Question: In your book Knowing the Bible 101, you say that Spirit baptism is the way God brings you into the body of Christ (that is, the church), and that you don’t have to ask for it. If this is the case, then how do you explain that Jesus instructed the apostles “to wait for the gift my Father promised” (Acts 1:5), and when the gift arrived (Acts 2:2-4), they were filled with the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues? I personally, along with many other believers, see the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a separate experience and much to be desired. What is your insight on this?
Answer: Great question! We will do our best to give you an answer and to provide some background on the issue. The reason the apostles had to “wait” was that the Holy Spirit had not yet come. Once the Holy Spirit came (in Acts 2), He stayed for good. We don’t have to ask the Holy Spirit to come to us, because the Holy Spirit is the one who baptizes us into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).
With regard to the Holy Spirit, we are never commanded to be baptized in or with the Holy Spirit because it is the way we are saved. What we are commanded to do is to be “filled” with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Study that verse. We are commanded to not get drunk with wine, but to be controlled (or filled) with the Holy Spirit. It’s a willful act on our part to give our lives to the Holy Spirit’s control every moment.
As for speaking in tongues, yes the Holy Spirit’s coming to the apostles was accompanied by speaking in tongues. However, if you read the passage carefully, you will see that the “tongues” were in the known languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem. Each one could hear the Gospel message in their own language. The Holy Spirit came as a powerful sign that Jesus was among them, and it served to bring 3,000 people into God’s Kingdom on that day.
Now, there is a type of speaking in tongues that is a prayer language. Paul talks about that. We know many people who speak in tongues as a prayer language, but none of them believe that speaking in tongues is a requirement for salvation. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul speaks of tongues as a lesser gift.
Don’t make speaking in tongues the central issue of your faith. You are saved by faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). There’s nothing you can do to add to your salvation. When you receive Christ, you are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Speaking in tongues and receiving a “second blessing” of the Holy Spirit is entirely appropriate, and it can be a wonderful thing. But don’t be teaching people that they have to seek for the Holy Spirit’s baptism in order to be saved. That will foster confusion. The Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion, as you know.
Please hear us. We are completely in favor of speaking in tongues, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a spiritual gift, not a spiritual fruit. Everyone should demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 6), but not everyone has the same gifts.
Actually, the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is an essential part of New Testament salvation(Acts 2:38). It is the Spirit birth that Jesus mentioned to Nicodemus, without which NO ONE would see or enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). Everyone, according to Jesus, will speak in new tongues after they are filled with the Holy Spirit; it is one of the supernatural signs of true Christian believers (Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4, 10:46, 19:6). There is a distinction in purpose between the evidential tongues and the gift of tongues which requires interpretation. All Spirit-filled believers will speak in tongues when they receive the Spirit but not everyone will exercise the gift of tongues. No one can live a holy, righteous life without the Holy Spirit’s power; therefore, the Holy Spirit baptism with the initial sign of speaking in tongues is NOT an optional experience for believers (Acts 1:8; Rom 8:4,9,13; Gal 5:16; Heb 12:14).
The baptism of the holy spirit comes as sone as a repent and gives his life to jesus christ . which is comfirned when it is seen in the bible that our spirit and the spirit of God bears witness if we are the son of God so as soon as a man accepts christ the witness starts and when that person acknowledge the holy spirit in his or her life so the gift and the friuts of the holy spirit start to be made manifest in his or her life. so the knowledge of the holy spirit makes a man to be filled by the spirit.
I agree and disagree with bits and pieces from both the article and from the replies. Baptism with holy spirit is the new birth, it is salvation; Jesus Christ describe what the disciples experienced on Pentecost as being baptized with holy spirit. Speaking in tongues is neither a fruit nor a gift, it is a manifestation of the holy spirit born in every born-again believer. If someone gives you a swiss army knife, it is one gift with many uses. Each “blade” has a different use and when you use that “blade” you are manifesting that gift. The holy spirit is the one gift and speaking in tongues is just a manifestationn of that gift. Speaking in tongues is NOT a requirement for salvation. It is a manifestation of the gift of holy spirit that is given to all that are saved. In other words, it is not required to be saved, but it is possible for all who are saved.
The “speaking in tongues” that took place on Pentecost is no different from the speaking in tongues that each and every believer can do. The miracle that God performed was not the “speaking in tongues” itself, but that the “tongue” He gave was understandable to people who were present. When Peter preached to Cornielius, he didn’t speak in tongues, but when Cornielius’ household heard the Word of God, they were “baptized in the holy spirit” and they spoke in tongues.
A careful reading of 1 Cor 12 - 14 shows that God wants us to speak in tongues. Why? Because it builds us up. We do many things to edify our spiritual lives - we pray with our understanding, we read and study scripture, we fellowship with other believers. Speaking in tongues by itself is for the private prayer life. The Word tells us to pray always. It is done privately and corporately. Private prayer is no less necessary than corporate prayer. We do not speak of private prayer as a “lesser” form of prayer. Likewise, speaking in tongues is NOT a “lesser gift” (not a gift, but a manifestation and still not lesser), it is a single aspect of our relationship with God and Christ. It is neither lesser nor greater than any other aspect of our relationship. The clear meaning of 1 Cor 12 - 14 is that when we fellowship with other believers, we leave behind ourselves and seek to bless and build up the Church. Since speaking in tongues (by itself) only edifies the person speaking then we are not edifying the Church. However, when we add interpretation to speaking in tongues then we are edifying the Church. Within the corporate setting we should always seek to edify the Body, it is the Christian thing to do.