The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Steve Kissell

 Introduction:

A.  There were three different phenomena that occurred in Acts 2 with respect to the Holy Spirit:

1. The baptism of the Holy Spirit

2. The “falling upon” or “coming upon” by the Holy Spirit on the apostles

3. The bestowing of the gift of the Holy Spirit

 Although each involve the Holy Spirit, these are three distinct occurrences.

 B. There is considerable confusion and misunderstanding, especially regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

1. Many in the denominational world believe that Holy Spirit baptism is a present time and often occurring phenomenon.

2. Many (probably most) in our fellowship believe that Holy Spirit baptism is something that happened two times: once in Acts 2 and again in Acts 10.

C. I believe that both of these positions are incorrect.  In order to understand this, one needs to refer to the original promise.

I. The Promise of Holy Spirit Baptism

    A. The promise in the Gospels:

1. Matt. 3: 7-11

2. Luke 3: 7-16

3. It is evident in these accounts that the promise of Holy Spirit baptism is made to more than just the apostles. In fact, the apostles had not yet been selected.

    B. The promise in Acts1: 4-5

1. The apostles are told to wait for what had been promised, that is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2. An additional promise is made in Acts 1: 8. The apostles would receive “power” when the Holy Spirit had “come upon ” them.

3. This passage states 3 things:

• a. the promise of Holy Spirit baptism would soon be fulfilled

• b. The Holy Spirit would “come upon” the apostles.                              

• c.  The Holy Spirit would empower the apostles when it came upon them.                                     

II. The Promise Fulfilled

A. The Holy Spirit comes.  Acts 2: 1-13  

1. The Holy Spirit empowers the apostles to miraculously speak in languages they had not learned.  

2. The crowd marveled; some accused the apostles of drunkenness.  

B. Peter addresses the crowd. Acts 2: 14-16

1. “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:”  
2. Peter said that what was happening is the fulfillment of what Joel spoke. Now all we need to know is what Joel spoke of.  

  C. Joel:  “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My           Spirit on all flesh;”  

1. The promise was of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2. In fulfillment of that promise, God poured out His Spirit “on all flesh.”  

3. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and the pouring out or “outpouring” of the Holy Spirit are one and the same thing!  

D. “Pouring” and “baptism” are not equal words. Pouring is the event from God’s point of        view. Baptism (submerging) is the event from the receivers point of view.

III. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was a One Time, For All Time Event!

A. This “outpouring”/ “baptism” of the Holy Spirit is upon “all flesh (mankind),” not just the apostles. Remember the promise (Luke 3) was not made to the apostles.  

B. Notice Acts 2: 33.  “...He poured out...”  The tense of the of the Greek verb is Aorist. The Aorist tense expresses “action completed in the past.” This tense is symbolized by a single dot.  To illustrate, notice how Greek grammarians symbolize these 3 tenses: 

1. Imperfect tense expresses continuous action: ________

2. Present tense expresses repeated action:    . . . . . . . . 

3. Aorist tense expresses completed action:    .  

      The point is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a one time event; it is not something that happens continuously or repeatedly. Holy Spirit outpouring/ baptism was the event that made the Holy Spirit available to all mankind, received by those who will obey (Acts 5:32). This only needed to be done once.

      C. The apostles were baptized in/with the Holy Spirit only in the sense that they were a part of the “all mankind” that was baptized in/with the Holy Spirit.

      D. There is now only one valid baptism.  Eph 4: 4-6. It is the water baptism:  

1. commanded by Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk 16:16),  

2. practiced by the apostles and others throughout the book of Acts

  IV. Two Other Holy Spirit Phenomena Occurred at Pentecost

A. In addition to (and simultaneously with) being “poured out” on “all flesh,” the Holy Spirit fell upon” the    apostles.  Not only were they baptized in the Holy Spirit (along with the rest of mankind), they were on this occasion the only recipients of the “falling upon” by the Holy Spirit (Recall Acts 1:8).  

1. This was the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles to empower them to work miracles.  
2. This direct intervention or “falling upon” occurred only two times (we will notice the other occasion shortly)

B. The third Holy Spirit phenomenon occurred when 3000 people obeyed the gospel and   received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41; 5:32)  

1. This is the Holy Spirit given as a gift (Rom. 8:9-11; Eph1: 13; etc.). 

2. This gift remains available to anyone who obeys the gospel. 

V.  The Holy Spirit in Acts 10

  A. Acts 10:44-48.  It is widely believed among our brotherhood that this is a second baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I disagree.  Notice:

1. This is approximately 10 years after Acts 2.  

2. The Holy Spirit “fell upon” those of Cornelius’ household.

  B. The purpose of this is indicated by Peter’s use of it (vs. 47). It was a demonstration to the Jewish Christians present that God intended for the Gentiles to be offered the blessings in Christ that the Jews enjoyed, and that they, the Jewish Christians, should not stand in the way of that intention.

  C. When Peter and the others witnessed that the Holy Spirit “fell upon” these Gentiles, they took that as proof that “...the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” (verse 45).

1. Notice the “had been.” The is the Greek Perfect tense (similar to the English past perfect tense). It expresses the present state resulting from a past completed action. It is symbolized as:  ·_____________.  

2. The “had been” to which Peter referred was NOT the present occurrence.  

• a.       He did not say “the gift of the Holy Spirit has now been poured out on the Gentiles also.”

• b.      He was stating that the Holy Spirit falling upon these Gentiles was proof that the Holy Spirit “had been” (about ten years earlier on the day of Pentecost of Acts 2) poured out upon the Gentiles (that is, made available to the Gentiles) as well as the Jews.

3. It took this demonstration to convince Peter and other Jewish Christians that the gospel was to be taken to the whole world, not just to Jews.

       D. The aftermath (Acts 11)  

1. When Peter and the other returned to Jerusalem, the brethren there had already  heard of his encounter with Gentiles and wanted an accounting.

2. He told them

•    a. "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning” (vs. 45). That is, the Holy Spirit “fell upon” these Gentiles as He had fallen upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost.  

• b. Verses 16-17. Peter remembered Jesus’ promise of Holy Spirit baptism and now realized that God had (on the day of Pentecost) provided the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.  He took the recent demonstration by the Holy Spirit in Cornelius’ home as proof that the gift of the Holy Spirit was available to Gentile believers too.

Summary and Conclusion:

      The Baptism/Outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a one time event. It happened on the day of   Pentecost and made the Holy Spirit available as a gift to all who obey, Jew and Gentile.

The Holy Spirit also “fell upon” the apostles on the day of Pentecost, and one other time on Cornelius and his household about a decade later. The first time was to empower the apostles. The second time was to provide an irrefutable demonstration that the Gentiles were to be offered salvation through Christ.  The gift of the Holy Spirit remains available to all who by faith obey the Gospel.