Baptism in the Holy Spirit - A Survey in Acts
Disclaimer
This can be a loaded phrase. I get it. Stick with me. I’m in a season of my life where every belief is being critically evaluated against the bible. I’m uncomfortable with believing anything unless I understand it in the scriptures for myself.
On this journey, I’ve found it helpful to separate the facts of scripture from its various interpretations. Both are required for life, but it’s useful to view them distinctly. The scripture is always true. Our interpretation of scripture is not always true.
This is a survey of the things Luke wrote in Acts regarding a baptism of the Holy Spirit. At the end, I’ll draw several observations from the scriptures while avoiding interpretation. Then, finally, I will draw some conclusions. I welcome you to challenge any of my conclusions and to wrestle with the rest.
Introduction
The book of Acts was written by Luke and spans about 30 years. As with many things regarding biblical history, people smarter than us are still discussing the exact purpose of the writing of Acts. One thing we can say with certainty, however, is that Luke was not writing to define a theology of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
As we survey the relevant passages we should not expect a complete or consistent representation of the subject. Even so, being scripture, we can trust that every mention of the subject is true, God-breathed, and useful for our instruction.
Survey
Pentecost (Acts 1-2)
The first baptism in the Holy Spirit mentioned in Acts happens - of course - to the disciples themselves in the upper room. Jesus had commanded them to ‘wait for the promise of the Father… you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’ (1: 4-5). The disciples were most certainly already believers at the time of their Holy Spirit baptism, yet it occurred several days after Jesus ascended into heaven. When it happened, they were gathered together praying. In fact, they had been together in prayer for several days. It was a dramatic moment. They began to speak in tongues and were understood by the crowds to be glorifying God. Peter preached the gospel with boldness and thousands were saved.
Samaria (Acts 8:16-19)
When Peter and John were sent to Samaria, they prayed the believers there would receive the Holy Spirit, for they had ‘…only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.’ (Only!) We don’t know exactly what happened when they prayed, only that these believers visibly received the Holy Spirit, because the sorcerer Simon saw it happen and tried to buy the same ability.
Saul (Acts 9:17-20)
Saul, after encountering Christ, was met by Ananias who was sent that he may receive his sight and ‘be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ After which, Saul was baptized in water and began to preach Christ immediately in the synagogues.
The Gentiles (Acts 10:44-46)
The gentiles were first baptized in the Holy Spirit in Acts 10, the evidence of which was that they began to ‘speak with tongues and magnify God.’ Notably, the recipients were likely of mixed age and gender. The Holy Spirit ‘fell on them’ not when Peter prayed, but while he was still preaching to them about Christ! It was certainly not orderly, and Peter most likely had to cut short his sermon. They were subsequently baptized in water.
Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7)
When Paul was in Ephesus, he met with some disciples and asked them ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ To which they responded, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’ It turns out they had received only John’s baptism into repentance. They were baptized in water in the name of the Lord Jesus, and ‘when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.’
Other Salvations
Not every salvation account in the book of Acts mentions the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When Peter preaches on Pentecost, it says simply that 3000 people were saved and baptized (2:41). When Paul and Silas’ jailer believes - along with his household - they’re baptized, they celebrate, and the narrative continues (16:31-33). After explaining the gospel to the Ethiopian on the road and baptizing him, God himself instantly takes Philip to another place. The Ethiopian continues on his way, rejoicing (8:36-40).
Filling with the Holy Spirit
Luke also records many instances in Acts of believers being filled again with the Holy Spirit. After Peter and John were released from custody and returned to the other believers, they all gathered to pray and ‘the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly’ (4:31). Saul, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ declared temporary blindness for a sorcerer in order that another man would be saved (13:9-12).
Observations
Existence
While every believer receives the indwelling Holy Spirit at salvation (Eph. 1:13, John 1:12 + Rom. 8:15), there is some real sense in which the believer can be immersed in the Holy Spirit at some point following conversion. It is a distinct encounter/immersion in the Holy Spirit. It exists as both an initial baptism and a repeatable subsequent infilling of the Holy Spirit. Both initial and subsequent encounters are fundamentally the same in nature - the initial baptism being special in that it is the first.
Purpose
People who are baptized in the Holy Spirit glorify God both immediately and long-term. It is a trajectory-changing encounter with God for His glory.
