Baptism vs. Filling of the Holy Spirit - PH71-01

Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 3:7-10

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Positional Truth

The Bible says that all Christians are united to the body of Christ. Therefore, all Christians automatically must have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This union with Christ takes place at the point of salvation. So if you are united to Christ at the point of salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit must take place at salvation. That's the only way you could be united to Christ. It could not come at any other time. So this is not received later (after salvation), but at the point of salvation.

In the dispensation of the church then, it is impossible to be saved without also having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are coextensive. The baptism of the Holy Spirit began on the day the church began, on the day of Pentecost, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is going to complete the church at some future date when the last believer is won to the body of Christ. Then the rapture will take place.

What the baptism of the Holy Spirit does is identify a person with the work of Jesus Christ, and we have been summarizing these various points. It identifies a believer with the work of Jesus Christ, first of all, in His death on the cross, and then with His resurrection from the dead. That means that you and I, as individuals, participate in all the merits of Christ on the cross, and in the resurrection that He experienced. This identification indicates possession of eternal life. That's what we read in 1 John 5:12: "He that has the Son, has life; and he that has not the Son of God, has not life." Eternal life is a matter of an identification with Jesus Christ. It is a matter of possessing the Son of God.

Water Baptism

Well, Satan has indeed done a terrific job of confusing the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you've been with us for several sessions, you know why he has done that. This is a critical doctrine. This is where all the theological problem is circling around in our day. All of the storm centers around the eye of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The devil has done a monumental job of confusing this. So we have returned to the Bible and said, "Just exactly what does the Bible say about these things? Then we can see whether what we are hearing matches up to the Word of God." This is important.

Dr. Mel Unger, in his book, The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, on page 19 says, "It is the widespread confusion occasioned by the charismatic movements of our times that calls for clarification of what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is and does in the life of the believer. Only a careful study of the Scripture witness on this subject can remove the scales from man's eyes that are causing them to wander in the quagmire of experiences not really authenticated by the Word of God. Only a return to what the Bible teaches concerning the baptism of the Spirit can restore the vision of God's people to comprehend what they are in Christ, and how big their salvation in Him is." That's putting it very well indeed.

So we are considering the role of the Holy Spirit today. He identifies with Christ. Water baptism portrays that. Another point about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it is possessed by believers apart from their status of spirituality. Many Christians in the Corinthian church were very carnal believers. But you remember that that book indicates that all of those in Corinth who were believers had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We study this in 1 Corinthians 12:13, where the very crucial word "all" indicates that every believer in the Corinthian church had received this baptism. All you have to do is read through the book, and see what a sinful church it was. That church was shot through with carnal people. Yet every one of them had the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they had it in that status of carnality. That is very important.

Believers do not seek the Holy Spirit

No External Evidence

As a matter of fact, not all believers in the New Testament spoke in tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that every believer in the Corinthian church had been baptized by the Holy Spirit. But 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that not everyone in the Corinthian church had the gift of tongues. We have to get that from the Greek. That is because in 1 Corinthians 12:30, the Greek asks a question, and when the Koine Greek language asked a question, it would ask it in such a way that it would indicate what the answer should be: yes; or, no. So it just glares upon the pages of Scripture when Paul says, "Do all speak in tongues?" The answer is, "No." From the English, you wouldn't know that. But from the Greek, there's the clue, the little key word "me," and it tells you that the answer is, "No, not everybody speaks in tongues."

Now we have this in the same book. Everybody is baptized, but not everybody speaks in tongues. Yet, today the charismatic movement says, "When you get the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you'll know it." How? "Because you will speak in tongues. You relate this contradiction in Scripture that that would set up. All have been baptized (1 Corinthians 12:13). Not everybody speaks in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30). Obviously, the speaking in tongues had nothing to do with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is no way to reconcile that inconsistency that the charismatics claim.

