Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ (John 1:33 ESV)

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16 ESV)

I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8 ESV)

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11 ESV)

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4, 5 ESV)

So we see that in all four gospels the statement John made about Jesus baptizing individuals WITH the Holy Spirit is included. This is significant as it is one of the very few things that all four gospels state, clearly the Holy Spirit when He inspired the scriptures wanted us to understand the importance of the event. Jesus then right before He ascends reinforces His purpose in coming (again read John's statement) that the Apostles and the church would receive the promise of the Father (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-21) which is the Baptism with the Spirit.

WITH the Spirit, not in the Spirit....

Now, Jesus equated the Baptism with the Spirit with that of the promise of the Father in Acts. Luke when he wrote his gospel, concluded it with this statement, apparently an equivalent statement made by Jesus concerning the same event, the promise of the Father coming....

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 ESV)

In this statement Jesus indeed says the promise of the Father will bring power to the Apostles. So we can draw the connection with the promise of the Father, aka the Baptism WITH the Spirit, with Jesus statement in Acts 1:8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 ESV)

Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you (Acts 1:8)... clothed with power (Luke 24:49)... promise of the Father (Acts 1:4; Luke 24:49)

Baptism with the Spirit....

Now here is where the question comes in:

What is the Baptism IN the Spirit?

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV)

Is being baptized IN the Spirit the same thing as being baptized WITH the Spirit. Both phrases use the greek proposition ev which means any number of things, but perhaps the connection can be made in context.

After Paul concludes his thorough teaching on the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, he goes into what the body of Christ is and how it should operate within itself. Before he can get to the meat and bones of the discussion (last half of 1 Corinthians 12) he needs to remind the Corinthians how they enter the body in the first place, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, are all made a part of the body of Christ by being baptized IN the Holy Spirit. By this baptism in the Spirit, we identify with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5) Now Romans 6:3 says, "baptized into Christ..." this is significant because it draws a connection between the two experiences. Paul does make the connection in other letters between Jesus and the Holy Spirit (in the same letter and passage actually), Peter does too:

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:9 ESV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV)

inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. (1 Peter 1:11 ESV)

There is a connection between Jesus being referred to as the Spirit. So Paul making the statement in Romans 6:3:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3 ESV)

Baptized into Christ Jesus - he is saying the same thing as he does in 1 Cor 12:13 that we are all baptized in one Spirit....

So what I'm trying to say (perhaps somewhat unsuccessfully) is that:

The baptism IN the Holy Spirit is the event in which the individual comes to faith in Christ and identifies with His death, burial, and resurrection and enters the Church through faith. I'm talking about "the Church" the real Church, that only true believers are members of, the body of Christ, not the building down the street... Just to be clear on that.

The baptism WITH the Holy Spirit is an event where believers are given power to witness to Christ's resurrection. Given for ministry purposes. Gifts, boldness to speak, etc.... So when we see people who have no power, we should be right in asking, are you ministering? Are you going out into the highways and byways inviting people in? If not, this could explain the lack of power in the individual's life.

Now, the Baptism with the Spirit can occur many times in an individuals life, sort of as in the Old Testament where God would "clothe" individuals with the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose. Multiple times even if necessary. So there is biblical precedent. And this does not change the significance of the Baptism in the Spirit, as it is this event by which the Spirit enters us and we are born again, becoming children of God.

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