Congratulations are in order to Rev. Jerome M. Julien on the recent publication of a series of his sermons on the Biblical teaching of the work of Holy Spirit in a volume entitled The Deep Work of the Spirit. THE OUTLOOK appreciates permission to reprint one of these sermons on the very timely matter, “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Julien is pastor of Faith Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free ; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.” – I Corinthians 12:13
In a recent issue of The Messenger (October, 1971) a publication of the Federation of Men’s Societies of the Christian Reformed Church, there appeared two articles on the general theme of Neo-Pentecostalism.
The second article brings us great concern. Written by the Rev. Daniel Bos, the subtitle is; “Are You Afraid of Pentecost?” – In the article he points out that the church is negative with prejudice toward this movement. Actually, he contends, we are just afraid of the work of the Holy Spirit. He writes, “It is my opinion that this widespread, Neo-Pentecostal movement contains much scripturally sound, life-giving truth badly needed by our churches. NeoPentecostalism should he cautiously welcomed and carefully studied (pp. 7, 8).” He goes on to write, “Having the Spirit is one thing—all Christians do; being filled with the Spirit is another—it is available for all Christians. If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have all of you?” (p. 9)
These words sound familiar; they ring with a familiar tone. The very thing that the Hev. Bos is writing in this article is the kind of thing that Pentecostalism and the more recent Neo-Pentecostalism has been preaching and teaching. They believe that there are two different levels of experience. First, you are a Christian and you have the Spirit with you. Then, you are a Christian in a deeper sense. In this deeper sense you are really a Christian. You’re not limping along, you’re not crippled; instead, you’re really alive because you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is the Rev. Bos’ contention that we need to experience baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to have a full Christian life. And to talk against that and to believe that that is not important is to be afraid of Pentecost!
Really, at the heart of Neo-Pentecostalism is the need to experience baptism in the Holy Spirit. For them this is the first step to a marvelous and wonderful “experience.” It marks the step up, spiritually. By our work and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, He permanently, personally and fully dwells in us. And we experience this baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Now, since many of God’s children are truly troubled about the possible need of this kind of experience we ought to carefully examine what God tells us in His Word about Holy Spirit baptism. Very much at the center of this whole teaching is what we read in the text, “for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” Here Paul is writing about baptism in the Holy Spirit in a very different way from the way that the Neo-Pentecostal speaks of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We will see that in a little while. But simply notice this: “for in one Spirit were we all baptized.” This is not an experience kept for only a few. Nor, is it for those who can work their way up the ladder of spiritual work, so to speak, in order to work their way into that deeper and higher and more blessed, as they say, experience of the Holy Spirit.
Because you and I want to know what the Word of God says we want to look at the Holy Scriptures. We want to see what the Bible says about this baptism in the Holy Spirit. When we do, we find that it is:
I. A Biblical Teaching, and
II. A Blessed Teaching
I. Through Paul the Holy Spirit explains His work by saying, “for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.” He is speaking about baptism in the Holy Spirit. This term appears several other places in the New Testament, as well.
But before we really listen to the Scriptures to see what God means, we ought to understand, first of all, how Neo-Pentecostalism has come to understand these words. To the Neo-Pentecostal, baptism in the Holy Spirit is a very important experience; it’s a key term found in all their writings. Read the Articles of Faith produced and published by several of the different Pentecostal bodies and you will find that at the very heart of the Articles of Faith (articles which we might compare in purpose, I suppose, to the Belgic Confession) will be the idea that the people of God must have that second experience. that deeper experience, that baptism in the Holy Spirit. For them, it is an experience that all believers do not have, but should seek. Without it, our faith is weak and limping.
Without it we do not experience the full life in Christ, so they say. For them, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience different from being born again and one which follows rebirth. It is a second experience. Further, this baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience which is often and even usually, though not always, accompanied by speaking in tongues. Other signs and “miracles,” like healings, are also thought to accompany this baptism. For many, this speaking in tongues is quite essential. One Neo-Pentecostal writer, Robert Frost—not the poet—has written, “Praising God in tongues can become a sensitive thermometer for the Spirit-filled Christian.” Another author indicates that tongues is the most valuable experience he ever had. Therefore, they tell us that we ought to go to that second level in order to have a deeper, better and more wonderful experience.
