We’ve been looking at the Person of the Holy Spirit in this series to try and get the Bible truth about the misunderstood third Person of the Trinity. There is so much confusion in the church today over the Holy Spirit. 

Some have underemphasised Him, and almost neglected His place in their lives altogether. They have rested instead on tradition and formalism. They have resisted the true power behind Christlike living by doing that. Others have become so obsessed with the Holy Spirit as to magnify Him out of all proportion to the biblical balance, and have been led into seeking after the supernatural at all times, relying on feelings to determine truth, and sometimes theology based upon experience. 

Both are wrong, and generally, as the two errors continue, both sides react to the error in each other, and entrench their position even further. We need to go to the Bible as our authority for these issues. That’s partly the problem. No matter who it is, both sides are guilty of this – allowing something other than Scripture shape their view and understanding of the Holy Spirit and His role in the church. 

For some, their authority is experience. If it is happening – then it must be true. If we felt it or saw it happen in the name of Jesus – then that is enough authority for me. But we saw from 2 Peter 1 why experience can never be the test for truth.

If I want to find out about the Holy Spirit, my source cannot be someone else’s experience of Him, because that can be totally irrelevant for me. He may not reveal Himself to me like that, or that person might have been deceived, lying or hallucinating. There are many possibilities when we remove authority from the objective Word of God to the subjective experience of individuals, and even churches of individuals.

Others rely on tradition for authority. We’ve always done it this way, and generations of good men can’t be wrong! But if tradition is simply doing what was done before, then who is to say if what was done before is correct? Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 15:6: “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” So tradition, even if it is a long-standing one, can be wrong. Ultimately, only the Bible can be our authority. 

With that as our foundation, we’ve seen some wonderful truths about the Holy Spirit in Parts 1 and 2 of this series. We’ve seen that He is a Person – one who possesses personality – emotion, intellect and will. We saw from Scripture that He is not a force, or even the will of God – we saw He is God. He is the third distinct Person in the Trinity. 

We then moved to His work. We saw that He has changed the way He has worked, and can do so. Being the same in essence does not mean He is always the same in action. He chooses to work in different ways. We saw that the way He worked in the time of the Judges is very different to how He works today. That is because He is sovereign and has chosen to work differently.

We saw then the exciting truth that in our period, God the Spirit permanently indwells all believers. He does not indwell only some, nor does He leave any of those He indwells. Those He does not indwell are not saved, those who are saved are indwelt. We also saw that He seals all true believers – guaranteeing our arrival in God’s presence one day. 

With this foundation of knowledge, we can move to the rather difficult subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s perhaps this topic that has caused more controversy than any other. It’s unlikely this exploration with clear up the waters for everyone, or that it will find agreement with all who listen. But I will attempt to be scriptural, and leave my experience and tradition at the door. All I ask is that you do the same, and make your own conclusions based on the Scripture. 

There are a number of views on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many committed believers believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a subsequent experience to salvation, something which should be sought. They believe it may have supernatural signs accompanying its arrival. 

Others believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same thing as the gift of tongues, and so they regard speaking in tongues as proof of being baptised, and in some churches, proof of being saved. Others regard the baptism of the Holy Spirit as something that occurs at salvation, along with the indwelling and the sealing that we looked at last week. 

To find out what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, we must firstly go to Scripture to find out – what does it do? If we know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is supposed to achieve, we can better understand the whole thing. Romans 6 is the best explanation of what the Spirit’s baptism is meant to do. 

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection…

Romans 6:3-5

Paul says, us believers have been baptised into His death, and baptised into His resurrection. What does that mean? It means we have been joined into those same things. We have been co-crucified with Christ, and co-resurrected with Christ. Baptism speaks of joining – of an identification with, and submerging into. Paul uses this idea when he says the people were baptised unto Moses in 1 Corinthians 10:2. He means they were joined to him as their leader. 

Here in Romans, Paul says, you were baptised into Christ’s death and resurrection. What achieved this? The Spirit’s baptism. Water baptism is a picture of this – of dying, being buried and rising with Christ. But the effectual power of Christ’s death and resurrection can only take place if and when the Holy Spirit applies it to us. He takes us and co-crucifies us with Christ, and co-resurrects us with Christ. That joins us to His body.

