The Holy Ghost Baptism

The Bible teaches not only two works of grace—the first commonly described as conversion, and the second a later special work of God in the heart—but it also clearly teaches a double phase of each of these experiences. The first work, conversion, includes both justification and regeneration, which are different in their very nature though both are received at the same time. These will be described more fully in a later chapter. The second work includes, not only a perfect cleansing of the heart from inherited depravity, but also the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Inasmuch as the Holy Ghost baptism is especially important in this second work and is held up by Jesus and the apostles as being necessary to the highest success in the Christian life, it is proper that it should be given consideration here before the cleansing phase of the second work of grace is described.

Those opposed to the doctrine of a second work too often overlook the fact that in rejecting it they reject, not only sanctification, but also the Holy Spirit baptism as subsequent to conversion. When they say and attempt to show by the Bible that they “got it all at once,” they must show they received not only entire sanctification, but also the Holy Ghost baptism. Failing to show this makes their position doubly unscriptural.

Only those who have received the blessed Holy Spirit of God into their hearts, the abiding Comforter, can know the sweetness of closest communion with God and the greatest measure of the joy of His presence. When God created man, He purposely made his shoulders too narrow to bear the burdens of life alone, and his wisdom too limited to know of himself what way he should take. God intended that men should be dependent upon Him. He knew this very feeling of dependence on Him would cause them to find the blessedness of trusting Him. He made a place in their hearts that He alone can fill, and created a longing there that only His indwelling presence can satisfy. In his very nature man is incomplete without God much as the man is incomplete without the woman. Through sin, mankind has been deprived of the indwelling divine Spirit; but, thank God, in the full salvation which Jesus provides the Spirit is again restored.

Jesus and the apostles give much importance to the baptism of the Holy Ghost and urge the disciples to receive him. In that great discourse recorded in John 13-17, given on the solemn occasion of the last supper, Jesus sought to encourage those He was about to leave by the promise of the Comforter whom He would send to them. Also when the apostle Paul came to Ephesus, the first question he asked of the twelve disciples he found was, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”* (Acts 19:2) It was also the important thing in the visit of Peter and John to the newly established church in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17), in the visit of Ananias to Paul (Acts 9:17), and of Peter to Cornelius (Acts 10:44). And, reader, if you are a child of God and have not yet been baptized by the Spirit of God, it is of much concern to God that now, as you read, you open your heart’s door for Him to come in and abide there.

Holy Ghost Baptism After Conversion

Throughout the entire New Testament we find neither precept nor example indicating that the Holy Ghost baptism ever took place at the time of conversion. The Holy Spirit is not given to sinners, but only to those already saved. Jesus said, in promising Him to his disciples, “Whom the world cannot receive.”* (John 14:17)

The first example of receiving the Holy Ghost after conversion is that of the disciples among whom were the twelve apostles. Before they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they were already converted. They had believed on Christ (John 17:8; Matthew 16:16), and therefore had been born again (John 1:12-13). They were regenerated and therefore in God’s kingdom to the extent that it was already set up. Their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20). They had been sent out to preach the gospel (Matthew 10:7). They were not of the world (John 14:17; 15:19). They kept God’s word (John 17:6). Surely they were saved, yet they were commanded to tarry at Jerusalem until baptized by the Holy Ghost (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). This they received on the day of Pentecost, when “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”* (Acts 2:4) And this was not different from the experiences of those converted after Pentecost.

The Samaritan church are a very remarkable example of receiving the Holy Spirit after conversion. The people of Samaria “believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, [and] they were baptized, both men and women.”* (Acts 8:12) Did Philip, this mighty New Testament evangelist, baptize a company of sinners here? No. They had “believed,” had “great joy,”* (Acts 8:8) and then Philip baptized them, as was done to the multitude converted on Pentecost. How long it was before the information reached Jerusalem that these Samaritans had been converted, we are not told; but when it did reach there, the apostles sent Peter and John to Samaria at least some days after the fact, and possibly a few weeks later. When these apostles arrived, they found that the new disciples there had not yet received the Holy Ghost. Therefore they prayed for them, and the new disciples received the Holy Ghost. Here is a plain case of a second work of grace.

