and transcends any external sacrament, thus inviting listeners to seek an inner alchemy of death and resurrection.
The second paragraph delves into his rich scriptural exegesis and personal mysticism. By aligning Christ’s emergence from water with an individual’s unnoticed soul event, he underscores the theme of secret gnosis: a private communion with the divine that eludes human witnesses. This private vision, he insists, is the authentic fulfillment of scripture, rather than a historical anecdote about a singular figure two millennia ago.
Next, Goddard’s use of water symbolism and incubation imagery draws on both Genesis and Noah’s ark to illustrate a pattern of descent, gestation, and rebirth. The analogy of the human body as a vessel of water emphasizes our inherent potential to incubate and hatch spiritual life. Such metaphors bridge psychological transformation with mystical tradition, suggesting that water—the archetype of emotion and intuition—serves as the matrix for divine emergence.
The lecture’s anecdotal interlude about his mother’s conventional baptism of his son acts as a foil to his overarching thesis: external rites comfort social conventions but do not guarantee inner awakening. This personal story calibrates the discourse, making the abstract mystical argument tangible and relatable.
Finally, Goddard extends the promise of universal redemption by prophesying a collective rise into the one body and one Spirit. He frames the true baptism as the culminating act in a seven-step eulogy of divine unification. By invoking Paul’s vision of a borderless, divisionless unity, he points toward an eschatological horizon where every individual retains uniqueness yet participates fully in the cosmic Christ.
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