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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit - PH70-02
Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 3:7-10© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1976)
Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12. We are studying the work of God the Holy Spirit, which is known
as the baptizing of the Spirit of God – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is a key factor in the church age. Any misunderstanding
on this doctrine, however sincere that misunderstanding may be, will inevitably result in great delusion from Satan. I cannot stress
that enough to you. I hope that you have by now fully grasped that. Anybody who misinterprets the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit automatically opens himself up to demonic influence – automatically opens himself up to a great satanic delusion.
That will help you to understand what is taking place in a vast segment of Christianity today called the charismatic movement, which has opened
itself up to this satanic delusion. We have already traced for you the historical steps by which that took place, and how that came about since
the 18th century. But we are up to the current expression of a great satanic hoax. It is a dangerous delusion because it will cost the individual
who falls into it eternal rewards forever. What could have been his, not in the way of salvation (He will have that.), but
in rewards for service will forever be lost. This is the key doctrine of the Christian life. If you are wrong here, you are wrong every place
else down the line.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Dr. Unger, in his book The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, summarizes that point in this way: On page 93, he says, "It
is always perilous to be doctrinally careless or irresponsible. Believing a false gospel can deprive one of salvation. Believing error
can distort one's experience. Genuine spiritual experience can result only from faith in sound biblical teaching. The hazard of subscribing
to popular teachings on the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a second experience evidenced by glossolalia, is that the believer leaves
the safe ground of God's word. When one does this, there is no safeguard against the intrusion of spirits not from God (1 John 4:1), to spoil
the true work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life and experience."
Never forget that it is the prime purpose of his majesty the devil to spoil what God is doing for you. He is the great spoiler. All along your
Christian life, there is one thing that Satan wants to do, and that is to spoil what God has for you. For most people, he has done that in one
way or another. Most people can look back and say, "Well, here at this point in my life, I made a decision, and Satan intruded into my thinking
in such a way that he spoiled what could have been mine. I made a bad decision. He spoiled a tremendous experience for me. He spoiled
a relationship for me. He spoiled this thing and that thing." You don't have to think back in your life very far. Anytime you are out from
under the Word of God, and from the hardcore control of God the Holy Spirit, you may be sure that Satan is spoiling something for you.
The greatest thing that he has wanted to spoil, of course, is Christians being effectively useful to the Lord, and getting out the Word of God.
That is the name of the game: to stop; to stifle; and, to hinder the outgoing of doctrine. If you have come into this service expecting to be
entertained and to hear funny stories, you are going to be monumentally disappointed. If you have come here to hear something about the Word of
God in a very light, challenging, exciting way, you're going to be disappointed. In this place, we deal with the Word of God in-depth, because
God has said that without it, "The people of God are blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along."
All you have to do is look at
the Pentecostal charismatic movement to see how millions of Christians, had they been taught the Word of God and had they understood the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, would never have fallen into the trap that they have fallen into. Now Satan blows them around this way and that way. Why did
that happen? Because their preachers were not digging out the Word of God in-depth, and teaching the people of God. Their preachers were not
willing to tell a congregation, "If you don't like hearing the Word of God in-depth, and learning it on the authority of the original languages,
then find yourself another church. There are plenty of places where you will have preachers who speak in pontifical preacher voices; smile
while they preach; tell you stories that will warm the cockles of your heart; and, send you out feeling like you've been to church, with a
challenge and an inspiration. And you will go out and die spiritually in the process.
So now we are proceeding with this doctrine in-depth so that when we are through, you will not have, I trust, the slightest doubt in your mind
as to what the Bible teaches concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I'll tell you something else. The clearer this doctrine becomes to you, the more horrified you will be by what is taking place in the
charismatic movement. That is the time that you will look at what Kathryn Kuhlman is doing and what Oral Roberts is doing, and you will be
stunned. That is the time that you will wonder what goes through the mind of great evangelical leaders who are held in high esteem;
who associate and fellowship with the charismatic movement; and, who put their stamp of approval, thereby, upon it. Once you know this doctrine,
I won't have to convince you that association with the charismatics is dangerous to your spiritual health. I won't have to be raising
in your mind the horror of what leaders are doing in deceiving people who don't know the difference; who are reaching out
and looking to understand this; and, who are deceived because men whom they esteem are associated with these movements.
