Regarding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

02-17-09
J.A. Matteson

At the outset we affirm that Scripture interprets Scripture (God does not contradict Himself) and that to arrive at a proper understanding of an issue the whole council of God's word must be consulted in context. This is emphasized because we live in an age of "proof-texting" where some who may be sincere tend to isolate a verse or two, attempting to establish a "doctrine" out of them, and this they do to their own peril and also to those who follow their teaching.

With regard to the baptism of the Holy Spirit the phenomenon is tied to the New Covenant promised in the Old Covenant to wayward Israel which failed to obey the Lord from the heart, whereby all those now born again (from above) by the Spirit are baptized (spiritually immersed, changed--2 Cor. 5:17) at regeneration/conversion, and placed into the body of Christ, whereby the Law of God is written on their hearts unto obedience to the Glory of God, Who through sanctification slowly conforms them, by His indwelling Spirit, into the image of His blessed Son, Who is the second Adam, without sin, and Who fulfilled the Law of God perfectly to the delight of the Father ("This is My Son in whom I am well pleased").

The sign of the old covenant between the Lord and Abraham was outward (circumcision in the flesh), and it was a foreshadow of the inward circumcision (spiritual) of the heart which would define the new covenant in Christ by faith. This inauguration of the arrival of the new covenant was manifested and established by the out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Church (the ekklesia or “called out of God”), corresponding to the day of Pentecost as prophesied by Joel (2:28-32), and all future generations who are of the real seed of Abraham (i.e., children of promise in the likeness of Issac [supernatural initiative by God for regeneration/conversion] and who, like Abraham, are justified by faith, and not works in vain attempts to keep the Law perfectly, although striving always for obedience in all things). These terms, “baptism of the Holy Spirit” and “circumcision of the heart”, point to the same spiritual initiative and work by the Lord in fulfillment of the old covenant promise; viz., regeneration/conversion which places the believer into the body of Christ as an adopted child with the Law of God written on the heart (OT: Jer. 24:7, 31:33; Isa. 54:13; NT: Rom. 2:28-29, Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 3:2-3; Gal. 3:27, 6:15; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:10-11; Heb. 8:10, 10:16, 36; 1 Pet. 3:20-22).

Now with regard to spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit bestows gifts to each one as He pleases for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7) and these become operative at conversion (baptism of the Spirit/circumcision of the heart). Those specific spiritual gifts commonly known as “sign gifts” were employed by the Church for a testimony (attesting validation) to the progressive revelation of God that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ/Messiah (evangelism, 1 Cor. 14:25) and the building up of the body of Christ in faith and good works (edification, 1 Cor. 14:12, 26), until such time as the complete testimony of God's revelation (which in times past came by various means, Heb. 1:1) would be written down and preserved for future generations in order to prevent the perversion of His revelation by unstable men (Deut. 4:2, 12:32; Ps. 19:7-9; Prov. 22:19-21; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 22;18). And the twelve Apostles were in like manor recipients of these gifts as a testimony that the kingdom of God was at hand.

The gift of tongues in the New Testament were known human languages, exercised for the purpose of carrying out the Great Commission (evangelism). In fulfillment of the Lord's promise to Abraham that through his seed he would be a blessing to all peoples the supernatural gift of speaking and understanding foreign languages, which had never been learned, was essential to fulfilling the Great Commission at that time, but as Paul noted there would come a time when tongues would no longer be necessary and would cease (1 Cor. 13:8-10, being temporary), and that corresponded with the passing of the apostolic age and the completion of the written revelation of God.

In the Acts of the Apostles Luke records several distinct one-time Pentecost type out-pouring’s of the Spirit to different people groups in fulfillment of the Lord's promise to Abraham. The first was to the Jews (Acts 2); the second was to the Samaritans (Acts 8:14:17); third was to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-47 ); the last was to the Old Covenant saints/disciples who only knew of the baptism of John (Acts 19:1-6 ), The subsequent three occurrence to the Samaritans, Gentiles, and OT disciples of John were all identical to that of the Jews in Acts 2, the Apostle Peter stating as such (Acts 11:16-18); the "gift" mentioned by Peter is the Holy Spirit. Taken in context there is no scriptural basis for a teaching of a "second blessing" or a subsequent "baptism of the Holy Spirit", these would seem to be doctrines of men.

How then do we account for the "experience" which some Christians have today of a second blessing or subsequent "baptism of the Holy Spirit"? With it not being biblical it is either the flesh via an emotional response through the power of suggestion, or demonic. While some reports of tongues as a known human language surface from time to time, for the most part the tongues practiced today in no way resemble the tongues we read about in the New Testament (known human languages), and that alone ought to be the first cause for warning. Rather the ecstatic utterances of today have been linked by respected linguists to resemble almost identically tongues used by primitive pagan tribal sects around the globe who employ witchcraft and divination.

For those within charismatic and Pentecostal circles the dawning of this reality is often sobering and tough to accept at first, for no one enjoys the self-discovery of realizing they have been led astray by false teaching. And yet over time coming to the knowledge of the truth is liberating and truly empowering. A key contributor to this theological error in pneumatology is the nearly wholesale abandonment of expository teaching and preaching in many congregations today. And when the church is not edified it becomes vulnerable to false teaching in response to a lessening of spiritual discernment.

Certainly the Apostle Peter spoke to this danger and his words continue to serve as a powerful warning to the church today not to engage in sloppy exegesis of God's Word, "...and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness...." (2 Pet.3:15-17).

Finally, it may be noted that in our day many of these false teachings come by way of books, conferences, TV and radio programs and the like by people who may be sincere in their own minds, yet are sincerely deceived. Therefore, beloved, be all all the more diligent to adhere to Sola Scripture for faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16).

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