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By Blood And Water

The True Story and Meaning of Christian Baptism

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PART 8 - Baptism With The Holy Spirit

XXXIII. The Living Water

So far in this study we have traced the use of natural water as both an Old Testament type and New Covenant reflection of Christ’s bodily water. But on arriving at New Testament Faith Baptism into Christ, we are immediately presented with a second outstanding spiritual baptism—the Baptism With the Holy Spirit.

Emphasis on this follow-up Spirit Baptism is so weighty that New Testament water baptism becomes reduced to background importance. Amazingly, long before Apostles’ Baptism is even established, John the Baptist marks out this reduction of emphasis on natural water:

^{Jn. 1:32} "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, `He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in/with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."


^{Mt. 3:11} "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.



If there is an “heir apparent” to Faith baptism into the water of Christ’s body, it is not Apostles baptism! It is the Baptism With the Holy Spirit. And even as Apostles Baptism only reflects Real Baptism into Christ for salvation, it is simultaneously but a shadow of this greater Spirit Baptism following it.

From John forward, Jesus becomes uniquely identified as the Baptizer With the Holy Spirit:

^{Jn. 4:10} Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, `Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." ¹³ … "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."


7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, `From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " ³⁹ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

To distinguish Himself as the Baptizer With the Holy Spirit, Scripture pointedly notes that Jesus did not baptize anyone with natural water during his ministry:

^{Jn. 4:1} … Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were).

Apostles baptism was reserved for the apostles. It was reserved to mortal men in dying bodies. But Jesus reserved to Himself the title of Baptizer With the Holy Spirit. When ready to offer Himself up as the sacrifice, He starts explaining in detail to his followers what, when and how He will Baptize them with the Spirit:

^{Jn. 14:16} "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ¹⁷ that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ^15:26 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. ^16:7 —If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ¹³ —When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Then, following His resurrection, the Lord reiterates His promise of Spirit baptism:

^{Lk. 24:49} "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."


^{Ac 1:4} Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. ⁸ —You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Finally, as promised, the Lord Jesus releases His Baptism With the Holy Spirit.

² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Acts 2

Peter takes the lead to explain how this baptism follows faith into the Name of the Lord Jesus Himself, falling on both Jews and Gentiles:

³³ "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ³⁸ —Repent, and each of you be baptized in[to] the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." Acts 2


⁴ But Peter began—to explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, ¹⁵ "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon [the Gentiles] just as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" Acts 11

In a bit, we’ll trace the rest of the New Testament record regarding the release of the Holy Spirit, its evidences and relationship to the baptisms of faith and of water. First, let’s look at the anatomy of this special baptism.




XXXIV. Five Components of Baptism With the Holy Spirit

Like the previous baptisms, we can break out the components of Baptism With the Holy Spirit. As we do this, we will especially contrast the Spirit Baptism components with those of Faith Baptism so we can see the difference between them.



- The Element, Host and Candidate

In Faith baptism, we remember that the Holy Spirit, on behalf of the Lord Jesus, baptizes us into the Water of the Lord’s cleansing Word. The Spirit is the Host. The water of Christ’s body is the element.

But in Holy Spirit Baptism, the Holy Spirit Himself is the element. We are baptized into the Spirit Himself. In this Baptism, the Lord Jesus is our host in conjunction with the Father. In a sense, the roles of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus as Host and Element are reversed between the two baptisms.

John and Jesus both tell us that Jesus is the one Who baptizes by sending His Spirit. But Jesus also says that He sends the Spirit through praying to the Father for the Spirit’s release. (This becomes important later when we consider how to be baptized With the Spirit.)

Like Faith Baptism, the candidate of Spirit Baptism is the believer, particularly the heart or inner being of the spiritually newborn believer. But what is distinct about the two baptisms is that, where Faith baptism converts our spirits into new identity, Holy Spirit baptism ministers to our souls the process of soul salvation after conversion. Each ministers a salvation to a different part of our nature.

It’s this baptizing of the inner man that mark both Faith Baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism as true saturations. They are not just outward immersions of the body that can’t penetrate the heart.



- The Mode


o Sending and Receiving

Similar to Faith Baptism, the mode of Spirit Baptism is “by faith.” It is a spiritual occurrence, though it does have some physical displays and effects. We are baptized into the Spirit, not by an external submersion or sprinkling of body, but by openness of heart.

