The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a foundational yet frequently misunderstood doctrine within the Christian faith. While evangelical Christians generally agree on its importance, significant debate exists regarding when and how it occurs.
The primary dispute lies between two poles: Pentecostals, who often view it as a “second work of grace” evidenced by speaking in tongues, and Cessationists, who believe supernatural gifts ended with the last apostle. However, a careful study of the Book of Acts suggests a third perspective: that the baptism of the Spirit is God’s sovereign way of bringing diverse people into one unified body.
The Two Traditional Views
To understand the current theological landscape, we must first look at the two most common interpretations:
• The Second Blessing (Pentecostal View): This position suggests that after conversion, a believer should seek a subsequent experience—a “second blessing”—that places them into a higher order of Christian experience, typically evidenced by tongues.
• The Apostolic Sign (Cessationist View): This position argues that spiritual gifts like tongues were merely signs to validate the authority of the original apostles and ceased once those apostles died.
A Biblical Analysis of Acts
Rather than proving one of these two theories, the Book of Acts reveals a pattern of the Holy Spirit expanding the church to “unexpected people”.
1. Pentecost (Acts 2)
The events of Pentecost were the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy. While some use this to argue for a “second blessing,” we see that the 120 gathered were receiving the Spirit for the first time as the church age began. This was not about creating “elite super-saints” but about signifying that the Messianic age had arrived for all who call upon the Lord.
2. The Samaritans (Acts 8)
This is the only passage that strongly resembles a “pattern” of a delayed experience of the Spirit. However, the delay was likely to ensure church unity. Because Jews and Samaritans were traditional enemies, it was crucial for the apostles to witness firsthand that God was incorporating Samaritans into the same “Spirit-possessed society”.
3. The Gentiles (Acts 10)
In the house of Cornelius, the Holy Spirit fell upon Gentiles while Peter was still preaching. Here, the gift of tongues was not a sign to the believers that they were “elite,” but a sign to the apostles that God had accepted Gentiles as full members of the church.
4. The Disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19)
Paul encountered “disciples” who had only received John’s baptism. We see again here that these individuals were not “Spirit-filled” Christians lacking a second blessing, but were likely unregenerate—meaning they had not yet truly met the One who baptizes in the Spirit. Once they received Christian baptism, they were fully incorporated into the faith.
The Core Takeaway: One Body, One Spirit
The New Testament emphasizes that there is no “two-tiered” system of Christianity. According to 1 Corinthians 12:13, all Christians are baptized by one Spirit into one body.
• No “Have and Have-Not”: The Bible does not support a division between “ordinary” and “privileged” Christians.
• Presence of the Spirit: As stated in Romans 8:9, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Him.
• Sovereign Movement: The “pattern” in Acts is not a rigid formula for personal experience, but a historical account of the Spirit moving in ever-widening circles—from Jews to Samaritans to the ends of the earth.
