Baptism of the Holy Spirit

​The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is one of the most misunderstood subjects of the Bible in the church today. The enemy understandably attempts to influence our understanding of this the most because of its effectiveness in the believer’s walk. The Body of Christ around the world is split on the matter because of this. Therefore, we will provide you with the Scripture and you can accept or reject for yourself what the Word of God plainly says. Spirit-baptism is a promise from the glorified Christ and is commanded for all believers who are looking to experience new levels of clarity and spiritual maturity in their walk with the Lord.

Acts 1:4-8  —  And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

As we are endued with power from on high, we are set free from the power of sin and equipped with supernatural gifts that enable us to do greater works than Jesus did while he was on earth.

So now that we agree that Spirit-baptism is for every believer, you may ask how you can obtain it. Firstly, we must establish that Spirit-baptism is a separate act from salvation. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can experience salvation. Samaria had accepted Jesus as Lord at the preaching of Phillip and were saved, sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:12  —  But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Once they received salvation, it was vitally important to the apostles and to Christ that they then receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Peter and John had to take a three day journey on foot to reach the Christians in Samaria. Do you see how important it was to the early church? This tells us that the Spirit-baptism is a separate act from salvation and is vitally important.

Acts 8:14  —  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Without the Holy Spirit, no one can experience salvation, and without salvation no one can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Salvation speaks to position, Spirit-baptism speaks to the empowerment of that position, and both are the work of the Holy Spirit.

The same thing happened when Paul encountered some believers in Ephesus.

Acts 19:1-2 —  And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 

Once Paul knew they were professed Christians, he knew that it was important that they received the power from on high.

Acts 19:6-7  —  And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.  There were about twelve men in all.

John the Baptist preached of the importance of the Holy Spirit baptism before Christ had even started His ministry.

Matthew 3:11  —  “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Mark 1:8  —  “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke 3:16  —  John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John 1:32-33  —  And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

We must understand that it is a commandment of Jesus that all believers be baptized in the Holy Spirit for the works ahead.

Acts 1:4-5  —  And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

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Water Baptism by Immersion

The Greek translation of baptism is never to sprinkle or to pour. There is  no example in any Greek literature through the ages to suggest that the word has lost its original meaning. There’s no instance where it means a partial application of water by sprinkling or pouring, only to submerge or immerse. The passages in the New Testament speak of immersion by baptizing “in the Jordan” and “in the river Jordan”.

Matthew 3:6  —  And they were baptized in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mark 1:10  —  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Acts 8:38-39  —  And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

John 3:23  —  John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized

Jesus went down into the river and “came up out of the water”. Phillip and the eunuch “went down both into the water” and came “up out of the water”. John baptized in a specific place because it had “plentiful water” and was sufficient for immersion.

Since Jesus taught and was baptized by immersion, and the practice of early church was immersion, no modern church or teaching has the right to change or modify the New Testament commands or to change the Greek meaning of baptidzo.

All arguments that suggest that immersion is impractical, dangerous to specific health conditions, indecent, and inconvenient are dangerous and contradictory to God’s Word. God doesn’t bless other modes of baptism simply because we think there might be a better way. God’s way is the only way and anything short is disobedience. Some use scriptures from Isaiah 52, Ezekiel 29, and Hebrews 10 to suggest sprinkling is a means of baptism. The problem is none of these are referring to water. The passage in Isaiah refers to the leaping for joy and rejoicing when the nations come to know Christ. The passages in Ezekiel and Hebrews are referring to the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. There is never any mention of sprinkling water in the New Testament.

There is also no support for infant-baptism in any of the Scriptures. No where can you find a command for infants to be baptized until they become responsible free-moral agents and turn to God and have their sins remitted as in the case for adults. There’s no Scripture that even implies such a practice. Salvation is a very personal experience, and children must become old enough to accept it before they can publicly declare before God and others that they accept Christ’s lordship. Children until becoming accountable, even if their parents are saved or unsaved, will be taken to Heaven if they die.

Matthew 18:1-10; 19:14  —  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

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God’s word demands faith and repentance as necessary before baptism and no child can do this until they are old enough to understand sin and what must be done to receive salvation. Infant baptism became prominent when churches began to teach baptism and other physical practices were necessary to save the soul and remit sins.

Baptism is an outward symbol of the inward spiritual work of cleansing the soul from sin by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. If we argue that baptism was necessary for salvation, then honestly ask yourself why it was necessary that Jesus be baptized? Why were the sins of Cornelius and his house, Paul, and others remitted without and before their baptism in water? How did those in the Old Testament days, those in the days that Christ was on earth, the thief of the cross, and many others have to be baptized to receive salvation? How could the disciples of John whose sins were remitted have the same sins remitted again by the disciples of Christ when they were rebaptized? Did John violate God’s law by baptizing Christ to remit the sins he had not committed? Don’t be deceived as there are many who teach this, but there is no Scripture to support it.

Going forward

Anytime Jesus called for people to follow Him, He did so publicly. It’s vitally important that we outwardly express and testify to the salvation we have experienced. God has set you right with Him, opening you up to a close and intimate relationship with Him. Everything in your life must show others that He is Lord and Master of your life. Your works in life will express whom you serve. No matter how hard you try, you cannot fake good spiritual fruit. The first step to living in obedience to God after salvation is to be baptized in water and to declare to the world that you serve Jesus Christ!

As you continually learn to live a holy life, God’s Word tells us that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of the people around us so they will hear the life words we speak to them. We willingly abandon our responsibility as redeemed man if we don’t carry out this incredibly important work.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” The deeper we study and the more time we spend building our relationship with Him, the more that flame will spread in our spirits until it can no longer be contained inside us. This is when the power to witness by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is manifested. Jesus said in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” You will become a wildfire of wisdom and discipling those around you will come naturally.

The mission of Convergent City Church, along with the worldwide Body of Christ, is to equip our people for the spreading of this knowledge, which has the power to rip the chains of sin and death off the people around us and igniting that same flame in them!