Question: Have you received the baptism of the Holy Ghost since you believed? - Silvia Munoz Shumate
Answer: Every believer in Jesus Christ is baptized, sealed, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, at the very moment when they believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). - Fred Trokie
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When a question is asked like this, there are terms that are not clearly defined. This leads to incorrect assumptions and answers.
In this post I will edit quotes and define terms that will clear up this issue. Because tradition is deep seated, I know many will balk at what they will read. I am fine with tradition, but it has to be biblical, not because the majority holds it as true.
The first part of the question says:
Have you received the baptism....
The archaic word "baptism" is a transliteration of the Greek word "baptizo" and, depending on the context can mean one of seven types (https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-baptisms.html) that are either water (wet) or type (dry).
Baptizo (Strong's Number: 907), not to be confused with bapto (Strong's Number: 9011). The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped'(bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism, e.g. (Romans 6:3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Paul is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with Christ -edited), a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!
Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989.
History tells us the word Baptizo was not translated to as to quell the dissent of peado-baptism and baptismal regeneration.
“It is a fact well known in some parts of Europe, and also to some persons in the United States, that King James, by whose authority the present common versions of the scriptures was made, prohibited the translators from translating into English baptisma and baptizo where these word respected the rites; but ordered them to adopt these words as they were adopted in the Vulgate. These were not the only words concerning which the king gave instructions. His object was to prevent any of the contending parties in the church, from having any superior advantage from the new version, choosing rather to adopt than translate such words as were a subject of dispute among controversialists, leaving each party to affix what meaning it chose to these words. Had the translators had been at liberty to have rendered these terms by appropriate words, the controversy would have been at an end long ere now.” –Alexander Campbell, Campbell-Walker Debate, p. 128.
So in our private study need to discern in the context if the meaning should be translated as "immersion" or "identification".
The second part of the question says.
…the [immersion/enduement]of the Holy Ghost.
The term "Holy Ghost" is an archaic term. There is only the Holy Spirit. The KJV were not very consistent with their translation of the Greek "Pnuema"
Strong's Number: 4151
Transliterated Word
Pneuma
King James Word Usage - Total: 385
Spirit 111, Holy Ghost 89, Spirit (of God) 13, Spirit (of the Lord) 5, (My) Spirit 3, Spirit (of truth) 3, Spirit (of Christ) 2, human (spirit) 49, (evil) spirit 47, spirit (general) 26, spirit 8, (Jesus' own) spirit 6, (Jesus' own) ghost 2, miscellaneous 21
Of the modern English translations of the Bible, it is only the King James Version of the Bible which uses the term “Holy Ghost.” It occurs 90 times in the KJV. The term “Holy Spirit” occurs 7 times in the KJV. There is no clear reason as to why the KJV translators used Ghost in most places and then Spirit in a few. The exact same Greek and Hebrew words are translated "ghost" and "spirit" in the KJV in different occurrences of the words. By "ghost," the KJV translators did not intend to communicate the idea of "the spirit of a deceased person." In 1611, when the KJV was originally translated, the word "ghost" primarily referred to "an immaterial being."
With recent Scripture translations, "Spirit" has replaced "Ghost" in most instances. Some of this came about because words don’t always hold their meanings. In the days of Shakespeare or King James, ghost meant the living essence of a person. Looking back, we see that "breath" or "soul" were often used as synonyms of "ghost." During these times, spirit normally meant the essence of a departed person or a demonic or paranormal apparition. As language evolved, people started saying "ghost" when speaking of the vision of a dead person while "spirit" became the standard term for life or living essence, often also for "soul." With slight exceptions, "ghost" and "spirit" changed places over some 300 years. https://www.gotquestions.org/Holy-Spirit-Ghost.html
I recommend Ian Murray's book Pentecost – Today? THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING REVIVAL.
Pentecost showed that the gospel is able to win sudden acceptance despite the strongest opposition. But if — as some believe — Pentecost is a permanent reality, how is it that Christianity can often differ so much from the apostolic pattern? And how are we to explain those epochs in history when men, filled afresh with the Spirit of God, saw advances which were indeed comparable with those of the early church? Did the secret lie n renewed obedience, in prayer, or simply in the sovereign intervention of God? And if the action of God is the sole explanation, where does Scripture’s strong emphasis on human responsibility come in?