The Lord and the apostles use the words send and receive to show this action of heart. In this context, they liken Spirit Baptism to the receiving of a gift rather than to a bodily action.



o Filling, Pouring, Falling, Upwelling

As a saturating penetration of the heart, scripture also uses other action words to describe the sending/receiving of the Spirit into the heart. The most prominent words for this in Acts are filling, pouring and falling—words that suggest action “from above:”

^2:4     And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
^2:33    He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
^10:15  The Holy Spirit fell upon [the Gentiles] just as He did upon us at the beginning.

(It’s worth noting that with the description of Spirit Baptism as a pouring from above, we now have evidence from Scripture referring to some kind of baptism as a sprinkling, an immersion or a pouring—the three most hotly contested modes of water baptism!)

Meanwhile, from another perspective, Jesus described Spirit Baptism as a welling up from within, like a fountain:

The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. ^{Jn. 4:14}

This inner upwelling is something no natural baptism can even mirror, for it comes from the inside out!

Taken together, these diverse descriptions show us the mysterious nature of the unique saturating of the inner man with the Lord’s Spirit.



- The Effects

The effects of Spirit Baptism are far reaching and deserve great attention. They are both individual and corporate in scope. Above all, they are keyed to the same discipleship reality attested to by John’s Baptism and Apostles Baptism.

Oriented to discipleship, the effects of Spirit Baptism contrast greatly to the effect of Faith Baptism. Where Faith baptism is concerned with the initial eternal saving of the spirit, Spirit Baptism is concerned with the ongoing work of soul salvation after new birth.



o Discipleship Sanctification and Soul Transformation

Lost in most modern teaching on Spirit Baptism is its relationship to the disciple-class transforming of our inner man. Today, Spirit Baptism is largely viewed just as a vague, pleasurable release of spiritual manifestations through us. (This is unsurprising in view of our general ignorance regarding the process of soul salvation beyond the accomplished work of spirit salvation.) As a view emasculated of all relation to discipleship, today’s view is a weak tepid caricature of Spirit Baptism.

Earlier, we saw how Apostles’ baptism stands for establishing discipleship in those who find new identity in Christ. It testifies outwardly first to our repentance, then to the new creation we become through Faith Baptism into Christ. And it marks our entrance into the race of discipleship for the saving of the soul surrounding that new identity.

But what we must learn here is that, where Apostles’ Baptism witnesses to our new discipleship commitment, it is the greater Baptism With the Holy Spirit that actually effects the soul-saving transformations involved with discipleship. As John said when first making disciples, his water baptizing was comparatively less significant to the Lord’s baptizing into the Holy Spirit:

¹⁰ "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² …He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3

See how John connects the promise of Spirit Baptism to the concept of root cutting. This parallels Paul’s view of baptism as circumcision (Col. 2:11-12). There we learned that Faith Baptism circumcises our spirits for new identity. But here we learn that Spirit Baptism circumcises our souls from the remaining power of sin in the flesh.

John also connects Spirit Baptism with the burning of spiritual chaff. See how Spirit Baptism is not just of water, but of fire. As water, we are saturated into the Spirit as Life-giving Comforter. But as fire, we are saturated into Him as purging Truth-giver. In this regard, Acts specifically notes the appearance of fire over the heads of the believers at the first outpouring.

Together then, John’s very first mention of Spirit Baptism and its first appearance in Acts occur in context of purification of new identity and the fruit-bearing transformation of the inner man. These concepts line up with the cross-carrying, identity-separating work of discipleship (including the Spirit’s sin-crucifying ministry described by Paul in Rom. 8), to which the entire concept of baptism is linked.

All of this tells us that the first purpose of Spirit Baptism is to effect the actual saving transformation of soul related to discipleship after new birth. At Faith Baptism, we receive the Spirit in seed form as part of our spirit salvation. We “have” the Holy Spirit indwelling us. But Spirit Baptism germinates and releases the Spirit’s action associated with our race toward soul salvation thereafter.