The giving of spiritual gifts to the believers for service is another ministry of the Holy Spirit, apart from baptizing, and apart from filling. These gifts for service are fruitful while that Christian is in the status of spirituality; that is, he is filled with the Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience which a believer is conscious of through his senses. He simply receives it by faith in doctrine. You and I know that we have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit through doctrine – not through something we feel. We know that we have received the baptism on the basis of the fact that Scripture says that all of us have been united to Christ. The only way you can be united to Christ is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Once you have been united to Him, you are there forever.

So any claims that you feel a sense of joy; exhilaration; an increased devotion to Jesus Christ; or, a great love has welled up within your soul are because you have conned yourself into believing that you have received some kind of supernatural work from God. This is a self-induced emotional high, and it is for that reason that we are trying to straighten out this doctrine in your thinking. If you are wrong on this, the devil will have his chance with you as he will in few other things. Most people who are Christians and who are serious about it, are not going to go out and be guilty of gross devastating sins. Therefore, the devil has to neutralize you in your very devotion to the Lord. That's exactly what he's done. He has taken the devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ of millions of people, and he has twisted the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He has caused them to go into confusion so that they are completely useless to the Lord.

I know this is important. I've had one chewing out face-to-face for teaching this doctrine, and I've had several through the mail as a result of the Nolen special on the healing claims of the charismatics. I know that the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the next thing we need to get out to the field. That is because this is a question that comes through the mail: "I don't understand this baptism of the Holy Spirit. I'm very confused on this. I have all these contradictions. I'm hearing all these different things." Whenever some poor Christian writes me like that, I know that he's been stuck with some preacher who is not teaching the Word of God, and has not taken the trouble to explain this doctrine. When you get this straight, as Dr. Unger indicated so well in his book, then all of the riches of God's blessing have opened to you. But you will never experience His real joy, and your real happiness, and your real blessing until you get this straight. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit is never marked by any external evidence.

Spiritual Power

The Bible doctrine principle is that power is found in your relationship to Jesus Christ. Ephesians 6:10 says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." That means to have the inherent strength of the indwelling Spirit of God, and to express that in power of operation – in the might of the expression of your service. So where is power from? It is because you are in Christ. There is no spiritual power for a person anyplace else. Everything else is a self-delusion.

This potential power is appropriated through the filling of the Holy Spirit, and through the guidance of doctrine. I make no apologies for the fact that there is only one thing that keeps us from being fools in the hand of Satan, and that is the knowledge of Bible doctrine. You will not get that in one or two or three years. It's going to take a long time of grinding away; of line-upon-line; precept upon precept; and, here a little, there a little, until you finally develop to the place where you are no longer a spiritual ignoramus. Those who were wrong on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit are going to be in disaster land. I mean, in disaster land.

So this is important, and it is important for you to appreciate and to respect that God has spoken to you and that He will guide you. But without His Word, you won't go anywhere. There is no guidance apart from doctrine. I had it pointed up to me this week, I'll tell you, like I have not often had it made clear to me how it just glaringly stood out to me. It was almost to the point that it so saddened me that I almost wanted to weep over what I was seeing and what I was hearing in another complete distortion that Satan was able to perpetrate on a person who would not have been a fool in any other area of life. Only in spiritual things can people be made the fools that Satan can make of us.

So the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we understand, is not the source of power. It is the base. It establishes the base of power. Our source of power is when God the Holy Spirit fills, or controls, us. We're going to look at that in a minute.

So if you have anything that you think you feel in the way of power, it is again a deception of Satan. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the source of power. But if you associate it with that, then again, you have opened yourself to satanic influence. I want to stress that. If you insist on going around and thinking that the baptism of the Holy Spirit will give you spiritual power, Satan is going to take advantage of that. That is exactly what he is doing out in the charismatic movement. The result is spiritual chaos.