Now, why is this teaching important to the Neo-Pentecostal? It is so important because once he has been baptized in the Spirit, he no longer just has the Holy Spirit with him; now, he has the Holy Spirit in him. For the Neo-Pentecostal this is a wonderful experience. Before baptism in the Holy Spirit the Christian life is drab and without meaning. Now, it is supposed to be different. Now, it is full and vibrant. They say that through this experience they have power to live, power for service and for greater consecration. They say that they have a more vibrant love for Christ and for the lost. Besides, to be at this second level means that the Holy Spirit sheds His gifts into their lives. These gifts are the special gifts. They are the gifts that demonstrate in a powerful way that the Holy Spirit lives in them.
Such is the Neo-Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit. But now, what does the Bible say? We want to know what God tells us in His Holy Word.
There are only a few passages in the Word of God where baptism in the Holy Spirit is mentioned. There are several more passages where the Neo-Pentecostals feel it is being discussed. We want to look at the places where it is mentioned. We find the words, “baptized in the Holy Spirit” in only seven places in the New Testament. Four times we find them in the Gospels; two times we find them in the Book of Acts; once we find them in the Epistles our text.
Each time we find the words “baptized in the Holy Spirit” in the Gospels, they refer to the work of John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Tn Mark 1:8, we read, “I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” The words are always used in the Gospels to speak of the corning of Jesus Christ of which John the Baptist is foretelling.
These words are also used in this way in the Book of Acts. In the Book of Acts these words speak of the application to God’s chosen of the work of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is the very thing which was foretold in the baptism of John. What John had been proclaiming is now a reality.
The last time we find the words “baptized in the Holy Spirit” is in the text that we have before us. In this verse there is one very important word which we cannot overlook: “all.” “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.”
Several times in the Book of Acts we read of the Holy Spirit falling upon others than those who had experienced Him on Pentecost. It is the contention of Neo-Pentecostals and Pentecostals, as well, that these passages also teach that there is a second experience, a deeper experience in the Holy Spirit. For instance, in the eighth chapter of Acts we read of the falling of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans. You can be sure that Neo-Pentecostals make a great deal out of this passage. And they do because we read there that the Holy Spirit fell after they had believed. It is pointed out that this is, by all means, proof that there is a second deeper experience in the Holy Spirit. But why is this account here? This represented the Church’s first step outside of the Jews. To preach to the Samaritans was to take quite a step, since for the Jews the Samaritans were a hated people. And in this significant step in the development of the Church there would be this demonstration. This account of the Samaritans is here so that it would be clear that there is no barrier to the work of the Spirit. The prejudice and hatred that characterized the attitude of the Jews towards the Samaritans did not bind the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the nineteenth chapter of Acts, we find another situation like this. There were some Ephesian disciples whom Paul met. He asked, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed (v. 2)?” Of the Holy Spirit they had not heard though they had been baptized with John’s baptism. They believed in terms of John’s message. Their’s was a belief of hope. Now Paul brings the message of Jesus Christ, and of course, therefore. of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that the Old Testament shadows have passed away, and that now there is salvation. By grace they believe, and the Holy Spirit comes powerfully to demonstrate that no one is really converted apart from the Holy Spirit.
But what is it that we learn from Scripture about baptism in the Holy Spirit? First of all, we learn that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift for every believer, every child of God. For everyone of us who by grace confesses that Jesus Christ is our Lord is the gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” To be a Christian is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
If, as Neo-Pentecostalism says, only those who have a deeper experience are baptized in the Holy Spirit, then we have a problem with what Scripture clearly states. Scripture states: “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” Who are the “. . . we all. . . ?” The Church. And Paul is writing this to the Church at Corinth. Now, of course, this Corinthian Church was made up of a naughty people, a sinful people. Amongst that congregation were those who thought themselves as the spiritual elite because they knew the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds them that they being Christians are all—not just some -baptized in the Holy Spirit. In fact, the implication of this text is even broader. These words are for the whole Christian Church.
