There are two instances in the Bible of
Holy Spirit baptism. Once for the Jews on the day of Pentecost,
Acts 2.
Once the Holy Spirit fell upon those assembled, Peter started preaching in verse
14. The arrival of the Holy Ghost came before anybody started preaching.
This is significant in that there was no way anybody could have had anything to
believe prior to anything being said. Those in the denominational world
teach that at the moment of our belief in Jesus, we are baptized by the Holy
Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit with the Jews on the day of
Pentecost happened prior to any spoken word whatsoever.
Peter was chosen to usher the gospel to
the gentiles with the conversion of Cornelius. The Holy Spirit fell on
those present exactly the same way it did with the Jews on the day of Pentecost,
(Acts 10).
After this event, Peter was rehearsing the event to his brethren as recorded in
Acts 11.
In Acts
11:15, we see Peter saying, "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost
fell on them, as on us at the beginning." Once again, the baptism of the
Holy Spirit happened before Peter had a chance to say anything. There had
not been anything said to "believe in" prior to this event, exactly as it
happened on the day of Pentecost.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit only
happened twice and in both instances, it occurred before any preaching had been
done. In both instances this baptism preceded any belief or obedience, (Acts
5:32). This is in
stark contrast with denominational teaching today which states that baptism of
the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment one believes. Additionally, in both
instances of Holy Spirit baptism, it happened to a group of people with plenty
of witnesses and was accompanied with miraculous signs and wonders to magnify
God and confirm the truth of what was being taught.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was
something no man had any control over. In both instances it was completely
unexpected. In both instances it was the first thing to happen in the
chain of events leading to the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not something we can administer today. We
are commanded in the great commission to baptize all nations.
Ephesians 4:5 teaches us that there is only one baptism. The only
one left is water, and Peter teaches us in
Acts 2:38
that it is for the remission of sin and later in
1 Peter
3:21 he teaches us that it "doth also now save us".
Baptism in water is the only form of baptism one can obey today.
Paul teaches in
Ephesians 4:5
that there is one baptism. We
know from
Matthew 3:11
that Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit, and later on in
Matthew
28:19 we are commanded by Jesus to baptize all people on earth.
Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit, (Luke
3:16), so that leaves only one choice left. The "one baptism"
of scripture must therefore be the baptism of the Great Commission.
The
church of Christ
