Why doesn't water baptism change a person's soul and spirit?
Water baptism cannot change the soul and spirit because it only touches the outer tabernacle, the physical body. The soul and spirit are invisible, and human hands cannot reach them. God alone works in that invisible realm, where He identifies believers with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Les explains that the soul and spirit are invisible, using the illustration of a morgue autopsy: a pathologist can examine the body, but no one can see the soul or spirit. That does not mean they are unreal; they are simply in the realm where God works. Human hands cannot touch that realm. You can baptize the whole body a hundred times, but it will not change the soul and spirit, because the body is only an outer tabernacle. Only God can work in the invisible area of the soul and spirit. Les then connects this to Romans 6, where being baptized into Christ means being identified with His death; if we are dead and buried with Him, we believe we shall also live with Him by resurrection power, as a new person and new being placed into Christ. He also points to I Corinthians 12 as foundational and simplistic verses on this.