Answers to these questions involve profound mystery. But Scripture is clear on what is given more abundantly to those who pray for the Holy Spirit — stronger faith in the truth and hearts enlarged in love are always the foremost evidences of his power. Pentecost — Today? is a different approach to questions crucial to the present state of the church. https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/theology-books/pentecost-today/
Here is the question to ask:
IS PENTECOST REPEATABLE?
Before we say that Pentecost is a paradigm for what needs to happen in every believer's life we need to understand where Pentecost lies in the history of redemption. We remember from the last two weeks that the saints in the Old Testament longed for the great coming day when God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh and all of God's people would be prophets, no longer needing a man to mediate between them and God, saying, "Know the Lord," for they would all know him (e.g., Numbers 11:29 and Joel 2:28-29). Pentecost was the arrival of that great and longed-for promise. This promise had not yet been realized until the day of Pentecost. In fact, we read in John 7:37-39, "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.\" So, we know that the Spirit could not yet be given until Christ was glorified. He had to be raised and ascended to the Father's right hand so that he might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is poured out from the hand of the exalted Christ.
Therefore, the reason the disciples could be followers of Christ, even believing he is who he said he was and that he did indeed die and was raised from the dead and yet not have the Spirit is because they lived in the time before Pentecost. The disciples lived at a unique point in the unfolding of God's redemptive work. For example, we can see many in the Scripture who anticipated the coming of one to atone for their sins. The Old Testament priests displayed this anticipation in offering sacrifices, the OT prophets in their prophesies of the coming lamb to be slain, and John the Baptist as he proclaimed that he was soon coming. However, it would be silly for us to think that we need to experience the same thing that John the Baptist did, waiting for Jesus to come and atone for our sins, seeing him come, talking to him, etc. We would say, "Of course we don't need to experience pointing to Jesus the same way John the Baptist did or even witnessing the death of Christ the way the early disciples did, for those things happened at a point in redemptive history and will not repeated." That is indeed right. And Pentecost is the same way. Just as there can be no one living today who can legitimately wait for the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to take place since it has already taken place, nor can there be any believer today who is legitimately waiting for the coming of the Spirit since he has already come at Pentecost. Therefore, in the sense of replaying redemptive history, Pentecost is not repeatable, and we do not need it to be repeated. We no longer live in a day when individuals can believe in Christ and yet still need to receive the Spirit. Rather, we live in a day in which Paul can write, "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" (Romans 8:9). Because we live on this side of the giving of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to have someone who is a believer and yet has not received the Spirit. To be a believer is to have received the Spirit. In fact, if you do not have the Spirit, according to Paul, you are not a powerless believer in need of greater power, you are an unregenerate unbeliever in need of salvation.
What then about Acts 8, 10, and 19?
"But," someone will say, "what about other instances in Acts after the day of Pentecost where believers received the Spirit some time later?" It appears we have this happen three times in the book of Acts after Pentecost. But I believe a closer look at these instances will help us understand what's taking place.
First, in Acts 8 we have the early church scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria because of heavy persecution. And as we might imagine the believers begin speaking the gospel in these regions so that others are coming to Christ. In fact, news begins to reach Jerusalem that some in Samaria have believed. We read, "Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit\" (Acts 8:14-17). Thus we have individuals who have believed, been baptized, and yet had not received the Holy Spirit.
Then, in Acts 10 we have some Gentiles who seem to be disciples.1 Peter acknowledges that they "know what happened throughout all Judea how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. [how] they put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear" (Acts 10:37-40). And Cornelius and his household is referred to as "a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God" (Acts 10:2). However, it was not until Peter comes to them and speaks that the Spirit falls on them and they spoke in tongues and extolled God. Therefore, again we a group who receives the Spirit later.