The Charismatic Movement
So the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we have shown you, has been deliberately perverted by Satan since the time of the Wesley movement
with the concept of sinless perfection as a second work of grace after salvation. That movement has come to its climax today in what is called the
charismatic movement. This delusion has caught up a great multitude of people who actually are Christians. They're actually going to heaven, but it
has caught them up in great experiential hoax hopes, and that's our point. They are claiming experiences which they are not indeed having –
miracle experiences which are not miraculous, but which Satan has pulled off as a great delusion upon them. Satan's purpose is to deny the control
of the believer by God the Holy Spirit. If Satan can keep the Spirit of God from controlling a believer's life, then that believer's spiritual
gifts are completely neutralized in doing the Lord's work, and that segment of our calling as the body of Christ is then completely destroyed.
So the result is, on the part of many Christians who are caught up in the charismatic movement, vast quantities of human good production. This is
mere human good production – the things that any good moral unbeliever could do.
So we have shown you that the baptism of the Holy Spirit did not occur before the present dispensation in which we live, the age of the church.
It was not in the Old Testament. We have shown you that to understand this doctrine, you must understand that the church is a unique body. The
church is not part of Israel. The church was a distinct plan of God, which in the Old Testament was hidden. The church is the living body of
Christ. Christ is the head. The church is made up today of individual living believers, both Jews and gentiles.
The moment a person finally
comes to his senses; recognizes that he is a sinner; and, realizes that if he were to die, his destiny would be hell, he then turns to Jesus
Christ and accepts Him as the God man who died upon the cross to pay for the sins of the world, and to pay for that person's sin, particularly.
When a person receives Him and says, "I trust Him as Savior," that person automatically and instantly is baptized by God the Holy Spirit, and
is forever united to Jesus Christ. That's why we say Christianity is a relationship – not a religion. It is a relationship to the person
of Jesus Christ. Once you have that relationship, your destiny is heaven.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
The church, made up of Jews and gentiles in this way, began on the day of Pentecost. It began when the baptism of the Holy Spirit first arrived,
placing believers into a union with Jesus Christ. If you understand the key Scripture for this doctrine, you will understand this doctrine. The
key Scripture is 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. We have already looked at verse 12. We may put that together, or paraphrase it, in this way: "For just
as the human body is one unit, and has many parts, and all the parts of the body, being many, are one body, in this way also is the Christ."
We come to verse 13. This is the climax of our study, the exegesis (the explanation) from the Greek language of exactly what 1 Corinthians 12:13
has to say. This is the verse that the charismatics today cannot explain. This is the one that they just back off from and become indignant if
you press them and say, "What does that mean, and how do you explain it in a way that is compatible with Scripture?" This they cannot do because
this is the verse that they have distorted all out of meaning.
This verse, first of all, gives us the mechanics of the baptism of the Holy Spirit – how the thing works. It begins with the word "For."
In the Greek, it's the word "gar." This word indicates that he is now going to continue an explanation of the analogy that he began in the
previous verse. In verse 12, he said, "When you think about the body of Christ, you can understand it if you think about the human body with all
of its various organs and its different parts, all doing a special function, but all working as a unit. Now," he says, "that's what the body of
Christ is like." The word "for" indicates that he's going to explain to us how that works. In the Greek, we have another word which is not
translated in your English Bible. That's the Greek word "kai," and here it means "also indeed."
So we may say, "For also," continuing that comparison to the human body, "by one Spirit." The word "by" in Greek is the preposition "en." In
the Greek grammatical structure, we say that this is in the instrumental case. Instrumental case, therefore, makes this word "en" mean
"by means of." It indicates the agent of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. By means of this agent, something happens when a person receives
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "By means of one." The word "one" is the Greek word "heis," and it connotes the same identical one Spirit.
The Greek word for "Spirit" is "pneuma." Here, the word "Spirit" refers not to the human spirit, but to "God the Holy Spirit."
By one Holy Spirit, something happens. And that happens, it says to we all: "For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body."
Here in the South, we're all acquainted with the expression "you all." Now get acquainted with "we all." It means about the same as "you all."
