Holy Spirit

05/22/08

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BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

The phrase “Baptized with the Holy Spirit” has been discussed, with some intensity, by Bible scholars and theologians for nearly 100 years. Pentecostals, orthodox evangelicals, and others have expressed different understandings of what the phrase means, as well as the theological implications of what using those understandings might mean for the church. I want to present what I believe to be a biblical position that may help to bridge the gap.

 

First, I want to establish the understanding and context from which my position comes.  God has graciously saved us, given us eternal life, made us his children and called us into service. Being in His service is not just "church sponsored service". It includes the very way we live our lives, which becomes a testimony before the world, before our church family and our family at home. He has called us to live lives that are extraordinary, not lives like the world lives. He has called us to live supernatural lives. How can He expect us to do that? He expects that because He has placed His supernatural Holy Spirit in our hearts (Gal. 4:6), in order to empower, control and guide our lives. Since the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, He is God, just the same as the Father and the Son are. This means that He is supernatural, and has all the sovereign power and wisdom that the other two Persons in the Trinity have.

 

God has plans for each of His children, plans that serve His purposes, bless others and give each of us who walk in His plans a deep satisfaction and fulfillment. When He saved each of us, we became His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand, so that we could have the privilege and joy of doing these things for Him (Eph. 2:10).  This is exciting news for those of us who really love Him, and want to serve Him as His servants.  How can we do this?  How can we know what it is He wants us to do, and how can we manage to do it for Him?

 

If we are willing to be His instruments, His Holy Spirit (who is a person, not just a force) will show us, reveal to us, what God wants us to do. If we really want to be His instruments, and be used by God to bring blessings to others and thus glorify our Lord Jesus, we will try to remain alert to the work of the Holy Spirit inside us, as He shows us truth, and as He causes our attention to become focused on a person or situation. He will give us an understanding of a need in that situation or that person's life, and give us His "nudge" that He wants us to step up and be a part of His solution to that need.  It may take some courage to go forward in that "nudge", because it may take us outside of our comfort zone.  It will take faith, faith that God would send us on such a mission, that He would let us know that it is time to step out and enter into the situation, and faith that He will give us the knowledge, wisdom and the empowering by the Holy Spirit to do this work that He has called us to do.

 

When we DO step out in obedience and faith, He DOES provide all the guidance and empowering that is needed for that which He has called us to do. When we first begin to live these supernatural lives, He does not give us tasks that are immense things, like parting the Red Sea.  He knows that we are beginners in this supernatural life. He may simply call us to love someone.  He has poured His supernatural "agape" love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who lives in us (Rom. 5:5), and if we will obediently risk the vulnerability required to use His supernatural love in loving someone He has pointed us to, this work will bring amazing results.  His Word says that He prepared this work beforehand (Eph. 2:10).  This means not only that God has had it in His mind for a while, but that He goes before us to prepare that person's heart to receive the ministry of love that He has called us to do.

 

Not many weeks after my wife, Carrie, and I entered into this supernatural life, He called us to take a miserable, ungrateful, penniless, nine months pregnant nineteen year old girl into our home.  We did not know His plans for her.  We just felt impressed in our hearts that He wanted us to meet her need for a place to stay, for a time (as it turned out, she was with us for four months).  After she was in the house, we found out that she was a Jehovah's Witness, and that she smoked (I'm very allergic to cigarette smoke).  We cried, "Oh, Lord, what do you want us to do with this girl?"  We sensed He was saying that He just wanted us to love her with His love. "Oh, Lord, she is not very loveable.  We need You to fill us with Your love for her".  He did.  We were amazed.  This was an Ephesians 2:10 thing.  She responded to God's love, as He flowed through us, and began to warm up to us.  Pretty soon, she wanted us to have Bible study with her every night.  This provided opportunity to give her the truth. In two weeks, she burned the Jehovah's Witness books that she had held onto since childhood.  In another two weeks, she prayed with us to receive Jesus as her Savior and Lord.  Before she left, God had set her free from her addiction to cigarettes.