Both of these instances should be understood within their unique nature, however. The first event in Acts 8 describes the believing of the Samaritans. They were considered the dirt of society compared to Jews. Therefore, had God not attested to them in the same public way that he had the Jews at Pentecost it seems there would have been a difficult time acknowledging that the Samaritans too were among God's people. So God did just that, pouring out the Spirit in the same way he had among the Jews, attesting to the fact that the Samaritans too were among his people who had the Spirit.
In the same way the Gentiles were not even half-Jew. Therefore, they too needed attestation from God. And God gave it. He poured out his Spirit on them in the same way that he had the Jews. In fact, Peter declares in Acts 11:15-17, \"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?\" (italics mine). Clearly, then, God worked in a unique way with these two groups, withholding the Spirit until he could publicly display before many that these groups had received the Spirit in the same way as the Jews and were alike God's people.
Acts 19, then, provides an example that doesn't fit the same format as these others. You have some men called "disciples" whom Paul meets and asks, "Did you received the Holy Spirit when you believed?" and they answered, \"No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit\" (Acts 19:2). Therefore, Paul lays his hands on them and "the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying" (Acts 19:6).
Therefore, again, one could argue that these disciples were believers who received the Spirit after having believed. However, it appears a stretch to call these men \"believers.\" Paul in fact takes time to tell them about Jesus, seeing that they had only been baptized of John. And only after hearing Paul speak to them of Jesus were they "baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus\" (Acts 19:5). Then they receive the Spirit. So, first it could be noted that it is a stretch to consider these men believers. But second, it appears that they too constitute their own special group, like the Samaritans and Gentiles. They were a group in Ephesus who knew only John's baptism and were attempting to follow his teaching. Therefore, quite possibly God wanted to attest to them publicly as well.
Therefore, we can see that these three instances seem special after Pentecost and that Paul's teaching later in redemptive history is that there can be no such thing as someone who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ and yet does not have the Spirit (Romans 8:9)
Seeing that Pentecost is not seen as a repeatable event, being a specific event in redemptive history (like the death and resurrection of Christ) we could easily be tempted to sit back and say, "Then I need to be content with my present situation and not long any more for the Spirit of God." However, there is something that is repeatable with regards to Pentecost.
Even though the disciples are baptized with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, it appears that after Pentecost they are repeatedly filled with the Spirit. So, we read that on the day of Pentecost they "were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4). However, only two chapters later we read that as the disciples pray, asking God to grant them boldness and power to speak the gospel, "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).
It appears then that there is an element in the events of Pentecost that is indeed repeatable, namely, being filled with the Spirit. As Iain Murray notes, \"It is clear from the book of Acts that all Christians did not remain permanently 'filled with the Holy Spirit' in the sense of Acts 2:4. Had that been so it would not have been possible to say of the same persons again in Acts 4:31, 'and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit'."2
Now we must note that this is not the receiving of the Spirit nor some one-time event that occurs after our conversion so that we might say to someone, "Have you been baptized in the Spirit?\" To be a Christian is to have been baptized in the Spirit. However, historically individuals in the church have taught that believers can and should seek greater fillings of the Spirit where the Spirit comes upon us in greater measure. The Puritans used to write of God's people needing to pray for repeated baptisms of the Holy Spirit.3 It was believed that when God poured out his Spirit on his people together (that is not simply on an individual in private) that these were seasons of revival. Thus, revival has not always been simply a planned time of meetings in the church but times when God poured out his Spirit on his people, filling them with the Spirit and power.
So then, is Pentecost a repeatable event? In one sense, no. It is a unique event and time in salvation history that we should not expect to be repeated anymore than we would expect the death, burial, or resurrection of Christ to be repeated. No longer can there be a believer who does not have the Spirit (Romans 8:9). Rather, all believers receive the Spirit at their conversion and are not in need of waiting for the Spirit before they can go and be witnesses for Christ in the world.
On the other hand, as the Spirit was obviously poured out powerfully on Pentecost, filling the disciples with the Spirit for the first of a number of times in their lives, so we should long and pray for greater fillings of the Spirit in our lives. As we go about walking in obedience to Christ, trusting him and watching him work through us, we should ask him to pour out his Spirit on our lives and on his church in greater measure so that we might see his great work of revival which he has been pleased to display throughout the history of the church.
