6. Baptism in the Holy Spirit

What is Baptism In The Holy Spirit?

All four gospel writers quote John as identifying Jesus as the one who would baptise with the Holy Spirit (see also Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16). Matthew and Luke further report that “he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. From this it is clear that baptism with the Holy Spirit is in some way similar to baptism with water, but at the same time significantly different.

The first question we need to ask is, “what is the Holy Spirit?”; or, more correctly, “who is the Holy Spirit?”

The Bible teaches us that there is one God. He revealed himself to Abraham as God Almighty (El Shaddai – Genesis 17:1) and to Moses as “I AM” (Yahweh, or Jehovah – Exodus 3:14).

Jesus brought the mind-blowing revelation that although God is one yet He is three distinct persons, whom we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Luke 1:35; Acts 7:55; Hebrews 9:14). The Trinity (one God in three Persons) is a subject in itself, and we do not have time to go into it in depth here.

Suffice to say that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Godhead, with whom we can enjoy fellowship (2 Corinthians 13:14) and who guides, encourages, and teaches us (John 14:26). We can also blaspheme Him (Mark 3:29) and lie to Him (Acts 5:3-4). We can say, therefore …

to be baptised in the Holy Spirit is to be immersed in the Spirit of Almighty God.

Water baptism gives us a picture in the natural of what occurs in the spiritual when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit. When you are plunged into the water, you come up soaked from head to foot. If your mouth were open when you went down, you would also be filled.

In exactly the same way, baptism in the Holy Spirit means that you are outwardly soaked and, if you keep your mouth open (figuratively speaking!), inwardly filled with the Holy Spirit.

Are the two expressions, “baptised in the Spirit” and “filled with the Spirit” interchangeable? Do they mean the same thing?

Baptism in the Spirit is a one-off event, like baptism in water. It never needs to happen again. We could compare it to getting married. A man and a woman get married once, and even if their relationship goes through some rocky patches, they are still married. Similarly, after being baptised in water you may fall back into sin for a period of time, but you do not need to be baptised in water again whenever you turn back to God. Neither do you need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit again. Once it has been done, it has been done for good.

Being filled with the Spirit, however, is an ongoing process. Just as we need to eat three times a day, and make sure we get our five portions of fruit and vegetables and countless cups of tea, so we need continually to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit.” The Greek expression here translated as “be filled” might also be rendered as “keep on being filled”. It is something that we need to keep on doing. It does not happen automatically.

You are baptised in the Spirit by somebody else, but you are filled with the Spirit by your own deliberate action.

Fire and Power

Baptism in the Spirit is about two things – FIRE and POWER.

a. FIRE

We have already seen (in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16) that John the Baptist identified the one who would come after him as he who would baptise “with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. This theme is not picked up by anyone else in the New Testament, but we can see from John’s preaching that he identifies fire with purification or sanctification (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).

Threshing is the process whereby the chaff (the hard, inedible, protective husk) is removed from the wheat or barley grain. Once it has been removed, it is of no value, and so it is disposed of by being burned.

It was useful for a while, because it protected the immature and vulnerable grain while it was growing; but when it comes time to turn the grain into flour, the chaff has become a hindrance.

Similarly, in both our individual and communal lives there are many things that are beneficial to us for a period of time, but if we are to fully develop as God wants us to, they must be removed and disposed of, in the same way that the shell of the egg protects the chick in its foetal stage, but must be broken away if the chick is ever to develop into a mature bird.

Jesus said that old wineskins are all right for old wine, but for new wine they are worse than useless, and brand new, soft, flexible wineskins must be used instead (Matthew 9:17).

For the Jewish people of John’s and Jesus’s day, the old wineskins and the chaff spoke of the Old Covenant, which Jesus had come to replace with a new one. It was not possible to follow Jesus while still adhering to the old way.

Did this mean that the old covenant was bad? Not at all. It was given by God and it performed its function for a time, but once its time was up it became a hindrance to what God wanted to do next, as Paul explains in Galatians 4:1-7 and 21-26.

Each of us also has many things in our lives that are fine for a time, but as our walk with God progresses they may become hindrances and have to be disposed of.

Sometimes it can be our religious traditions; sometimes it can be our friends and associates; sometimes it can be our careers; sometimes it can be our forms of entertainment; it might even be an area of ministry. For each one of us it will be different.

A significant part of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is to highlight to us the ‘chaff’ that needs to be broken off and burned up.

b. POWER

After Jesus had risen from the dead, but before He had ascended into heaven, he instructed His disciples that they should do nothing but wait until they had been “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49 RSV), for “… you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses …” (Acts 1:8 RSV).

This occurred on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Passover, which was the time when Jesus had been crucified.

During the ten days between Jesus’s ascension (Acts 1:9) and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), these were just ordinary men who had a passionate devotion to Christ and a profound and compelling hope.

After the Holy Spirit came, they were a whirlwind that turned their world upside-down (Acts 2:1-28:30). They healed the sick; they raised the dead; they preached with such conviction that thousands at a time were turned to Christ. They endured persecution, hardship, peril, and want with a fortitude and joy that was beyond the natural ability of man.

And some of them wrote letters that have come down to us today as the New Testament – the word of God for the Christian era, which will not come to an end until Christ returns to usher in His kingdom upon the earth.

Who Can Be Baptised In The Spirit?

What is the key qualification for receiving the Holy Spirit? The answer is found in John 14:15-17 and Acts 5:32:

In both of these scriptures, it is clear that the essential qualification is obedience.

