How Spirit Baptism is Received
The history of the Day of Pentecost dates back to 1500 BC when God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai. Fire appeared to symbolize God’s presence. On the Day of Pentecost in Acts, God made His presence known through the fire and gave us the Holy Spirit. The difference between Sinai and Acts was that His presence would now be permanent under the New Covenant. Jesus said that He would never leave us nor forsake us and He fulfilled His Word by sending the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, the fire separated and hovered above the head of each believer present. The Holy Spirit gave tongues as a manifestation of His indwelling. These tongues were as diverse as the separation of the flames and, like the Holy Spirit, were permanently given.
According to Acts 1:14-15 about 120 believing Jewish people (men, women and children) waited in Jerusalem. Among them were the 12 apostles, including Matthias who replaced Judas. According to Acts 2:1-4 these were the first believers to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a result, 3,000 people became new followers of Jesus. The disciples did not know that the crowd of international Jews could understand what they were speaking; all they knew was that they were praying in the Spirit. They were not even preaching. If they were preaching they would have gone to where the crowd was eating, drinking, and celebrating the Feast of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit came with fire and the sound of a whirlwind. These believing Jews were worshiping in their native tongue (their intellect) and then began praying in the Spirit. The unbelieving Jews heard the whirlwind, saw the fire and knew God was present. When they went to the nearby house where the disciples were praying, they saw and heard believers worshiping in the Spirit, and heard the Gospel in their own languages. This was corporate tongues offered up to God.
According to Acts 2:5-13, cynics accused the disciples of drunkenness. This is when the preaching began. Peter, responding to the charge of drunkenness, preached in Acts 2:14-18 that this was what Joel prophesied (Joel 2:28-29). Many Jews who then believed asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said to them in Acts 2:38-39 that if they repented, they too would receive the Holy Spirit, as promised to all their descendants. In other words, Peter showed that salvation was the prerequisite for receiving the Holy Spirit and that this gift was expected to be manifested by speaking in tongues.
The Jews received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 33 A.D. through the divine sovereign will of God.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in Samaria
Acts 8:4 tells us that Philip the evangelist was led by God to preach salvation to the Samaritans and perform miraculous signs. God delivered these Samaritans of evil spirits and healed numerous paralytics and crippled individuals. Consequently, many Samaritans were saved and baptized in water. We know that the Samaritans technically received the Holy Spirit simply because they were saved. Romans 8:9 says that if people belong to Christ then they have the Holy Spirit. Luke challenges us with his terminology when he says that the Holy Spirit had not come upon them. The problem was that the Samaritans did not manifest the Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues at that moment.
In Acts 8:14-20 Luke said: “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they came down, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for still He had come on none of them. They were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power, that whomever I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.’ Peter said to him, ‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could purchase the gift of God with money!’” (MEV).
The problem was resolved when Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans to manifest the Holy Spirit. They left, satisfied, because manifestations occurred. Most assuredly, these included speaking in tongues. Through the laying on of hands the Samaritans confirmed the baptism in the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues activates spiritual power and gifts of the Spirit, including the miraculous. The Samaritans received the baptism in the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands in approximately 39 A.D.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in Caesarea
Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was a God-fearing Gentile who lived in Caesarea. He was not saved, according to Acts 10. At this time Peter was in Joppa. At 3:00 p.m., Cornelius had a vision in which an angel of God told him to send men to Joppa to bring Peter back to his house in Caesarea. The very next day Cornelius’ servants approached the house in Joppa where Peter was staying.
As Cornelius’ servants approach the house, Peter was given a vision that prepared him to receive the Gentiles. In the vision he saw a sheet coming down from above, held by its four corners. On this sheet were all kinds of animals, which were not kosher. As the vision continued Peter heard the voice of God saying to kill and eat these animals. Peter was an orthodox Jew and refused to disobey the Law of Moses. Peter eventually realized that this vision was from God and that he could accept Gentiles and associate with them. As soon as the vision was over, the Gentile men arrived and Peter went with them. Peter took with him fellow believing Jews as witnesses and character references since other Jews would not otherwise know why Peter broke the Mosaic Law.
Peter went into Cornelius’ house, filled with Gentiles, and began preaching the Gospel. He preached how Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, died for their sins, but was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven. Acts 10:44-47 says: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. All the believers of the circumcision who had come with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter continued, ‘Can anyone forbid water for baptizing these, who have received the Holy Spirit as we have?’” (MEV). The method of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit was through the sovereign will of God and occurred in 41 A.D.
Rumors of this event spread to the church in Jerusalem. Jewish believers and elders were concerned about Peter’s reputation since he broke Moses’ Law. Peter took his witnesses with him to Jerusalem to explain to the Jewish elders that God gave him a vision in which he must accept the Gentiles. He said in Acts 11:15-18: “‘As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as He fell on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, “John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?’ When they heard these things, they were silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life’” (MEV).
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in Ephesus
Acts 19:1-7 provides the last text on the method in which believers in the New Testament received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The text says: “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and said to them, ‘Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?’ They said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ He said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all” (MEV).
This event most closely resembles that of the Samaritans in Acts 8, in the methodology in which believers received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The method in common is the laying on of hands. The disposition of these Jewish men was that they knew very little about Jesus. They were not saved. They were disciples of John the Baptist as were many Jews throughout the Roman Empire. Their spiritual experience was that they were penitent men, as illustrated by receiving the ritual Jewish baptism, as administered by John the Baptist. Jewish baptism symbolized repentance from sin. Followers of Jesus Christ were also to receive Jewish baptism, but in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, demonstrating their salvation experience. They did not know about the Holy Spirit. So, Paul taught them what Jesus Christ did for them through his life, crucifixion, resurrection, and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, these Ephesians were saved, received the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues, and prophesied. They received the baptism in the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands in 54 A.D.
The Bible shows that for many years after the Day of Pentecost believers were to continue to speak in tongues, attesting to its continuance. Since the dispensation of the Holy Spirit was ushered in with speaking in tongues, we can understand why speaking in tongues is for all believers today.
It is interesting to observe that in Acts 2 the believers received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, simultaneously. In Acts 8, the Samaritans 1) spoke in tongues and were saved simultaneously, and then 2) were baptized in water. In Acts 19 the Ephesian men 1) were saved, 2) received Christian water baptism, and then 3) spoke in tongues like the Samaritans.
We can learn from these examples that God is not limited in how he operates. It is not our place to tell God how He must work. It is our duty to pray with believers to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God.
(Scripture taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)
An earlier version of this article appeared in The Pentecostal Messenger. Used with permission.