"We all" are the critical words here in this verse. The word "we" is simply the Greek word "ego" which is the personal pronoun. It refers here
to all the Christians who are in the various churches in Corinth. All over metropolitan Corinth, many homes had congregations meeting in them,
each with a pastor-teacher leading and instructing. He is speaking about all these Christians in all these churches, and he makes a declaration
about them. All of them are included. For he uses the word "all," which is the Greek word "pas." It indicates a very important truth concerning
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is that no Christian is omitted from it: "We all."
If, for example, some of the believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit, and some are not, as the charismatics claim, it would have to say, "For
by one Spirit were we baptized." That is, simply, "By one Spirit were we baptized." He could not say we were all baptized. Or you would have to
say it in some way like this (and the Bible sometimes does use this structure): "For as many of us as were baptized had been baptized by the
same Spirit." This would suggest that some of the believers were baptized, and some were not. You don't have that construction at all. The
construction that you have in the Greek Bible is simply a pure, outright, solid, 100% declaration that everybody who ever believed in Christ as
Savior has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, that's what it means when it says, "For by one Spirit were we all baptized."
Don't ever forget to observe the word "all." It is a critical word. It tells us that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is universal, and it's
automatic for every believer. Now, with that one fact out of the Greek Bible, the whole charismatic movement has come crashing to the ground
within the last few seconds. The charismatic movement is built upon the fact that not every Christian has the baptism of the Holy Spirit –
that this is something he must seek; this is something he must tarry for; and, this is something he must strive to achieve.
Baptism
What is it that actually happens by this one agent of the Holy Spirit? It says, "By one Spirit were we all baptized." The word "baptized" is the
Greek word "baptizo." The translators of the English Bible did not translate the word "baptizo." Because there was a great deal of debate and
discussion about this word, when they came around to translating the Bible, they simply did what we call transliteration. They simply
transliterated it. They took a Greek letter and they changed it into an English letter. So they simply transliterated "baptizo" as
"baptize," except for the last letter. But that's just a Greek word in English letters. After you say "baptize," you still don't know what's
taking place.
So we have to go back to the Greek language. We have done this more extensively in the early sessions on the book of Philippians,
and you may go back and review those sessions that explain the whole subject of baptism in detail. Here we will just refer to the fact that
the word means "to identify." As this is researched in the Greek language, you will discover that "baptizo" means "to identify." If you
were going to translate it, that's the word you'd have to use: "to identify." It connotes the act of immersing in the process of identifying
something.
Here's what "baptize" means. It means "identification." For example, A identified with B, or A baptized in B, has the result that A is changed
in some way, in relationship to B. That's what "baptize" means. Let's apply that to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Here is the sinner who is
in Adam. With the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he is identified with Jesus Christ. The result of this identification is that the sinner
who was in Adam is transferred over and placed in Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit transfers you from the place of eternal death,
where your destiny is the lake of fire in Adam, to the destiny of heaven in Christ. If you die while you're in Adam, the lake of fire is your
destiny. The only way you get out of being in Adam is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You have to be identified with Christ
as you once were identified by birth with Adam.
The reason you are identified with Adam is because you were born from Adam with an
old sin nature. That puts you under the condemnation and judgment of God. That's why it doesn't matter if you're a nice moral person.
It doesn't matter if you're a nice religious person. You're still on your way to hell. The only way you can change this is through the baptism
of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the question comes up, "How do I get the baptism of the Holy Spirit?" There is only one way – by believing
in Christ as Savior. That's what the Word of God means in verses like John 3:16, when it tells us that if we believe in Him, we'll have everlasting
life: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish." This is the place
of perishing here in Adam. But instead, "Have everlasting life in the place where you are in Christ." This is what the apostle Paul means
when he says that, "He who knew no sin (Jesus Christ) took our sin (all of our sins) upon Himself, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." He took our sins so that we could be transferred out of Adam as sinless in God's sight to the position in Christ.
