The mere title of this letter conjures up doctrinal differences, emotional reactions and dogmatic opinions. Some people and\/or denominations are so anxious to jump into the fray to support their definition of this particular area of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, that other equally, if not more important doctrinal considerations are largely overlooked or perhaps neglected altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand there are those, who out of a fear often fostered by observing the misrepresentations and excesses of some in the \u201cspirit filled\u201d camp, have decided to maintain a somewhat safe distance from the \u201cmysterious\u201d Holy Spirit. This, coupled with a lack of sincere effort to diligently study scripture for a biblically based view of the Holy Spirit and all things related, has left many with little or no desire to explore the depths of true biblical spirit filled living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In either of these two \u201ccamps\u201d (and there are others) the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not properly understood or appreciated. Hence, the Spirit is grieved if not quenched, the Christian is ill equipped and the devil is all smiles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will not attempt to answer all questions related to Spirit baptism, nor even necessarily offer and support a particular doctrinal stance, encouraging you to do the same. What I will do is present a couple different opinions regarding Holy Spirit baptism from two slightly different doctrinal positions. In the end, I think we\u2019ll find that in spite of slight differences we will draw a single important conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will be oft referencing Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, (deceased) reformed, protestant minister at Westminster Chapel in London for almost thirty years. I will also refer to the writings of Dr. Wayne Grudem (Grudem\u2019s Systematic Theology) who is presently serving as Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I chose these two godly men because of the tremendous influence they have had in shaping sound theological and doctrinal thought through their writings, their lectures and most importantly their lives.Though they are just two men, they represent an extremely broad audience in the realm of theology and doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s get started. We have previously established in the last two Praiseletters that every Christian is spirit filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.\u201d (Romans 8:9<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve established that the Holy Spirit is fully God. (see: God the Holy Spirit, last PL)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Holy Spirit is the regenerating force which draws us, convicts us, transforms us and indwells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Grudem states in his preface to systematic theology that: \u201cI hold that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a phrase best applied to conversion and subsequent experiences are better called \u201cbeing filled with the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Lloyd Jones, in his book \u201cJoy Unspeakable\u201d presents just the opposite. He believes at conversion we are filled with the Holy Spirit, but the Baptism in (by or with) the Holy Spirit is a subsequent work. Though it may on occasion occur at the time of our salvation it is still to be distinguished from being filled or indwelt initially by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may wonder why I am attempting to put a fine point on these issues. It is because there has been such debate and differing opinions in this area that disunity has often prevailed, dysfunction has sometimes arisen and even divisiveness has crept in and wounded some in the flock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can two godly, brilliant bible scholars differ on this issue? It\u2019s a matter of interpretation on each other\u2019s part, but keep in mind, I think we will all draw a similar and encouraging conclusion even amidst differing opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Grudem points out that, \u201cthere are only seven passages in the New Testament where we read of someone being baptized in (or with) the Holy Spirit.\u201d They are as follows: Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 1:5, Acts 11:16, and 1 Corinthians 12:13. (I encourage you to look up and read each of these.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1 Corinthians 12:13 verse, which reads: \u201cFor by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body\u2026\u201d is one area where differing opinions come into play. Does this verse carry the same meaning of Spirit baptism as the other six?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without getting \u201ctoo deep in the weeds\u201d let me just say it depends largely on whether you accept the phrase \u201cby one Spirit\u201d or \u201cin one Spirit.\u201d Some English translations use \u201cby one Spirit\u201d suggesting that this verse differs from the other six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Grudem explains, \u201cThose who support the Pentecostal view of baptism in the Holy Spirit after conversion are quite eager to see this verse as referring to something other than baptism in the Holy Spirit\u2026 In all the other six verses, Jesus is the one who baptizes people and the Holy Spirit is the \u201celement\u201d in which or with which Jesus baptizes people. Here in 1 Corinthians 12:13 (so the Pentecostal explanation goes) we have something quite different – here the person doing the baptizing is not Jesus but the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they say, 1 Corinthians 12:13 should not be taken into account when we ask what the New Testament means by \u201cbaptism in the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, this is but one opinion and explanation of this point in scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let\u2019s look at another. Dr. Lloyd Jones believed in a subsequent work or baptism in (or with) the Holy Spirit after conversion. Here\u2019s how he handles 1 Corinthians 12:13:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to demonstrate that this verse\u2026 (1 Cor. 12:13) does not deal at all with the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d Jones agrees with Grudem that the Greek word en<\/em> is the word herein used in this verse but goes on to point out that this word is often used in Greek in a casual sense. For example: Matthew 24:52 says, \u201cAll they that take the sword shall perish with (or by) the sword.