I quote from Dr. Unger again on page 152, where he says, "Since the believer's position in Christ is the basis of his appropriation of power on the ground of faith, to leave this solid scriptural foundation and to seek power on some other terms is the explanation for much of the fanaticism; excesses; and, abuses that attend the unscriptural use of the term 'baptism of the Holy Spirit.' The rise of a large-scale, interdenominational, charismatic movement since 1950; the dawn of the age of the occult since 1970; and, the increased activity of demonic powers are sounding a new warning to believers against illusion and to despoilment. The Word of God, correctly interpreted and implicitly followed, especially in matters dealing with spiritual manifestations, is the only sure guarantee against satanic imitation and demonic deception."

I'll tell you about some spirit manifestations in a future session that will make you even sit up and listen. Failure to understand the spiritual adequacy for daily living and service, which is provided to the believer by his position in Christ, opens the door to satanic appeals such as is found in Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement with its promises of a superior, warm, Christian experience. That is not so.

Old Testament Feasts

The Feast of the First Fruits

Now, they didn't fully understand all the meaning of these symbols. The farmer took a sheaf of grain that he pulled out from his field, and then walked to the priest to offer it in the temple before the altar. He was saying, in effect, that this sheaf represents what is out there in the field. There is much more which is going to come of the same kind. Much more of the same kind (as I have brought you a sample of) is going to come. Thus when Jesus Christ (the first sheaf) was waved, that was representing much more in the way of resurrection that was out in the field, namely us – we who were to follow Him. Furthermore, when the farmer brought that sheaf, he, in effect said before, God, "I bring You this offering in recognition of the sample that You have given me. What I have here is the same as what's out there in the field." So the waving of the first sheaf of Christ was declaring that as He was raised from the dead, in a perfectly sinless glorified body, so we would follow in the same way. Our resurrection would be identical to His. All of this was involved in the wave offering.

The Feast of the Wave Loaves

In the Jewish calendar of events, 50 days after the offering of the First Fruits was called the day of Pentecost. That's where we get the term "Pentecost" – from the fact that it was 50 ("pente" meaning 50) days after the Feast of the First Fruits. So 50 days later, on the day of Pentecost, the Jew would come again with an offering. However, this time he would come with two loaves of bread made from these sheaves of grain. Now the sheaves were no longer individual little kernels of grain attached to the sheaves that he had brought from the field. Instead, these had now been ground into meal; made into flour; and, converted into bread.

However, two distinct loaves were brought in this particular offering. It was obvious to the Jew that the little grains of wheat were no longer separate individual grains. They had now become fused and intermingled with one another within these loaves of bread. It was also obvious that, for some reason, God said you must have two loaves of bread. We know why. They represented the church, the forming of the body of Christ. These loaves represented the body of Christ. The forming of the body of Christ was to be made up of Jew and gentile. Thus one loaf represented the Jew, and the other loaf represented the gentile. The loose grains now fused together into these two loaves, and the two together formed a single unit offering representing the body of Christ. These loaves had placed in them leaven (yeast), because leaven in the Scriptures is a symbol of evil. The reason for this was to indicate that while the church was functioning here on this earth, evil was going to be present in the church – evil in the form of the old sin nature within the believer.

Remember what John Wesley came up with in the 18th century concerning the idea of sinless eradication; that is, to remove the functioning of the old sin nature. This very feast, had John Wesley studied it more carefully, would have been a clue to him as to how wrong he was. The presence of leaven in these loaves indicated that the old sin nature was not going to be eradicated during the church age, but that it would actually be there and functioning within the believers. That would be characteristic. The thing that was going to be different in the church age is that God the Holy Spirit would indwell these Jew and gentile believers so that they could control the old sin nature, and so that they could live victoriously above the sin nature.

So here we have two classes, Jew and gentile, composing the one body of Christ. The leaven represents the old sin nature present during the church age. The Old Testament believers who observe these two feasts, 50 days apart, did not understand what they were doing. They just knew that at a certain time of the year, God said, "Bring the harvest (the sheaves); weigh them; the priest will handle it; and, 50 days later, make two loaves of bread and bring those back for a second offering." They just did it. This was God's way of portraying what was going to happen on the day of Pentecost.