The disciples at Ephesus whom Paul found on his first visit there, were saved. They had “believed” and were “disciples.”* (Acts 19:1) Yet they had not received the Holy Ghost, and did not until Paul laid his hands upon them for that purpose. Paul’s question, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”* (Acts 19:2) implies that Paul recognized the Spirit’s baptism as subsequent to conversion. But if the critic insists on the reading of the American Standard translation, “when ye believed,” the argument is not materially changed; for the fact still remains that these disciples received the Holy Ghost subsequently to conversion.

Even the apostle Paul received the Spirit three days after his conversion. He accepted and believed on Christ on the Damascus road. There he received his call to the ministry (See Acts 26:16). Also Ananias recognized him as a brother (Acts 9:17), and it was said of Paul, “He prayeth.”* (Acts 9:11) But he did not receive the Holy Spirit until Ananias came to him. Other similar examples might be given.

Relation of the Spirit to the Justified

Though the foregoing Bible texts conclusively prove that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to conversion, yet according to other texts the Spirit is with believers in some sense before. Jesus said to His disciples, “He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”* (John 14:17) Paul says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”* (Romans 8:9)

These and similar texts cause confusion in the thought of some and furnish ground for objection to a second work for others. Jesus makes the distinction of “with” and “in,” but Paul seems to disregard such distinction. That the justified person has the Spirit working in him in some sense is certain. The Spirit even comes to and works in the sinner in conviction. He is everywhere present in His capacity to work, and it is in this sense that He is in the justified. But He is in the person who has been baptized by Him in a much greater degree to work in and through him. He works, not only in a greater degree, but also in different ways in the wholly sanctified person than in the one who is only justified.

Jesus’ use of the prepositions “in” and “with” may be understood as a practical rather than as being an exact distinction between the two experiences. The distinction is not one of the Spirit’s location so much as of His power to operate. Probably a clearer understanding would be possible to some minds by illustrating this distinction by that between the ordinary sinner whose evil deeds are actuated by suggestions of Satan and the demoniac who is possessed by the evil spirit and is much more fully under his power and control. The Spirit-baptized saint is possessed by the Holy Ghost and sustains a very close relationship indeed to Him. One great difference in the case of the individual possessed by the Holy Spirit is that he is not bound nor compelled as is the demoniac, but, thank God, is gloriously free.

One Baptism But Many Fillings with the Spirit

Another practical distinction which should be made is that between “being baptized with” or “receiving” the Spirit, and “being filled with” the Spirit. If one receives the Spirit, there need not be any repetition of it; because if he lives right, the Spirit remains in him constantly. But there will be times when he will need and should have fresh anointings of the Spirit for particular services or circumstances. This being filled with the Spirit does not mean that one receives a greater measure of the Spirit Himself, who is a person, but a greater measure of His working. One may or may not receive this fuller measure of the working of the Spirit at the time of the baptism by the Spirit. The apostles at Pentecost received it then and also at later times.

One remarkable instance of the reception of this fuller measure of the working of the Spirit was when the apostles on a certain occasion were persecuted and threatened. They prayed, and “the place was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”* (Acts 4:31) Now we know these apostles received and also were filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. But this special occasion required another special filling of the Spirit or mighty working of the Spirit in them. This anointing was for the purpose of giving them boldness to preach in the face of persecution. Stephen was filled with the Holy Ghost at the time of his martyrdom that he might have grace to suffer (Acts 7:55). Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost to rebuke Elymas the Sorcerer and strike him blind (Acts 13:9-10). Elizabeth and others were filled to praise God and prophesy (Luke 1:41,67).

Every person today who has been much used of God is familiar with these special fillings of the Spirit. Often the preacher is temporarily filled with the Spirit for the preaching of God’s message. Sometimes it is for the praying of the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick, the carrying on of a revival meeting, or the winning of a soul to Christ. Every spiritual person should experience the special fillings. Reader, if you have received the Spirit, but have not been filled with His working, seek God more earnestly until you get an anointing for service.