If you've never made this transfer, then forget everything else you hear in this session, and get this straightened out. If you've
never made the transfer from "in Adam," you're in a very dangerous position. If you die in that condition, you will spend eternity in
the torments of hell paying for your sins. Instead, you could receive Christ as Savior. You could simply believe that God has said
that He sent His Son to die for you, and accept Him (receive Him – believe Him). Believe that gospel, and you are immediately transferred
over, out of Adam into Christ. Why? Because when you believe in Christ as Savior, the Spirit of God immerses you into Christ, and you
are joined forever in union with Jesus Christ.
So 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares to us, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things
are become new." Please don't apply that verse to the fact that you used to booze it up and run around with girls and do all kinds of things
before you were saved, and now you don't do that anymore. Well, I hope you don't do that anymore, but that isn't what this verse is talking
about. This verse is talking about the fact that this has become new: where once you were in the place of death in Adam, by the baptism of God
the Holy Spirit, through your faith in Christ, you have been placed in a totally new position in God's sight, where you are in His Son. And
because you are in His Son, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is absolutely perfect righteousness, has now been placed to your account.
It has been credited to your account – absolute perfect righteousness. And that's why you can go to heaven. That's why you can be in God's
heaven, because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you.
So the baptism of the Holy Spirit is indeed a very critical and important work, and an important change that takes place in a human being.
Now can you see why the devil stood back, and he looked at this, and he said, "Where could I really twist Christianity? Where could I really
hinder the work of God bringing people into His heaven?" And Satan said, "This is it – the baptism of the Holy Spirit." So way back in
the 18th century, he began a monumental deception step-by-step, which we have traced for you, and which has come to its full blossom and
epitome in the charismatic movement of today. This is the doctrine that has been so distorted. Remember that once you distort the doctrine of
the Holy Spirit, you have exposed yourself to demonic mentality influence, and you have also completely distorted spiritual gifts. Anybody who
misunderstands the biblical view of the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit also misunderstands spiritual gifts. If you are twisted on the
doctrine of spiritual gifts, then all you're going to do is manage to get to heaven, and that's it. All that could have been yours, you will be
denied.
This word "baptizo" is in the aorist tense. This is the point in time when you received Christ as Savior. That's what aorist means in Greek.
That point was when you believed. That's when you were placed into union with Christ. That's when, because you are in union with Him,
you share His eternal life. Remember that. Your union with Christ means you share His life. Once you have eternal life, it can't stop.
That's why you can't ever be lost again. This aorist is not repeated. It indicates that it's a once-for-all act. You're only baptized into
the Holy Spirit once.
It is very interesting that this is passive. Passive means that you can't do anything about it. Let's start thinking, and let's remember. The
next time you talk to a charismatic, you ask him, "Do you realize that that is passive?" He probably won't know the significance. You'll say,
"Well, let me explain this to you. Passive means that you just receive it. It means that you don't do anything to get it."
This is bad for a charismatic, because he's told to tarry for the Holy Spirit. He's told to seek. He's told to get into his closet
and close the door, and strive with the Lord so that he can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He's told to seek something the
Bible never tells you to seek. No place will you ever read about seeking to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Many places you will read to seek
to be filled with the Spirit. That's another doctrine. But the Bible never says to seek to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This particular
grammatical factor shows you why.
It is something that God just gives you when you believe in Him as Savior. It is automatic. It comes to
everybody who believes. It is not secured because you deserve it, due to some personal merit. It doesn't come because you have made some
sacrifice, nor because you desire it, nor because you seek it. It's just passive. You automatically receive it. It is in the indicative mood,
which means that we are having here a statement of fact. Notice that it's not a command. If it were command, it would be imperative mood in Greek.
That's important to remember too. It would be a command to seek the Holy Spirit. Instead, it is just a statement of fact. When this doctrine is
discussed, it is always indicative in the Bible. It is a statement of fact.
What it says happened is that we were baptized "into." This word "into" in the Greek is "eis." The believer is placed into Christ, which is a
position. Notice that it's not an experience. When you were placed into union with Jesus Christ, you didn't feel a thing with your senses.
You didn't hear anything; you didn't see anything; you didn't get to be happy about it; and, you didn't get to be sad about it.
You just said, "I'd be a fool to go to hell. I know I'm going there. I'm going to quit kidding myself. God has made a solution for me.
I'm going to receive Christ as my Savior, and I'm changing my destiny from hell to heaven. That's all there was to it.
