An Evangelical Perspective on the Baptism in the Spirit

Even to call this the baptism “in” the Spirit used to bother me.  That sounded too Pentecostal (though, “baptism in the Holy Ghost” sounded even more so).  And the Greek preposition en that is used in this phrase could be translated “with” or “by,” so “in” isn’t the only possibility.  But the exact meaning of the preposition is ultimately inconsequential.  “Baptism” is the crucial word here.  To be baptized in, with or by some element (such as water, normally) means to take on the characteristics of that element and of the one who is promoting your baptism.

So, for example, to be baptized by John the Baptist with water was to be identified with John’s message that the kingdom is near at hand and that I have repented in anticipation of its coming and I am square with God and ready for Him to show.  The water symbolizes cleansing, in this case, even as Paul says that when he was baptized he was washing away his sins (Acts 22:16).  To be baptized by or in the Spirit means to take on the characteristics of the Spirit’s holiness, being set apart for God to salvation, and it means to then have access to all the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life.

But when does this happen for the Christian?  Two basic answers have been offered: (1) it happens at your conversion, when you trust in Jesus as your Savior, or, (2) it happens some time later in your Christian life when you fully surrender to Jesus’ lordship and receive the Spirit purposefully.  The former has been the typical evangelical teaching, the latter the Pentecostal/Charismatic teaching. [Note: Pentecostals and Charismatics may also be characterized as evangelicals, but we’re distinguishing the two groups this way for convenience as opposed to saying non-Charismatic evangelicals and evangelical Pentecostal/Charismatics.]

And what is the evidence that you have been baptized in the Spirit?  Two views here as well: (1) there may be no outward manifestation or there may be any number of manifestations depending on which work of His the Spirit chooses to demonstrate through you (His “spiritual gifts,” filling, assurance, etc.), or, (2) speaking in tongues.  There is the same divide here between evangelicals and Pentecostals/Charismatics.

As to the timing of Spirit baptism, it will be offered by the post-conversionists that on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus who had been following him, some for years, and had already been “saved” by faith in Jesus, were then baptized in the Spirit as a separate experience to their conversion.  They will note that the same could be said of the Samaritans who were converted at the preaching of Phillip (Acts 8), even having to wait for Spirit baptism until Peter and John came up from Jerusalem to lay hands of them to receive the Spirit.  And they will suggest that the disciples of John the Baptist whom Paul interacts with in Acts 19 were also already saved, some years possibly, before they received the Spirit at the laying on of Paul’s hands.

Conversionists will offer that Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that all believers were baptized by (or “in” or “with”) one Spirit at some time in the past and that the only way he could say this of all his readers, and indeed of all Christians, was if they were baptized in the Spirit at conversion.  Post-conversionists will argue, in some cases, that this is a different Spirit baptism than the one we see in the book of Acts, but surely this is special pleading, taking contrary evidence and gratuitously deciding that because it doesn’t fit your view it must mean something else.

I am convinced that the Pentecostal/Charismatics have done an enormous service to the Church of Jesus Christ by drawing our attention to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in ways we needed, because we had somehow come to neglect His ministry and downplayed His miraculous work among us.  But I think they got the timing and manifestation issue wrong when it comes to Spirit baptism.  A close examination of the evidence in Acts will support the view that Spirit baptism is normally an occurrence at the believer’s moment of conversion, when he or she embraces Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Here is an overview of the occurrences of Spirit baptism in the book of Acts:

Passage	ch. 2	ch.8	ch. 10	ch. 19
People group	Israel (Jews)	Samaritans	Gentiles	Disciples of John
Leader	Peter	Peter (and John)	Peter	Paul
Manifestations	Speaking in tongues (prophecy) by the 120; no mention of laying on of hands	? (something happened but it is not described); laying on of hands	Tongues, praise; no laying on of hands	Tongues, Prophecy; laying on of hands
Relation to time of Conversion	Immediately after conversion	Days after conversion	At very moment of Conversion	Immediately after conversion
Relation to time of Baptism	After baptism (or possibly during, v48)	After baptism	Before baptism	At baptism

 

Yes, the 120 who were in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost had been saved already, some for years, so they received the baptism in the Spirit subsequent to their conversion (post-conversion).  But there is a historical reason for this, not a spiritual one.  The baptism of the Spirit happened for the first time on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 33 of necessity after the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection, securing our redemption.  This was the first time it had ever happened.

But for those Jews who were saved that day, they received the Holy Spirit, all of them (We’re not told of any who weren’t ready), that very day, perhaps during their water baptism.  Peter had told them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and they would receive the Holy Spirit.  Post-conversionists might suggest that this was the way it was normally done in the early church but that in the modern church, because we have neglected the ministry of the Spirit, it must now be that we seek the baptism of the Spirit when we learn of what we can have from Him.  But surely if that was the norm then, it should become the norm now, rather than perpetuating an alternate system.

Of course, the Jews who were converted that day did not have to wait until some subsequent date to receive the Spirit because He had been given now, this day, this first day, and the door to the kingdom had been opened by Peter for all Jews.  We’re not told that there were any manifestations for the 3,000 who were converted this day.  That is an argument from silence, of course.  There may have been but Luke does not deem it important to mention, if so.  And what happened to any Jews after this day who came to faith in Jesus as Messiah?  Were they immediately baptized in the Spirit or not?  We’re not told.