Of course, we're back to the critical question: what makes the loaves? It was only one thing – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was when God himself fused the individual believers who were single grains of wheat into one body, that they became one loaf. Since that time, each believer has been added to this body of Christ, and he has been joined to this unity.

Now, of course, there are charismatics who feel uncomfortable about holding a position that is based only on experience. So they want to get back to Scripture, and they want to establish some scriptural ground for what they believe, and for what they do. Unfortunately, they don't approach this from the point of view of saying: "First of all, what does the Bible teach? Now we go from there." Instead, they look at their experience and saying, in effect, "Now, how can I find confirmation in the Bible for what is my experience?" Never forget that it is the battle cry of the charismatic movements that a man who has had an experience is not at the mercy of a man who has an argument. If you've had an experience, nobody is going to dissuade you with some argument from doctrine. That's what they mean. That is a core principle of charismatic movement. It has to be, because it's a self-defensive move.

But some of them say, "We've got to be based on Scripture. We have to have a biblical background." So when you take these people and say, "Okay, what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit as you find it in Scripture? Don't you find that this means being united to Christ – joined to His body?" When they study 1 Corinthians 12:13, there is no way out except to say, "Yes, that's what it means." So the solution in charismatic circles has been to come up with the theory of two spiritual baptisms. I want to explain this to you.

It is a bad thing for you not to understand what the charismatics believe. In the letters of rebuff that I have received from the Nolen special, they have all (up to now) had one consistent factor about them. They all wrote, "Do not send me any tapes." They consistently were very careful: "I don't want to hear your arguments. I don't want to hear the discussion." Now, that, again, is a self-built-in protective factor. You and I should be careful not to do that. We should know everything the charismatics believe, and we should therefore know how they think. And when we speak to them, we must speak to them from the frame of reference of how they think. You will find that this is much more effective. So let's learn what they mean by two spirit baptisms.

Two Baptisms

My friend the other day asked me, "When did you enter the Spirit life?" He was asking me, "When had I been baptized in the spirit. In this baptism, Jesus Christ is baptizing the believer into the sphere of Holy Spirit power. Jesus is the agent. The charismatics say, "Do you remember that Jesus said that I'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire?" This fire is His judgment at the end of the tribulation, and entering the millennium – baptism with the Holy Spirit being into power. They say, "Well, this is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Jesus Christ baptized those people into the location of the sphere of the Holy Spirit, and that gave them great power." That's enduement with spiritual power.

They say that the second baptism is the baptism by the Spirit. Charismatics speak about baptism by the Spirit. Here, they say, the Greek is instrumental case. That is, it is an instrument. It is the agent. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, that is speaking about baptism by the Spirit, where the Holy Spirit is the agent, and He's baptizing the believer into union with Christ. That is referred to as "conversion."

The charismatics feel they have really solved the problem – with two baptisms. Number one is conversion. Number two is enduement with spiritual power. They speak of two spiritual baptisms, in that order. So you refer to being placed in Christ as baptism by the spirit. You refer to coming into spiritual power as baptism in the spirit. Baptism by the spirit is performed by the Holy Spirit. He places you into Christ. Baptism in the spirit is performed by Jesus Christ. He places you into the Spirit of God – the position of power.

Along comes the Greek grammar, and it blows the whole thing sky high. In the Greek Bible, the expression "baptism in the Spirit" is always with the Greek preposition "en." This preposition may be translated "by;" "with;" or, "in." It can have that locative location meaning, or it can have an instrumental agent meaning. Now get this. Every time "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" is referred to in the New Testament, it always uses the preposition "en," Therefore, every time you translate that word, it has to be translated the same. You can't arbitrarily say, "This time I'm going to say 'by' because I want to get the idea of instrument; and, this time I want to say 'in' because I want to get the idea of location." It's simply nonsense. That's arbitrariness, and it shows again the shallowness of the charismatics as students of the Word of God in the original languages. You cannot translate that arbitrarily.