How clear this was made in fact. It was shown in actual experience. You remember that on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came powerfully, every last believer was baptized in the Holy Spirit—not one was omitted. When the Holy Spirit came in all of His power to those who had been living in the days of the shadows they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Further, when we read of the disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19) receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, all of them received this baptism.
Further, you notice that with the exception of our text, all other references to baptism in the Holy Spirit have reference to the fulfillment of the words and works of John the Baptist. By his baptism John spoke of the coming Christ. By the water of baptism and by the cry to repentance he spoke of Christ and what Christ had really come to do. Now the baptism in the Holy Spirit has come as a fulfillment of the prophetic words and the works of John the Baptist.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit, in the third place, is the powerful application of the work of Jesus Christ. Whether we are bond or free, Greek or Jew, by the Holy Spirit we are baptized into Christ, that is, we are made to participate in all of the blessings of Jesus Christ. Now this is a blessed thing, as we shall see. It is blessed because through this work of the Holy Spirit we know Jesus.
But before we see that, first we must realize how far away from Scripture Neo-Pentecostalism is, and, also, how dangerous it is. It is not a teaching we can look at and say of it that it is just a little different form of belief. It is dangerous and it’s very far away from the teaching of Scripture. According to the Word of God baptism in the Holy Spirit is the experience of all God’s people. Nco-Pentecostalism says that it is reserved for a very few who can arrive at that second level of experience by climbing tip by the works of his hands. That’s not Biblical! Thc Word of God says that baptism in the Holy Spirit is the participating in Christ’s work through regeneration. When you are baptized in the Spirit you are horn again. That’s what it is. It is not achieved through the yearning for another experience in our life, one different from regeneration.
To view it any other way than regeneration is extremely dangerous because it makes a distinction that Scripture does not make. It makes a distinction in the Body of Christ. However, we read in Galatians 3:28, “There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can he no male and female; for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus.” Scripture does not allow two varieties of Christians—a garden variety and an elite variety.
More, Neo-Pentecostalism adds to Scripture. What does Neo-Pentecostalism add to the Scripture? It adds experience. And Pentecostals even admit this. Only recently I read a statement written by a man who was writing a systematic theology of Pentecostalism. He writes that they admit that there is no distinction in Scripture between these two levels of experience. Yet, he indicates that experience tells us different. Their experience tells them that there arc two varieties of Christians. Alongside of Scripture, experience has taken an equal scat. Why do they do this? They are searching for something more. Apparently they are not satisfied with God’s precious declarations.
II. If God’s children would only stick with Scripture and its implications, it would be so much better. If they would only stick with the Biblical teaching of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how blessed they would find it to be.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit focuses our attention properly on the work of the Holy Spirit. But to sec the work of the Holy Spirit we must see it in relation to the Trinity. In no way can we allow ourselves to divide the work of the Trinity. It’s true that each Person has His specific task. We have learned this in catechism. Cod the Father is the Creator. Christ the Son is the Redeemer. God the Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier. All of this is true. But we may not separate the Trinity. All three Persons must work together. The Father without the Son or the Holy Spirit would be an impossibility. Likewise, the work of creation would be incomplete without redemption and sanctification. And yet in a very practical way the separating of the Holy Spirit from the other two Persons of the Trinity and the separating of sanctification from the other works of God is being done today. We know that it is wrong to separate the Son, Jesus Christ, from the Trinity, singling Him out as most important. But it is equally erroneous to make the Holy Spirit stand out. Yet, Neo-Pentecostalism does that very thing! Someone has said, “However indignantly Pentecostals would repudiate the charge, their separation between the Church’s experience of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit entails them in the gravest heresy, and it should not for a moment be countenanced by the churches.” Yet, the Reverend Mr. Bos, a minister in our own denomination, indicates that Neo-Pentecostalism has much that is Scripturally sound!
