What
is baptism in the Holy Spirit?
Baptism of the Holy Spirit1 is a term used to describe a movement of
the Spirit upon and/or within a believer usually sometime after the
person is saved. There is controversy surrounding this
phenomenon as to whether it is legitimate or not. Some people
believe that once a person is saved the Holy Spirit is in the person
and there is no subsequent "baptism in the Holy Spirit."
In other words, they maintain that this Baptism of the Spirit occurs
at salvation. Others believe that it is possible for the Christian to experience
an additional movement of the Holy Spirit sometime after salvation.
Generally speaking, it is the charismatic movement that supports the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We need to first know that all Christians receive the
Spirit upon their conversion and in this sense all Christians have
been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This means that they are saved and that they have all they need at
that time to be able to live godly and holy lives. 1 Cor. 12:13 says, "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."
However, there are many Christians who claim to have had this "secondary" experience
of the Spirit.2 They say that it
has brought great blessing and comfort to them. Furthermore,
they say that the results of the experience is a renewed dedication
and appreciation for God, a stronger desire to read the Bible, a
stronger desire to fellowship with Christians, and a deeper sense of
worship of God. Millions of Christians who claim to have had
this experience forces us to deal with the issue. Is it real
or not? Let's look at the Scripture to find out.
The term "baptize with the Holy Spirit1"
occurs several times in scripture:
-
Matt. 3:11,
“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."
-
Mark 1:8, "I
baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit.”
-
Luke 3:16, "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."
-
John 1:33, "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.’"
-
Acts 1:5, "for John
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.”
-
Acts 11:16, "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.’"
We can
clearly see that the phrase is used in the Bible. But, we do not find a clear teaching in the Bible of what the phrase means.
Nevertheless, we can conclude that when a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit
he has power bestowed upon him. This power is for the purpose of
the preaching of the gospel (Acts 4:31), living a purer life, and having
a deeper devotion to God. Also, it is frequently accompanied by
speaking in tongues. Acts 2:4, "And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." At
this point, I would recommend the reader to examine
Acts 1-2 to see the movement of the Holy
Spirit upon the early church at Pentecost.
The issue now seems to be whether or not Baptism
of/in/with the Holy Spirit is a subsequent event occurring after
salvation. It would seem that this is the case. In John 20:22, Jesus commanded that the
disciples receive the Holy Spirit, "And
when He had said this, He breathed on them, and *said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit." This means that they were
saved since the Holy Spirit is not received by the unregenerate.
Then, later in
Acts 1:4-5 we read, "And
gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem,
but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you
heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you
shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Conclusion
The
danger of this phenomena is the potential division of the body of Christ
into two categories: those who are "regular" Christians and those
who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. This, of course, would
be an incorrect way of looking at Christians, and this is why. If
you were to step outside into a soft mist, it would take a long time to
get completely wet. On the other hand, if you were to step into a
torrential rain, you'd be drenched quickly.
Those who have not experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
(meaning a sudden and powerful experience) are not second class citizens
by any means. They are the ones in the gentle mist who experience
the Lord over a long period of time and get just as blessed as those who
suddenly step into the torrent of the Spirit's presence. In fact,
the Baptism of the Spirit can be a pitfall since so many people who have
experienced it long for it again, almost to the point of putting the
validity of their faith in the experience instead of the clear teaching
of the word of God.
We must all be careful not to fall in our strengths as
well as our weaknesses.
____________
1. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is also rendered as
Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Baptism with the Holy
Spirit
2. My own experience supports the idea that the
baptism in the Holy Spirit can be a subsequent occurrence to salvation.
Long after my becoming a Christian, I had an experience where the Holy
Spirit moved upon me with great power. The result was an insatiable
desire to read God's word, to hear praise music, and to speak of Christ.
This had a profound and very long-lasting effect on my Christian life.
Of course, experience is not what makes doctrinal truth. We find that in
the word of God.
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