Spirit Baptism circumcises our souls just as Faith Baptism circumcises our newborn identity in Christ at conversion. It supports the Word in separating our soul from spirit, purging us from sin’s power in the body. It releases to our souls the fullness of the Lord’s indwelling intimacy and promise of Rest. The root-cutting aspect of the Spirit’s baptizing ministry is foundational to receiving the promises of intimacy associated with fruit bearing (Jn. 15) and of inner rest for the soul (Mt. 11:28-30; Heb. 4:11).



o Anointing for Ministry Empowerment

Spirit Baptism also activates us into the fullness of purpose, calling and destiny within the greater Body of Christ. We are not only personally soul-sanctified to the Lord, but anointed and empowered for the good works for which we were created. This empowerment is displayed in the form of various spiritual endowments (“gifts”). In I Corinthians 12, Paul outlines many of the spiritual endowments imparted through Spirit Baptism:

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. ⁶ There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. ⁷ But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge— ⁹ to another faith—, and to another gifts of healing—, ¹⁰ and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

In referencing the sending of the Spirit (Jn.14-16), Jesus identifies the effects of Spirit Baptism as 1) comfort, guidance into all truth and impartation of revelational understanding; 2) empowerment for testimony and “greater works than these;” 3) conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment in the world; and 4) the glorifying of the Lord.

Time precludes a full discussion of these anointings. Suffice it to say that teaching on most of these aspects abounds throughout that wing of the church opened to receiving the Spirit this way the last 100+ years.



o Corporate Establishment

Not only are we empowered for ministry, but, as Paul tells us, by saturation With the Holy Spirit we become enjoined into the mystical corporate body of Christ:

¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free… I Corinthians 12

Spirit Baptism releases us into the fullness of our calling within the greater context of the Body of Christ. Our empowerment is not just for personal exercise, but for the building up (“edifying”) of a corporate body into which we have been joined.

The reality of entering Christ's body through Spirit Baptism corresponds to John's original building of a natural body of disciples through water baptism. As John’s baptism rallied a visible discipleship body for men to see, Spirit Baptism creates the mystical discipleship body of Christ for all heavenly principalities and powers to witness (consider Eph. 3:10 here).

Paul’s statement here about Spirit baptism into a body is very similar to his previous word that through baptism into Christ, we are no longer Jew or Gentile:

²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3

To the Galatians, he is speaking about faith baptism into Christ. But to the Corinthians, He is speaking of baptism in[to] one Spirit, with the result of coming “into one body.” Many see these as interchangeable realities. Given the mystery of all this, this is perfectly understandable and there is certainly latitude to do so.

But I choose here to mark them as distinct. This is because Christ's body is also His temple, and the temple follows the altar and laver in the heavenly pattern of redemption. Allow me to explain:



§ The Body/Temple vs. the Outer Laver

According to Paul, the body of Christ is also the temple of God:

¹⁵ —So that in Himself He might ¹⁶ —reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, ²¹ —in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2

In the heavenly pattern, the temple is a separate building approached after one has passed through the ministries of the altar and laver.

As we saw originally, the altar and laver represent baptism by faith into the blood and water of Christ. This is the first baptism. This is baptism "into Christ." The altar and laver stand in the open courtyard known as the outer court.

But this area is outside of and separate from the temple. Entrance into the temple follows the altar and laver and is distinct from them in location. The temple is considered as its own location distinct from the outer court where the altar and laver are. Thus Spirit baptism into Christ’s body, being the entry into His temple, is a second spiritual baptism distinct from Faith Baptism into the blood and water of Christ.

From here, several Old Testament passages tell us of the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle or temple:

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40 (see also Ex. 29:3; Num. 14:10; 16:42; 20:6)


¹⁰ It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. I Kings 8 (also II Chron. 5:13-14)

The filling of the temple is a clear picture of the New Covenant filling of the Holy Spirit, and it occurs past the laver representing our initial faith baptism into Christ.

In accord with all this then, we are identifying Baptism With the Holy Spirit (which puts us into the body/temple of Christ) as distinct from and subsequent to Faith Baptism into the blood and water of Christ (which brings us into individual new birth, but is still outside His body-temple).

Spirit Baptism puts us into the fully enclosed and spiritually functioning body of Christ as a distinct further reality of spiritual progress after baptism into Christ through faith.



o Summing the Effects

A good summary of the effects of Spirit Baptism is this:

What Faith Baptism is to our spirit’s initial salvation from sin, Spirit Baptism is to our souls in the ongoing process of soul salvation. Where Faith Baptism into Christ brings our seed identity to birth as new creations, Holy Spirit Baptism burns away sin’s remaining power in the soul and germinates our newborn seed. It releases the life-giving flow of the Lord for experiencing His intimate rest and supporting our growth into Him and His image.