The Holy Spirit is “Another Comforter.” He is one of the same substance with the Son and the Father, and His work only makes sense in relation to Christ.
Why is this work of the Holy Spirit so important? Well, when we sec it in its proper perspective we realize that the Holy Spirit has come to the Church with a special task. That special task is to apply the work of the risen Christ. That’s why He is here. This is said ever so clearly as we look at the Book of Acts. There we find that the Holy Spirit continues the ministry of Christ. His work is the extension of that work by the application of Christ’s work. Throughout the book we find the Comforter applying powerfully that work of Jesus Christ. All the deeds of the Church (of which we read in the Acts of Apostles) are the fruit and the expression of that ministry of the Spirit. But He never goes beyond the works of Jesus. And of this Jesus tells us clearly in the sixteenth chapter of John. He will come to testify of Me.
To put it in simple terms then, baptism in the Holy Spirit means regeneration to us. It is the initial working of the Holy Spirit. Through it, you and I rejoice because we are alive by the power of the Spirit. Of course, on Pentecost it simply meant the applying of the work of Jesus Christ to the people of God. With the preaching of the sermon on Pentecost many others experienced the Holy Spirit in regeneration and conversion. We read that on that day many were added to the Church. They believed because they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Yet, we do not read that they had the signs that some say accompany the experience of the Holy Spirit. They believed by the grace of God. And so He comes to us today. He comes and when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we have been transported out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. We have come to know the washing of regeneration. We know the preciousness of the blood of Jesus Christ. We know what it is to be united in the death, the burial and the resurrection of the Lord, whom we confess as Savior.
Oh how rich and how full this truth is for the Church of Jesus Christ. When we see it this way the Holy Spirit is in His proper position. Remember what Spurgeon once said: when the Holy Spirit comes, we see Christ, hut the moment that we look for the Holy Spirit, we miss Christ. And how true that is! When He comes, He causes us to know the Lord. Through Him we come to know the unity of Faith. We are one. In First Corinthians 12 is the beautiful picture of the Church as a Body. “We are all baptized into one body.” We are not one body, while those others who have arrived at a deeper exOh how rich and how full this truth is for the Church of Jesus Christ. When we see it this way the Holy Spirit is in His proper position. Remember what Spurgeon once said: when the Holy Spirit comes, we see Christ, hut the moment that we look for the Holy Spirit, we miss Christ. And how true that is! When He comes, He causes us to know the Lord. Through Him we come to know the unity of Faith. We are one. In First Corinthians 12 is the beautiful picture of the Church as a Body. “We are all baptized into one body.” We are not one body, while those others who have arrived at a deeper experience are of another body: We are all baptized into one body and we drink of one Spirit. Neo-Pentecostalism divides this verse into two different experiences. By doing this they rupture the oneness of the Body of Christ. This verse will not allow us to believe in two levels of Christian experience.
Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we know His blessed work as He teaches us Jesus. And this is a comfort, to be sure. He teaches us the Lord. He leads us into all truth. No, this is not to say that He leads us into an absolute truth, but rather that the Holy Spirit is going to make us to see the fulness of salvation as it was prophesied in the Old Testament. And applying this work of Christ, He bears witness with my spirit that all of this was done for me.
But maybe you say that perhaps you ought to look in the direction of Neo-Pentecostalism. Your life seems dead, you say, .. dull. It seems like you are missing something. You look at the Neo-Pentecostals and you say that they seem to have so much. But, congregation, don’t look in that direction; it is not the answer. It’s not the answer because it is not Biblical. It’s not the answer because it is the work of the flesh, and the arm of flesh will fail us! We come to know by the hearing of faith. You see, the answer is in listening to Cod. Listening to God as His Holy Spirit works in our hearts through the Word and Sacraments.
Maybe it doesn’t seem that your Christian life is full. Yet, right now as we talk about what it is to be born again and what it is to know the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you say that you desire to know that more. You see, that is the Holy Spirit working in your hearts. He is teaching you. He is leading you. Respond then by grace, and prayerfully;
Dwell in me, O Blessed Spirit . . .