But in that moment, God the Holy Spirit baptized you into union with Jesus Christ. He put you "in Christ." You're secure forever.
He also sealed you, because God the Holy Spirit came to indwell you in that moment, and He made your body His temple. The Bible tells us that
He is the seal of our eternal security. Because you have the Holy Spirit as the seal, it is God's testimony that you will never be
lost again. You can start a very handsome life of sinning as a Christian, but that's another story. You don't leave the family of God because
you've sinned, but God does begin chastening; God begins disciplining; and, God deals with you as a sinning child. But that's something else.
You're still a child. You're not someone outside of His family. So that's involved. But I want you to understand at this point that
placing you in Christ is a place of complete security, and it is something that He does for you. There is no experience to prove it. It's a
position.
So when the charismatics come along and say, "When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you'll be filled with such love. You have
such joy. You will want to read your Bible and go to church, and you'll be witnessing and testifying for the Lord."
Well, if they do all those things (and many charismatics who think they have received some special second act of God indeed claim to do
that, and do indeed seem to do that), the reason they are doing that is because they have created a self-induced emotional high, and they're
riding on it. These are humanly created.
Well, someone may tell you, "You know, if you seek
for this baptism of the Holy Spirit, you'll know you have it because you'll start babbling in tongues. This gibberish will pour out.
When you've got it, you know that God has put His hand upon you." If you believe that, and the gibberish comes, you'll say, "This
is wonderful. God has touched me." And you'll actually began doing all of these great devotional acts. Why? Because you think you've got something
that you really don't have. It doesn't matter whether you have it or not – just as long as you think you've got it. And millions are deluded
because they don't understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
So this is a very important word: "By one spirit were we all baptized into one body." That one body is the body of Christ. The Greek word is
"soma." Here it refers to the body of Christ, or to the church.
So here is the mechanics by which the church age believer is united forever to the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:27 reads. "And now you
are the body of Christ, and members in particular." The way you became the body of Christ is through this work of God the Holy Spirit of
baptizing you in the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual Gifts
Notice that following 1 Corinthians 12:27, the next few verses immediately tell you something very significant about the fact that you are
part of the body of Christ. It begins talking about spiritual gifts, and it names the spiritual gifts that you perform as part of the body
of Christ. So we are baptized into one body. We are joined to this one person, the living Son of God. Who is? He says, "Whether we be Jews
or Greeks, whether we be bond or free." In the Greek, it has these two little words, "Eite eite," which are just words to balance one idea
against another – whether you're a Jew or a gentile, or whether you're a bond slave or a free man makes no difference. Racial and social
distinctions do not, in any way, affect your receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In other words, this is his way of saying that nothing
can keep you, once you trust in Christ, from having the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
This is the one place of equality. We have a lot of people chasing around looking for equality in our day. Here is one place where everybody
is equal – at the baptism of the Spirit of God.
Indwelling
But notice the last part of 1 Corinthians 12:13. Not only are you baptized by God the Holy Spirit, but something else also happens at the point
of salvation. That is what we refer to as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. For he adds: "And have been all made to drink into one Spirit." The
word "and" is the Greek word "kai." That indicates to us that He is going to add another additional work of the Holy Spirit at the point of
salvation. What is that work? "Have been made to drink" is all one word in the Greek: "potizo." "Potizo" means "to give to drink." What he is
referring to is the same thing that the Lord Jesus Christ referred to while He was on the earth with His disciples. He was beginning to prepare
them for what was going to take place in the very near future for them in relationship to God the Holy Spirit, which was a relationship never
before experienced by any human being. It had never been experienced by believers before.
The Lord Jesus Christ, at one point, told them, "Pray for the Holy Spirit, and you will receive Him." The Holy Spirit used to come upon people in
the Old Testament sovereignly, to perform certain great works. At one point in the ministry of the Lord, the Lord says, "You can have the same
thing happen to you. Just pray and ask God for the Holy Spirit, and you will receive Him." Now, we can't do that today because we're past the
day of Pentecost, so things are run in a different order. But before the day of Pentecost, He said, "You can pray for Him." We don't have any
evidence that any of them did. The time came when the Lord Himself prayed for them to receive the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and they
did.
