Q: If to be baptized with
the Holy Spirit is to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4), and all
Christians are to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), does that mean Holy
Spirit baptism is for all Christians?
While all Christians
should “be filled with the knowledge of his will” (Col. 1:9), there are still
different levels or degrees of knowledge (1 Cor. 8:2; 13:9-12; 2 Pet. 3:18). Likewise,
there were different degrees or manifestations of the Spirit. The apostles were
“baptized” with the Spirit and were thus filled with the Spirit. Others had the
apostles’ hands laid on them and received a miraculous measure of the Spirit
(Acts 8:17-19) but were still not able to do everything the apostles did (cf. 2
Cor. 12:12). Finally, everyone who obeys the gospel receives an indwelling of
the Spirit (Acts 2:38; 5:32; 1 Cor. 6:19), but nowhere in scripture is this
ever called “the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
One can be “filled with
the Spirit” in a non-miraculous way. John the baptist, for example, was “filled
with the Spirit” from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15), yet he performed no
miraculous sign (John 10:41). Letting the Bible interpret itself, we learn that
to “be filled with the Spirit” involves understanding the Lord’s will (Eph.
5:17-19), and in a parallel passage we see that it means the same as: “Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16), i.e. “be filled
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col.
1:9). The word of God is “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). Whether one is
filled with the Spirit indirectly through the inspired word and/or directly as
a seal and a guarantee (Eph. 1:13-14), this is much different than what the
apostles received on the Day of Pentecost. Furthermore, Holy Spirit baptism was
a specific promise for a special purpose for particular individuals (cf. Acts
1:1-8), whereas the statement in Eph. 5:18 is a command for all Christians.
Promises are fulfilled; commands are obeyed.
Q: Is Paul talking about
Holy Spirit baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:13: “For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body . . . and have all been made to drink into one Spirit”?
When examining any
passage of scripture, it is important to consider who is speaking and who is
being addressed. Paul is writing to the first-century church at Corinth
(1:1-2). How had they entered the one body? Acts 18:8 says: “And many of the
Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” This included Crispus, Gaius
and Stephanas’ household, whom Paul had baptized personally (1 Cor. 1:14, 16).
This was the same baptism spoken of consistently throughout the book of Acts.
Those who were baptized at Pentecost were added to the one body–the church
(Acts 2:41, 47; cf. Col. 1:18). This baptism required water and was
administered by people (Acts 8:36-39; 10:47-48). Holy Spirit baptism, on the
other hand, was administered directly by the Lord (Matt. 3:11).
The teaching about
baptism came by or through the Spirit and was eventually recorded in the
Spirit-inspired word (Eph. 3:3-5; 6:17), which affirms that now there is only
“one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). In addition to being baptized in water, these early
Christians at Corinth had received spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:1 ff.), which
would have come through the laying on of an apostle’s hands (cf. Acts 8:17-19;
Rom. 1:11). In the absence of the completed written word at that time, these
gifts were necessary to reveal and confirm God’s message to an infant church.
The first-century Christians at Corinth had been immersed in water according to
the Spirit’s instructions, and were also empowered with miraculous gifts of the
Spirit until God’s revelation was perfected (1 Cor. 13:8-13).
--Kevin L. Moore
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