JD Abshire

Baptism in and of the Holy Spirit is synonymous with the indwelling of and receiving the Holy Spirit as scripture will reveal. 

We know from scripture that the Comforter or Holy Spirit did not indwell but was “with” believers prior to the resurrection. Christ clearly stated this in John 14:17 “.......... for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

A bodily Indwelling of the Holy Spirit would not occur until after the resurrection. Christ declared this truth in John 16:7. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

Believers who died prior to the resurrection did not possess the indwelling Holy Spirit. The pre and post resurrection disposition of these departed saints is explained in Ephesians 4:8-9 where he led captivity captive.

A careful study of the scripture shows that Christ never preached his death, burial and resurrection to the multitudes. Although he told the disciples they did not understand the meaning. (Mark 9:9-10, 32, 45 Luke 9:43-45, John 20:9) Simply, it was not a requirement for salvation. However, after the resurrection it became imperative.

After Christ’s resurrection there were obviously living believers who had previously come to a saving knowledge of the Lord through John the Baptist’s ministry and later through Christ’s personal ministry. These were baptized unto repentance and a belief that Jesus Christ is The Son of God, The Messiah. This is referred to as "John's baptism" The disciples themselves were among such believers who later received the Holy Spirit directly from The Lord (John 20:22).

Many in Samaria came to saving faith most likely as a result of Christ’s ministry first hand or through testimony of the unnamed woman at the well of Sychar. (John 4:6-41).

In fulfillment of The Lord’s commissioning in Acts 1:8, the apostles went to Samaria after hearing that the Samaritans had received the Word of God. (Acts 8:14-16.)

v. 14 “Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:”
v. 15 “Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:”
v.16 “(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)”
v.17 “Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.”

In v. 16 “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” is the same as “John’s baptism”. Very simply these could not be indwelled until after the resurrection.This is also proof that in this post resurrection era true salvation requires that one believe in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection in order to receive the Holy Spirit, not just in the name of Jesus Christ.

A very similar occurrence is found in Acts 19:2-6

v.2 “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.”
v.3 "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.” 
v.4 "Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
v.5 "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
v.6 “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Further proof is found in Acts 10:34-44. Prior to Peter’s arrival at Cornelius’ home in Caesarea he and his family although chosen by God were unsaved. After hearing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit fell on them and they spoke in tongues while Peter was still preaching. 
Cornelius and his family were immediately “gifted” with the ability to speak in tongues. There was no lapse in time or additional steps necessary. Acts 2:4

May 03 2014 • 11 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Steve Nearman A sinner saved by grace. Fredericksburg, VA

After Acts 2 all believers in Christ received the Holy Spirit. Prior to that time a believers were still saved, born again, but did not have the indwelling Spirit.

When saved after the Spirit was pored out in Acts 2, the Spirit was an indwelling indicator to the recipient that he/she is saved (2 Cor. 1:20-23; 2Cor. 5:3-5). One function of the Spirit from then till now, as foretold by John, is to gather His wheat into the barn (Mat. 3:12), or the saints into the church Christ's body. All this happens simultaneously when one simply believes by faith. There is no difference in being baptized into Christ's body and being baptized by Christ. Its the same thing from a different perspective.

There is a major difference between being baptized with the Spirit or receiving the Holy Spirit and being "filled" or "came upon" with the Spirit. Before Acts 2 you will find many references to people being 'filled' with God's Spirit. In these cases it was NOT an indication of salvation. It was an enabling from God for a person to perform a specific task such as building the temple or functioning as king of Israel.

God's spirit "came upon" King Saul to enable him to rule God's people (Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance? 1 Sam 10:1). When he disobeyed it was taken from him (1 Sam. 16:14) and given to David. That would mean Saul lost salvation because he no longer had or was "filled" with God's Spirit. And we know from many other references one can not lose salvation. The issue of salvation is not in view. Getting the Spirit of God was not evidence of Saul's salvation. God gave Saul the Spirit to empower him to be King.

Holy Spirit empowered individual people for special tasks.
Ex 31:1-9 Bezalel, Aholiab and others
Num. 11:16-17 Moses and 70 others
Judges 3:8-11 Othniel
Judges 14:5-6,19 Samson
1 Sam. 10:9-10 Saul
John 20:22-23 Apostles

John the baptist was "filed" with the Spirit from his mother's womb to enable him to "prepare the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3). It was not an indication he was saved. For we know that one needs to make an informed choice to accept God's gift, Jesus Christ the lamb of God, to receive eternal life.

May 22 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Anthony Clinton Teacher in China

To begin with let us focus on this term in Corinthians 12. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” The Holy Spirit’s work is to convict of sin and give birth to the repentant so that the preacher preaches the Word of God and faith comes by hearing it and the Holy Spirit birth’s the receiver and they immediately become part of the “body of Christ”. This is the same experience spoken of in John chapter three. That is where we get the expression “You must be Born Again” Believing in Christ will give you that Experience and there is absolutely no reason for a person being birthed into the Church to have hands laid upon them. Now let’s proceed to another Scripture in Luke. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we find that Luke recorded that Jesus urged those whom were already Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit. So they are to address God as their Father and request that He might give them the Precious Gift of the Holy Spirit!
Some say that the rebirth whereby a person is Born Again is the one and only Baptism in the Holy Spirit! I will explain now why this is not true. There is a Baptism into the Body of Christ and there is a Baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ and they are two totally different experiences.
It is vital to know that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are two different persons of the godhead.This distinction in the godhead is certain to help reveal the distinction between the two Baptisms.
Mat 3:11 John 1:33 
From the above passages let’s observe that the Prophet John the Baptist was baptizing the Jewish people to repentance and this Baptism was the first which was only relevant till Christ appeared. But notice how He says of Christ. “he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:” So Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit but The One Who Baptizes into the Church is the Holy Spirit. This is not the same experience because for anyone to be baptized in the Holy Spirit one must be already a Christian. They are already part of the Body of Christ. So the other Scripture to look at will show the Baptism into The Church.
1Co 12:13 Joh 1:10-13 Joh 3:3-8 Luk 11:13 

The separate experiences are clearly distinguished when observing the revival at Samaria when Philip the Evangelist came and preached Christ to them. Here we see that the Samaritans heard and saw the Miracles Philip did and they received the Word of God and believed and were baptized. That meant they were Baptized by One Spirit into the Body of Christ. After a good while news came to Jerusalem and Peter and John came down and laid hands upon them because though they were born again they had not experienced the second baptism, which is the one Jesus told the Apostles to wait for until it arrived on the day of Pentecost Acts 2. This experience comes after the rebirth Luke 11:13, John 14:16-18.

April 29 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report