Availability + Occurrence
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not limited to any people group, age, or gender. Water baptism is not a pre-requisite, nor is the adoption of any particular theology. It is available to both new and mature believers. The only consistent pre-requisite is faith in Jesus.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit does not function as a formula. It cannot be predicted, forced, controlled, or bought. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit while waiting and praying. The Holy Spirit fell on others while receiving prayer for this very thing, while still others were not engaged in any sort of prayer at all when they received the Holy Spirit. Saul was once filled with the Holy Spirit in the middle of a conversation (13:9)!
Signs
In most examples given, the baptism is visibly apparent to those nearby.
It is usually, but not always, followed by the recipient(s) speaking in tongues and/or prophesying. Notably, Luke does not record any such occurence when Saul is filled with the Holy Spirit, although we know he did receive the gift of tongues at some point (1 Cor. 14:18). Another common sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit is speaking the Word of God with boldness.
Importance + Timing
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is clearly not required for salvation. Yet it is also fundamentally important to Peter, Silas, Paul, and Jesus Himself when it comes to following Christ.
Despite this, it appears that an element of contextual timing is also involved. As far as we know from Luke’s account, the disciples did not always press the matter of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God Himself took Philip away before he might even have time to bring it up with the Ethiopian.
Wording
In his account, Luke freely interchanges several phrases to describe the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In addition to being ‘baptized’ in the Holy Spirit, people are also ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can be ‘poured out on’ people, and can ‘fall’ on people. There seems to be no meaningful difference in the use of these terms - they all refer to the same event.
Conclusions
Up to now, I’ve done my best to keep my thoughts from interrupting what the text says.
Now, looking at what we observed, here is what I’m ready to conclude:
There exists an initial immersion into the Holy Spirit, separate and distinct from His indwelling presence, for transformation and power to be witnesses to Jesus.
It may subsequently be followed by infillings of the Holy Spirit, in which we surrender control to Him the way a drunk surrenders to wine.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer at every stage in the faith, without restriction.
Receiving is not dependent on the prayers of another believer, though God often uses these.
There is no singular expression or evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit apart from a life supernaturally set on glorifying God. However, we shouldn’t be surprised if we do experience other manifestations of the Holy Spirit, even if they are not explicitly listed in scripture.
As believers, we can pray for other believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, remembering that neither we nor those receiving prayer control the outcome.
As believers, we must listen to voice of the Holy Spirit to know when to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Closing Thoughts + Challenge
Some of these ideas are challenging to grapple with. They have big implications, and they can raise painful questions. I know, because I’m on this journey too.
Have I been Baptized in the Holy Spirit?
For the believer who might be left wondering ‘Have I been baptized in the Holy Spirit?’ I would recommend critically evaluating the usefullness of that question.
Let’s say you’re considering going skydiving. Someone might ask you ‘Have you been skydiving before?’
The answer, while certainly relevant to your situation, is neither going to prevent nor ensure that you go skydiving now.
My observation from Acts is that both the initial baptism of the Holy Spirit and subsequent infillings of the Holy Spirit are fundamentally the same event. If this is a sticking point for you, I would suggest that whether or not you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit before doesn’t really matter. What matters is if you want to be now.
Do I have the Holy Spirit?
Some people, while wrestling with the idea of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, can wonder if they even have the Holy Spirit at all. My answer to this is that we need to understand for ourselves in the scriptures who has the Holy Spirit. If this is you, dig deep. Here are some starting places:
Paul writes that after hearing the gospel, trusting in Christ, and believing in Him, we are ‘sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise’ (Eph. 1:13).
John states that to ‘as many as received Him… He gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12) and Paul built on this by saying ‘The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God’ (Rom. 8:16).
What if I don’t Speak in Tongues?
There’s no biblical evidence to suggest that speaking in tongues or prophesying are required signs of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, Paul claims we are all different parts of one body and have different gifts. He asks, ‘Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?… Do all speak with tongues?’ (1 Cor 12:29).
With the baptism of the Holy Spirit we also see buildings shaking (Acts 4:31), people going blind (Acts 13:9), people gaining their sight (Acts 9:17-20), the word of God spoken with boldness (Acts 1-2)… the list goes on. There is no single, dependable sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit apart from a life set on God’s glory.
Challenge
- Am I convinced this is true? Why?
- Am I convinced this is important for me today? Why?
- Do I want the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why?