One of the passages that describes for us how He prepared them for what was coming – the power that God the Spirit would bring upon
them – is John 7:37-39. The Lord said, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If
any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believes on Me, as the Scripture said, out of his heart, shall flow rivers of living
water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit whom they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was
not yet glorified." That is, Jesus had not returned to heaven, so the Holy Spirit had not come down to reside upon this earth. But He was saying,
"You may drink of this Spirit." What did he mean? He meant that just as you take a glass of water and you drink it, and that water now indwells
your body, so the soul of the believer (the body of a believer) is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.
Before Pentecost, they could pray for this
drinking – this indwelling. After Pentecost, we no longer have to ask for it, because the Bible makes it very clear that our bodies are
the temple of God the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19 puts it in this way: "What? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own?" The night before the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, He again
referred to this relationship of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in John 14:20, when he made that dramatic statement, saying, "You in me, and
I in you." We are to be joined to Christ in such an intimate union that Christ Himself is indwelling us, and the Spirit of God is indwelling us.
That's how close we were to be to the living God.
All of this He was giving as coming in the future. Here in 1 Corinthians 12:13, we have the reality declared. The indwelling Holy
Spirit is actually the mark of salvation. Romans 8:9 says, "If you do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling you, you are not saved."
The only way you can have him indwelling you is by receiving Christ as Savior – by believing in Him as Savior.
So this verse says at the end, "Have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Again notice, "Have been all made to drink. Again
the "pas" is there. Nobody is excluded. "Made to drink into that one Spirit, into that one person, God the Holy Spirit." Christ is in the
Christian for the purpose of fellowship (John 14:20). The Holy Spirit is in the Christian for the purpose of His functioning (Ephesians 5:18).
So the relationship to Christ is established by your relationship to the Holy Spirit. Without a relationship to the Holy Spirit, you do not
have a relationship to Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, John 16:14).
So what's the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit today? It places a believer in this dispensation into union with Christ. It adds him to
the body of Christ, the church. This union with Christ indicates that you possess eternal life (1 John 5:12). This union takes place, therefore,
at the point of salvation. If you have eternal life, it had to come at the point of salvation. Every Christian is included in the baptism of the
Holy Spirit: "We all." And Ephesians 4:5 says that there is only one baptism. Do not be so foolish as to apply that to water baptism.
There are many different water baptisms, but spirit baptism is the one baptism that Ephesians 4:5 speaks of. Jews and gentiles today
are therefore being added by the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the body of Christ. He's going to continue doing this until the rapture,
when the church is taken out of the world.
Identification
The baptism of the Holy Spirit identifies a believer with the work of Christ. He is identified with Him in this way: It identifies
a believer with the work of Christ on the cross. It identifies him, first of all, with the death of Jesus Christ. We have this in Roman 6:3-4
and Colossians 2:12. In God's eyes, when Christ died on the cross, you died with Him. That we call retroactive identification.
It is identifying you back to something that happened 2,000 years ago.
There is also current identification with the resurrection of Christ. When Jesus Christ came up out of that tomb and rose again from the dead,
God says, "In my eyes, you came to life with My Son." We had this in Ephesians 1:3-6. The result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the
believer, identifying him retroactively with the death of Christ and currently with the resurrection of Christ, is to be placed in Christ. Now
that's the relationship. This baptism is real. It does actually put you in Christ. It's the position that Paul said he esteemed above all. Now
you can see why Paul says, "This is the most important thing in life to me – not my celebrityship, but to be in Christ. That is because this,
on the one hand, ties me back to the cross with the death of Christ, and it ties me currently to the fact that I live in a resurrected life. I live
a life that can overcome sin – never sinless perfection, but where I can control sin. I live a life that promises that someday I will be
raised physically to live forever in God's heaven.
If Paul esteemed being in Christ, he had to esteem the baptism of the Holy Spirit, because that's how the two are brought together. That's
how being in Christ is brought about. These two are joined together.
