-
One
sure mark of the primitive ecclesia of Christ was that it was
Spirit-filled. The chronicle in the Scriptures that tells the
church’s story could as well be called “Acts of the Holy
Spirit” as well as “Acts of the Apostles.” They
walked by the Spirit, were led by the Spirit, were taught by the
Spirit, and were even comforted by the Spirit. And so we have
imagery such as drinking of the Spirit, filled with the Spirit,
being baptized of the Spirit, and even the pouring out of the
Spirit. They thus thought in terms of “sowing to the Spirit”
and “the fruit of the Spirit.” They realized that the
Spirit could be grieved, resisted, and sinned against. The Spirit
often monitored their labors by telling them where to go or not to
go, so that when one reads as far as Acts 20 he is not surprised to
learn that an apostle is “bound in the Spirit” to go to
Jerusalem.
-
The
Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the early Christians were
recipients of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells the Galatians (3:3) that
they had “begun in the Spirit” and that since they were
sons “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts” (4:6). In Gal. 3:2 he tells them plainly that they had
received the Spirit, so the only question was whether the Spirit had
been given them through faith or by works of law. In the same letter
he refers to their being “born according to the Spirit”
(4:29), and so such “fruit of the Spirit” as love, joy
and peace is expected.
-
Paul
assures the Ephesians that they were “sealed with the Holy”
Spirit of promise” when they became believers (1:13), and in
2:18 he states that their access to God was by means of that
indwelling Spirit. They were, moreover, “strengthened with
might through His spirit in the inner man” (3:16), and they
were instructed to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace” (4:3). Strangely enough, even though they already
possessed the Spirit they were told to “be filled with the
Spirit” (5:18). This suggests that the heart of a believer,
like a refreshing stream, can be filled and running over with the
Spirit, and yet be filled even more, depending on the believer’s
capacity and desire.
-
Hardly
anything is clearer in Scripture than the presence of the Holy
Spirit in the life of the believer. Ro. 5:5 refers to God’s
love being poured out in our hearts “by the Holy Spirit who
was given us,” and Ro. 8:9 strongly asserts that “if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” But
no passage is more reassuring than 1 Jn. 4:13: “By this we
know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of
His Spirit.”
-
There
can be no question, therefore, as to whether the early Christians
believed that the Holy Spirit was with them and in them, even as
Christ had promised. The question raised here is
when
did
they receive the Holy Spirit, and was its reception dependent on
some experience they had after becoming Christians, such as “the
baptism of the Holy Spirit,” as is commonly claimed today? If
some “Charismatics” today are correct, the early
Christians had to be twice-baptized to be filled: with the Spirit.
First in water, then in the Spirit, and there might be years between
these.
-
Some
of the verses already referred to indicate that in the early church
they received the Holy Spirit when they believed and obeyed the
gospel. Paul would never have argued with the Galatians as he did if
they did not possess the Spirit when they became Christians: “Are
you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh?” He makes it equally clear in Eph, 1:13
that they were sealed with the Holy Spirit when they believed, while
in Eph. 4:6 he names it exactly:
they
received the Spirit when they became sons of God.
-
One
cannot study 2 Cor. 1:21-22 without concluding that one receives the
Spirit when he becomes a Christian, for in those verses he names
four things that happen: (1) God establishes the believer in
~Christ; (2) God anoints the believer; (3) God seals the believer;
(4) God ;gives the Spirit to the believer. One may as well say that
one becomes a:Christian and sometime afterward, maybe years, he is
established in Christ as to say he becomes a Christian and afterward
he may receive ithe Spirit. The natural interpretation of those
verses would be that one [receives all four of these blessings when
he becomes a Christian.
-
So
we may conclude that one need be baptized but
once
to
receive the Holy Spirit. This is the “one baptism of Eph. 4:4,
and this is the meaning of Acts 2:38 where the apostle Peter tells
the crowd on Pentecost to “Repent and be baptized everyone of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of he Holy Spirit.” This is similar to
2 Cor. 1:21-22 in that multiple promises are made: not only the
forgiveness of sins but also the gift of the Holy Spirit. Reason
demands that we conclude that one receives the Spirit when he
receives the forgiveness of sins.
-
How
many times did those on Pentecost have to be baptized for the
forgiveness of sins? The same number as for receiving the Holy
Spirit!
-
There
is no evidence in Scripture that those who were once baptized in
water were ever urged to be baptized a second time — this time
“Spirit baptism” — in order to receive the Spirit.
If this were an experience in the early church, we could expect
various urgings and entreaties regarding a second baptism whereby
the Spirit would come into their hearts. To the contrary we find
language such as Acts 5:32:
God
gives the Holy Spirit to all those who obey Him.