However, it doesn't matter whatever word you want to use. I care not whether you say by the Spirit; with the Spirit; or, in the Spirit. Never forget that the meaning of this word "en" is found in 1 Corinthians 12:13. What it does is in 1 Corinthians 12:13. In Acts 1:5, it doesn't tell us what it does. It just says it occurred. But the only place we have that tells us what it does is in 1 Corinthians 12:13, and that is to be placed into Christ.

Now, if that wasn't enough, the Holy Spirit (just to make sure that the charismatics didn't have a whisper of an excuse for the error they were going to fall into) added a very critical verse in Ephesians 4:5, which absolutely (in so many words) says that there's only one spiritual baptism. In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul gives seven things that all believers share as their heritage in Christianity. One of them is in Ephesians 4:5. Along with one Lord and one faith, is one baptism. Verse 4 says, "There is one body (the Body of Christ), one Spirit (God the Holy Spirit), even as you're called in one hope of your calling (the hope of eternal life)." You have one Lord; one faith; one baptism; and, one God the Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.

Now, this obviously does not refer to water baptism, because if there's anything in the world that isn't one, it's water baptism. There are a number of water baptism types in the world. What we have here is something that is joining us to a unity to God forever. Water baptism doesn't do that anyhow. The one baptism that we have here is obviously a Spirit baptism. So we have a clear declaration that there is only one Holy Spirit baptism. Thus, in the New Testament, there is a complete and total absence for any support whatsoever for the idea of two spiritual baptisms.

The Filling of the Holy Spirit vs. the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

1. Baptism Occurs Only Once

   For example, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a once-for-all operation, while the filling of the Holy Spirit is a repeated operation. The baptism of the Holy Spirit places a believer permanently into the body of Christ, as we have seen, and therefore it cannot be repeated. It's a position that you hold which is based on the work of Christ alone. And I mean on the work of Christ alone. Therefore, it cannot be undone by any human failure, lack of merit, or lack of faithfulness. We have this in 1 Corinthians 12:13 and Romans 6:3-4. Baptism places you in the body of Christ, and that can only happen once. It's a position. You cannot undo it.

   However, the filling of the Holy Spirit is an experience. Remember that. The filling is an experience. And it is repeated each time a believer falls out of temporal fellowship. Each time he falls out of the inner circle of fellowship; confesses his sins; and, gets back into the inner circle of fellowship: on that occasion, as per 1 John 1:9, he is again filled with the Spirit. So you are filled with the Spirit repeatedly. Every time you come back into fellowship with God the Father, you are again in the status of filling.

   Interestingly enough, when the Greek grammar speaks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it always uses the aorist tense. The aorist tense, as you know, means a point once-for-all action. Whenever it speaks about the filling of the Holy Spirit, it always uses the present tense. The present tense means a continuing repeated action. The very grammar that God the Holy Spirit uses confirms that baptism of the Spirit is once-for-all. The filling of the Spirit is many times repeated. How in the world can you say they're the same things? Not unless you deliberately want to ignore what the Word of God has so clearly declared.

2. Baptism is Non-experiential

   The second point to remember is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is non-experiential, while the filling of the Holy Spirit is experiential. As we've already indicated, you cannot identify having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit through your physical senses. It will not cause a feeling or an emotion. The filling of the Holy Spirit, however, is a definite experience, and it affects your Christian spiritual effectiveness in life and service. For example:

   The Results of the Filling of the Spirit

   1. It will produce Christian character. That's an experience (Galatians 5:22-23).
      
      
   2. It will give you power in witnessing when you are filled with the Spirit (Acts 1:8). That's an experience.
      
      
   3. It will give you boldness in speaking the Word of God (Acts 4:31).
      
      
   4. It will give you the experience of victory over your old sin nature (Galatians 5:16). It will give you fantastic power to say, "No" to sin.
      
