You are right. If he chose to do so he could but wouldn't that violate his own word?
I used to believe like you as a member of both a mainline CofC and the ICC and now I believe differently. There is something about that thief on the cross that's never been fully explained, at least to me. I was never of the belief that Acts 2:38 was the only scripture that counted.
I think there's more to the spirit than just the symbolism of water.