This point is of practical importance, because some sincere people who have really received the Holy Spirit yet who feel the need of a new filling by Him, become troubled, and go back to seeking the baptism again instead of the fresh anointing they need. Also false teachers often take advantage of this craving for a fresh anointing of the Spirit to make people think they have never received Him. Thank God, you can become filled with the mighty working of God’s Spirit and do great things for God without getting confused about your past experience and baptism, or without failing under the “power” in an unseemly manner and getting what some are pleased to call “tongues.”

If we pray as earnestly as did the persecuted apostles described in Acts 4, if we labor for the advancement of God’s cause as diligently as did Paul when he met Elymas, if we are as devoted as Stephen when he was about to lay down his life for Christ’s sake, then we shall receive fresh fillings of the Spirit as the occasion demands.

Works of the Holy Spirit

The works of the Spirit are described as including a wide range in the matter of our salvation. He it is who convicts the sinner of his sins, regenerates the penitent, and witnesses to the adoption of the converted. But we are here concerned especially with His works in and through us at the time of the Holy Spirit baptism. His work in us, or the subjective operation, is alike in all because all have the same general need of salvation from the depravity that will later be shown to remain in the justified person. We are therefore “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.”* (Romans 15:16) At the time of the Holy Spirit’s baptizing men, His principal work is “purifying their hearts by faith.”* (Acts 15:8-9) There is a proper similitude between the incoming of the Holy Spirit and the making holy the heart in which He comes to dwell.

But in the objective phase of His works, consisting in His operation through His various gifts, or “manifestations,” there is variation in different individuals, as is definitely stated in 1 Corinthians 12. At the time a person receives the Holy Spirit he may receive any of the many gifts of the Spirit, or he may receive no particular gift at that time. One may receive the gift of tongues, or of prophecy, as did a few of those described in the New Testament. But there is no common need for these or any other gifts at the time of the baptism as there is need of a cleansing of the heart. In fact, one may as well obtain the gifts subsequent to the baptism according to Paul’s reasoning in 1 Corinthians 14, where he urges those who have already received the baptism of the Spirit and some of the less important gifts to “covet earnestly the best gifts,”* (1 Corinthians 12:31) which were yet possible to them.

The Evidence of the Baptism

The evidence of the Holy Spirit’s baptism is deserving of brief consideration here because of the fact that many modern teachers of a certain class tell us that the only proper evidence is speaking in tongues, and that all who get the baptism speak in tongues. It is said that anything so important as the baptism must be witnessed to by such an outward physical sign. But is the baptism more important than the salvation of one’s soul? And since conversion is not witnessed to by a physical sign, surely there is no necessity for such a sign of the baptism. If the evidence of the spiritual work of regeneration is the witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16) and if the call to service and other important things are witnessed to in the same manner, certainly such a spiritual work as the Spirit baptism requires only this spiritual evidence for spiritually-minded people. Only unspiritual, earthly-minded people could need a physical or outward evidence of a spiritual work, and such never receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

On only three occasions does the Bible state that tongues accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:4; 10:45-46; 19:6). Of all the other converts who received the Holy Spirit there is no proof that they spoke in tongues. Those who on the ground of these three texts teach the theory that tongues is the evidence of the Spirit’s baptism are guilty of the fallacy of unsound reasoning. Peter, in speaking of the baptism of Cornelius by the Spirit, said, “As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.”* (Acts 11:15) If all the many thousands who had received the Holy Ghost during the eight years since Pentecost had always received the tongues, why did Peter say, “As on us at the beginning”? Why could he not as well have said, “As He has been baptizing all since the beginning”? Though not a complete proof, this is reason for believing the speaking in tongues did not usually accompany the Holy Ghost baptism.

Those who advocate the theory that all who get the baptism speak in tongues also hold that this speaking in tongues is different from the gift of tongues described in 1 Corinthians. But a careful consideration of 1 Corinthians 12 shows that the “gift” and the “manifestation” of the Spirit are identical, and the apostle closes with the clear implication that all do not speak with tongues (1 Corinthians 12:28-30). We agree with the apostle that all do not speak with tongues. The best evidence that one has the Holy Spirit is the Spirit Himself.