Baptism of the Holy Spirit:
Today I want to talk about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
We are told in these verses what being baptized of the Holy Spirit is.
There are two kinds of baptism for Christians: water and Spirit. Water baptism reveals to the on lookers that this person that is being baptized of the water has already been baptized of the Holy Spirit. No one is saved apart from being baptized of the Holy Spirit.
What does the baptism of the Holy Spirit accomplish? It places believers into the body of Christ.
Again, Who is baptized of the Holy Spirit? Every believer.
When does it occur? At the moment of salvation.
The traditional view of Pentecostalism on the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it is a second experience that occurs after salvation, which is evidenced by tongues and brings supernatural power to a believer’s life.
This teaching divides born again Christians into two groups: those who are “just” saved and those who, some time after salvation, experience the “baptism of power. So called”
But this is not what 1 Corinthians 12:13 says? Not at all.
13For by one Spirit are we all* baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond *or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13 is clear about all believers being baptized, so why is there this doctrine of two Spirit baptisms? Are there two baptisms of the Spirit?
PENTECOSTALISM’S HAS TWO BAPTISMAL VIEWS:
Are there really two baptisms of the Spirit? Not according to the following verses:
(Eph. 4:4-5).There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism The one body of Christ is formed by the one Spirit through the one baptism.
Now dear heart that settles it for time & all eternity. ~read again~
listen to what John the Baptist said in (Mark 1:8). I indeed have baptized you with water: but he [Christ] shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Listen to the inspired word of God again in our text verse;1 Cor. 12:13 For by One Spirit are we all baptized into one body. . .
John said that Christ shall baptize you with THE HOLY GHOST. ** (Mark 1:8). I indeed have baptized you with water: but he [Christ] shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
SO WHEN WE except Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior we’re right then baptized with THE HOLY GHOST, AND THEN THE HOLY GHOST BAPTIZES US INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST, WHICE IS THE CHURCH. Col. 1:27--and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
When the biblical passages referring to the baptism of the Spirit are studied, we’ll find that Christ is the baptizer, and He accomplishes His will through the Spirit. This is true not only with the baptism, but is also true in the giving of spiritual gifts.
First Corinthians 12:11 speak of the Spirit distributing the gifts: “But all these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”
Ephesians 4:11 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; we’re told here that Christ gave the gifts. Are we to believe that there are two giving’s of spiritual gifts? one by the Spirit and one by Christ? No, as with the baptism, Christ accomplishes His will through the Spirit. Therefore, Christ gives the gifts by the Spirit.
for instances: If I gave Bro.So & so a gift to give to you, you could say that either Bro.So & so gave you the gift or I gave you the gift.
In the same way we could say that both Christ and the Holy Spirit have baptized us. But really It would be more correct to say that Christ by the Holy Spirit baptized us.
So is the baptism of the Spirit something we are to seek after salvation?
Someone may say, “I know places in the book of Acts where people who were already believers were baptized by the Holy Spirit.”
Lets remember that in the book of Acts a unique transition was under way. God was establishing something completely new—the Church.
Listen; Abraham was saved, but he was not a Christian. John the Baptist was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, but he was not a Christian.
A Christian is a person who is “in Christ.”
Paul uses this phrase many times “in Christ.” to refer to Christians.
Abraham was not “in Christ.” And John the Baptist was not “in Christ.”
~ Because no believers were baptized into the body of Christ prior to the day of Pentecost.
Abraham and John the Baptist died before that day, and that is why we don’t call them Christians.
The baptism of the Spirit never occurred prior to the day of Pentecost. Whenever the baptism is mentioned prior to Acts 2, it is always in the future tense.
John the Baptist said in Luke 3:16, “I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”
Jesus promised in Acts 1:5, 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Both John the Baptist and Christ spoke these words before the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. And they both spoke of it as something that was going to take place in the future.
John said Christ shall baptize by the Holy Spirit; & Christ said the disciples shall be baptized by the Holy Spirit.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred for the first time on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. The 120 disciples who were gathered together were believers, but they were not Christians. Because they had not yet been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ.
Listen as I read Acts 2:1-4:
1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Nowhere in Acts 2 does it specifically mention baptism. But Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:5 but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
The day He was referring to was the day of Pentecost.
Then in Acts 11:15-16, Peter states that what happened to the believers in Acts 2 was the fulfillment of the Acts 1:5 promise to baptize the disciples by the Holy
Spirit. He says, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, as on us at the beginning. The remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
So this identifies the events of Acts 2 with the promised baptism.
These disciples who received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost were already believers for some time before this event.
It would have been impossible for those disciples to receive the HOLY SPIRIT earlier because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.
Therefore those who were already believers prior to the day of Pentecost would receive the baptism of THE HOLY SPIRIT after they were saved.
Acts 8:5-6, 14-17
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria [The Samaritans were a mixed people, part Jew and part Gentile.], and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. . . . Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
This passage is a part of the young Church’s awakening understanding that the gospel was for all men, and that a person did not need to submit to the laws of Moses in order to be a full member in the body of Christ.
In the past God had dealt primarily with the Jewish people. But on the day of Pentecost the Church was born which united both Jews and Gentiles. This was hard for the Jews to accept.
God needed to show the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem that the Samaritans would be received as they were into the body of Christ when they believed. It was for this reason that none of the Spirit’s ministries were performed on these people until the apostles, Peter and John, arrived on the scene.
Notice that it was not just the baptism that was lacking, but they had not even received the indwelling of the Spirit.
Romans 8:9: “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.”
In this context it is obvious that the title “Spirit of Christ” is the Holy Spirit Who is titled throughout Romans 8.
The reason the work of the Spirit was delayed in Acts 8 was because of the need to fully define the Church as including non-Jewish people.
In Acts 10 Peter meets with a man named Cornelius who was a Gentile. He was already a believer, but not a Christian. He was not a member of the body of Christ. So when Cornelius and the other Gentiles who were there with him heard about Christ from Peter, they were immediately baptized into His body:
(Acts 10:44-45).While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
God used this experience to show the Jews that not only would He bring the Samaritans into the body of Christ, but also all Gentiles.
In Acts 19:1-6.
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
These were godly Old Testament believers who had heard and believed everything God had said through John the Baptist, then left Palestine before Christ was revealed to the nation.
It is a distortion of Scripture to say these men were Christian believers who were in need of the added blessing of the baptism of the Spirit. They were Old Testament believers not yet brought into the body of Christ.
Are we to seek for the baptism of the Spirit? No. There is no command in the New Testament for anyone to be baptized with the Spirit.
There is no invitation for anyone to pray for the baptism of the Spirit.
These facts are sufficient in themselves to stop the charismatic movement. There are no such commands or invitations because the Holy Spirit baptizes all believers the moment they are saved, placing them into the body of Christ. There is nothing for the believer to seek or to do. It is done by God alone.
Does the baptism of the Spirit produce power?
It is not the baptism of the Spirit that produces power in the life of a believer; rather, it is the filling of the Spirit that accomplished this. While we are given no command to seek the baptism of the Spirit, we are told to be filled with the Spirit.
(Eph. 5:18).
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit
