The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark given in the Bible to delineate Christian from non-Christian (Acts 19; 1-5; Romans. 8:9; Ephesians. 1: 13,14).

Acts 2: 38 teaches that the Spirit of God was given to the believer at the point of water baptism.

This reality was spoken of in the Bible by the use of several phrases which were synonymous:

1) to be “baptized in the Spirit,”
2) to have the “Spirit poured out,”
3) to receive the “promise of the Spirit,”
4) “the gift of the Spirit,” and
5) to have the “Spirit come upon you.”

These are all different ways of describing the same thing, the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within and establish a person as a Child of God.

Thus, every person who is a Christian has been “baptized in the Holy Spirit” and has received “the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.” As 1 Corinthians says, “for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12: 13).

The following passages refer to one baptism with two parts: the external water and the internal Spirit.

But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not be¬cause of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7)

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:11)

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5)

This causes us to believe that God’s ideal, and normative pattern, is for baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit to occur at the same time. This truth lies behind the Biblical account of the re-baptism of twelve disciples in Acts 19. The apostle Paul traveled through Ephesus and there he met men who had been followers of John the Baptist. Paul asked if they had received the Holy Spirit. When they said that they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit, Paul instantly knew that there was an error in their baptism (Acts 19:1-7):

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

The apostle’s solution to an improper understanding and relationship with the Holy Spirit was a proper belief about Jesus Christ and baptism in his name. To confirm Paul’s teaching and to show that God was now grafting these followers of John the Baptist into Christianity with their baptism, they were also enabled to speak in tongues and prophecy. This passage points to the typical relationship between Spirit and water baptism.

Bruce Terry wrote a very helpful article on this point years ago in the Restoration Quarterly .... http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/1970s/vol_21_no_4_contents/terry.html