Q: You say that Spirit baptism is the way God brings you into the body of Christ or 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” in Acts 1: 5, and when the gift arrived in 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… an added tool. What is your insight on this?

A: The reason the apostles had to wait was that the Holy Spirit had not yet come. Once this 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).

Regarding the Holy Spirit, we are never commanded to be baptized in or with the Holy Spirit because that is how we are saved. What we are commanded to do is to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5: 8). Study that verse. We are commanded to not get drunk with wine, but to be controlled (or filled) with the Holy Spirit. Giving our lives to the Holy Spirit’s control every moment is a willful act on our part.

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 his or her own language. The Holy Spirit came as a powerful sign that Jesus was among them, and it served to bring 3000 people into God’s Kingdom on that day.

Now, speaking in tongues can be 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 14, 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). You can add nothing 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 (Galatian 6), but not everyone has the same gifts.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Q: Did the Holy Spirit actually speak directly to the people in the Old Testament, or was it God? And how could they determine the difference between the two? I understand that God and the Holy Spirit are one, but what was the Holy Spirit’s role in the Old Testament?

A:  Now that’s a good question! We know that all three members of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son—have always existed, and they will always exist. The one true God in three persons is infinite and eternal.

So, we know the Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament. You are wondering what role He played and whether people could distinguish between God and Holy Spirit and God the Father.

Theologian Wayne Grudem writes in His book Systemic Theology that the Holy Spirit had less powerful and less extensive work in the Old Testament, but He was there (see Numbers 11: 16-17; Judges 13: 24-25). Moses longed for the time when the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all people (Numbers 11: 29). Other Old Testament prophets looked forward to a time when the work of the Holy Spirit would be much more powerful and widespread (see Jeremiah 31: 31-33; Ezekiel 36: 26-27; Joel 2: 28- 29).

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit came to Jesus in full power (Luke 3: 21-22; 4: 14). And then after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon all believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1: 8).

We don’t always understand God’s ways, but we know that they are for the best. We can thank Him that we have the full benefit of the Holy Spirit today!

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Relevant Scripture

 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12: 13)

The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.  I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone. (Numbers 11: 16-17)

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, ²⁵ and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Judges 13: 24-25)

But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11: 29)

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3: 21-22)

 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. (Luke 4: 14)

Reference

Bible Answers 101 by Bickel & Jantz