 

The work that was done in this girl's heart was all God.  We couldn't do any of it.  Our willingness to love her for God just provided the "lubricant" for the work of the Holy Spirit as He did several supernatural things in her life: 1) Changing her mind about the Jehovah's Witness sect;  2) Saving her soul;  and 3) Setting her free from cigarettes (she just woke up one morning without any desire for a cigarette).

 

Being involved in the kind of service where we get to see what God is doing, and joining with Him in that work, is what living the supernatural life is all about. We want to take God up on His invitation to join Him in a part of the wondrous work He is doing all over the earth.  Jesus said that the works He does, we will do also, and even greater things (John 14:12). If we want to be involved in things like this, we will want to join God in what He is doing, as the Holy Spirit shows us His invitation to join Him (see John 5:19).

 

"How does one enter into this supernatural life?" you may ask.  It is simpler than you might think.  It is mostly a matter of complete surrender to God's Holy Spirit.  Many evangelical Christians believe they have truly surrendered to the Holy Spirit, because they asked Jesus to save them, and then received Him as their Savior and Lord.  They know that the Holy Spirit entered them at the moment they received Jesus, and it seems logical to them that their lives would now be surrendered to the Holy Spirit.  If this were so, the Apostle Paul would not have seen the need to warn Christians about quenching the Holy Spirit (I Thess. 5:19), or grieving the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30), or Stephen would not have charged the Jewish religious leaders, who were there when he was stoned, with resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).  These are the three ways that modern Christians seriously disappoint God, because of our lack of full surrender.  Some examples: 1) when I am afraid my friend is offending the person in front of us while sharing the Gospel with him, and I step up and change the subject, I am probably quenching the Holy Spirit; 2) when I commit sin, out my own selfishness, I am grieving the Holy Spirit; and   3) when I sense that God is nudging me to go over and talk to that lonely person, and I refuse to do it, I am resisting the Holy Spirit.  Any of us who does any serious and honest reflection on our lives can see how we have done each of these three kinds of things.

 

God wants to do so much in the earth today, but many Christians are either too busy with their own programs, afraid to let the Holy Spirit take charge, afraid of possible rejection by their Christian peers or leadership, or they are convinced that the Holy Spirit is no longer active in the earth today.  Our wonderful, loving and supernatural God wants us to be bold for Him, as we remain alert to His nudges, willing to step out into His service when He calls us, no matter what obstacle may loom before us.  He wants us to be bold like the Christians who are described in Acts 4:29-31.  This Godly boldness is not zeal without wisdom.  It is a willingness to serve God when He calls, regardless of whether this obedience may take us out of our circle of comfort or confidence.  In Proverbs 29:25, the Lord has given us a wonderful word to encourage us: "The fear of man brings a snare; but he who trusts in the Lord shall be safe".  I believe that the Lord has shown me that the person being affected by the "fear of man", is one who is wondering "what will they think?", or "what will they say?", or "what will they do?".  Many Christians have grown up hearing one or both of their parents exclaim, “What will the neighbors think?!!”  A heart that is really surrendered will receive a holy boldness, and the leading of His Holy Spirit and His wisdom to do the task called for.  This servant will be empowered and led, so as to be able to handle the obstacles that are before him.  In order for this supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to be fully active in a person's life, he or she needs to intentionally take a step of total surrender to the empowering and control of the Holy Spirit by being baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Let's examine this concept of being baptized with the Holy Spirit.

 

John the Baptist said of Jesus, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt. 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk. 3:16; Jn. 1:33).  So, Jesus is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  In Acts 1:1-5, Luke describes how Jesus appeared to the disciples for forty days, after the resurrection. Then, He gathered them together and told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit "not many days from now".  The traditional orthodox church has believed, for some time, that God gave the Holy Spirit to the Church on the day of Pentecost.  They have not taken into consideration, adequately, some other important Scriptures.