Comfort Thou and help me onward;
Fill with love this heart of mine.
“For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free ; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.” – I Corinthians 12:13
In a recent issue of The Messenger (October, 1971) a publication of the Federation of Men’s Societies of the Christian Reformed Church, there appeared two articles on the general theme of Neo-Pentecostalism.
The second article brings us great concern. Written by the Rev. Daniel Bos, the subtitle is; “Are You Afraid of Pentecost?” – In the article he points out that the church is negative with prejudice toward this movement. Actually, he contends, we are just afraid of the work of the Holy Spirit. He writes, “It is my opinion that this widespread, Neo-Pentecostal movement contains much scripturally sound, life-giving truth badly needed by our churches. NeoPentecostalism should he cautiously welcomed and carefully studied (pp. 7, 8).” He goes on to write, “Having the Spirit is one thing—all Christians do; being filled with the Spirit is another—it is available for all Christians. If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have all of you?” (p. 9)
These words sound familiar; they ring with a familiar tone. The very thing that the Hev. Bos is writing in this article is the kind of thing that Pentecostalism and the more recent Neo-Pentecostalism has been preaching and teaching. They believe that there are two different levels of experience. First, you are a Christian and you have the Spirit with you. Then, you are a Christian in a deeper sense. In this deeper sense you are really a Christian. You’re not limping along, you’re not crippled; instead, you’re really alive because you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is the Rev. Bos’ contention that we need to experience baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to have a full Christian life. And to talk against that and to believe that that is not important is to be afraid of Pentecost!
Really, at the heart of Neo-Pentecostalism is the need to experience baptism in the Holy Spirit. For them this is the first step to a marvelous and wonderful “experience.” It marks the step up, spiritually. By our work and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, He permanently, personally and fully dwells in us. And we experience this baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Now, since many of God’s children are truly troubled about the possible need of this kind of experience we ought to carefully examine what God tells us in His Word about Holy Spirit baptism. Very much at the center of this whole teaching is what we read in the text, “for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” Here Paul is writing about baptism in the Holy Spirit in a very different way from the way that the Neo-Pentecostal speaks of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We will see that in a little while. But simply notice this: “for in one Spirit were we all baptized.” This is not an experience kept for only a few. Nor, is it for those who can work their way up the ladder of spiritual work, so to speak, in order to work their way into that deeper and higher and more blessed, as they say, experience of the Holy Spirit.
Because you and I want to know what the Word of God says we want to look at the Holy Scriptures. We want to see what the Bible says about this baptism in the Holy Spirit. When we do, we find that it is:
I. A Biblical Teaching, and
II. A Blessed Teaching
I. Through Paul the Holy Spirit explains His work by saying, “for in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.” He is speaking about baptism in the Holy Spirit. This term appears several other places in the New Testament, as well.
But before we really listen to the Scriptures to see what God means, we ought to understand, first of all, how Neo-Pentecostalism has come to understand these words. To the Neo-Pentecostal, baptism in the Holy Spirit is a very important experience; it’s a key term found in all their writings. Read the Articles of Faith produced and published by several of the different Pentecostal bodies and you will find that at the very heart of the Articles of Faith (articles which we might compare in purpose, I suppose, to the Belgic Confession) will be the idea that the people of God must have that second experience. that deeper experience, that baptism in the Holy Spirit. For them, it is an experience that all believers do not have, but should seek. Without it, our faith is weak and limping.
Without it we do not experience the full life in Christ, so they say. For them, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience different from being born again and one which follows rebirth. It is a second experience. Further, this baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience which is often and even usually, though not always, accompanied by speaking in tongues. Other signs and “miracles,” like healings, are also thought to accompany this baptism. For many, this speaking in tongues is quite essential. One Neo-Pentecostal writer, Robert Frost—not the poet—has written, “Praising God in tongues can become a sensitive thermometer for the Spirit-filled Christian.” Another author indicates that tongues is the most valuable experience he ever had. Therefore, they tell us that we ought to go to that second level in order to have a deeper, better and more wonderful experience.
