WHAT IS THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
KEY POINTS
- The baptism of the Holy Spirit is most commonly defined as the moment when the spirit of God fills a believer to overflowing.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is most commonly defined as the moment when the spirit of God fills a believer to overflowing. John the Baptist predicted that this would happen, (Mark 1:8) and Jesus also mentioned it would soon happen before He ascended to heaven: “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). Jesus referred to the filling of the Holy Spirit as a gift that would be a vital component of evangelism and the growth of the church. This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2); for the first time, people were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the church had begun. It is important to understand the difference between the receiving of the Spirit of God through salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is a separate event that happens after Salvation. Not everyone who is saved is also living a spirit-filled, spirit-empowered and spirit-led life. An example of this is found in Acts chapter 19.
Acts 19:1-6 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
A great way to understand what is happening when a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit is to go back to the Old Testament and look at the Tabernacle or Temple. The Tabernacle, and later the Temple, was a house of worship divided up into three areas: the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. In the New Testament, we are told that anyone who has accepted Christ has become a temple of God, because God dwells within them. (1 Corinth 6:19). In the same way as the temple in the Old Testament, we are triune beings made in the image of God with a mind, body and soul. When Salvation comes, the presence of God falls into the Most Holy place, which is the innermost part of the temple, or our Soul. The filling of the Holy Spirit is symbolic of the idea that the spirit of God which was confined to the Inner-most holy of holies has now filled the entire temple, flowing out into the Holy place (our mind) and also the outer court (our physical bodies). This is why the filling of the Holy Spirit in the early church and today has spiritual gifts tied to it which affect the mind (word of knowledge, Wisdom, Prophecy, interpretation) and also parts of the physical body (Tongues, healing through laying on of hands.) The filling of the Holy Spirit is just that... a total filling of every part of us, and allowing God to use us as a vessel for the Holy Spirit to flow through and work miracles through.
Acts 19:1-6 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
A great way to understand what is happening when a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit is to go back to the Old Testament and look at the Tabernacle or Temple. The Tabernacle, and later the Temple, was a house of worship divided up into three areas: the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. In the New Testament, we are told that anyone who has accepted Christ has become a temple of God, because God dwells within them. (1 Corinth 6:19). In the same way as the temple in the Old Testament, we are triune beings made in the image of God with a mind, body and soul. When Salvation comes, the presence of God falls into the Most Holy place, which is the innermost part of the temple, or our Soul. The filling of the Holy Spirit is symbolic of the idea that the spirit of God which was confined to the Inner-most holy of holies has now filled the entire temple, flowing out into the Holy place (our mind) and also the outer court (our physical bodies). This is why the filling of the Holy Spirit in the early church and today has spiritual gifts tied to it which affect the mind (word of knowledge, Wisdom, Prophecy, interpretation) and also parts of the physical body (Tongues, healing through laying on of hands.) The filling of the Holy Spirit is just that... a total filling of every part of us, and allowing God to use us as a vessel for the Holy Spirit to flow through and work miracles through.
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:8
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:5
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Acts 19:1-6
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
1 Corinthians 6:19
1 Corinthians 6:19
TRUE NORTH COLLEGE COURSE
The Holy Spirit | Biblical Studies 115
A systematic study of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology). Special attention will be given to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. Special emphasis will be on the nature and use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.