No, I don’t limit the Holy Spirit. How do you read Revelation 7:9? It says every tribe and tongue. So if a tribe in deepest Africa spoke a language in 500ad and no Christian missionary ever was sent to preach the gospel to them, can one or more of them be saved? They could not have faith and their good works are like filthy rags. Suppose that language died in 600ad, again before ever seeing a missionary.
Please take off the 16th century blinders and stop saying “ water baptism”. There is only baptism. Jesus commanded the Church to baptize, so if one hears the Gospel, comes to faith in Jesus as the Messiah who died for their sins, that person must be baptized by the Church to have their sins remitted, receive the Holy Spirit and be placed in Christ. This is normative for the believer since 33ad. But it does not limit the Holy Spirit baptizing the African who lived in 500ad never hearing of Jesus nor the Gospel.
No one is recorded as being saved in the NT without the Holy Spirit sending the Church to them to make a disciple and baptize them.
We all deserve hell for our sins and it is only out of God’s love and mercy that He has decided to extend saving grace made possible from the sacrificial death of His perfect Son. As Jesus said in John 8, unless you believe He is the one, you will die in your sins. Obviously this can’t apply to someone who never heard of Jesus.
Why don’t you take off your elitist exclusionary glasses first!? You and I have gone round and round on this argument many times before on numerous threads, I don’t perceive you changing your mind about this no matter who says what. You really don’t have the decisive ancient witness on this subject that you may think you have.
If you cannot recognize the inherent contradictions between your all over the place opinions and what God has told us in His sacred word then only the Holy Spirit can open your eyes. God saves us - ALL of us - by His grace THROUGH faith. It hasn’t ever changed. Water baptism is an act of obedience by the one who has already come to saving faith in the Savior. It is NOT the act that saves but the answer of faith to the grace of God. It doesn’t save our souls anymore than a shower cleans our heart.
I’m done trying to get you to comprehend this truth. Maybe one day it will hit you and you’ll understand. Adios.