 

In John 7:39, Jesus said that those who believe in Him were to receive the Holy Spirit (future tense), for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  We must ask ourselves, "when was Jesus glorified?” in order to discover when the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus' disciples.  It appears to me that the evangelicals mentioned earlier may have been thinking that it was when Jesus was taken up into Heaven (Acts 1:9).  However, Scripture does not say that.  The disciples were totally crestfallen after Jesus was crucified and put into the tomb.  Their leader, their hope, was now dead.  He had said that He was the Son of God, and that He could defeat even death.  But where was He?  Then, the day of the Resurrection came, resulting in events that have impacted the human race for nearly two thousand years.  Romans 1:4 states that He was "declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord".  It was His resurrection that glorified Him.  Without this resurrection, none of us would have eternal life today.  The resurrection occurred fifty days before Pentecost Sunday, and forty days before the account recorded in Acts 1:1-5.

 

On the evening of the Resurrection (John 20:19-22), we have the account of the resurrected Lord Jesus appearing in the midst of His disciples.  They rejoiced at seeing Him.  After declaring that they are being sent, even as He was sent, He blew on them, and made a powerful, declarative statement, that was actually a command: "Receive the Holy Spirit".  He imparted the Holy Spirit to His disciples.  They were regenerated.  They were born again, and given eternal life.  Prior to this time, they were not able to understand His parables very well because it is the Holy Spirit, living in us that enables us to understand the things of God.  Modern evangelical commentaries struggle with John 20:22. They suggest that Jesus gave them

“a sprinkling of the Holy Spirit”, and that the rest of the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, or some other explanation.  This passage seems clear to me.  In the Greek imperative tense (a command), He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."   They received the Holy Spirit, and were regenerated, or born again, because that is what the Holy Spirit does when He comes into a person.. 

 

Jesus’ disciples had been in a kind of traveling seminary with Jesus for three years.  They had received the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) after His ressurection, and they were very eager to go out into the world.  But, forty days after the resurrection, He met with them and said, "Wait."  They had the Holy Spirit in them, but there was more for them.  They were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, “not many days from now”.

 

One of the problems that some evangelicals have with the term "baptized with the Holy Spirit" is that using the word "baptized" sounds sort of like a sacrament.  By the way, I have been mentioning the difficulty the evangelicals have had with this.  I consider myself an evangelical, and not a Pentecostal.  Being baptized with the Holy Spirit is not a sacrament.  Jesus used the word “baptized”, in Acts 1:5, in the same way John the Baptist used it to say that Jesus would “baptize” us with the Holy Spirit.  In first century Greek, "baptizo" (I baptize) was a word used in the market place to mean "to immerse, to overwhelm with something, to soak, to plunge into".  If you went to the market to buy a cloak, you might well find wool cloaks in their natural wool shades, waiting for the buyer to tell the merchant which color he would like for it to be dyed.  If you indicated that you wanted red, he would probably use some kind of pole to plunge your new cloak into a boiling vat of red dye.  It would be baptized with the red dye.  The merchant would be the baptizer. When he took the cloak out of the dye, it would be the same cloak, but it would also be a different cloak. It has the same shape, but its appearance has changed, because the element in which it was baptized has fully penetrated every molecule of the cloak.  It did not resist being overwhelmed by the element in which it was baptized.  It received and "soaked up" the element in which it was baptized.  Now, anyone can tell that this robe has been baptized in red dye, simply by observing it.

 

We Christians already have the Holy Spirit living in our human spirit or heart (see Romans 8:9, and refer again to Gal 4:6).  When Jesus baptizes us in His Holy Spirit, there is a flooding of our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) by the Holy Spirit, as we surrender our soul to Him.  Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit people who are very much in love with Him, and are eager to become Spirit-filled servants (see Eph. 5:18), no matter what the Holy Spirit may ask of them.  They know that He is God, and therefore He can be trusted (just like we trusted Jesus).  They know that He will only do those things with us that are right.  They have come to the place where they are willing to be truly vulnerable with God, and they want Him to fully develop the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23) in them, and they are willing for God to use any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through them (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11).   Some of these gifts may seem so supernatural as to be a little bit scary.  But, we have to consider that the work of the Holy Spirit that caused us to be born again was a powerfully supernatural work, as well.  We surely wouldn't want to do away with that one.  Be assured that God's motive in the use of all of His supernatural gifts is His love for His church, His children that are in His church, and those lost ones who are not yet in his church (John 10:16).