Acts 8 tells of Phillip’s ministry among the Samaritans, a people group in great conflict with the Jews, a people who considered themselves true Jews but whom the Jews considered half-breeds at best.  They disagreed about what the Law taught, especially about where the temple should be located (Samaritans located it in their territory on Mt. Gerizim).  There had been violence perpetrated by both sides in this conflict.  But Phillip, a Jew, had been directed by the Spirit to preach among them, even has his Master had done (John 4).  Many gave their lives to the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, but none had received the Spirit, as had happened on Pentecost.  Why?

Peter and John went up from Jerusalem to Samaria, and when they laid hands on the new believers (all of them, we may presume, not just those who were ready), and they received the Spirit.  No mention is made of any manifestations, like tongues or prophecy, but when Simon the former sorcerer saw what happened he wanted to buy this power to confer the Spirit.  Peter rightly chastises him.  He saw some demonstration of power.

Can we imagine what might have happened if Peter and John had not come and laid hands on these Samaritans?  Might they have seen themselves as a church separate from Jerusalem?  This had been their habit.  But now, beyond all dispute, they were inextricably tied to the Jewish church and under the authority of the apostles, Jesus’ Jewish representatives of his teaching.  Any schism that might have begun on a merely ethnic basis was quashed.  Of course, Christians have found other reasons for schism.  But for now, the Samaritans were united to the one Church of Jesus Messiah by this baptism in the Spirit that constitutes us all as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).

But now comes the amazing case of the first Gentile converts in Acts 10.  Again, Peter is present, the one whom Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:19), and he opens the door to the kingdom for these Gentiles to come in.  But for them, Spirit baptism occurs when they are in the middle of listening to Peter’s preaching about Jesus.  It occurs the moment they believe in Jesus as Messiah for the forgiveness of their sins and are saved.  They don’t pray the sinner’s prayer, don’t have hands laid on them, don’t even confess Jesus as Lord, but are immediately and miraculously saved the moment they believe, and they begin speaking in tongues just like the 120 did on the day of Pentecost.

This Pentecostal experience convinces the Jews who came with Peter that the Gentiles are accepted by God in Christ Jesus just like the Jews and Samaritans.  They are so convinced that they water baptize the converts.  Why no laying on of hands before the Gentiles can receive the Spirit?  Because Peter is already present with witnesses who can attest that these new believers have trusted Jesus.  There is no impediment to receiving the Spirit.  Every single member of Cornelius’ household who believes also receives the Spirit and are all made to constitute one Body in Christ with Jews and Samaritans.  All three people groups on earth from a Jewish perspective have been brought into the fold.  There is no need for another Pentecostal experience.  All groups have been included.

The proof of this is Paul’s experience in Acts 19.  Here, in Ephesus, Paul meets a group of “disciples” (Luke’s typical term for saved followers of Jesus) who, for some reason, are not demonstrating the ministries of the Holy Spirit.  So he asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  It is Paul’s expectation that believers receive the Spirit when they believe, but for some reason these guys don’t fit the profile.  He discovers they were followers of John the Baptist, having received his baptism for forgiveness and readiness for the coming king and kingdom, only they had left Israel before the events of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and, of course, before the events of Pentecost.  So they are Jews who embraced the message of the kingdom, were, in effect, saved, but did not get the rest of the revelation that came with Jesus, the king.

So Paul preaches the gospel to them that includes all the facts they missed and, of course, they receive baptism in Jesus’ name, because once saved, always saved.  They have been out of the loop, but God has seen to it that they get brought back into the loop.  He honors their faith in the revelation they had received, incomplete though it was, and makes sure they get the whole scoop and are brought up to speed.  This, by the way, is a paradigm for how God will do for anyone who responds in faith to any of God’s revelation (creation or special revelation).

So, by this time, the precedent for receiving the Spirit is immediately at conversion, just like the Gentile Cornelius and his household did in Acts 10, because at this point every people group had already been included.  New converts did not need another Pentecostal experience in order to demonstrate that the door to the kingdom had been opened for them.  Additionally, for Luke, this experience with Paul indicates that he has the same apostolic authority as Peter, the two being contrasted and compared throughout Luke’s account.  Peter raises someone from the dead and so does Paul.  Peter lays hands on someone and they receive the Spirit and so does Paul.

So the statement of Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that we all were baptized in one Spirit so as to constitute one Body in Christ is testimony to the normal way believers now receive the Holy Spirit, that is, at the moment of conversion.  And of course, we have seen many conversions where people had great assurance (an evidence of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:16,17) but not necessarily speaking in tongues.  That was the evidence needed for the initial experience of Spirit baptism with the specific people groups who were first included in the Body of Christ.  Paul did not speak in tongues at his conversion, nor are we told that he received the Spirit at some point subsequent to his conversion.

The Spirit may choose to manifest Himself through tongues at our conversion, or through any number of other means (prophecy, miracles, assurance, etc.).  But no two conversions are exactly the same.  We are individuals and He treats us individually.  This also doesn’t mean that we can’t or won’t have some amazing experiences of the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in and through us throughout our Christian lives.  And they certainly don’t need to be limited to one experience.  We should expect many and varied manifestations of the Spirit throughout our Christian life.

I recall having one such experience in my mobile home after I was first married.  I was studying Philippians 2 about Jesus emptying himself and taking the form of a servant and I got so full of his glory that I wanted to shout his praise at the top of my lungs.  But strangely, I could not.  I stood up and started walking around the room but I could not speak.  I was so full but it wouldn’t come out in words.  I guess you could say I got the opposite of the gift of speaking in tongues.  But it was powerful and wonderful at the same time.  Yet it would be a mistake for me to expect that everyone else should experience the Holy Spirit in this same manner.  Leave His expression to Him.  He knows what you need.