What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy SpiritIn theological review

The short answer

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit's work of placing a believer into Christ and his body, promised by John the Baptist and by Jesus before Pentecost. Peter linked it with repentance and the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38, and Paul wrote that in one Spirit all believers were baptised into one body, in 1 Corinthians 12:13. Christians agree on the reality of this work and differ, as set out below, over its timing and whether it is distinct from conversion.

The fuller answer

The promise begins with John the Baptist, who contrasted his own baptism in water with the one coming after him: he baptised with water, but Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire, in Matthew 3:11. Jesus took up the promise himself just before his ascension, telling the disciples to wait because they would be baptised with the Holy Spirit within days, in Acts 1:5. Pentecost was the first great fulfilment, when the Spirit came with power and the church was born as a Spirit filled, witnessing community sent into the whole world.

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:5 (BSB)

At Pentecost itself, Peter told the convicted crowd to repent and be baptised, promising that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, in Acts 2:38. Paul later gave the theological explanation of what that gift means for every believer: in one Spirit, all were baptised into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12:13. On this reading, Spirit baptism is God's act of uniting a person to Christ and to his people, the doorway into the body rather than a prize beyond it.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38 (BSB)

Christians differ here over sequence and timing, and the difference should be named fairly. Many hold that Spirit baptism happens for every believer at conversion, pointing to Paul's statement that all were baptised into one body and to his warning that anyone without the Spirit does not belong to Christ. Others, especially in Pentecostal traditions, hold that Spirit baptism is a distinct experience after conversion, pointing to Acts accounts where believers received the Spirit after believing, and they connect it with power for witness and gifts. Both sides appeal to Acts and Paul; they differ over which texts set the pattern.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

1 Corinthians 12:13 (BSB)

However the timing question is answered, Paul's verse guards the unity at the heart of the doctrine. One Spirit, one body, one baptism into Christ: the same verse that fuels debate also forbids using the doctrine to divide Christians into spiritual classes. In Corinth, Paul wrote these words to a church tempted to rank gifts and members, and his answer was that the Spirit's baptising work makes believers one. Any teaching about Spirit baptism that leaves some Christians feeling like second class citizens has drifted from the apostle's purpose, whichever view of sequence a church holds and teaches.

Sources

Berean Standard Bible (BSB)

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When do Christians receive the Holy Spirit?At conversion, when a person hears the gospel and believes. Paul tells the Ephesians that in Christ, having heard and believed the word of truth, they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not a second stage reserved for a spiritual elite. He is the seal of everyone who belongs to Jesus.What is baptism?Baptism is the sign Christ gave his church of washing, burial, and resurrection. In it a believer is plunged under water and raised again, picturing what Paul describes: buried with Christ through baptism into death, raised to walk in newness of life. It is done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and it marks a person as Christ's before the watching world.Who is the Holy Spirit?The Holy Spirit is God himself, the third person of the Trinity, not a force, a feeling, or God's power in the abstract. He is there at creation, hovering over the waters. He speaks, teaches, and can be lied to, and when Peter confronts Ananias he says the lie told to the Holy Spirit was a lie told to God.How can I be saved?By grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by anything you contribute. Ephesians says it outright: it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. To be saved is to turn from your sin, confess Jesus as Lord, and trust that God raised him from the dead for you. The rest of your life is learning to live from that gift.What does the Holy Spirit do?He convicts the world of sin, guides believers into the truth, teaches and reminds them of Jesus's words, and produces a different kind of life in them: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. His work always points to Jesus rather than to himself, and its fruit shows up in character, not in show.Bible Character: John the BaptistThe prophet in the wilderness who prepared the way of the Lord, baptised the crowds and Jesus himself in the Jordan, pointed to him as the Lamb of God, and was beheaded by Herod.Bible Character: PeterThe Galilean fisherman who confessed Jesus as the Christ, denied him three times on the night he was betrayed, was restored by the risen Lord, and preached at Pentecost.Bible Character: PaulThe Pharisee who persecuted the church until the risen Jesus stopped him on the Damascus road, and who became his apostle to the Gentiles, travelling the Roman world and writing many of the New Testament letters.On the map: JerusalemFind it in the Lands of the Bible, with the verses that place it there.