Spiritual Baptism: The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
By David Cox
[pent02] v1 ©2005 www.coxtracts.com
This tract can be freely photocopied and reprinted
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When? What is it? Who does it? Requirements? The Earnest, It is not speaking in Tongues.
. Contents
The Spirit in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon and left individuals. Samson (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14), Saul (1 Sam 10:6, 10), Ezekiel (Eze. 11:5) all had the Holy Spirit come upon them to fill them for a service to God. Few believers had the Holy Spirit “in” them (Eze. 2:2; 3:24) even though King David had the Spirit always in him (1 Sam 16:13). Even so David felt that God had cut fellowship with him when David walked in sin. Psalm 51.11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Also, the Spirit of God is that which fights against sin within man. Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed (angered) his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. Genesis 6:3 And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh… (Acts 7:51).
The principal work of the Holy Spirit is to cause holiness in things, especially within the redeemed, and this means to fight against sin and sins.
In the Old Testament God used special men to do his work. God expressed through Moses the future, “And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” Numbers 11:29. This took shape in the following passages.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezekiel 37:13-14 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,…
Joel 2:28-29 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
So then the Holy Spirit will cause people to obey God and not sin. But the promised coming of the Holy Spirit was something different than what was happening in the Old Testament, in that it instigated obedience to God’s will in the people so that they would understand it and walk in it.
When did the Holy Spirit Come?
This new thing was to take place after to the death of Jesus. According to Ezekiel 37:13 it is related to a resurrection of the saints. Matthew 27:52-53 tells us that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God opened the graves and the OT saints walked upon the earth again.
In the New Testament God affirms this coming of the Spirit. In John 14:26, Jesus promised in the future that the Spirit will teach us all things. In John 7:39, the condition for this coming in this special way is the ascension of Jesus to the Father, and from there the Father will send the Spirit to us.
What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
At the root of the word “baptize” is the concept of dying cloth, or in other words, bonding a colorant to the cloth so that it is permanent. This is by saturation, or through the means of immersion. But the idea is in order to prepare the cloth for use, and this is the same preparation for use that God does to the believer in his spiritual baptism. This union is spiritual, man with God in him. Moreover, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not speaking in tongues, but is this sanctification by God so that we can be used in God’s ministry.
Who baptized us in the Spirit?
Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Jesus, through believing and accepting him, is who baptizes us in the Holy Ghost according to Mark 1:8, Mat 3:11; Luke 3:16; and John 1:33.
What is the requirement for this baptism?
John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
We see that the requirement for the Spirit baptism is saving faith. Also we see that we received (past tense) the Holy Spirit (baptism in the Holy Spirit, spiritual union with God, incorporation into the body of Christ) at the moment of salvation, in other words, in the same manner as we were saved, by faith in Jesus Christ.
What is the indwelling of the Spirit?
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Paul asked if they were really saved, and for Paul this is the same as having the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit in the moment of our salvation to indwell permanently in our body. This happens in the moment of salvation, and with confidence Paul could proclaim, if anybody does not have the Holy Spirit, that person has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. In other words, that person who does not have the Holy Spirit is not yet saved. James 4:4; Gal. 3:26-28; Col 2:9-13; Rom 6:3-14.
God has sealed us with a deposit, (the earnest) of His Holy Spirit
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The earnest is a form of showing good faith in a contract between two people, when one gives a ring as a promise to his intended bride before actually marrying her. God has promised us salvation when we have faith in Jesus Christ, but our actual redemption from sin and its consequence is still future. Until God actually completes this redemption (on judgment day) of our souls, God has given us a deposit (the earnest of the Holy Spirit) that is a show of good faith, and that he surely is fulfilling his promise to us.
Wrong understandings
This deposit of the Holy Spirit is actually God indwelling in our physical bodies. The only always faithful manifestation of this indwelling has to do with his purpose, which is cleansing us from sin. So then those that have the Spirit of God, and those that allow God to control their lives will always cease from sinning, and will be obedient to the will of God.
Speaking in tongues doesn’t have to do with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but with the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Filling is something that has to do with our submission to God after being saved, and our allowing God more control in our lives. The faithful mark of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us is not speaking in unknown tongues (a sign to Israel), but our testimony to the salvation of God (that we give witness for God) of our Savior and his Gospel.
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