Now, why is this teaching important to the Neo-Pentecostal? It is so important because once he has been baptized in the Spirit, he no longer just has the Holy Spirit with him; now, he has the Holy Spirit in him. For the Neo-Pentecostal this is a wonderful experience. Before baptism in the Holy Spirit the Christian life is drab and without meaning. Now, it is supposed to be different. Now, it is full and vibrant. They say that through this experience they have power to live, power for service and for greater consecration. They say that they have a more vibrant love for Christ and for the lost. Besides, to be at this second level means that the Holy Spirit sheds His gifts into their lives. These gifts are the special gifts. They are the gifts that demonstrate in a powerful way that the Holy Spirit lives in them.
Such is the Neo-Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit. But now, what does the Bible say? We want to know what God tells us in His Holy Word.
There are only a few passages in the Word of God where baptism in the Holy Spirit is mentioned. There are several more passages where the Neo-Pentecostals feel it is being discussed. We want to look at the places where it is mentioned. We find the words, “baptized in the Holy Spirit” in only seven places in the New Testament. Four times we find them in the Gospels; two times we find them in the Book of Acts; once we find them in the Epistles our text.
Each time we find the words “baptized in the Holy Spirit” in the Gospels, they refer to the work of John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Tn Mark 1:8, we read, “I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” The words are always used in the Gospels to speak of the corning of Jesus Christ of which John the Baptist is foretelling.
These words are also used in this way in the Book of Acts. In the Book of Acts these words speak of the application to God’s chosen of the work of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is the very thing which was foretold in the baptism of John. What John had been proclaiming is now a reality.
The last time we find the words “baptized in the Holy Spirit” is in the text that we have before us. In this verse there is one very important word which we cannot overlook: “all.” “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.”
Several times in the Book of Acts we read of the Holy Spirit falling upon others than those who had experienced Him on Pentecost. It is the contention of Neo-Pentecostals and Pentecostals, as well, that these passages also teach that there is a second experience, a deeper experience in the Holy Spirit. For instance, in the eighth chapter of Acts we read of the falling of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans. You can be sure that Neo-Pentecostals make a great deal out of this passage. And they do because we read there that the Holy Spirit fell after they had believed. It is pointed out that this is, by all means, proof that there is a second deeper experience in the Holy Spirit. But why is this account here? This represented the Church’s first step outside of the Jews. To preach to the Samaritans was to take quite a step, since for the Jews the Samaritans were a hated people. And in this significant step in the development of the Church there would be this demonstration. This account of the Samaritans is here so that it would be clear that there is no barrier to the work of the Spirit. The prejudice and hatred that characterized the attitude of the Jews towards the Samaritans did not bind the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the nineteenth chapter of Acts, we find another situation like this. There were some Ephesian disciples whom Paul met. He asked, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed (v. 2)?” Of the Holy Spirit they had not heard though they had been baptized with John’s baptism. They believed in terms of John’s message. Their’s was a belief of hope. Now Paul brings the message of Jesus Christ, and of course, therefore. of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that the Old Testament shadows have passed away, and that now there is salvation. By grace they believe, and the Holy Spirit comes powerfully to demonstrate that no one is really converted apart from the Holy Spirit.
But what is it that we learn from Scripture about baptism in the Holy Spirit? First of all, we learn that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift for every believer, every child of God. For everyone of us who by grace confesses that Jesus Christ is our Lord is the gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” To be a Christian is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
If, as Neo-Pentecostalism says, only those who have a deeper experience are baptized in the Holy Spirit, then we have a problem with what Scripture clearly states. Scripture states: “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” Who are the “. . . we all. . . ?” The Church. And Paul is writing this to the Church at Corinth. Now, of course, this Corinthian Church was made up of a naughty people, a sinful people. Amongst that congregation were those who thought themselves as the spiritual elite because they knew the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds them that they being Christians are all—not just some -baptized in the Holy Spirit. In fact, the implication of this text is even broader. These words are for the whole Christian Church.
