What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
'Baptized with the Holy Spirit' is Jesus' own phrase for the Spirit coming upon His people in power. It came at Pentecost, when the church was filled with the Spirit and empowered to be Christ's witnesses, and it is how every believer is joined by the Spirit into the one body of Christ. Believers receive this gift at the beginning of the Christian life, and they are filled again and again as they walk with God.
This question arose from studying How do I receive the Holy Spirit? and Who is the Holy Spirit?.
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What the Scripture says
It is Jesus' own promise, set over against John's water
John the Baptist drew the contrast: 'I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.' Jesus repeated it to His disciples before His ascension: 'you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' The phrase is not a modern slogan; it is Jesus' own description of what was about to happen, and what He had come to give.
I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,
It came at Pentecost, in power
The promise was fulfilled at Pentecost: 'They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.' And Jesus had told them what the power was for: 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.' The baptism of the Spirit is not power for display but power for mission.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
It unites believers into the one body of Christ
Paul explains what the Spirit's baptism does: 'For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.' The baptism of the Spirit is how God joins every believer, regardless of background, into the single body of Christ. It is not an experience some have and others miss; it is the Spirit's own work at the heart of belonging to Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
It comes to believers as they receive the word
The gift belongs to the household of faith. Peter promised the Spirit to every one who repents and is baptized, 'for the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off.' The Samaritans who believed were baptized, and later received the Holy Spirit. And at Ephesus, disciples who knew only John's baptism heard of Jesus, believed, and the Holy Spirit came on them. The way to the Spirit's baptism is through faith in Christ.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied.
And believers are filled again and again
Pentecost was once; the filling is ongoing. The same believers who were filled at Pentecost, after prayer, 'were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.' Paul commands us to keep being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit's baptism places us in Christ once and for all; the Spirit's filling renews and empowers us for each new day, and both are gifts of the same gracious God.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
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Verses to meditate on
For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
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