Spirit Baptism also brings us from individual relationship with the Lord into corporate relationship with Him through His mystical body. His germination not only internally transforms our soul character, but anoints us for outward ministry to the rest of the body. Spirit Baptism is for building up the entire body of Christ into its discipleship calling as a witness to all heavenly powers.




XXXV. New Testament Demonstration and Teaching Concerning Spirit Baptism

Revisiting the record in Acts, we see some interesting patterns about the continuous release of the Spirit after Pentecost. These patterns parallel similar patterns we uncovered with Apostles’ Baptism. There, we saw the following:

1) at first, baptism was passionately and instantly practiced alongside conversion, but then began to lose emphasis and disperse in the record,

2) there are few examples of baptizing actually being conducted in comparison to the plain mention of the preaching and believing of the gospel, and

3) the apostles gave almost no direct teaching on baptism’s purpose and meaning




- Convergence and Divergence of Three Baptisms

Like Apostles Baptism, the ministry of Spirit Baptism begins with a “bang” in Acts 2, but disperses in description and emphasis as the Gospel story proceeds out from Jerusalem. See how close to conversion and Apostles baptism that Baptism With the Holy Spirit was originally released.

At its earliest, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the same day of faith. A little later, the Samaritans received the Spirit some days or weeks after conversion. Still later Paul was infusing believers with the Holy Spirit long after they had first believed, having heard of Christ only through John’s ministry.

The original closeness between Faith baptism (conversion), Apostles water baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism shows us that ideally, the Lord intended for conversion, induction into discipleship, and the spiritual empowering of disciples to occur early together in the believer’s life. (It also shows that the Baptism With the Holy Spirit was an essential component of discipleship.)

Yet the time span that developed between these baptisms so shortly after Pentecost and even the reversing of their order after conversion (as happened with Cornelius) shows us that the Lord would not allow initial conversion by faith to be confused with or packaged into a formula demanding the simultaneous obtaining of all three baptisms for new birth.



- Examples of Spirit Baptism

After the Day of Pentecost, Acts gives only a few examples of saints distinctly receiving the Spirit, even though the promise of the Spirit was part of the gospel message. Not counting the original outpouring, Acts gives only three accounts of the receiving of the Spirit after conversion: to the Samaritans (Acts 8), to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10), and to the disciples of John at Ephesus (Acts 19).



o Variety of Accounts

These accounts vary as to how Spirit Baptism was immediately triggered. At Pentecost, the Spirit falls suddenly on a body of people gathered for intercession. But the Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit only after apostles lay hands on them. The household of Cornelius receives the Holy Spirit simply by hearing Peter preach to them—without human hand. Lastly, the Ephesian believers receive the Holy Spirit after Paul lays hands on them.



o Silences Between the Accounts

In between these few accounts, it is assumed all new believers were receiving the Holy Spirit as a distinct event though Acts doesn’t describe it. For instance, Acts doesn’t tell us whether or how the 3,000 believers at Pentecost specifically manifested Spirit Baptism. We believe they did because Peter promised it to them. We also believe it was separate from their conversion because later, the Apostles go to Samaria to lay hands on believers for Spirit Baptism—days after they had first believed.

Similarly, we read where many believed Paul’s gospel with no reference to Spirit Baptism. Yet, as late as 20 years after Pentecost Paul is still laying on hands for imparting the Spirit. Within this time, he is writing the churches regarding the miraculous evidences of Spirit Baptism they first received (see Gal. 3 and I Cor. 12-14). So the premise remains that Paul’s converts were separately receiving Spirit baptism by him even though Acts says nothing of it when describing his ministry at these locations.



o Variety of Timings

Acts also reveals a variety of timings of Spirit Baptism relative to first faith in Christ. The apostles have to wait some weeks after fully believing in the Lord to receive the Spirit. The new believers at Pentecost receive the Spirit the same day (we assume). The Samaritans have to wait a few days. But Paul is Spirit baptized the day of his conversion—as are Cornelius and friends. Finally, the Ephesian believers, having never heard of the Spirit, receive Spirit baptism possibly many years after first faith.