      
   5. It will guide you in the exercise of your spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4).
      
      
   6. You will have the experience of being taught spiritual phenomena when you are filled with the spirit (John 16:3, 1 John 2:27).
      
      
   7. You will be guided into the experience of praise and worship when you are filled (Ephesians 5:18-20).
      
      
   8. You will be led into the will of God when you are filled (Romans 8:14). You will have effectiveness in prayer (Romans 8:27).
      
      
   All of these things are experiential things. They all flow from being filled with the Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is what produces a normal Christian life. If you are not filled with the spiritual, you will live an abnormal Christian life. So again, how can you say that filling and baptism are the same, when baptism of the Spirit is not an experience, and the filling is all experience?

3. Baptism is Never Commanded

   Another contrast is that Christians are never commanded to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, but they are commanded to be filled by the Holy Spirit. In the Greek language, it always uses the indicative mood when it speaks about baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's important. It always uses that mood that's just a statement. Every time the Bible talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's in the indicative mood. But every time it comes along and starts talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit, it's imperative – a command. Clearly again, from the grammar of Scripture, we are never commanded to get the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but we are commanded to secure the filling. Why? We have no control over baptism. But we can control whether we are filled or not. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," and thus to be filled with the Spirit.

4. Baptism is not Sought

   During the church age, every Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. Therefore, it would be pointless to tell you to seek it. But when you are out of temporal fellowship, which happens to you when you sin as a Christian, then you must be told to seek restoration to fellowship – to be filled again.

5. Baptism is Universal among Christians

   Another contrast is that baptism of the Holy Spirit is universal among Christians, but filling is not. Baptism accompanies the point of regeneration in the church age, so it includes every believer. But, while the baptism of the Holy Spirit is retained by a carnal Christian, filling is not. You lose your filling when you are a carnal Christian (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, 1 Corinthians 12:13).

6. Baptism Produces Positional Sanctification

   The baptism of the Holy Spirit produces positional sanctification for the believer, but the filling of the Holy Spirit produces experiential sanctification. The word "sanctification" means "set apart." You have a perfect standing before God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You cannot reverse this by anything that subsequently happens in your life. But the Christian state of spirituality is produced by the filling of the Spirit. You can reverse this by sin in your life. Therefore, while all Christians have the same standing, we do not all have the same state. But we are all called upon to live worthily of our standing. We are all in our status to be worthy of our standing, which is perfect in Christ.

7. Baptism is by Grace

   The baptism of the Holy Spirit is associated with the receiving of the free gift of salvation, while filling of the Holy Spirit is associated with receiving rewards earned by performing divine good works. Salvation is a gift of God's grace to a believing sinner (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9). Rewards from filling of the Spirit are the result of payment for Christian service as a Spirit-filled believer (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

8. Baptism is Received by Trusting in Christ

   The final point: the baptism of the Holy Spirit is received by trusting in Jesus Christ as personal Savior, while filling of the Holy Spirit is received by confessing one's known sins.

So you cannot take a passage of Scripture and teach something that the Bible teaches, but which that passage does not teach, and find that God the Holy Spirit will bless what you're doing. Wrong. If you take Revelation 3:20, that talks about Jesus knocking at the heart's door, and you tell people that talks about salvation (inviting Christ into your heart), instead of telling them that that's a sinner who is out of fellowship, and Christ is knocking on his door to get him to use 1 John 1:9 to come back into temporal fellowship, then you are deceiving that person, and God the Holy Spirit will not use what you are trying to tell them.

Therefore, it is important that we use the baptism of the Holy Spirit the way it's supposed to be used. We understand it. We relate ourselves to it. And the same for the filling. If not, Satan has achieved exactly what he's done in the charismatic Pentecostal movement: confusion; utter deception; and, complete neutralizing of believers in effectiveness for the Lord Jesus. All the while they're doing it, they're praising God for what's happening. How sad. I trust that you will not fall into the same error.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1973

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