How clear this was made in fact. It was shown in actual experience. You remember that on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came powerfully, every last believer was baptized in the Holy Spirit—not one was omitted. When the Holy Spirit came in all of His power to those who had been living in the days of the shadows they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Further, when we read of the disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19) receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, all of them received this baptism.
Further, you notice that with the exception of our text, all other references to baptism in the Holy Spirit have reference to the fulfillment of the words and works of John the Baptist. By his baptism John spoke of the coming Christ. By the water of baptism and by the cry to repentance he spoke of Christ and what Christ had really come to do. Now the baptism in the Holy Spirit has come as a fulfillment of the prophetic words and the works of John the Baptist.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit, in the third place, is the powerful application of the work of Jesus Christ. Whether we are bond or free, Greek or Jew, by the Holy Spirit we are baptized into Christ, that is, we are made to participate in all of the blessings of Jesus Christ. Now this is a blessed thing, as we shall see. It is blessed because through this work of the Holy Spirit we know Jesus.
But before we see that, first we must realize how far away from Scripture Neo-Pentecostalism is, and, also, how dangerous it is. It is not a teaching we can look at and say of it that it is just a little different form of belief. It is dangerous and it’s very far away from the teaching of Scripture. According to the Word of God baptism in the Holy Spirit is the experience of all God’s people. Nco-Pentecostalism says that it is reserved for a very few who can arrive at that second level of experience by climbing tip by the works of his hands. That’s not Biblical! Thc Word of God says that baptism in the Holy Spirit is the participating in Christ’s work through regeneration. When you are baptized in the Spirit you are horn again. That’s what it is. It is not achieved through the yearning for another experience in our life, one different from regeneration.
To view it any other way than regeneration is extremely dangerous because it makes a distinction that Scripture does not make. It makes a distinction in the Body of Christ. However, we read in Galatians 3:28, “There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can he no male and female; for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus.” Scripture does not allow two varieties of Christians—a garden variety and an elite variety.
More, Neo-Pentecostalism adds to Scripture. What does Neo-Pentecostalism add to the Scripture? It adds experience. And Pentecostals even admit this. Only recently I read a statement written by a man who was writing a systematic theology of Pentecostalism. He writes that they admit that there is no distinction in Scripture between these two levels of experience. Yet, he indicates that experience tells us different. Their experience tells them that there arc two varieties of Christians. Alongside of Scripture, experience has taken an equal scat. Why do they do this? They are searching for something more. Apparently they are not satisfied with God’s precious declarations.
II. If God’s children would only stick with Scripture and its implications, it would be so much better. If they would only stick with the Biblical teaching of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how blessed they would find it to be.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit focuses our attention properly on the work of the Holy Spirit. But to sec the work of the Holy Spirit we must see it in relation to the Trinity. In no way can we allow ourselves to divide the work of the Trinity. It’s true that each Person has His specific task. We have learned this in catechism. Cod the Father is the Creator. Christ the Son is the Redeemer. God the Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier. All of this is true. But we may not separate the Trinity. All three Persons must work together. The Father without the Son or the Holy Spirit would be an impossibility. Likewise, the work of creation would be incomplete without redemption and sanctification. And yet in a very practical way the separating of the Holy Spirit from the other two Persons of the Trinity and the separating of sanctification from the other works of God is being done today. We know that it is wrong to separate the Son, Jesus Christ, from the Trinity, singling Him out as most important. But it is equally erroneous to make the Holy Spirit stand out. Yet, Neo-Pentecostalism does that very thing! Someone has said, “However indignantly Pentecostals would repudiate the charge, their separation between the Church’s experience of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit entails them in the gravest heresy, and it should not for a moment be countenanced by the churches.” Yet, the Reverend Mr. Bos, a minister in our own denomination, indicates that Neo-Pentecostalism has much that is Scripturally sound!
The Holy Spirit is “Another Comforter.” He is one of the same substance with the Son and the Father, and His work only makes sense in relation to Christ.
