What is The Baptism of The Holy Spirit? Part 5

 

Picture from Wallpapers.com - twodazza

This is part five in a series of articles in which I have been exploring what the baptism by the Holy Spirit is, how it comes about and what it looks like. Following is a synopsis of the articles that I have written so far. 

In my first article, we looked at how the Bible talks about baptism by the Holy Spirit and we saw that, at Jesus' own water baptism, He experienced a second and separate baptism by the Holy Spirit. In my second article we discovered the idea that there are actually two separate experiences of relationship with the Holy Spirit, based partly on the fact that Jesus experienced those two separate baptisms as well as other Biblical proofs; the first experience is the receipt of the Holy Spirit upon our confession of faith, and the second experience is the Believer living under the influence of the Holy Spirit, which is evidenced by the gifts of the Spirit, which the Bible tells us will empower us in the same ways that Jesus was empowered while He walked on the earth. In the third article we dove deeper into the two different experiences with the Holy Spirit and how they differ. In my fourth article, I strayed from the path a little bit in order to explore a parallel subject that some might confuse with this subject. In that article, I sought to clarify that, while Believers receive the Holy Spirit to indwell us when we confess our faith in Jesus and we accept His gift of salvation to us, this is not the baptism by the Holy Spirit that we are exploring here.

I hope that if you are reading this article, you have also read all of the previous articles in this series, because they lay out the theological basis upon which this doctrine of Holy Spirit baptism is built. And if you have read all of those articles, you may recall that, in my third article, I mentioned the differentiation between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the baptism by the Holy Spirit; that difference being that one is the evidence of our relationship with Jesus and the other is the evidence of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. While the Holy Spirit is central to both of those relationships, He acts differently based on the depth of our commitment to Him. So now that we have examined the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it's about time to examine what the baptism of the Holy Spirit looks like.

It may seem strange to you how I am speaking of the Holy Spirit. In my Christian circles, He isn't often referred to as a separate individual, but He is typically considered as just the power of God working in us; a non-personal entity of sorts. But the Bible is clear that He is a separate entity of the Godhead and He acts in ways that are different from God the Father and God the Son, while His purposes are not separate from those of the other persons of God and His actions are always in alignment with the actions of the other persons of God.

This separate personhood of the the Holy Spirit was made more real to me when, several years ago (I think it was during the time of the thing that shall remain unnamed, when people were separated from each other), my family invited some new friends of ours to join us in communion at our house, since that was not happening in the churches. It was during this visit that the man of that family talked specifically about praying to the Holy Spirit.

I had often talked about praying to God or praying to Jesus, but I had never talked about praying to the Holy Spirit. It struck me as odd, but as I thought about it, it made sense to me. If we truly believe what the Bible tells us, then we recognize that the Holy Spirit is God as much as the Father and the Son are God, so to pray to the Holy Spirit is simply praying to the third person of God. Since this is clearly the case according to the Bible, it makes sense to speak of the Holy Spirit as being His own entity.

If it is true that the baptism by the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then logic holds that there should be a different outpouring of the evidence of this different relationship. In article four we examined how the fruits of the Spirit are the evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. These fruits should be seen in progressive measures in the lives of those who claim Jesus as their Lord as we seek to become more like Him. So then, what is the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

This Holy Spirit baptism is evidenced by the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. This is not a new concept; Paul talks specifically about this topic in 1 Corinthians 12, and he begins with, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware." (v.1). In light of this one sentence, how many Christians are currently unaware of the gifts of the Spirit? The words are right there, clear as day, but most of us have probably glazed right over them in our readings and haven't stopped to consider what Paul is saying here. I am right there with you. We may not have been walking in the gifts of the Spirit, but we also haven't wondered why that has been the case. This lack of understanding is the root of the cessationist theology, that the Spirit does not move as He did in the New Testament times; that for some reason He stopped when the apostles died.

Of course, I think it is fair to say that during the course of Paul's ministry to the churches which he went around to visit, he probably touched on this topic often, and given that Paul and the apostles themselves were exercising the gifts of the Spirit ever since Pentecost, I am sure that they were eager for other Believers to do the same and they witnessed this play out over and over again among the Believers, but I would suggest that we have not been living under that same teaching and understanding, and this is why we are not seeing the gifts of the Spirit being used regularly or effectively. 

We know that Paul was baptized by the Holy Spirit even though he was not with the twelve on the Day of Pentecost, so that betrays any notion that the Spirit only came upon the twelve disciples at Pentecost. Besides the power that we are told that Paul walked in, we need simply look at Acts 9:22 where we read that, "Saul [Paul - Acts 13:9] kept increasing in strength". This phrase is covered in one entry in Strong's Concordance under G1743, which directs us to G1722 and G1412. As we dig into the meaning, we see that G1722 "denotes instrumentality" which means that he was actively doing things which furthered a cause, and G1412, while vague, leads us to G1411 which refers to "specifically miraculous power; ability; miracles; mighty (wondrous) work". So I think it is clear to see that Paul was, in fact, baptized by the Holy Spirit.