He
doesn’t say that we are to long for, pray for, “be
anxious” for the Holy Spirit. It is simply that we are to obey
God and he will give us the Holy Spirit. This is so generally the
case in Scripture that there is the suggestion that God is so
faithful to give the Spirit to those who obey him that believers
might
have
the Holy Spirit and not know it. Such as in 1 Cor. 6:19: “Do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is
in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
-
This
verse shows that believers may have the Holy Spirit and not even
know it. We can only conclude that the Corinthians received the
Spirit when they believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8). Just as one
may be rich and not realize it, he may have the Holy Spirit and not
realize it. And so Paul is urging them to make more of a blessing
they already have. Conspicuously absent is any urging from the
apostle to “get the second blessing” or “be
baptized with the Holy Spirit” or whatever. The Corinthians
were baptized but once, at which time they received the Spirit.
-
There
are two irregularities in Scripture in reference to this subject
that should be noted, irregular in the sense that they do not follow
the sequence implied in the above Scriptures: faith, baptism, Holy
Spirit.
-
One
is in Acts 8 in the case of the Samaritans, who believed and were
baptized (verse 12), but who did not receive the Holy Spirit. That
the record would emphasize this is another indication that the usual
order was faith, baptism, Holy Spirit. But here we have the unusual
in that people are baptized but do
not
receive
the Spirit. The story goes on to reveal that apostles go to Samaria
to correct the situation. They lay their hands on the baptized
believers and they receive the Holy Spirit (verse 17). So in Samaria
we have an exceptional order: faith, baptism — a time sequence
— laying on of hands, Holy Spirit. We have no way of knowing
for sure why the Samaritans did not receive the Spirit when they
were baptized. Even Luke the historian, as he tells the story,
implies that they should have. The apostles correct the situation by
the laying on of hands, not by urging upon them some kind of second
baptism of the Spirit.
-
It
would be reasonable to conclude that something went wrong in
Samaria, obstructing the usual process, such as a defective faith.
In any event the exception does not control the rule but the rule
controls the exception. The rule is faith, baptism, Holy Spirit, and
that is why Paul asked an itinerant band of disciples, “Did
you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2).
When they answered in the negative the apostle knew something was
wrong, and the question he poses goes far in sub staining the point
of this article, “Into what then were you baptized?” The
apostle saw the one baptism into Christ as the means of receiving
the Spirit.
-
If
it was unthinkable to Paul that one would be a baptized believer and
yet not have the Holy Spirit, why should it not be to us? Then why
all this talk about “Holy Spirit baptism” as a means of
receiving the Spirit, perhaps many years after one has been baptized
into Christ?
-
The
other exception to the order is in Acts 10 at the house of Cornelius
where the order is faith, Holy Spirit, baptism. Here they receive
the Spirit when they believe (or while hearing the word). This
situation provides one of the strongest testimonials for the place
of baptism, for if ever baptism could be passed over as of only
minor significance it would be here with people who had already
received the Holy Spirit. And so there was cause for the question,
“Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized
who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (verse 47)
The apostle Peter’s response is remarkable: “He
commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” This
should lay to rest forever any claim that baptism isn’t all
that significant. Even those who had already received the Holy
Spirit were commanded by an apostle to be baptized.
-
This
exception hardly affects my argument that a believer need be
baptized but once to receive the Spirit, for at the house of
Cornelius they received the Spirit before they were baptized even
once. But they
were
baptized
once at an apostle’s command.
-
These
exceptions should cause us to be slow about putting God in a box and
dictating what he will do and not do. As with his mercy. he will
give his Spirit to whom he will, and we can nail down no precise
order that has no exceptions.
-
But
we can identify what
usually
took
place in the early church. All believers received the Holy Spirit,
and in this order: faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Spirit,
usually.
-
More
important by far than the when was the fact of the Spirit’s
presence. The Spirit impelled and empowered them, so that Paul would
eventually equate the kingdom of God itself to the fact: “The
kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
-
What
matters to us today is that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to
all who trust and obey him. This truth should not be distorted by
the misconception that the sealing, filling, drinking, receiving or
baptism of Spirit is some kind of “second blessing” or
“second baptism” for few who become privileged citizens
in the kingdom. Once the church taps that great resource of power
that God has given to all his children we will once more make it
evident that the true Body of Christ upon earth is Spirit-filled and
power-filled. To be once baptized is quite adequate for all
blessings that are in Christ. It is often a matter of what God did
for us when we believed and obeyed the gospel in washing of
regeneration.” Some of us may be like the man who lived all
his life in poverty atop a gold mine and never knew it. —the
Editor