 

A bit of testimony: I was saved out of an unchurched background at age 32, and was intensely grateful to God for forgiveness and eternal life.  I wanted to serve Him with all of my heart.  I began a life of prayer, Bible study and "doing good”.  I did not understand how much the Holy Spirit (who already lived in me) wanted to fill me, guide me, and empower me, so I could live the supernatural life.  Instead, I thought I had to do it myself, with my strength, my wisdom, my resources, and that He would be there to "help" me, somehow.  After about four years of working hard, in my own strength, an Elder discerned that I was near "Christian burnout".  I had begun to be "cranky" about all that I now had to do, that I had volunteered to do.  This Elder came alongside me, and asked me to lunch.  I said, "Sure, but what is on your mind?"  He said, "I can see how much you love the Lord, and how you want to serve Him and glorify Him, but you are doing it in your own strength.  You are probably near burnout.  I want to 'put you out of your misery'.”  “Out of my misery, how so?”  “I want to share with you how to let the Holy Spirit take over, and empower you”.  In the course of our lunch, he explained that Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:18 that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Christians that ARE filled are often called "Spirit-filled".  This means: controlled by and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  I liked the "empowered by” part, but I never liked the idea of being controlled by anyone.  I had to come to the conclusion that since I really trusted God the Father, and Jesus the Son, I could also trust the Holy Spirit.  I could trust that He would only do things that were right for me, even if I didn't fully understand them, or like them.

 

Some of the people in the church I was attending had an uneasy feeling about their fellow members who seemed so interested in the things of the Holy Spirit.  These people did not know much about Him, and had received "teaching by conversation" from clergy, Sunday School teachers, relatives and friends that strongly suggested that there was something strange about the workings of the Holy Spirit.  I was in a Presbyterian church, and there were people among us who spoke negatively about the Pentecostals as people who often seemed unnecessarily emotional in their worship, and in the way they talked about God.  There seemed to be a "low grade fear" about this, since they had been taught that we were to do things "decently, and in order", when it concerned the things of God.  They seemed to believe there was a link between the Holy Spirit and emotionalism.  I was kind of reserved, myself, and so I felt some of that uneasiness, especially when my senior pastor said that I should "be careful" around those people.

 

However, when I began to consider the Elder who wanted to introduce me to this way of living with the Holy Spirit, I realized that he was sort of reserved, like me, except that the love of Jesus constantly radiated from his face.  He was a man who manifested the fruit of the Holy Spirit like few men I had ever met.  He was also a man who had the courage to pray and ask God to heal people.  He seemed to understand that he didn't have to carry the responsibility for the final outcome of these God-encounters that the Lord let him participate in.  That was God's business.  His role was simply that of a servant.  He had only to pray, share, love, or whatever God "nudged" him to do, and let God hold the responsibility for the outcome.

 

At the beginning of this discussion on the concept of being "baptized with the Holy Spirit", I mentioned the need to adequately consider the Scriptures involved.  Now, we need to look carefully at I Cor 12:13…”For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”   This verse has been quoted by some as the place where it is made evident that we are all “baptized with the Holy Spirit” as a part of being saved.  It is said that this verse contains the very same meaning as what John the Baptist had said in Mt 3:11, and what Jesus said in Acts 1:5.   It is clear to me that being baptized into the body is a wonderful thing, because it signifies that He places us, immerses us, into His wonderful family. Later in the verse, there is the statement that "we were all made to drink of one Spirit". This would seem to indicate that we all received the Holy Spirit into our bodies (which have now become temples of the Holy Spirit). This also is wonderful, and encouraging, as is Romans 8:9, where we learn that if we belong to Christ, we have His Spirit.  

In order to be clear, we need to remember that when John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the baptizer, and that into which we are baptized is the Holy Spirit.  In I Cor 12:13, we see that the baptizer is the Holy Spirit, and that into which we are baptized is the Body of Christ.  So, the two statements are really different, and not the same thing.  The two statements refer to two different things, two different events.