Now, simply on that basis, ask yourself, can we divorce this from the salvation experience? Can you imagine being saved apart from being identified with Christ’s death and resurrection? That is the very core of our salvation! On that basis, I think the Scriptural evidence lies on the side of the baptism of the Spirit, like His indwelling and sealing, occurring at salvation to all true believers. There is evidence for this. 

Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptised 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.” Now, firstly, notice Paul emphasises that we have all been baptised by the Holy Spirit. He pairs up the two in two consecutive, grammatically linked phrases – baptised into one body, made to drink into one Spirit. And he says – all of us believers have experienced this. 

Remember, he is writing to the carnal, problem-ridden, immature Corinthian church, but he makes no exceptions. We’ve all been baptised by the Spirit. Without getting technical, a bit of Greek background here is necessary. When Paul says, “are we all baptised into one body” and “made to drink,” it’s what we call the aorist tense in the Greek. That means it is a point action – something finished and accomplished. 

This is not something Paul is expecting will still happen to them, or is still happening – he treats them as those who have already experienced this baptism. That’s impossible if this is something he actually wants them to be seeking after. So, according to Paul, the baptism is universal, and it’s past-tense – it happened to them when they believed. 

Now consider, if the baptism of the Holy Spirit is what joins you to Christ, and if it does not happen at salvation, then somehow, you are a believer who is not joined to Christ. That’s a contradiction of terms – an impossibility. You are in some intermediate state, which many claim exist, but have no Scripture to support that idea. You are either joined to Christ, or you aren’t, so you cannot be saved and not baptised by the Spirit – or you are an out-of-the-body believer.  

But the blessed truth is this: if you have repented of your sins and turned to Christ, then His Spirit has joined you to His body and come to indwell you permanently. The baptism of the Spirit and His indwelling are not the same thing, but they are linked. If He indwells you, it’s because He joined you to Christ. If He didn’t do that – you’re not saved. It’s not that you can be saved and lack the Spirit – Romans 8:9 which we looked at in Part 2 does not allow for that. 

So where does the confusion come in? Most of it comes from an often innocent misunderstanding of the book of Acts. Here we find what seems to be the Holy Spirit’s baptism occurring at times long after believing. 

Now, the book of Acts is a fantastic book. People often think of the book of Acts as ‘The Acts of the Apostle,’ but you could probably better term it ‘The Acts of the Holy Spirit.’ It is an exciting account of the Spirit of God creating the body of Christ, and the transition it made from a basically Jewish body to a mixed one. 

It’s key that we read the book of Acts understanding that it is a transitional book. God is moving from using essentially a specific political and cultural people – the Jews – to a completely mixed group – the church – to be His instrument (Romans 9:11). So Acts shows the transition from Jews not wanting to even eat together with Gentiles, to sharing intimate fellowship in the body of Christ together. 

Now it’s in this context that we must examine the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts – a church in transition. Acts is a narrative, with much to apply and learn, but it is not an epistle. Epistles give us pure doctrine. We must not teach the experiences of the apostles, we must experience their teachings. 

With that in mind, we find four incidences in the book of Acts regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is hard to make any hard and fast pronouncement on all this, but that applies equally to those who use Acts in the opposite way. So, cautiously, this is my understanding of the four situations in Acts where it appears like the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that happens subsequent to believing. The key to understanding it is Acts 1:8:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Notice, the verse first focuses on the fact that the Holy Spirit will come upon the apostles, and then there will be a progression – Jews, Gentiles, uttermost part of the world. It’s this progression, in this order, that helps us unlock what is going on in the book of Acts. 

The first stop is Pentecost, described in Acts 2. What happens here? The 120 are gathered in the upper room, and the Holy Spirit as promised by Christ comes and baptises them. Note – they are all Jews. None of them belong to any other nation. They then speak in tongues. According to the verse, the tongues are known languages which the foreign Jews who are in Jerusalem recognise as their own languages. This is a sign to these Jews that God is doing a miracle. 

This is also a fulfilment of God’s warning in Isaiah, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people” (Isaiah 28:11-12). It was God’s way of saying to the Jews: I am no longer going to only speak in Hebrew, but am branching out and including others. 

Well, that’s the first part of Acts 1:8 taken care of – Jews. What was next on the list in Jesus’s words? Samaritans. And guess what? The next incidence of Holy Spirit baptism occurs to Samaritan believers.