**********

As with Apostles’ baptism, all these variations in timing and means of receiving the Spirit along with the vast silences between accounts preclude the possibility of a “formula of salvation” based on how and when one is baptized with the Spirit. That Spirit baptism is not always mentioned or consistently described shows it could not be mandatory to new birth. Yet that it appears both early and late in Acts and in Paul’s later writings shows it remains mandatory to proceeding on into full discipleship.



- Teaching on Spirit Baptism

As a whole, the New Testament teaches us much more about the Holy Spirit than it does about Apostles Baptism. This reinforces John’s confession that his water baptism was comparatively less significant than the Lord’s baptizing With the Holy Spirit.

But what the New Testament teaches on the Spirit is focused on His ongoing work in the lives of the believers after He has been received. It is not focused on the actual receiving of Spirit Baptism.

Paul is the one who teaches most on the Spirit—mainly in Galatians, Romans and I Corinthians. His writing presumes that the readers have already received the Spirit since their conversion and are fully acquainted with the Spirit’s various manifestations resultant from it. He discusses both the Spirit’s corporate ministry and His internal heart work.

But nowhere do the apostles teach anything regarding the “mechanics” of receiving the Spirit after conversion, nor do they clearly delineate the relationship between what we receive of the Spirit at conversion versus what we receive after conversion.




XXXVI. Evidences of Baptism With the Holy Spirit.

With the renewed surge of the Spirit’s release the last 150 years, much has been taught about “evidences” of Baptism With the Holy Spirit. If we look at the total New Testament record and the witness of modern day saints, we will find numerous differing evidences. Some of these are more prominent and frequent than others, but none of them is universally noted.

Here, in order of their appearance, are the many evidences associated with the Spirit’s release on the church in the book of Acts:



- a noise like a violent rushing wind
- the appearance of tongues as of fire on each one
- speaking with other tongues
- testimonial power producing conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment
- a supernatural sense of awe (lit., fear or terror) of the Lord
- manifestation of signs and wonders
- the power of communal fellowship and living
- the power to heal
- spiritual boldness
- shaking of a building around a corporate gathering (later, a jail)
- the power to declare death by the spoken word
- the power to cast out demons
- exuberant rejoicing under persecution/ fullness of joy
- supernatural wisdom
- manifest angelic aura
- revelatory sight into heaven under martyrdom
- power for instant travel
- power to raise the dead
- dreams and visions
- exalting of God
- gift of prophecy
- perceptiveness to the voice of the Spirit
- gift of sending (apostleship)
- the power to decree blindness.



These evidences are cited as either direct manifestations of the Spirit’s filling or as the clearly implied results of it. The evidences are both personal and corporate. The most frequently cited are: power for testifying to the Lord, divine revelation, tongues, healings and miracles. In teaching on the Spirit’s gifts (I Cor. 12-14), Paul gives particular attention to prophecy and unknown tongues (praying in the Spirit).

Note that these are all largely corporately attestable evidences. There is little mention of the personal internal evidences relative to heart pruning for spiritual fruitfulness, experiential intimacy and character transformation. Though suggested by some of the evidences above (like the tongues of fire), heart transforming evidences of Spirit Baptism are more discussed in the apostles’ teachings, such as:

^{Rom. 15:13} Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁴ And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. ¹⁶ —sanctified by the Holy Spirit.


^{Eph. 1:17} That—God—may give to you a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. ^3:16 That He would grant you—to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

The wording of Paul’s prayer for these believers suggests that these internal evidences of Spirit Baptism were not fully imparted to them and needed to be added to what they had already received.




XXXVII. Receiving the Baptism With the Holy Spirit

For all the descriptions of receiving the Holy Spirit, and for all Paul’s teaching regarding the Spirit’s ministry to the church, there is no New Testament teaching that specifically dictates any method, procedure or expectable manifestation by which to receive Spirit Baptism.

At the beginning, the Spirit was received by a group of thirsty soul-tried believers obeying a command to “wait.” Following this, He was also imparted through the laying on of apostolic hands to new believers taught to expect Him. It was part of the message of promise. But no particular “direction” was given as to “what” to expect. It was understood that when He came, however He came, the Spirit would be known as having come.

