What is this Holy Spirit Baptism all about?

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They were talking about this in the pub. Like, what is this Baptism?

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second encounter with God (the first is conversion) in which the Christian begins to receive the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit into his life. Jesus promised this power to his disciples when he said,

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
(Acts 1:8)

This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on the one hundred twenty gathered in the upper room.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.(Acts 2:4)

This second experience of the power of God, which we call the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is given for the purpose of equipping the Christian with God’s power for service. It is the spiritual baptism from Jesus Himself, in which He begins to exercise His sovereign possession, control, and use of us in supernatural fashion, through the Holy Spirit.

By way of illustration, let us point out that the New Testament describes both baptism in water and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist says,

I baptise you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I…[Jesus] will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

In Acts 1:4–5, Jesus says,

For John baptised with water, but before many days you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit.

And in his first sermon, preached on the day of Pentecost, Peter tells the multitude,

Repent, and be baptised [water baptism]…for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift [baptism] of the Holy Spirit.(Acts 2:38)

According to Scripture, these two baptisms are indicative of two separate, major experiences of the power of God. The first is conversion, the sinner’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, which brings salvation. He—the repentant sinner—gives testimony to his response to the gospel and his acceptance of Christ by receiving baptism in water for the remission of sins. Here, we see the new believer as the object of God’s redemption. 

But the Lord is not satisfied with our conversion alone; He has promised us power to be His witnesses. So, a second time, we are confronted with the power of God, this time in the baptism in the Holy Spirit, through which the Christian is brought into a deeper relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit for the purpose of making him not an object but an instrument of redemption.

The two baptisms may be compared as follows…

Christian baptism by immersion in water:

1. The candidate: the penitent believer (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38)

2. The baptismal element: water (Acts 8:36–38)

3. The baptizer: man—a preacher, evangelist, deacon (Acts 8:38)

4. The purpose: a witness to conversion and the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16)

5. The result: salvation and entry into the body of Christ (Mark 16:16; Galatians 3:27)

Baptism in the Holy Spirit:

1.The candidate: the baptized believer—(Acts 2:38, 8:14–17)

2. The baptismal element: the Holy Spirit—(Mark 1:8)

3.The baptizer: Jesus Christ—(Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8)

4. The purpose: to endue the Christian with power—(Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8)

5. The result: reception of the Holy Spirit, with accompanying gifts and powers—(Acts 2:4, 8:14–17; 1 Corinthians 12:4–13)





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