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 baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:14-17

Notice, many Jews had been getting saved since Pentecost, in fact three thousand on that first day, but there is no mention of a subsequent supernatural experience. Why not? Because God had already shown the Jews that He was indwelling them with a post-salvation supernatural baptism of the Spirit. He now moves to the Samaritans. 

The Samaritans are getting saved, but if you remember, there is a huge division between them and the Jews. They were already divided as to where to worship. Now, can you imagine what will happen when Samaritans are getting saved, shortly after Jews having been saved? In no time, you will have two rival churches – Jew and Samaritan. So the apostles send Peter and John to the Samaritans. T

They use the power given to them by Christ to open the keys of the kingdom so to speak, and pray that the Samaritans be baptised by the Holy Spirit. This was once again, more than anything – a sign to the watching Jews, that God was indeed saving Samaritans, and the same Spirit that had baptised them on Pentecost, had now baptised the Samaritans. An outward sign was required to validate the inward reality.

Well, now we have covered Jews, Samaritans, but Jesus mentioned a third category – to the uttermost part of the world. Who would that be? Gentiles. And so, it seems to make sense that the third incident of the Spirit baptising subsequent to salvation is the first Gentile saved – Cornelius in Acts 10. Peter is prepared for this by his vision of the sheet with the animals on it. He goes to Cornelius and preaches, and they believe. The words in Acts 10 are self-explanatory:

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. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” 

Acts 10 40-47

These are the first Gentiles saved, and God once again gives the sign of tongues to prove to the astonished Jews that He is indeed saving all men from all nations. So with this, the final part of Acts 1:8 has been fulfilled – the uttermost part of the earth. You may not fully agree with my interpretation, but I think it is plausible and harmonises with God’s plan stated in Acts 1:8 – first Jews, then Samaritans, the Gentiles. 

In each case, the group was the first of their group to believe – and therefore the Spirit was poured out on them subsequent to believing, or in Cornelius’s sake, when believing. In all three cases, it was done in the presence of onlooking Jews to help them believe that God’s church was now including all people. In all three cases, Peter is present – using the authority Christ gave him in Matthew 16 to unlock the kingdom to these three groups. 

See, what’s significant is that after Acts 2, Jewish people are getting saved, but there is no Pentecost experience. After Acts 8, Samaritans are getting saved, but there is no Pentecost experience. After Acts 10, Gentiles are getting saved, but there is no Pentecost experience. Why not, if it is the norm for believers? 

Why didn’t Paul ensure it happened in the countless Gentile churches he began in his three missionary trips? The only plausible explanation is that after those initiation experiences, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was occurring as people believed, and the apostles regarded it as such. 

The fourth experience of the Holy Spirit baptising is in Acts 19. This is really the exception, but it also has a good explanation. Here Paul encounters some disciples of John the Baptist. These are what you might call Old Testament saints. They had somehow gotten separated from the mainstream of religious activity in Israel, and hadn’t even heard about Christ and the Holy Spirit. So these are like out of time saints, a bit like Apollos. They knew truth, but not all of it. 

Paul explains the Gospel, they believe and are baptised, and then as if to signify that the old has now truly come into the new, they are baptised by the Holy Spirit subsequent to their believing. Perhaps as Jews they needed this confirmation, perhaps it was more of a sign to emphasise that the transaction was now finally complete – Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles, and the only possible fourth class – Old Testament saints were now in the kingdom. 

I think however that the book of Acts does not produce a pattern on which to build a hard and fast doctrine. I see the events in Acts unlocked by Peter as Jesus said he would in Matthew 16, and following the pattern of Acts 1:8, and it is the best explanation I have read or heard, and I think it does justice to an admittedly difficult doctrine. 

Overall, the epistles of Paul seem to suggest to us that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is simultaneous with believing. Nowhere are we told to seek after it. We are told to be filled with the Spirit, but this cannot be the baptism of the Spirit, and we will see why in Part 4 of this series. Baptism is a joining with Christ – that must happen once. Filling is a continual thing, a command to be obeyed by all believers.

That is what I feel is a Scriptural treatment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’ll readily admit it’s a difficult doctrine, and one in which I will not be surprised to have many disagree with me. Please do so because of how you feel I have dealt with the text, not because of tradition or experience. 

From the difficult and sometimes murky waters of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we’ll conclude in Part 4 with an exciting look at the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. There, we’ll see what it means to be filled with the Spirit – to walk in the Spirit, to quench or grieve the Spirit, and to exercise your spiritual gift or gifts.