by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 07/16/2024.

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.


This is what the Conclusion of my article called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Part One says:

"We've seen that we must choose to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God (after we automatically receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation) because it empowers us by providing certain gifts of the Spirit for the assignments that God needs us to do.

We've seen why it's referred to as being "baptized" with the Holy Spirit by demonstrating the similarities between Spirit baptism and the two forms of water baptism in the New Testament.

We've seen that for the apostles, speaking in tongues was the convincing evidence that Christians had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We've seen the high degree of importance attached to the baptism of the Holy Spirit for receiving spiritual empowerment for the assignments that God needs us to do.

We've seen that there's a simple, straightforward reason why the disciples had two separate experiences of the Holy Spirit, and why sometimes there was a time lag between the moment when people received salvation and the moment when the Holy Spirit came on them (as in the case of the Samaritans). The reason is that the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is only available after salvation. The new Christians in Scripture automatically received the indwelling Holy Spirit at the moment of their salvation just like everyone else in the New Testament church does, and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a separate event just like the rest of us are able to do. These are always two separate and distinct experiences of the Holy Spirit with two separate and distinct purposes. One experience is automatic, the other experience is a choice we make.

We've seen that when the New Testament describes certain Christians as being "anointed," this specifically means that they had received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

When I say that speaking in tongues is the outward evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I'm not referring to the spiritual gift of tongues. I'm referring to "praying in the Spirit" (as the New Testament calls it). Many Christians don't seem to realize it, but there are actually two forms of tongues in the New Testament. To learn all about the two scriptural purposes for speaking in tongues, my article called Praying in the Spirit Means Speaking in Tongues examines every New Testament passage on speaking in tongues."

Many churches teach that miracles, healings, and the so-called miraculous gifts of the Spirit ceased or died out during or shortly after the first century, and this view is known as cessationism. It would be easy for people in Protestant or Baptist or other cessationist denominations to dismiss the above points by saying that they're all "charismatic" views, but in reality the only issue that matters is whether or not the above points are what Scripture teaches. If those are what the New Testament teaches for all Christians then God expects all Christians to obey Him by receiving this gift (no matter what denomination you're a member of). In fact, my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today shows that cessationism is a form of last-days apostasy (a falling away from proper beliefs) because the apostle Paul said that it's a very specific sign of the "terrible times in the last days." My article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes (see sign #19) shows even further that cessationism is a form of last-days apostasy.


As described in my article called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Part One, here is every event in which Christians were baptized with the Holy Spirit. There are no other descriptions of Christians receiving the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit anywhere else in Scripture, so these four events are the only instructional examples that God has given us:

1. Pentecost

   On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Then they gathered around him and asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on [eperchomai epi] you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:4-8)
   
   When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)

2. At the house of Cornelius the Gentile

   While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on [epipipto epi] all who heard the message. The circumcised believers [Jews] who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles [non-Jews]. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. (Acts 10:44-48)
   
   As I [Peter] began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on [epipipto epi] them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God? When they [the Jews who criticized Peter for breaking the Jewish law by eating with Gentiles at the house of Cornelius] heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles [non-Jews] repentance unto life." (Acts 11:15-18)
   [According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments (Dr. Spiros Zodhiates), the Greek word eperchomai in Acts 1:4-8 (above) is a contraction of the Greek words epi and erchomai (Acts 19:1-6, below), and is synonymous with epipipto in the above passages and in Acts 8:14-20 (below).]
   
   After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them [the Jews in Jerusalem]: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles [Cornelius and his household] might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith." (Acts 15:7-9)

3. The disciples in Ephesus

   While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 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." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. 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." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on [erchomai epi] them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:1-6)

4. The Samaritans

   When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on [epipipto epi] any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! (Acts 8:14-20)

Here is every New Testament verse that uses the phrase "baptize(d) with the Holy Spirit." Every one of these verses uses the Greek word en (meaning "in" or "with"), and every one of these verses makes a direct comparison between water baptism and Spirit baptism:

"I baptize you with [en] water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with [en] the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11)

"I baptize you with [en] water, but he will baptize you with [en] the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8)

"John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with [en] the Holy Spirit and with fire."" (Luke 3:16)

"I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with [en] water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with [en] the Holy Spirit.'" (John 1:33)

"For John baptized with [en] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with [en] the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:5)

"Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with [en] water, but you will be baptized with [en] the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 11:16)

Just as we're baptized "in" or "with" water, we're also baptized "in" or "with" the Holy Spirit. There was nothing accidental or haphazard about the above passages referring to it as being "baptized" with the Holy Spirit because we can easily see the direct comparison between water baptism and Spirit baptism. Scripture consistently tells us that we're baptized in (or with) the living water of the Holy Spirit by Jesus.

Many churches and denominations (e.g., most Protestants and Baptists) wrongly teach that the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" means that the Holy Spirit automatically baptizes us into the body of Christ at the moment we receive salvation, based on this passage:

"For we were all baptized by [en] one Spirit so as to form one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV)

However, the NIV and certain other versions of the Bible have paraphrased the Greek word en as "by" instead of translating it using its normal meaning of "in" or "with." This sometimes causes people to assume that we are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, even though there's not a shred of scriptural evidence that the Holy Spirit does any type of baptizing.

When the Greek word en is translated with its normal definition of "in," the actual meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:13 becomes clear by comparing it with some other verses:

"In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized into [baptizo eis] Moses." (1 Corinthians 10:2 paraphrased)

"In water they were baptized into [baptizo eis] the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 19:5 paraphrased)

"in one Spirit were we all baptized into [baptizo eis] one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13 ASV)

It's now easy to see what the medium of baptism is in each verse. In the first verse, the cloud and the sea are the medium or the substance in which the Israelites were baptized. The Israelites were already united with Moses when they left Egypt, which was before they were "baptized into Moses" at the Red Sea. The cloud and the sea didn't cause them to be united with Moses.

In the second verse above, water is the medium or the substance in which Christians are baptized. Christians are united with Christ at the moment of salvation, which happens before we're baptized in water (see my series called Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism). The water doesn't cause us to be saved or to be united with Christ.

In the third verse above, the living water of the Holy Spirit is the medium or the substance in which Christians are baptized. Just as water baptism does not cause us to be saved, Spirit baptism does not cause us to be included in the body of Christ (see my article called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Part One). Receiving salvation is the point when we become included in the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14), and Spirit baptism is only available to us after we receive salvation (see my article above).

So 1 Corinthians 12:13 does not teach that the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit does not do any type of baptizing.

In every example that God has given us where Christians received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (above), the Spirit baptism for spiritual empowerment always occurred after the Christians had received salvation. This is a consistent pattern, and it's a pattern that we're meant to follow today for our own spiritual empowerment.


Have you chosen to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (in obedience to God) with the evidence of being able to speak in tongues? For all of the scriptural details about Spirit baptism and how to receive it and how to speak in tongues, see my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.