CORNERSTONE COMMUNITY CHURCH
http://cccnow.org/index.php/church-resources/sortable-messages/message/the-spirit-the-church-and-last-things-is-pentecost-repeatable
What we see after Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit, at conversion of a new believer, is to immerse/endue them into the body of Christ, the Church.
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. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:13 & 14
The He fills them with power and divine enablement.
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:23-31
The power of the Holy Spirit helps the believer's to witness about Jesus and share the good news of His death, burial and resurrection.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
However this filling does not occur one, but it requires maintenance to continually be filled with the Spirit.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:16-20
It is important to distinguish the indwelling from the filling of the Spirit
An important verse in understanding the filling of the Holy Spirit is John 14:16, where Jesus promised the Spirit would indwell believers and that the indwelling would be permanent. It is important to distinguish the indwelling from the filling of the Spirit. The permanent indwelling of the Spirit is not for a select few believers, but for all believers. There are a number of references in Scripture that support this conclusion. First, the Holy Spirit is a gift given to all believers in Jesus without exception, and no conditions are placed upon this gift except faith in Christ (John 7:37-39). Second, the Holy Spirit is given at the moment of salvation (Ephesians 1:13). Galatians 3:2 emphasizes this same truth, saying that the sealing and indwelling of the Spirit took place at the time of believing. Third, the Holy Spirit indwells believers permanently. The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a down payment, or verification of their future glorification in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 4:30).
This is in contrast to the filling of the Spirit referred to in Ephesians 5:18. We should be so completely yielded to the Holy Spirit that He can possess us fully and, in that sense, fill us. Romans 8:9 and Ephesians 1:13-14 states that He dwells within every believer, but He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and His activity within us can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19). When we allow this to happen, we do not experience the fullness of the Spirit’s working and His power in and through us. To be filled with the Spirit implies freedom for Him to occupy every part of our lives, guiding and controlling us. Then His power can be exerted through us so that what we do is fruitful to God. The filling of the Spirit does not apply to outward acts alone; it also applies to the innermost thoughts and motives of our actions. Psalm 19:14 says, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
Sin is what hinders the filling of the Holy Spirit, and obedience to God is how the filling of the Spirit is maintained. Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be filled with the Spirit; however, it is not praying for the filling of the Holy Spirit that accomplishes the filling. Only our obedience to God’s commands allows the Spirit freedom to work within us. Because we are still infected with sin, it is impossible to be filled with the Spirit all of the time. When we sin, we should immediately confess it to God and renew our commitment to being Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Spirit-filled.html
Because of the Pentecostal Movement the focus of the Church has been taken off of filling and turned to a counterfeit "baptism of the Holy Spirit" that usurps the authority of God's word for having experiences and revivals. This has caused the Church to fill up with false converts who are religious, but have no new birth from above by God's Spirit.
https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/ask-roger/the-baptism-and-filling-of-the-holy-spirit.html
When Peter preached to Cornelius in Acts 10, Cornelius and his family received Christ before Peter’s sermon was even finished! They simultaneously spoke in [other languages from their country of origin]. Peter took this as a sign that even Gentiles could receive Christ. He thought previously that only Jews were welcomed into the family of God.
When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he encountered some Jewish disciples of John the Baptist. After hearing about Jesus they believed in Him and became followers of Christ. When Paul laid hands on them they spoke in [other languages from their country of origin] as the “Holy Spirit came on them” (Acts 19:1-7). Those who believe in speaking in tongues (archaic, Greek is singular glossa and is "ecstatic utterance" in 1 Corinthians 14:1-19, Pentecostals do not speak in glossolalia, which is a sign gift to the Jews "“With other languages and through the lips of foreigners. I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Isaiah 28:11,12. Read - plural and Corinthians 14:18-25) simultaneously being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit derive their understanding: and practice from the two passages above as well as several other like them in the early passages of the Gospels.
