Part 2 Baptism - Spirit Baptism - Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Baptism with the Holy Spirit is never mentioned
in the Old Testament. The Spirit was active in the First Testament, but the
baptism with the Holy Spirit is never mentioned.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is mentioned only 9 times in the New Testament.
From these 9 passages, four major aspects of the doctrine are presented.
A. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is promised: five of the nine
passages deal with the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The baptism
with the Holy Spirit is first mentioned in:
Matthew 3:11-12 NASB "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming
after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 "And His winnowing fork is in His
hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His
wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Who does the baptizing? Jesus. Who is the agent? The Holy Spirit. It is not the
baptism "of" the Holy Spirit, but the baptism with/by the Holy Spirit. When does
it take place? At a future time of this writing. It did not take place until
after the Lord ascended into heaven and took his seat on the right hand of the
Father. This future aspect is mentioned in all four Gospels, and in Acts 1:
"I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
(Mark 1:8 NASB)
John answered and said to them all, "As for
me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am
not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16 NASB)
"And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent
me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending
and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' (John
1:33 NASB)
for John baptized with water, but you shall be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." (Acts 1:5 NASB)
These five verses are promises that show the baptism of the Holy Spirit had not
existed previously and did not occur until after Acts 1:5. So five of the nine
references are prophecies of its future coming.
B. When did the baptism of the Holy Spirit occur? Historically according
to Acts 1:5 it was "not many days from now," which refers to Pentecost:
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and
it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them
tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
(Acts 2:1-3 NASB)
I said that this is the baptism of the Spirit, but you'll notice that the
baptism of the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in these verses. But look with me
at:
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He did upon
us at the beginning. 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to
say, 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
(Acts 11:15-16 NASB)
Peter identifies the date of the baptizing with the Holy Spirit at its inception
as Pentecost. This is the first time that the baptism with the Holy Spirit took
place. In Acts 11 the same thing happened to them as had happened to the 120 in
the temple. The original band of disciples were baptized on the day of
Pentecost.
The disciples were not baptized with the Holy Spirit because they were of one
accord, or because they waited, or prayed, or asked for it, or studied the
Scriptures. Those who say we must "wait" today are 2,000 years too late and
10,000 miles off.
The creed of Pentecostal Evangel magazine, an Assemblies of God publication,
says, "We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4 is
given to believers who ask for it." That reveals a misunderstanding of why the
Holy Spirit came.
The Spirit came because it was the beginning of the New Covenant age. Pentecost
will never happen again, anymore then Calvary will happen again. Pentecost was a
historical prophesied event. It happened according to God's will, not because of
man's actions. If the disciples were having donkey races, they still would have
been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Look at:
but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17 'AND IT SHALL BE
IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL
MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN
SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; (Acts 2:16-17 NASB)
Pentecost was not only the fulfillment of our Lord's prophecy in Acts 1:5 and of
John the Baptist's prophecy in Matthew 3, but also of the First Testament
prophets.
So the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred historically at Pentecost. Since we
were not there at Pentecost, when are you and I baptized with the Holy Spirit?
We have seen that there are many positions on this issue, but what do the
Scriptures say? Let's go back to:
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He did upon
us at the beginning. 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to
say, 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
17 "If God therefore gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after
believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"
(Acts 11:15-17 NASB)
Peter is preaching the Gospel to Cornelius. As he preaches, Cornelius believes
and the Holy Spirit descends upon him as he had upon the 120 at the beginning.
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the 120 at the beginning was the fulfillment
of the promised baptism of the Spirit. What is happening to Cornelius here is
also the baptism with the Holy Spirit. A
believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit at the moment of his conversion. It is
not a second experience, it is not demanded for salvation. The moment we are
saved, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we don't do anything to receive it
except believe the Gospel.
Paul teaches this same thing in 1 Corinthians. Paul begins to deal with the
concept of the church being the body of Christ:
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of
the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians
12:12 NASB)
We are the body of Christ, and within that body there is unity and great
diversity:
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1
Corinthians 12:13 NASB)
Here Paul answers the question, "How did we get into that body?" We were not
born into it as infants; the Body of Christ does not consist of everybody in the
world, only certain individuals are in it. So how do we get into the Body of
Christ? His answer is clear, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body." That is the "baptism with the Holy Spirit"
This passage is the only place in the entire Bible where the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, what it consists of, and when it occurs is explained to us.
Some one might be thinking, "What about Acts 8?" Doesn't that teach that the
baptism with the Holy Spirit is a second work of grace? They received the
baptism after their salvation. Let's look at it.
But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging
off men and women, he would put them in prison. 4 Therefore, those who had been
scattered went about preaching the word. 5 And Philip went down to the city of
Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. (Acts 8:3-5 NASB)
Philip is preaching the Gospel in Samaria. Why is this a big deal? The
Samaritans were greatly despised by the Jews because of their impure blood lines
and their religious deviations from orthodox Judaism. According to John 4:9, the
Jews had "no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9), and their feelings were the
same. Thus for Philip to share his faith with Samaritans was a most uncommon
act:
But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of
God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
(Acts 8:12 NASB)
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word
of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any
of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then
they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 8:14-17 NASB)
Why is there a gap between their believing and their baptism with the Holy
Spirit? Is this a second work of grace? No! This is the work of God. The
Samaritans needed to be shown the truth of John 4:22 "Salvation is of the Jews."
This act connected them with Jerusalem so the schism would not be carried over
into the church. The Jews and Samaritans are one in Christ, this preserved the
unity of the body.