Why is this work of the Holy Spirit so important? Well, when we sec it in its proper perspective we realize that the Holy Spirit has come to the Church with a special task. That special task is to apply the work of the risen Christ. That’s why He is here. This is said ever so clearly as we look at the Book of Acts. There we find that the Holy Spirit continues the ministry of Christ. His work is the extension of that work by the application of Christ’s work. Throughout the book we find the Comforter applying powerfully that work of Jesus Christ. All the deeds of the Church (of which we read in the Acts of Apostles) are the fruit and the expression of that ministry of the Spirit. But He never goes beyond the works of Jesus. And of this Jesus tells us clearly in the sixteenth chapter of John. He will come to testify of Me.
To put it in simple terms then, baptism in the Holy Spirit means regeneration to us. It is the initial working of the Holy Spirit. Through it, you and I rejoice because we are alive by the power of the Spirit. Of course, on Pentecost it simply meant the applying of the work of Jesus Christ to the people of God. With the preaching of the sermon on Pentecost many others experienced the Holy Spirit in regeneration and conversion. We read that on that day many were added to the Church. They believed because they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Yet, we do not read that they had the signs that some say accompany the experience of the Holy Spirit. They believed by the grace of God. And so He comes to us today. He comes and when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we have been transported out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. We have come to know the washing of regeneration. We know the preciousness of the blood of Jesus Christ. We know what it is to be united in the death, the burial and the resurrection of the Lord, whom we confess as Savior.
Oh how rich and how full this truth is for the Church of Jesus Christ. When we see it this way the Holy Spirit is in His proper position. Remember what Spurgeon once said: when the Holy Spirit comes, we see Christ, hut the moment that we look for the Holy Spirit, we miss Christ. And how true that is! When He comes, He causes us to know the Lord. Through Him we come to know the unity of Faith. We are one. In First Corinthians 12 is the beautiful picture of the Church as a Body. “We are all baptized into one body.” We are not one body, while those others who have arrived at a deeper exOh how rich and how full this truth is for the Church of Jesus Christ. When we see it this way the Holy Spirit is in His proper position. Remember what Spurgeon once said: when the Holy Spirit comes, we see Christ, hut the moment that we look for the Holy Spirit, we miss Christ. And how true that is! When He comes, He causes us to know the Lord. Through Him we come to know the unity of Faith. We are one. In First Corinthians 12 is the beautiful picture of the Church as a Body. “We are all baptized into one body.” We are not one body, while those others who have arrived at a deeper experience are of another body: We are all baptized into one body and we drink of one Spirit. Neo-Pentecostalism divides this verse into two different experiences. By doing this they rupture the oneness of the Body of Christ. This verse will not allow us to believe in two levels of Christian experience.
Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we know His blessed work as He teaches us Jesus. And this is a comfort, to be sure. He teaches us the Lord. He leads us into all truth. No, this is not to say that He leads us into an absolute truth, but rather that the Holy Spirit is going to make us to see the fulness of salvation as it was prophesied in the Old Testament. And applying this work of Christ, He bears witness with my spirit that all of this was done for me.
But maybe you say that perhaps you ought to look in the direction of Neo-Pentecostalism. Your life seems dead, you say, .. dull. It seems like you are missing something. You look at the Neo-Pentecostals and you say that they seem to have so much. But, congregation, don’t look in that direction; it is not the answer. It’s not the answer because it is not Biblical. It’s not the answer because it is the work of the flesh, and the arm of flesh will fail us! We come to know by the hearing of faith. You see, the answer is in listening to Cod. Listening to God as His Holy Spirit works in our hearts through the Word and Sacraments.
Maybe it doesn’t seem that your Christian life is full. Yet, right now as we talk about what it is to be born again and what it is to know the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you say that you desire to know that more. You see, that is the Holy Spirit working in your hearts. He is teaching you. He is leading you. Respond then by grace, and prayerfully;
Dwell in me, O Blessed Spirit . . .
Comfort Thou and help me onward;
Fill with love this heart of mine.