Baptism of Holy Spirit
The baptism of Holy Spirit is one of the most impactful things that will ever happen in your life. When you are baptized in Holy Spirit, you will be empowered by the power of the Most High God. Your personal life with the Lord will be forever changed.
The difference between salvation and baptism in Holy Spirit:
Proverbs 4:7, “…. And in all your getting, get understanding.” I love this verse because it emphasizes the importance of understanding. When it comes to the baptism of Holy Spirit, it is very important that we understand it. There have been a lot of wars fought over this because of lack of understanding. The first thing I want to do is to differentiate between baptism of Holy Spirit and our salvation. A lot of people equate the two together as one thing, but these are two separate experiences.
John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
In these verses, Jesus is talking about our salvation. This fountain of water is Holy Spirit reviving and regenerating our spirits. This is just for your salvation. Holy Spirit joins us with Christ for our salvation and Jesus Christ baptizes us in Holy Spirit. Look at what John says in Matthew 3:11
Matthew 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto 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.”
Look at what the baptism of Holy Spirit looks like:
John 7:37-39, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
These two verses in John show us the difference between our salvation and the baptism of Holy Spirit. “… whom those believing in Him would receive…” This verse indicates that the requirement for receiving the baptism of Holy Spirit is if you are believing in Jesus. That means that this is a subsequent experience after our salvation.
It is important to note the different analogies that Jesus used here. He used a “well” and “rivers” very strategically to show the difference between salvation and the baptism of Holy Spirit. The fountain of water, or well (because Jesus was sitting at the well,) is for personal use only. A river, on the other hand, supports a whole region or sometimes a country. That is the purpose of the baptism of Holy Spirit. It is used to empower you to be effective for the kingdom. The thing that I want to stress is that the baptism of Holy Spirit happens after you are born again (or sometimes it happens simultaneously).
Examples in Scripture:
The first example that you see is with the disciples.
John 20:21-22, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Here, the disciples get born again and they receive Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Salvation happened first, then the baptism came second. Let’s look at this other example of when Paul went to Corinth for the first time.
Acts 19:1-7, “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So, they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So, they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.”
In this scripture, we see these disciples of Christ who were born again and had never heard of the baptism of Holy Spirit. After getting water baptized, Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. In these two examples, salvation and the baptism of Holy Spirit occurred on separate occasions. In Acts 10, we see everything happen simultaneously and backwards.
Acts 10:44-48, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.”
They were not born again before Peter’s arrival because the gospel was never preached to them. Earlier in the chapter, an angel appeared before Cornelius and told him to send for Peter. Isn’t this such a privilege for us? We are the only beings that have the privilege of preaching the gospel. The angel couldn’t preach to them the message, the angel was instructed to send for Peter, because only the heirs of salvation can preach about the salvation. When the gospel was preached, they got saved and baptized with Holy Spirit, and then baptized in water. The reason I wanted to show this example is because I want you to see there is no order on how these things work. Holy Spirit is free to move and manifest however He wants to.
The Purpose of Baptism in Holy Spirit:
If you do not understand the purpose of a thing, abuse is inevitable. Over the centuries, the baptism of Holy Spirit has been abused because people did not understand it’s purpose.
Acts 1:4-8, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an equipping experience to help you function and operate on a higher and more effective level. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is used to enable us to walk in power so that we can be witnesses of Christ. The baptism of Holy Spirit is critical because if we want to be effective ministers of the gospel, we need that power from Holy Spirit. Jesus knew it’s importance and He commanded them to wait until the they were baptized with Holy Spirit.
How it looks:
It looks different for everyone. In Acts 10, Peter was preaching, and Holy Spirit fell on them as he was preaching; and they spoke in tongues. In Acts 19, Paul laid hands on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. The beautiful thing about Holy Spirit is that He is a person, and He likes to do things differently from time to time.
Acts 10:44, “And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.”
I want to emphasize that this is a gift. Whether this is something you want or not it does not make you a lesser Christian than those who have been baptized in Holy Spirit. It is a gift from a good and loving Father.
