Austin Bible Church
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is one of seven salvation ministries of God the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit enters the Church Age believer into union with Christ at the moment of salvation, making the Church Age believer a part of the Body of Christ. This ministry of the Holy Spirit is an actual identification – a real baptism.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience, it engenders no emotional reaction, it causes no human feelings and it does not increase. It is perfect and cannot be lost or undone or cancelled by either God or the believer. There is absolutely nothing that can be done by anyone to lose your union with Jesus Christ. It is permanent because God the Holy Spirit is perfect and is unchangeable (immutable). The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is one the 40 things that every Church Age believer receives at salvation. See category on The 40 Things Received at Salvation.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the function of any spiritual gift, as alleged by the Pentecostals, which equate the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. It is not a post-salvation experience. It is not the ‘second blessing” as asserted by Pentecostals. No one has legitimately spoken in tongues since 70 AD.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the only means of forming the Body of Christ, (also called the Church and the Bride of Christ) during the Church Age and teaches identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Rom. 6:3-5.
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection," (Romans 6:3-5, NASB)
This union with Christ is also called Positional Sanctification or the sanctification of the body. Eph. 5:25-27. See category on Sanctification.
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27, NASB)
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit happened for the first time on the Day of Pentecost. 1 Cor. 12:13.
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized 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, NASB)
The unification of believers is dependent upon the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and only occurs at the moment of salvation. The implications of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit are given in Galatians 3:26-28. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit removes all social, racial, or economic distinctions and is open to all that choose to believe. It does not distinguish one believer from another, nor does it make one believer superior or inferior to another.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 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 3:26-28, NASB)
The principle of retroactive identification is brought out in Romans 6:4-5 and Colossians 2:12.
"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection," (Romans 6:4-5, NASB)
“having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12, NASB)
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit began at the start of the Church Age and is a sign of the beginning of the Church Age. Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:3-4. Acts 11:15-17 and John 14:16-20 are key passages and say the Baptism of the Holy Spirit first took place on the Day of Pentecost. John’s baptisms in Acts 1:5 identified with the Jewish Age.
““I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18, NASB)
“for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”“ (Acts 1:5, NASB)
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (Acts 2:3-4, NASB)
““And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. “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.’ “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 11:15-17, NASB)
""I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 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. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." (John 14:16-20, NASB)
In Acts 2:3-4, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred first in Jerusalem and included the gift of tongues to warn the Jews of the coming fifth cycle of discipline which would actually occur in 70 AD.
In John 14:16-20, “he may be with you forever” refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “The world” refers to the unbeliever. “He abides with you and will be in you” also refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “In that day” is the Day of Pentecost. “You in Me” refers to Baptism of the Holy Spirit and resultant Positional Sanctification and “I in you” refers to the indwelling of Jesus Christ in every Church Age believer as the Shekinah Glory.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the basis for Positional Truth. Eph. 1:3-6.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6, NASB)
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience. It is not speaking in tongues or ecstatics. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit enters every believer into union with Jesus Christ and thus, are all made members of the Body of Christ. 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:18.
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized 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, NASB)
“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” (Colossians 1:18, NASB)
The aorist tense of 1 Corinthians 12:13 means the action is once and for all, plus the phrase “we were all” means all who believe, not just some. In salvation, our volition is involved only in our decision to accept Jesus Christ as Savior. The many things that happen at the moment of salvation are accomplished by God the Holy Spirit, not us, and these are not felt.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was prophesied by John the Baptist. Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16.
““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.” (Matthew 3:11, NASB)
““I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”“ (Mark 1:8, NASB)
“John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16, NASB)
The Baptism of the Holy spirit was prophesied by Jesus Christ in John 14:20, Acts 1:5, and John 7:37-39.
““In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20, NASB)
"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. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" 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." (John 7:37-39, NASB)
The Baptism of the Spirit did not occur in the Old Testament or in any previous dispensation. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is related to the Church Age only. Acts 1:5.
“for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”“ (Acts 1:5, NASB)
In Acts 2:1-4, “they” refers to the Lord’s disciples in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4, NASB)
In Acts 10:44-45 and Acts 11:15, Gentile believers receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time.
"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also." (Acts 10:44-45, NASB)
""And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning." (Acts 11:15, NASB)
In Acts 19:1-6, other believers of the Age of Israel in various locations and at different times received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, entering them into union with Christ, making them Church Age believers.
"It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying." (Acts 19:1-6, NASB)