In modern times, we find that saints who are stirred to receive Spirit Baptism do so according to the manifestation for which they have faith to receive Him. So the Spirit is received today through a variety of manifestations and experiences—whether by inner sanctifying love and entrance into full spiritual joy, rest and peace, or by more visible power giftings as tongues, prophesy and other spiritual gifts, or some of both.

How we receive the Spirit after conversion is largely predicated on what we have faith for in light of the teaching and heart preparation we have received. Those taught to neither seek Him nor receive Him after conversion do not receive Him. Those taught to receive Him only through manifesting tongues and other spiritual gifts will receive Him in that way. Those taught to receive Him only through waiting on His inward root-cutting sanctification and fullness of experiential love will receive Him in that way.

In any case, the undefined gap between external and internal evidences, the variation in timings of receiving relative to first faith, the diffusion of evidences in Acts and the apostles’ writings, together with the varying testimonies by saints throughout the centuries—all work to show us that imparting and receiving the Lord’s Baptism With the Holy Spirit cannot be boxed into a one-size fits all formula—and certainly not as part of any formula for entry into new birth by faith.



- Prayer: a Key to Receiving

While no single pattern attends ministry of Spirit Baptism, there is a clear thread tying all accounts together that gives us a sure key to receiving the Spirit. And that is prayer. In virtually every account of receiving the Spirit or discussion regarding receiving Him, we find either direct or indirect reference to the role of (intense) prayer.

Note the thread of prayer intrinsic to the following discourses, beginning with the Lord’s teaching:

⁸ "…Yet because of [the friend’s] persistence [the man] will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹ So I say to you, ask [persistently], and it will be given to you; seek [persistently], and you will find; knock [persistently], and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11


^{Jn. 14:16} "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever…


^{Ac 1:14} These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. ^2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly— ⁴—they were all filled with the Holy Spirit ….


¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 8


30 Cornelius said, "Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹ and he said, `Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. <sup>32</sup> `Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you… ³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him… ⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. Acts 10

There is no specific mention of Paul praying over John’s Ephesian disciples when he laid hands on them to receive the Spirit (Acts 19), though it’s a virtual certainty that he did. But it is clear that Paul prayed intensely for the deepening of their Spirit baptism, being as they were part of the new church at Ephesus:

^{Eph. 1:15} For this reason I— ¹⁶ do not cease—making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that—God—may give to you a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. ^3:16 That He would grant you—to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

In the end, we simply have to ask for the Holy Spirit from the Lord, and should do so persistently until we receive unmistakable permanent spiritual witness of this that harmonizes with the record before us. We should ask for as many evidences as possible as soon after conversion as possible!—beginning with the circumcising fire and upwelling spring of the Lord’s intimate love and peace in the soul.

If we do not have clear abiding heart witness that we have received the Lord’s Baptism With the Holy Spirit, it is either because we have never asked for Him, or our asking has not been determined enough to release Him to us. The same applies to whatever areas of Spirit Baptism we discover lacking in our lives beyond our first receiving.




XXXVIII. Conclusion

The Baptism With the Holy Spirit is so great in scope as to defy description and full absorption at first receiving. All our experiences of first reception are—without exception—partial and incomplete. But as we grow in His revelation past our first confines to want Him in more and more ways, our Baptism can be enlarged and enrichened, adding anointing to transformation and transformation to anointing.

For this reason, the apostles exhort us to maintain and keep being filled with the Holy Spirit. Hebrews tells us we can fail to maintain what we first receive of Him. This of course is tragic and carries serious consequences. But past maintaining, we must also press in to receive the Spirit’s complete saturation of our souls. If we do not, we grow into a partial, misshaped image of the Lord (—which is why, for example, Paul exhorts us to grow into the baptism of the Spirit’s love, not just His gifts [I Cor. 13].)

Spirit Baptism isn’t just a once-for-all reality on which we are to look back in time. It is a dynamic that once received into our lives must be preserved and expanded through a life of ceaseless devotion leading to complete soul salvation. This is the way of the disciple that Spirit Baptism was given to serve.





[In Part 9: Conclusion]





Chris Anderson
New Meadow Neck, Rhode Island

First Love Ministry
- a ministry of Anglemar Fellowship
http://www.firstloveministry.org

4/04


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