[Paragraph not included because the author calls cessationism "The other extreme view regarding this issue" - Jerry]
First, it is impossible to hold the position that tongues (ecstatic utterance) are the sign of conversion and/or the baptism...of the Holy Spirit!
Paul explicitly declares that not all shall speak in (other languages), but that all are (immersed by) the Holy Spirit [into the body of Christ to form one body] (compare 1 Corinthians 12:30 with 1 Corinthians 12:13) Thus, Paul clearly makes a distinction between speaking in [other languages] and being [endued by] the Holy Spirit. The corollary teaching is that it is dangerous to elevate any spiritual gift and make it be a sign of the filling of the Holy Spirit—or to make the possession of any gift normative for a spiritual experience.
The [Filling]of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion
(1 Corinthians 12:13; 6:19). It is not necessarily accompanied by the gift of speaking in [other languages]. It would be fair to say that most Christians do not speak in [other languages naturally (Greek, Spanish, German, etc.) or supernaturally like in Acts 2:4-13 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other [languages] as the Spirit enabled them"..."each of us hears them in our native language?"] when they receive Christ. The word, “baptism” means to “dip in” or to “immerse” For example, in the "Odyssey", Odysseus escaped from the Cyclops by sticking (the Greek word is “baptized”) a stake into his eye. Odysseus did not sprinkle it in. He immersed it deeply. In the Bible “baptize” never means “to sprinkle” as some teach today. When we receive Christ, we are [filled] by the Holy Spirit into Christ and into the family of God (for example, read Romans 6:1-10).
The [Filling] of the Holy Spirit is received by simple faith in Christ.
The [filling] follows automatically, positioning us in Christ and cementing us securely into the family of God. Paul taught these “position in Christ” concepts in Colossians 2:12. Peter also enunciated them in 1 John 4:15. The [filling]of the Spirit refers to the new Believer’s incorporation into the body of Christ by a spiritual-organic union effected by the Holy Spirit. Peter declared the same in his sermon in Acts 2:28. The new Christian is now "in Christ".
The (Indwelling of) the Spirit is permanent and is bestowed at conversion. It is not to be repeated. The Bible does urge us to seek and receive is the filling of the Holy Spirit.
There is no Scripture text urging believers today to seek for the Spirit's (indwelling/enduement). The point is that it is not possible to receive what we already have!
On the other hand, what the Bible does urge us to seek and receive is the filling of the Holy Spirit. The key verse here is Ephesians 5:18: "Do not get drunk on wine … Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” The term “be filled” is often translated in Greek as “keep on being filled” with the Spirit. It is a continual present tense. From this we deduce that the filling of the Spirit is not permanent, but is to be repeated again and again. As a drunk is saturated and under the direct influence of alcohol, so we are to live saturated and under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit.
I see a direct parallel between being filled with the Holy Spirit and enjoying the living waters (John 7) and to experiencing the abundant life (John 10:10) that can be ours in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, sin and personal choices can soil and stymie the filling, the living waters, and the abundant life. However, our sins and poor choices never threaten our relationship with God. They may affect our fellowship with God but never our relationship with Him. We are born into the family of God. He is our Father and we are His children and that can never be undone.
8 Biblical Steps for Being Filled with the Spirit
While none of us can demand or make God pour out the Spirit-filled life upon us, the Bible gives definite guidance on being filled with the Spirit.
1. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18
2. Stop sinning. Do not grieve the Spirit by sin (Ephesians 4:30).
3. When you do sin, confess your sin to God (1 John 1:9). We must be empty and clean in order to be filled).
4. [Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. See Romans 13:11-14]
5, Make every effort to respond positively to the guidance and speaking of the Spirit deep within. As far as possible, never quench His voice or refuse to do what He says (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We must unreservedly yield our lives to Christ (Luke 14:33; 9:24).
6. Pray to become a spiritual man or woman at any price (1 John 2:12-14).
7. Ask God to pour His Spirit into your life so that you might receive the filling of the Spirit. You are now in a great position to experience the filling, abundant life, and living waters of the Spirit.
8. Leave the results to Him and soon you will enjoy the experience of walking hand in hand with Jesus (1 John 1:7).
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