This means, therefore, that whoever is obedient to God and obedient to Christ – in other words, whoever is a Christian – can receive the Holy Spirit.

Who Can Baptise With The Holy Spirit?

Unlike baptism in water, which may be administered by anyone who is walking with God, baptism in the Holy Spirit can be administered only by God Himself.

We have already seen that John the Baptist predicted that the One to come after him would baptise, not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.

In John 14 verses 16 and 26, Jesus says that the Father will send the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere He says, “But when the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to me.” (John 15:26 RSV)

It is the Father and the Son who send the Holy Spirit.

God the Holy Spirit does not come of His own volition, nor in response to the request or command of anyone other than God the Father and God the Son.

There are occasions when the Holy Spirit comes upon people by means of the laying on of hands by the apostles (e.g. Peter and John in Acts 8:14-17; Paul in Acts 19:6). However, the key to this is in Acts 8:15 where it says that Peter and John “prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit”.

If they had to pray, it means that they did not have the authority in themselves to give the Holy Spirit. And how could they, since the Holy Spirit is God, and they are under His authority?

When Does Baptism In the Holy Spirit Take Place?

The normal sequence of events is that someone would repent, commit their life to Christ, be baptised in water, and then have hands laid on them so that they might be baptised in the Spirit (e.g. Acts 2:38; 8:12, 14-17; 19:5-6).

However, the only prerequisite for receiving the Holy Spirit is that you have put your faith in Jesus. This is illustrated clearly in the story of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10:

Some would argue that this is a special case, as these are the first gentiles to become Christians and so God had to do things a bit differently. The point is, however, that it is God who baptises us in the Holy Spirit, and He is free to do it whenever, and in whatever way, it pleases Him to do so.

Anyway, every baptism in the Spirit is a special case, because every one of us is unique and special to God.

How Do You Know That You Have Been Baptised In The Spirit?

Acts 2:1-11 describes the first occasion when anyone was baptised in the Spirit.

In this passage, Luke tells us of three indications that something was happening:

• There was a sound like a rushing, mighty wind
• Tongues of fire appeared, resting on each of the people
• They began to speak in other tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance” (KJV)

The rushing, mighty wind and the tongues of fire are never mentioned again, but the third manifestation is.

In Acts 10, Cornelius the Roman centurion is instructed by an angel to call for Peter and to listen to his message. Cornelius gathers his family and friends to hear what Peter has to say. Peter and his associates are amazed to find that God has poured out His Spirit upon these gentiles, for even while Peter is still preaching, “… they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (Acts 10:46 RSV).

In Acts 19:1-7, Paul finds some disciples who have only been taught about John the Baptist and his prophetic message about Christ. Having shared the full gospel with them and baptised them in water, Paul laid hands upon them and “the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6 NIV).

We are not told in every case where someone received the Holy Spirit that they spoke in tongues. For example, in Acts 8:14-17 we are simply told that “… Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17 NIV). However, there was clearly some sort of manifestation, for Simon the Sorcerer, who was a man who liked to put on a show (Acts 8:9-11), was keen to be able to do what the apostles had done.

We are not told what this manifestation was, which would suggest that it was no different from what would normally occur when the Holy Spirit came – i.e. they probably “spoke in tongues and prophesied”.

David Du Plessis, who was one of the leaders of the Charismatic Renewal and was known as “Mr Pentecost”, was once asked, “If I receive the Holy Spirit, do I have to speak in tongues?” His simple answer was, “No. But you will!”

Do You Need To Be Baptised In The Spirit?

The answer to this question is dependent on what type of Christian life you want to pursue.

Many Christians survive perfectly well without being baptised in the Spirit, and many have successful and effective ministries.

The great English healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth was walking in the power of God for many years before he received the Holy Spirit. In fact, he was quite opposed to what he considered to be an unbiblical excess, until he experienced it for himself and discovered an even greater power and closeness with God than he had ever known before.

You can live a righteous and holy life on earth and be assured of eternal salvation without being baptised in the Holy Spirit, but our Heavenly Father wants us to live in the fulness of His power and His blessing, and in the closeness of fellowship which is possible only by having the Holy Spirit fully active in our lives.

God has provided this wonderful gift for us and wants us to enjoy all the benefits of it. Why would any of his children think it to be unnecessary or undesirable?

The first apostles were keen that every believer should be baptised in the Holy Spirit:

In both of these situations, the apostles were not satisfied with knowing that the people had believed and been baptised. They wanted them to have the whole package so that they might enter into the fulness of the Christian experience.

Paul asked the key question: “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

Permit me to ask that same question of you.

If the answer is ‘no’, then let me encourage you to turn to God now and pray along these lines:

“Lord, I believe that You have provided this blessing for me, and I want to have the full benefit of everything that You want me to have. You have told me to ask, and it will be given, to seek, and I will find, to knock, and the door will be opened. So, Lord, I’m asking, I’m seeking, I’m knocking, and I’m believing that You are giving me Your Holy Spirit as Jesus promised You would.

“Right now, I open my heart and I receive You, Holy Spirit, into my life.

“Thank You, Father; thank You, Lord Jesus; thank You, Holy Spirit. I am Yours forever. Amen.”

Depending on how God wants to work in your life, He may respond immediately or He may require you to wait upon Him for this blessing and empowerment. Whichever the case may be, you can be confident that your Heavenly Father wants you to know the fulness of His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).

It may even be that, like the new believers in Samaria, He wants you to receive it through the laying on of hands.