 

The issue that seems most troubling to some evangelicals is the idea that there is an additional, or deeper way to relate to, or with, the Holy Spirit, beyond the blessed privilege of having Him living inside of our spirits, dwelling with us. My observation is that the disciples received the Holy Spirit on the eve of the resurrection, so that He was then dwelling within them, and then had an additional experience with Him on the Day of Pentecost, which Jesus referred to as being "baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  Therefore it seems  that there is another, or second, "step" available to us.

 

Let's consider Jesus’ instructions to His disciples, in Acts 1.  They were excited about serving their risen Lord.  They saw His miraculous work again, after the resurrection, as He told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat (John 21:6), and they caught so many fish they could not haul them into the boat. This happened after fishing all night without catching any fish.  Then, after gathering His disciples, in the Acts 1 account, he told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait until they had been "baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now".  He referred to this coming event when He said, in verse 8, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses..."

 

As I reflect on the power of the modern day church in its witnessing, I see a great lack of power, boldness and wisdom, and can only assume that not many of God's people have sought this empowering, probably for at least some of the reasons mentioned above.

 

The disciples were obedient, and waited in the "upper room", in Jerusalem (Acts 1:13).  They entered into what I call a "ten day prayer meeting" (from the 40th day after the resurrection to the 50th day, the Day of Pentecost).  I've never been in a ten day prayer meeting, but I imagine that it would be quite an experience. They probably began by praying that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.  Then, not noticing that anything remarkable happened, they commenced to have what we often have today: seasons of praying for those in need, etc.  Ultimately, after days in the upper room, the Lord drew them closer and closer to their own needs, their own sins, their own self sufficiency, their own independent ways and selfishness, and showed them that they had to give up all their self-sufficiency.  He probably reminded them of His words, “Apart from  Me, you can do nothing”(Jn 15:5).  He probably brought them to a serious level of brokenness, as when a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies (John 12:23-25), where they had to acknowledge the bankruptcy of their former way of life, and become simply His sheep, His little children, His servants, who are willing for Him to do whatever He wants in their lives.  This level of surrender opens us up to being baptized with the Holy Spirit, filled, controlled, directed, empowered for the supernatural life, where we are less and He is lots more, so that when wonderful things happen through our simple servant obedience, He gets the glory, not us.

 

If this discussion has caused you to want this level of surrender to your Lord Jesus in your life, you can enter in through a fairly simple prayer.  I will supply the following prayer as a suggestion.  You may pray whatever you like, but I suggest that you be sure to cover the main, essential points of my suggested prayer.

 

"Lord Jesus, I want to be baptized with your Holy Spirit.  I want to be controlled and directed and empowered by Him, so that others are blessed and You are glorified.  I confess that I have resisted Your Holy Spirit.  I have had fear of man, and selfishness, stubbornness, and willfulness.  This is sin, and I repent of all of it. I declare bankruptcy on my old self-sufficient life, which has stifled the flow of Your Spirit in me.  I hate that I have done this, and I renounce this old way, in Your Name, Lord Jesus.  I ask You to forgive me for this sin.  I receive Your forgiveness, with thanksgiving in my heart.  I forgive myself.  Now, I release my whole life into the control of Your Holy Spirit.  Please baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, fill me and empower me for Your service, take over, and run my life the way you want.

 

Please bring to maturity the Fruit of Your Holy Spirit in my life.  I want fullness of love, joy and peace, and the rest of the fruit, not just for my blessing, but so that I may radiate Your presence before others, all to Your glory. Please use any of the gifts of Your Holy Spirit through me for the blessing of others.  Give me the faith I will need to step out in these gifts.  Direct me in learning about these gifts, so I will be better prepared.  I want to live the adventure of the supernatural life, serving you.  I pledge, right now, that I will obey Your "nudges", trusting You to go before me to prepare the way for the ministry you want me to do. Thank You for the privilege of serving You in this way.  Thank You for baptizing me with Your Holy Spirit".

 

May you walk in the blessing of the fullness of God's Holy Spirit, all the days of your life.

 

Dick Robinson

 

October, 2000

 

 

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