What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Many arguments, divisions, and false doctrines have arisen over this simple question. What God intended to strengthen the church and unify it for His glory, has instead been destroyed by false teachers and Satan our enemy. We must allow scripture to be the final judge in this matter and restore the truth.

What did the Lord Jesus promise the church before he ascended to heaven?

“But you shall receive power(ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnessesin Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” [Acts 1:8 (AMP)]

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes andfills you with powerfrom heaven.” [Luke 24:49 (NLT)]

ANSWER:

1/ First, He promised a new power that they did not have previously, even though they followed Jesus for years. The disciples were promised this new power to become effective witnesses to the world. Strong’s Concordance states: “force(literal or figurative); specially miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself) :- ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, might (wonderful) work.” This new force would come upon them to make their preaching so miraculous that hardened unbelievers would wonderfully hear and believe. Presently they were afraid of the Jewish opposition and only a small band believed, but the promise meant a dramatic change was coming.

2/ This promise would be fulfilled by the Holy Spirit coming upon them. Come means influence, while upon means “superimposition(of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution” —Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. In other words, the Holy Spirit’s influence would be superimposed over top of the men following Jesus, and they would be immersed (baptized) under the power of God, so that as they preached the gospel, the Holy Spirit would convict sinners. His dynamic power would rock the community and drive sinners to repent and be converted to disciples of Jesus. Their words would have an unexplained ability to move men’s consciences to be sorry for their spiritual crimes and break them down to turn to God.

Is the proof of this Holy Spirit baptism speaking in tongues?

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.” [Acts 2:1-6 (NKJV)]

1/ NO!The proof is the power, which was promised. There was no promise of the sound of a mighty wind. There was no promise of visible flames. There was no promise of being able to speak Latin without going to school. God used the supernatural manifestations of the sound effects of hurricane force wind to get the whole cities attention. He used the visible flames like he did with Moses and the burning bush, and he amazed the unbelievers by supernaturally speaking to them with uneducated disciples. But He promised that power would be given to enable them to be witnesses. What was the proof?3000 people were cut to the heart instead of ignoring the gospel of Jesus.The same people who killed Jesus and hated His disciples now miraculously joined them!

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. [Acts 2:36-41 (NKJV)]

Besides Jesus warned at the beginning (Matthew 7) miracles in his name could and would be copied by the devil to deceive people to believe they were going to heaven. He clearly stated that only those doing the will of the Father would find heaven, no matter how sincere their profession or how many signs and wonders they performed in His name. But, the devil would not convert sinners to Jesus, only the true power of the Holy Spirit would pierce the consciences of sinners, leading them to repentance.

2/ God never made a formula that tongues would follow this power. When it comes to the manifestation of God, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” [1 Cor 12:11 (NLT)] Yes Paul makes it clear, there is no formula, God Himself gives and withholds these exciting gifts as only He chooses. Only Moses had a burning bush manifestation, we do not have a formula to start Burning Bush Churches! Only Balaam had a tongue speaking donkey [Numbers 22], we do not have or need a new movement of donkeys speaking in tongues in the churches today. Only at Pentecost were flames burning over the disciples, there is no mandate for us to have flames at our gatherings. But there is still the promise of this convicting power to win souls.

And remember, at Pentecost not all the believers spoke in a different language. the Judeans (Israel) heard Galileans speak their language. Guess what, the disciples were all from Israel and spoke the same language they grew up with. These disciples were just as enveloped in god's promise of power as the rest who did gain a new human language.[Read about it here]

3/ Follow through the book of Acts, you will find a constant focus on the victorious advancement of God’s word converting sinners. It does not count how many manifestations of God were done, but yes, if there were any it is reported.

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer.43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity —47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. [Acts 2:41-47 (NLT)]

These leaders were very disturbed thatPeter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. [Acts 4:2-4 (NLT)]

32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.33 The apostlestestified powerfullyto the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.[Acts 4:32-33 (NLT)]

17 The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.19 But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,20“Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”21 So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. [Acts 5:17-21 (NLT)]

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.)3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.4But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.[Acts 8:1-5 (NLT)]

As Acts reports the advancement of God’s word, less is mentioned of miracles because God decides how and when He will manifest [show and reveal] Himself among the people, but His Good News must be shared.

23 So a time was set, and on that daya large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.24 Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.25 And after they had argued back and forth among themselves… [Acts 28:23-25 (NLT)]

So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.” 30 For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense.He welcomed all who visited him,31 boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.[Acts 28:28-31 (NLT)]

Is this Promise for us today?

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

1/ The apostles were already born again when the power fell upon them on Pentecost.

19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”22Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” [John 20:19-23 (NLT)] You are born again when the Holy Spirit enters you and makes you a new creation. But later the Lord ordered them to wait for the power.

4 And being assembled together with them,He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,"which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, butyou shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."[Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV)] They already received the Holy Spirit, but at Pentecost they would be immersed by “power when the Holy Spirithas come upon you” [Acts 1:8 (NKJV)].

2/ But remember NO ONE ELSE was there with Jesus in John 20. So Peter instructs new people to "Repent, and let every one of yoube baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”[Acts 2:38 (NKJV)] No new command to to wait for 10 days. No instruction to wait until Peter lays his hands on them, but instead repent and be baptizedand you will get this promise. True repentance and public admission that Jesus is now your Lord through water baptism and God will pour out this power again today on you!

3/ Peter laid his hands on Samaritans before they received this promise of the Holy Spirit. Why? Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. [Acts 8:14-17 (NKJV)] In an act of prayer for these believers Peter laid his hands on some, but he did not lay hands on everyone. We know he did not do it to Simon, who got in trouble for trying to buy the power of God from Peter. In that day, “It was customary to lay the hands on any person when a favour was to be conferred, or a blessing imparted.” Matthew 9:18. —Barnes' Notes on the New Testament. In fact the only reason given for Peter to even take the step to lay hands and pray was, “As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” [Acts 8:15-16 (NLT)] Remember Christ gave the command to“…go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”[Matt 28:19-20 (NLT)] Complete obedience always releases God’s promises!

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