\u201d Jones says, \u201cAnd there is the little word en<\/em> and it means, of course, perish by the sword. You could not possibly translate that…perish in the sword.\u201d He goes on to give several other examples of the Greek word en<\/em> to mean, by as well as, in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jones then goes on to use a quote by Dr. Wuest (The Untranslatable Riches from the New Testament Greek) to bring clarity to 1 Corinthians 12:13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe personal agent in this case who does the baptizing is the Holy Spirit. He places the believing sinner into the body of which the Lord Jesus is the living Head. We could translate therefore, by means of the personal agency of one Spirit we all were placed in one body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not the baptism with the Spirit, or of the Spirit, in the sense that the Holy Spirit is the element that is applied to us; it is the baptism by the Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confused? It\u2019s ok, I don\u2019t understand all the nuances and applications of a two letter Greek word either. I\u2019m no scholar and don\u2019t claim to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I do begin to see however, and I hope you do as well, is that there is a work that the Holy Spirit does in us at conversion and there is also an ongoing work that He does in sanctification and equipping for power to boldly witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another verse we should look at where Grudem and Jones (as well as others) disagree, though not harshly, is John 20:22, where it reads as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question is, did the disciples actually receive the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost? This is significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Grudem writes, \u201cWhen Jesus breathed on his disciples and said to them, \u2018Receive the Holy Spirit; it probably was an acted out prophecy of what would happen to them at Pentecost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve heard this explanation often through the years and do not reject it, but I also find Dr. Lloyd Jones\u2019 explanation quite enlightening and challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is nothing in the text of John 20 that suggests this was a prophetic enactment. Take the words as they are and this is what you find: \u2018Jesus said to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and he saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.\u2019 Again…disagreement, differing opinions but ultimately not highly problematic. The significance of Jones\u2019 explanation of that verse is if the disciples did in fact receive the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them, then what happened at Pentecost had to be a subsequent work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I\u2019m sure some of you are thinking, \u201cWell Dallas, what do you think? Dallas, what about speaking in tongues?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I think is not all that important, but I will tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But first, what did Jesus say the Pentecost outpouring was about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.\u201d (Acts 1:8<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of you perhaps want to know my opinion on speaking in tongues and how it relates to this matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A traditional \u201cdoctrinal distinctive\u201d of many pentecostal believers is, \u201cThe initial physical evidence of the baptism of (or in) the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I personally don\u2019t think scripture makes this case in a dogmatic doctrinal sense. I believe in all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I believe they are still available to the church today for the edification of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, to single out one gift or others and say that if you haven\u2019t experienced that gift or gifts, you have not experienced a Holy Spirit baptism, is not biblically accurate, in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples spoke in other tongues, unlearned languages, so that all in attendance heard the gospel, each in their own language and 3,000 souls were added to the Kingdom. On two subsequent occasions (and a third implied), we know that people were filled with or received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are numerous other mentions of individuals being filled with the Holy Spirit such as Elizabeth, Zacharias, Stephen and other references that say nothing of speaking in tongues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe some people have in fact received a Holy Spirit baptism attended by speaking in tongues as well as other giftings, but I think to suggest that in the absence of a gift or gifts, a Spirit baptism did not occur, would be unfortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the most challenging and difficult Praiseletter I\u2019ve ever written out of the almost 300 I\u2019ve penned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s so much debate and division over this issue of Holy Spirit Baptism that it\u2019s impossible to cover every area, address every idea and please every reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Spirit, with the Spirit, by the Spirit. Baptized, filled or received all seem to be terms that cause us to choose sides; at least in the way in which they are often used and explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what