Baptism of the Holy Spirit

What would you say is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?  Does this happen when someone puts their faith in Jesus or at a later time? 

I have always understood that when we put our faith in Christ we receive the Holy Spirit. 

The Bible talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit to Christians, which means maybe we can already have the Holy Spirit but be filled more with the Holy Spirit.

Here are some people's stories regarding this:

"It's up to the person who is wanting the Holy Spirit.  It is something I will never forget..  When I received the Holy Ghost 6 years ago I have not come down off this yet. 

I thought back in time and tried to remember my best day ever, but still there was nothing that compared to this.  Nothing it is so powerful.  It's something you will never forget.

You will know you got it if there's any doubt."

This seems strange to me for some reason.  It is described as a high almost that this person did not "come down off of."  But does God make us high per se? 

One person said they were baptized at 15 but then were baptized in the Holy Spirit at 19.  My thing is I have been baptized for the last 14 years and have never had this ecstatic baptism in the Holy Spirit experience.  Neither has any other Christian I have ever known for the most part. 

So what is it really?  And why don't all Christians get it?

Another person said:

"The Holy Ghost is available and accessible to ALL Christians when the are truly saved and repent. HOWEVER I BELIEVE you need to seek it by reading the Bible and praying for guidance and wisdom. When God is ready for you to be covered and engulfed by the Holy Ghost YOU WILL BE. Now this is only my view."

"Engulfed," that is an interesting term fore it. 

But why is Paul's baptism of the Holy Spirit never described?  Why don't we see it in any of the disciples?  The only thing would possibly be at Pentecost when they all spoke in tongues.  But when Paul received the Holy Spirit and was saved he did not speak in tongues nor did he seem to have an ecstatic experience of any sort, yet he wrote most of the New Testament and became greater really than any who had had the experience at Pentecost as far as winning people to Christ.  He even rebuked Peter on one occasion for showing favoritism to the Jews.  



This is a good comment on this:
"1 Corinthians 12:13 (NASB):
'For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.'
The phrase "The baptism of the Holy Spirit" appears nowhere in Scripture.

We are baptized by the Spirit when we are saved."

Yes I would agree with that. 

Another person said:

"There are at least two lines of theological thought on this. Most believe we receive the Holy Spirit when we come to know Christ (Romans 8:1-11). Many stop there. Others (myself included) believe there is a "Spirit Baptism" or "Fullness of the Spirit" that can occur after Salvation similar to what happened on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-6)."

Interesting. 

Another comment:

"I believe the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is when you get cleansed by God.  You no longer have the desire to sin. This differs from a water baptism in that a water baptism is a proclamation that you have accepted Christ.

As far as timing I think it differs from person to person. Some get the Holy Spirit when they accept Christ, some much later. Different denominations will probably teach differently.  That is what I understand of Romans 6."

How odd, but every Christian I know still sins. 

The other question I would have about this is does this go away at some point or fade away so the person again has the desire to sin?  According to Paul we will always wrestle with the flesh in our Christian walk.  But 1 John does have many verses that seem to say if we in Christ we will no longer sin.  Most say this means habitually sin, but it is definitely an interesting book of the Bible and very challenging. 

Another thought:

"Paul writes to the Ephesians in Chapter 5:18: "Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead be filled with the Spirit" What does this mean? It is imperative that we understand that this means that we surrender ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit who is already in our hearts."

Yes I have always found that verse to be odd.  Does it mean that being filled with the Spirit is like being drunk with wine?  But what about the verses that say we are to be sober minded and alert?  hm....

A comment I very much like:

"The traditional orthodox position is that Acts 2 conveys a historical event-- the Holy Spirit came to God's people, and now He is here to stay. When a person gets saved, they have the Holy Spirit."

Amen! 

This is also very good:

"There are commands in Scripture to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16), but NO command to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. 

1 Cor 12:13 is in the context of spiritual gifts and it has already been done to every believer in the body of Christ. The Greek aorist tense shows that tongues in 1 Cor. 14:21,22 are a sign to unbelievers, not believers.   It is not the evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, as the book of Acts is transitional between the age of law and the age of grace. 

Doctrine is built on the teachings of the epistles. For these reasons, and others, I firmly believe baptism in the Holy Spirit takes place at conversion and not subsequently. It is positional, not experiential.   Being filled with the Spirit and walking by the Spirit are experiential and they are in the Greek imperative mood. Selah"

Very good. :)



So clearly people seem to be all over the place on this topic and no one can say for sure.  The Bible does not make it totally clear.  Paul does not make it totally clear how important tongues are.

The fact is Paul never addresses tongues anywhere except in 1 Corinthians.  If it was important to all believers why did he not address it in every letter to every church?  That is something to think about to. 

May God help me in this amen. :)  It is something that has confused me for the last 12 years now really lol. 

God bless! :)