For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.
—1 Corinthians 12:13
One of the more popular methods Satan uses to confuse Christians involves doublespeak or double-talk. This is the idea that someone may use Christian terms, but the terms do not possess traditional Christian meanings. For example, people from the Mormon faith call themselves Christians even though they do not believe the historic doctrines and teachings of the Christian faith.1
Further, Mormons may say they believe Jesus is the Son of God, but what they mean is that he is a son of a god and his goddess wife who gave birth to his spirit and his “spirit brother” Lucifer in heaven before Jesus took on human existence here on earth. In this sense, there are many “sons of the gods” and Jesus is just one of them. In fact, Mormonism teaches that all men have the potential to become gods in the afterlife, and along with their wives will be able to produce spirit children and repopulate their own planet.2
So when it comes to evangelizing and sharing your faith with a Mormon (or even a Jehovah’s Witness), it is important that within the conversation there is an attempt to define the terms that are being used, otherwise assumptions are made when in fact we may be talking past each other and using terms and ideas much differently.
This is an important concept to grasp when it comes to sharing the gospel with people who are known to be outside the traditional understanding of the Christian faith. But confusing terms, phrases, and ideas are common within the confines of the traditional orthodox Christian church as well. For example, if someone tells you God has a plan to give you an abundant life, it is important that you seek to clarify what they mean by “abundant.” For in John 10:10, Jesus was talking about the abundant spiritual life right here and now, not some Americanized health and wealth idea whereby he wants you to always be in good health and financially well off as long as you have enough faith.
The same is true for the word good in Romans 8:28. If God is working all things together for good, we need to be careful that we don’t import our own definition of good into that verse and hold God hostage to act accordingly. God’s definition of good is seen in the very next verse (v. 29), whereby the greatest good that God is working us toward is to be more like his Son in character and holiness, and he is weaving together the good and the bad we face to accomplish this goal.3
This brings us to a story and a phrase in the book of Acts that has left many Christians confused. We’ll get to the story in a minute, but the phrase is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it is more common in certain Pentecostal or charismatic circles, although all Christians in any denomination should be familiar with it, for it is an important biblical phrase that has a life-changing meaning to it.
Let’s understand a little about the origins of this phrase. There are seven passages in the New Testament where the phrase baptism in/with/by the Holy Spirit is used. John the Baptist first used it to describe Jesus’ ministry in distinction from his own. “I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Matthew 3:114
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Luke 3:165
I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, “The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
John 1:33
John introduces this phrase in the New Testament, and whatever it may mean to be baptized by/in/with the Holy Spirit (the Greek word is baptizō, meaning “to immerse”), it is something that is ascribed to Jesus whereby he will do it to his followers.6
However, as theologian Wayne Grudem points out, the phrase baptism of or baptized with the Holy Spirit is used later to directly refer to Pentecost in Acts 1:5 and Acts 11:16. It is here we see the Holy Spirit given in fullness to the church, whereby he dwelt permanently, for the first time, in the hearts of all who believed in and received Jesus as Lord. At this Pentecost event, great power was given to the disciples, who were enabled to speak in foreign tongues, preach the Word, and witness to the gospel in keeping with what Jesus predicted would happen in Acts 1:8. Therefore, when the time Jesus predicted came to fruition, the disciples were immersed by/with/in the Holy Spirit and these unique gifts came with it.
However, this was a unique transitional event in the timeline of biblical history, and here is where the confusion starts.
Some Christians, erroneously, I would argue, have concluded that when a Christian today is baptized by the Holy Spirit, that very same Pentecost experience is repeated in the exact same way as before, mainly in that the experience will always manifest itself in speaking in tongues. This, however, ignores the unique transitional nature of Pentecost.
The Acts 2 Pentecost was a one-time event in the life of the church whereby the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant was taking place and the international nature of the gospel was first being revealed. At this never-seen-before moment when the Spirit was being given in fullness, God supernaturally enabled them to speak in foreign tongues to fellow Jews who heard them in their own native language, a sign of God’s affirmation and endorsement of the gospel message.
So the gift was special to that day. But there is no evidence that every Christian in the New Testament who came to faith in Jesus spoke in tongues as evidence of the Spirit’s presence, even if it did happen to all or most of the believers gathered there on that day.
Instead, speaking in tongues was later seen as a unique spiritual gift in the church that was given to a select few individuals (see 1 Corinthians 12:10, 30). And no matter if one believes or does not believe that this gift is still operational in the church today as a sign and source of divine revelation, we cannot conclude that all believers experienced that gift even in the first century, and we cannot conclude that all believers must experience that gift today as evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
So what can we conclude regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
This is where the apostle Paul clears things up for us. Paul told the Corinthians that all believers then, and by implication all believers today, will experience this spiritual baptism if they have truly repented from sin and have placed their faith in Christ alone for their salvation. In other words, the immersion, or baptism by/with/in the Holy Spirit is paramount to the initial activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer when he or she comes to faith for the first time and receives the indwelling Holy Spirit. For Paul said to the church in Corinth, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Notice that Paul said, “We were all baptized by one Spirit” into one body (the church). Therefore, Paul is saying that all Christians received this baptism, and as a result they were immediately adopted and spiritually brought into the church, the one body of Christ.