It was this working in power that grew the church so quickly in the beginning; Acts 2 tells that three thousand people were brought to Christ on the Day of Pentecost alone, and another five thousand were added when we read about what happened in Acts 4. We don't see that type of societal change around Christianity any more, and it isn't because the Holy Spirit is unable or unwilling to act in those ways; I think it is because we have not made ourselves available as vessels through which He can work.

So let's take a look at the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the apostles, and most likely a lot of the New Testament Believers, lived and walked in.

We see a list of sorts get compiled by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, though I would say that this list is not exhaustive. We see that the things that Paul mentions as spiritual gifts are words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, performing of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues. At the end of the chapter we see that we may also add the gifts of help and administration, though whether these are actually considered spiritual gifts is unclear. We do need to consider that our natural giftings used in the service of the church and its members are of significant value, even if we do not act in the spirit as we practice these gifts.

I will add that there are other texts which infer that there are additional spiritual gifts that Paul does not list. In Ephesians 4:11, we see offices that are held in the church which are also widely recognized as being empowered by the Spirit; apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; and Romans 12:6b-8 also refers to the giftings of the members of the church and includes things such as serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and showing mercy.

A quick look online indicates that there are those who believe that there are only nine spiritual gifts, citing the list that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 12. But we can see by these other passages that the Bible indicates that there are more than nine, and most likely, there are more than I have listed here as well. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, we can ask and He will attest to what our Spiritual gifts are and how we are supposed to use them. 

People tend to give levels of importance or value to the practice of these different gifts; even Paul does this to a point in 1 Corinthians 14, but people seem to have the scale backwards. There are those who believe that the gift of tongues should be practised by all Believers. These people are so adamant about the necessity of speaking in tongues that they will actually babble incoherently, making nonsense noises either pretending to speak in tongues or trying to initiate the gift of speaking in tongues. Paul tells us that not everyone shares the same gifts; in fact, he even seems to regard tongues as being one of the least important gifts that we should be seeking. This false practice of the gift of tongues that people practice is blasphemous to the Holy Spirit and if you engage in this type of act then I strongly encourage you to stop and seek forgiveness. Spiritual gifts cannot be forced; they are practised naturally by the Spirit through us. If you do not possess a certain spiritual gift, do not pretend to. It is of no benefit to you or those around you and you may be calling judgment upon yourself.

I also believe that the Spirit determines the gifts that we will receive and exercise. I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for a certain gift from the Spirit, but it is not our place to decide what giftings we will receive, nor should we complain if we do not receive gifts that we wish we had. God gives gifts to all who seek them in order to build up His church. We need to determine what our Spiritual gifts are and learn how to walk in them.

I think that the Scriptures also make it clear to us that we should desire to receive and to practice whatever giftings the Spirit will grant to us. In 1 Corinthians 14:1 Paul tells the church to "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts", and in verse 12 we read that Paul acknowledges that the Corinthian church is "zealous of spiritual gifts". Yet Paul also warns the church about the ways in which they exercise those giftings.

Speaking specifically about the gift of tongues, Paul says in verses 6-12; " But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? 7 Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? 8 For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? 9 So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. 11 If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. 12 So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church."

One should not exercise their gifts in a self-seeking manner, merely drawing attention to oneself. The exercise of the gifts should always be to help the church, in edification and teaching and preaching, and even in expansion of the church of God, not only seeking the expansion of the church of man.

I think I will close out this article by quickly pointing out a few more ways in which the Spirit will work in and through those whom have received His baptism.

We see in Matthew 10:19-20, Jesus tells us that "when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." So we see that the Holy Spirit will give us words that are required at the time that we need them. This passage speaks specifically about facing persecution for standing with Christ or defending your beliefs, so don't expect that the Holy Spirit will give you words to win an argument or that just because you present a good argument in a debate that it came from the Holy Spirit.

We also see in Acts 4:31 that the Holy Spirit can empower us "to speak the word of God with boldness." This may be at school, the workplace or even in our homes. Whenever we speak in defence of Christ, we can call on the Spirit to grant us the boldness, and as above, the words to proclaim God's Word in love, which is the key. It needs to be done out of concern for the eternal destiny of others. God's Word should not be used as a bludgeon.

And we read in Romans 8:26 that, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;". There are times when we just don't know how to pray for a situation, and it is at these times that we can submit our heart and our words to the Spirit to proclaim to God that which our minds cannot grasp.

I think that there may be one more article that I need to write on this subject. I will probably summarize the things that have already been written about, but there seem to be a few more things that I need to point out in regards to this theology. I hope that you will check in again to read the conclusion of this series.