Water Baptism
Now let's get it all muddied up. Let's talk about water baptism. Where does water baptism come into this picture? Well, water baptism portrays
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's point number one. Water baptism is a picture of the baptism of God the Holy Spirit. The word "baptize,"
as we have indicated to you, means to immerse in something. In the process of that immersion, you're identifying A with B. The water represents
Jesus Christ. The believer, in the act of water baptism, is placed down into the water. He is immersed. He is thereby identified with Jesus
Christ. In what respect? He is identified with the death of Christ. It is retroactive positional truth. Forevermore in the sight of God, you
have died on the cross – not actually, but in the position that you hold in God's sight, you are dead.
How do you portray that in water baptism? By being put down under the water. When you come back up out of the water, you are identified
with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what you're picturing – the portrayal of coming back out of death, and out of the grave to
resurrection. That has to do with current positional truth. You are identified with the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and all that that connotes in the kind of life that you may now live as a believer.
So you identified with Christ in His death retroactively. You are identified currently in His resurrection.
Christian baptism, therefore, is not necessary for salvation. It is a picture. It doesn't do something for a person. It merely portrays
something that has been done by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you look in the Word of God, you will discover that people are saved
without water baptism. For example, in Acts 10:47-48, we read, "Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received
the Holy Spirit as well as we?" Here is the situation in Caesarea where the gentiles first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The very
expression, "Who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we" shows us that he's talking about people who are in the family of God. They've been
born again; they have been baptized by the Holy Spirit; they've been sealed by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit indwells them; and, they've been
regenerated.
Now, what is he saying? These people have the Holy Spirit. They're born again. "Can any man forbid that we should be baptized?" And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Obviously, the water baptism here came after these people were saved, because they were already
in Christ before they'd ever gotten into the water.
Acts 16:31 is that classic declaration of how to be saved in response to the question of the Philippian jailer. It says, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house." There is no reference whatsoever to water baptism. You can't say, "Well, yes, but sometimes
the Bible does say you've got to be baptized too – believe and be baptized."
Here's the apostle Paul. It's the middle of the night. The Philippian jailer has had the shock of his life in that earthquake, and none of the
prisoners had escaped. He has listened to the gospel; he's gone positive toward it; and, he's received it. He says, "I am concerned for my soul.
I want to know about the God you tell me about. How can I be saved?" Paul explains it to him. What should Paul tell him? Part of what he must
do? Never. Paul says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." Period. That was all. Certainly, had that not been the case,
at this point, he would have told this man, "And let me baptize you, and then you will go to heaven."
In John 3:16, again, that classic explanation has no baptism: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish and have everlasting life." John 3:36: "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he
that doesn't believe on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." How can you be clearer now? How am I saved? Believe
in Jesus Christ. It's not by that ridiculous talk about inviting Christ into your heart or into your life, and all that confusion other than
scriptural pictures of receiving Him by faith, and believing in Him. That's what it takes. No baptism is mentioned here at all.
Now it is true that water baptism normally follows closely upon having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ
as Savior. This is indicated in Acts 2:41, Acts 8:36-38, Acts 9:18, and Acts 16:33. Water baptism follows a person's faith in
Christ, and they are connected together.
So here are the basic critical points summarizing what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is all about. It is to take you from the position of being
in the place of death in Adam, and to identify you with Jesus Christ so that you are now in the place of salvation. That has to come at the
moment that you believe – not subsequent to salvation. You are then identified back with the death of Christ. You are identified currently
and in the future with the resurrection of Christ. Water baptism is simply God's visual aid to portray to us that act of the death and the
resurrection of Christ in our behalf, in our being joined to the benefits of that death and resurrection through the work of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit.
We haven't quite finished all the summary. There are a few more points on it, which we'll do next time, but this is basic. Obviously, baptism of
the Holy Spirit cannot come after salvation. Obviously it's not something you can seek. It is, I'm happy to say, something that is ours
automatically when we receive Him as Savior.
If you have not done that, I hope you will. You have heard enough explanation in the very process of explaining this doctrine to know what God
expects of you. If your destiny now, you may realize, is not heaven, but the lake of fire, then God the Holy Spirit is ready to do His work
of placing you in Christ and joining you to the eternal life of the Son of God. All He requires is that you accept Him as your Savior. You do that
by believing what God has promised that He would do. He has died for you. He has made provision. He will save you if you receive His Son.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1973
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