The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is not simply added on to the believer's experience of the word of God and baptism. Rather, in the New testament era he is the exhaustive and comprehensive initiator of the whole of church life. The baptism in the Holy Spirit (BHS) is a deluge of the Spirit leading to a greater realization of his person and presence, & continued gifting and empowering for service. It is Jesus himself as the life-giving Spirit that baptizes his people in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1 v.8, 1 Cor. 15 v. 45)
BHS should not be limited or tied to the prophetic and teaching ministry, nor to conversion initiation, nor separated from these aspects. He cannot fully be the Spirit among us without these, but it was the apostolic encounter that is crucial for our understanding of the Holy Spirit. Yet Scripture indicates the conference of the Holy Spirit may not occur in the neat ordered time frame in which the apostles themselves encountered it. The coming of the Holy Spirit was so distinctive that those following the apostles needed to receive the Holy Spirit together with the born again encounter. Since he is the same Holy Spirit for believers taught by the apostles after Pentecost, this was the norm. A Scriptural example is given to us in which the Holy Spirit chooses to effect the inward born again experience together with the baptism of the Holy Spirit before baptism in water has taken place by the more direct application of the word of God (Acts 10 vs. 44-48).
BHS should not be limited or tied to the prophetic and teaching ministry, nor to conversion initiation, nor separated from these aspects. He cannot fully be the Spirit among us without these, but it was the apostolic encounter that is crucial for our understanding of the Holy Spirit. Yet Scripture indicates the conference of the Holy Spirit may not occur in the neat ordered time frame in which the apostles themselves encountered it. The coming of the Holy Spirit was so distinctive that those following the apostles needed to receive the Holy Spirit together with the born again encounter. Since he is the same Holy Spirit for believers taught by the apostles after Pentecost, this was the norm. A Scriptural example is given to us in which the Holy Spirit chooses to effect the inward born again experience together with the baptism of the Holy Spirit before baptism in water has taken place by the more direct application of the word of God (Acts 10 vs. 44-48).
BHS comes with clear evidence to mark its effects -the speaking of other tongues (Acts 10v.46, 19 vs. 1-7, Acts 2 v. 4, 1 Cor. 14 v.5). This evidence does not separate God's people from a Christian and evangelical past but leads the church in the direction of the future. What we are saying here, then, is that BHS is not limited to any particular stage of Christian initiation, but rather incorporates and integrates all aspects of the Christian life in a directive eschatological experience. BHS sums up church history realizing it's essentials and significance for the present. This does not preclude Scripture, church history, reason and tradition as a continual resource of the Spirit. It rather prevents, urges and contends for the Christian church not to become bogged down or misdirected into particular and exclusive trajectories set down in the past. Is it necessary to receive and understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit today? More so than ever.
BHS is not the exclusive experience of a particular denominational persuasion. This is the interpretation it has been given, it is not the essential character of the mainstream divine encounter of the apostles. May God be pleased to renew and empower us to today by a fresh realization of the baptism in the Holy Spirit!
Works consulted:
M. Green, 'The Holy Spirit- Baptism and Fulness', Wycliffe Hall lecture, Oxford, UK
S. Ponsonby, 'God inside out', Kingsway Publications, 2007
M. Turner, 'Baptism in the Holy Spirit', Grove Books Ltd., 2000
Works consulted:
M. Green, 'The Holy Spirit- Baptism and Fulness', Wycliffe Hall lecture, Oxford, UK
S. Ponsonby, 'God inside out', Kingsway Publications, 2007
M. Turner, 'Baptism in the Holy Spirit', Grove Books Ltd., 2000
I suppose it's one thing not to want to limit God and another thing to not want to limit ourselves. Taking time to understand the things of God is not a limiting but a liberating experience. Being called to live a holy life which is pleasing to the Lord must also include respecting the way he chooses to reveal himself in the person of Jesus Christ and treat with true reverence the working of his Spirit in our lives.
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