The timing of this is important. Believers are brought into God’s kingdom and are included in the church at the moment they believe and are saved. Therefore, this baptism and inclusion in the church is not something that happens later, after conversion, but is something that happens at the very moment of conversion, saving faith, or belief, and all believers receive it. At the moment of salvation, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit.
As Grudem remarks, “In this way ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ refers to all that the Holy Spirit does at the beginning of our Christian lives.”7 Yes, the disciples were true believers for a while before they received this baptism, but “they were living at the time of transition between the old covenant work of the Holy Spirit and the new covenant work of the Holy Spirit . . . [and therefore] it is not to be taken as a pattern for us, for we are not living at a time of transition in the work of the Holy Spirit.”8
Now, if this is the case, why do some people in Pentecostal and charismatic circles refer to an additional baptism of the Holy Spirit that may happen long after their conversion, and why do they appeal to another passage in Acts (8:14–25) as biblical support for it?
There is much to say here. But before we draw any conclusions, let’s take a look at this often misunderstood and misused story in Acts 8 and put it in its context. First, note that the phrase baptism of the Holy Spirit appears nowhere in this text. Second, this is another transitional moment, as the gospel is now for the first time being believed by a people group other than the Jews—the Samaritans. Let’s look at the text closely.
When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had welcomed God’s message, they sent Peter and John to them. After they went down there, they prayed for them, so the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
vv. 14–17
For those who believe there can be a second baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to conversion, this text is often used to support that view. They may say that what you see here are true believers in Christ who did not receive the Holy Spirit until later, after their initial belief, and that this somehow legitimizes the idea that a subsequent baptism of the Spirit is indeed possible.
It is true that we certainly have believers who have received and believed the gospel. For earlier in verse 12, it is Philip the Evangelist who shares the gospel for the first time to a group of Samaritans who believe in it and who are then physically baptized in water as a testimony to their public belief and spiritual cleansing in keeping with the commands of Jesus (Matthew 28:19–20).
But once again, we have another major transition moment in the history of the New Testament gospel. Up to this point, the gospel had primarily been believed and received by Jewish believers, but now the gospel is being received and believed by a once-hated apostate people group that Jews would have never associated with—the Samaritans.
In the mind of a Jewish believer, they may have asked, “Could this be true? Is it possible that God is going to include these people in the church as well?” (and later, the Gentiles; see Acts 10:44–46). This would have been highly controversial to the point that the apostles themselves would need to verify and answer that question once and for all in person.
Therefore, it seems that God awaited the arrival of the apostles on the scene, in order to see for themselves before he chose to baptize these new Samaritan believers with the Holy Spirit. In this way, it was necessary for the apostles to verify this new major development, especially since it involved the bitter rivals of the Jewish people, the Samaritans.
From then on, whenever believers came to faith, they were immediately baptized by and permanently indwelt with the Holy Spirit in keeping with what Paul told the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 12:13), and there is no evidence that everyone was given the spiritual gift of tongues.
If we remember that the book of Acts is a transitional book, we will not make the mistake of thinking that everything that happened then should also be happening now. It is meant to be a description of that unique moment in history, as God’s people transitioned from the old covenant to the new covenant. It was not meant to be a prescription for how the church was supposed to operate today. The Holy Spirit was being poured out on the church for the first time, but now that that transition is complete, we should not expect those initial transitional experiences to be repeated in the same way today.
We do not have apostles anymore, and we do not see people being raised from the dead or miraculously disappearing like we do in Acts. The book reflects a unique moment in history and is not meant to be a textbook for the pattern of the church today.
It is true that moments of great blessing can follow a believer’s salvation. For example, we may experience more of the Spirit’s control in our lives as we repent of sin and seek God’s will for our lives. We may find ourselves uniquely impacted by a sermon or a book where the message has life-changing power to it. Maybe it is a Christian song that strikes a chord with our life and reaches into the depths of our souls and brings change.
Still others, as they study the Bible, experience God’s presence in prayer or worship, or find renewed joy in fellowshipping with other believers, may see some measurable spiritual growth that comes through the power of the Spirit.
In all these experiences, the term baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the proper way to describe those things, because that term describes the initial pouring out of the Spirit at the beginning of the Christian life. Perhaps it would be better to say that subsequent experiences are times when we are filled afresh with the Holy Spirit in such a way that he has more control of us and we are more submissive to him, thus making his presence uniquely felt. Paul said,
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
Ephesians 5:15–21
Being filled with the Spirit is a better way to understand and describe these times of great growth or renewal in our faith. When we first believe, we are baptized and indwelt with the Holy Spirit. We receive all of him. Yet it is also true that as we grow he fills our lives with spiritual growth as we submit to him.
This is a case where a biblical term is misused because its context has been misunderstood, and it has been misapplied to experiences today in a way that causes us to lose its original meaning. Therefore, careful study of words, terms, and ideas in context will help us make sense of it all. Further, knowing the background of a book also enlightens us, especially a transitional book like the book of Acts.
When I moved to Florida over a decade ago, I noticed right away that they called Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola and other like products soda. Where I come from, we called them pop, while people in other parts of the country call them coke no matter what brand it is. Imagine how confusing this must be for a non-English-speaking visitor who is trying to figure out our terms.
The same is true for the Bible, but the stakes are much higher. We would do well as Christians to learn the language of the Bible in its various contexts so that we can all communicate God’s truth in a clear and accurate way. And it is better to be filled with the Spirit than with pop or soda, anyway.