can we gain from all this? What can we agree upon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, we can look at Dr. Grudem and Dr. Jones and see that they both agree on an initial full entrance of the Holy Spirit into every true believer\u2019s life. In reading their works, I can tell you they both agree on the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in every Christian. They both agree that the Ephesians 5:18 command, \u201cBe filled with the Spirit\u201d refers to a constant and ongoing filling of God\u2019s spirit. They both proclaim clearly that all the gifts of the Spirit are still working today and they both clearly and strongly encourage every believer to seek for more from the Holy Spirit. Call it a baptism, call it an in-filling, or call it as a \u201ccoming down\u201d of His Spirit upon us: both would encourage us to seek for all the Spirit has and might delight to do in and through us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I agree!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d like to add one more thing, though I know this has surely been my most lengthy letter to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I feel sure that some of this talk of the Holy Spirit Baptism, gifts, tongues, etc\u2026 has caused some of you to think I lean a little too far to \u201cthat\u201d side of things and I need to embrace a more staunch reformed position in such matters. Actually, I do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my studies it\u2019s been enlightening if not surprising that many, and I mean many, of the great old patriarchs of the faith such as Luther, Calvin, Whitfield, Spurgeon, Edwards, the Wesleys, Finney, Moody and many others, testify to a profound experience or experiences in their lives of the Holy Spirit impacting, transforming and flooding them with joy unspeakable, often years into their lives and ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A baptism, an infilling, a fresh receiving of Holy Spirit power, would well define and describe what they experienced!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me close with a wonderful quote from that most staunch Calvinist, Reformed Baptist minister:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cO my soul! Thou art ready to burst within me. Oh my heart! Thou art swelled with grief. The hot tide of my emotion would well-nigh overflood the channels of my veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains my tongue. I wish to pray, but the fervency of my feelings curbs my language. There is a groaning within that cannot be uttered. Do you know who can utter that groaning? Who can understand it, and who can put it into heavenly language, and utter it in a celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear it? Oh yes, it is God the Holy Spirit; He advocates our cause with Christ, and then Christ advocates it with His Father. He is the advocate who makes the intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.\u201d Charles Hadden Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kinda sounds like he leans a little to \u201cthat side\u201d too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends…there\u2019s more! The Spirit of God is limitless, eternal and present within us. Maybe we should worry less about what He doesn\u2019t do and desire more what He might like to do in and through us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I have no hesitancy to say, \u201cGod, I want and need a Holy Spirit Baptism!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The mere title of this letter conjures up doctrinal differences, emotional reactions and dogmatic opinions. Some people and\/or denominations are so anxious to jump into the fray to support their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Surely if our Lord was merely telling them that this was going to happen to them, he would have done what he is reported as having done in Acts 1 where he tells them \u2018Tarry ye in Jerusalem until\u2026\u2019 There he is telling them that something is going to happen and he puts it quite plainly and quite clearly. But there is no suggestion at all of that in John 20. He says, \u2018Receive ye the Holy Ghost.\u2019
Let me be still more specific. If you consult the learned authorities on the whole question of Greek grammar and the meaning of the words, you will find that they are unanimous in saying that in the Greek the word \u2018receive\u2019 in verse 22, is the aorist imperative. And the authorities are also unanimous in saying that the Greek aorist imperative never has a future meaning.
This is a purely technical point, but a very important one. So many of our friends, who hold to the other teaching, do so in terms of the Greek and the original. So let us meet them on their own ground. Here – and again I defy you to find a single exception – the authorities are all agreed in saying that the Greek aorist imperative never has a future meaning – and I would emphasize the word \u2018never\u2019. So you see, the very word that is used is a word that wants us to see that what we are told happened then, did happen then; that when our Lord said to them, \u2018Receive ye the Holy Ghost,\u2019 they did receive the Holy Ghost. But there is still more. When we are told that our Lord \u2018breathed\u2019 on them and said, \u2018Receive ye the Holy Ghost\u2019, this same word \u2018breathed\u2019, here in the Greek, is the word that was used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament in two most important instances. The first is Genesis 2:7 which reads: \u2018And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.\u2019 The other striking example of this is to be found in the book of the prophet Ezekiel in a very well known passage in chapter 37:5-9 – the vision of the \u2018valley of dead bones\u2019.
\u2018Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live…Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.\u2019
The Septuagint translation of the Hebrew word breathe used there, is exactly the same word as is used here in our passage, and surely this is a most significant fact.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n