Keep in mind that the book of Acts is a transition from the Old Covenant to the
New Covenant era. This is the only place where you'll find a gap between
salvation and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, other than at Pentecost.
What about Acts 19:1-6?
And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed
through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found some disciples, 2 and he
said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said
to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he
said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the
people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 And
when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And
when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
began speaking with tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:1-6 NASB)
These were Old Covenant believers, they were John's disciples. John's baptism
was a baptism of waiting for the Messiah. There is no gap here; they were not
Christians yet. They believed and were baptized with the Spirit at the same
time.
C. What is the extent of the baptism with the Holy Spirit?
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1
Corinthians 12:13 NASB)
There are no requirements to receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit. "All"
is mentioned twice, all believers have received the baptism with the Holy
Spirit. Paul's point here is unity; the baptism with the Holy Spirit makes us
members of the body of Christ. To not be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to not
be a Christian.
"We were all baptized" past tense. It happened at salvation. That is why there
is no command in Scripture to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. There is no
exhortation to receive the Holy Spirit you already have Him.
Definition- the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the work of Christ Jesus
in putting us into the church through the agency of the Holy Spirit. It happens
at salvation. The fact that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is universal is
explicitly taught in 1 Corinthians 12:13 (we were all baptized).
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, (Ephesians 4:5 NASB)
Speaking of unity, one Lord every believer has the same Lord. We all have the
same faith, this is a common basis for unity. One baptism, this is the Spirit
baptism; it is a basis for unity. Not all Christians have been baptized in
water, but they have all been baptized by the Spirit. There are not two types of
Christians, some with the baptism with the Holy Spirit and some without it.
Those who have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit are not Christians.
In the nine verses that speak of the baptism with the Holy Spirit none of them
ever command us to seek it. All believers have it. The baptism with the Holy
Spirit is positional work of God; at salvation we are placed into the body of
Christ and we can never loose that status. We are exhorted to be filled with the
Spirit but never to be baptized. It is the filling of the Spirit that leads to
power in our Christian lives. Filling has the idea of control.
D. What is the result of the baptism with the Holy Spirit?
It is not power for victorious Christian living. According to 1 Corinthians
12:13 the Corinthians had been baptized with the Holy Spirit, but they were not
living victorious Christian lives. They were a mess. Paul writes to straighten
out their sinful lives. In 1:10 he talks about their divisions; in 1:12-17,
their personality cliques; in 3:3, their carnality; in 5:1, their sexual sin, in
8 ,their abuse of Christian liberty; and in 11, their abuse of the Lord's
Supper. They had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but they were not
living the victorious Christian life.
All Christians have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, but not all Christians
live victoriously. The power is available, but one must submit to the Spirit's
control in order to achieve it:
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (Acts 2:4 NASB)
Here we see that the Spirit also "filled" the disciples. The filling differs
from the baptism. The baptism is common to every believer. We are never told in
Scripture to seek the baptism with the Spirit nor to pray for the baptism with
the Spirit. The baptism with the Spirit is simultaneous with our justification.
But the filling of the Spirit is another matter. We are commanded to be
continually filled with the Spirit:
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with
the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18 NASB)
He fills us to enable us for worship, service, and witness. The filling of the
Spirit is repeatable, and commanded, so, therefore, something for which to seek,
and necessary for an effective Christ-like life. The baptism of the Spirit is
unrepeatable, sovereignly given at justification, and necessary for immersing
you into Christ.
What is the result of the baptism with the Holy Spirit? We can understand this
by understanding the meaning of the word "baptize." The primary meaning of the
word "baptize" is: "to immerse or dip." But there is more than one meaning for
the word "baptize." The
word "baptize" used metaphorically means: "a change of identity." It means:
"identification with or united to." We see this secondary meaning in:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and all were baptized into
Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (1 Corinthians 10:1-2 NASB)
They were all identified with Moses. For years the children of Israel had been
joined to Egypt, and identified with Pharaoh. But as they came out of Egypt in
the exodus, the red sea and the pillar of the cloud broke that identification
and identified them unto Moses. We also see this metaphorical use in:
Mark 10:38-39 NASB But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you
able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with
which I am baptized?" 39 And they said to Him, "We are able." And Jesus said to
them, "The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the
baptism with which I am baptized.
What is he talking about? The word "baptizo" was used by the Greeks of
overwhelming calamities. Jesus was thinking of being overwhelmed "baptized" by
suffering.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is identification with the body of Christ:
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. (Galatians 3:27 NASB)
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
have been baptized into His death? (Romans 6:3 NASB)
The moment you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, when God did that sovereign work
of grace in your life and opened your heart, God, the Holy Spirit, united you,
identified you with the body of Christ. One of the greatest realities the Christian will ever understand
about being united to Christ is that we stand complete in Him:
and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and
authority; (Colossians 2:10 NASB)
God accepts us because we are in
Christ Jesus:
to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in
the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6 NASB)
God sees us in Christ Jesus. How did we get in Christ? By the baptism with the
Holy Spirit. Our union with Christ grants us all that He is and has. We are
complete in Him (Romans 6:1-10). It is because of our union with Christ that we
are declared righteous. I am as righteous as Jesus Christ, because I am in Jesus
Christ, and therefore I have His righteousness.
When the Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ He puts us into Christ. He
joins our life with His; He becomes our source of existence and strength; we are
part of Him.
That is what the church is. It is a group of people
who share the same life, who belong to the same Lord, who are filled with the
same Spirit, and who are intended to function together to change the world by
the life of God. That is the work of the church, the Kingdom, the body of Christ.
If someone asks you if you have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, tell
them, "Yes, and so has every other believer."
Adapted in part from David B.
Curtis