Question: What is the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” about?
Question: What is the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” about?
Bill Warren responds: Quite a bit of confusion exists among Christians about this phrase and the reality behind it. As a background, the phrases “baptism in the Holy Spirit” and “baptize in the Holy Spirit” are prominent in the ministry of John the Baptist as an indication of the difference between his water baptism and the power and might of the baptism of the Messiah who will baptize in the very power and presence of God, the Holy Spirit.
In the setting of John, the term “Holy Spirit” was a way to refer to God’s Spirit (already well accepted as God’s powerful presence in this world as seen in the Old Testament) without using the name of God, thus the idea of “the Spirit of the Holy One” was the same as saying “God’s Spirit” for John the Baptist (John does not know of crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus nor the Trinity, so we need to keep his statements in their proper historical context prior to these events and concepts).
The problem John has to confront, however, is that people could be baptized in water without truly repenting of their sins and changing their way of life.
This can be seen in Matthew 3:5-12 where John the Baptist is preaching repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, with water baptism marking this repentance as a symbol of cleansing and purification (those coming are Jews, so the emphasis is on the cleansing part of baptism as practices among Jews, not what we call “proselyte” baptism that took place when a non-Jew wanted to convert to Judaism). But John is reluctant to believe that the Pharisees and Sadducees who are coming to him are really sincere in their claims of repentance, so he demands that they “produce fruit worthy of (that demonstrate) repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
An insincere or “false” repentance could be professed that might fool John, so John wants proof of true repentance before he will baptize these Jewish leaders. John then goes on to proclaim that although he might get fooled at times due to only baptizing in water, no one will get by without true repentance when the Messiah comes, for the Messiah will baptize in something much more powerful than water, namely the Spirit of the Holy One and fire. True repentance is the only type that has any validity before God, and no one will fool Jesus with a false repentance since by baptizing in the Spirit and in fire, he will go to the core of our being and see what is really in our heart, be it sincere repentance or not!
Other references in the New Testament to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit all assume this setting in the ministry of John the Baptist as their background, in the sense that what is mentioned is the fulfillment of what John talked about.
In light of this, Peter in Acts 2:38 calls for those who want to respond on the day of Pentecost to “repent, be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
True sincere repentance before God with a commitment to a faithful following of Jesus as God’s Messiah as evidenced by water baptism (a public confession of this commitment) brings God’s forgiveness and stamp of acceptance on the repentance by way of receiving God’s own powerful presence in one’s life, the Holy Spirit.
The vital link is between sincere repentance and God’s approval of that repentance as sincere and acceptable to Him. God’s shows His approval of our repentance by giving us the gift of His own presence in our lives, the Holy Spirit, thereby baptizing us in the Holy Spirit.
This event of being baptized in the Holy Spirit happens at conversion, or else conversion has not actually happened. Indeed, there is no conversion without true repentance, and without true repentance, there is no baptism in the Holy Spirit because God will not validate false or insincere repentance.
On the other hand, there may be in the life of the Christian a need for being “full” of the Holy Spirit due to being called to a special task or to pass through a difficult circumstance, but that is a separate topic for another forum.