THE DAY OF PENTECOST (Acts 2:1-39)
In order to understand what is meant by the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, or the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will look at the scriptural accounts of the instances in which people received this experience. By reading the accounts of their experiences, maybe we can gain a perspective about the Holy Spirit. The first recorded instance of the Baptism in the Spirit is on the Day of Pentecost.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly
there come a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).
As mentioned above, when Peter was answering the question concerning what had happened, he preached that Jesus had been exalted, had received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and had poured the Spirit out on the people (Acts 2:29-33). Peter declared that Jesus had baptized his disciples in the Holy Spirit and that the promise was to all the Jews who were present, to their children, to the Gentiles, and to all whom the Lord would call (Acts 2:32-39).
The overarching question that must be addressed at this time is whether the Day of Pentecost is the birthday of the church, the moment that the disciples were born again in the full sense of the word and received the infusion of the Spirit, or is it a time of the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon those who had been born again and received an infusion of the Holy Spirit at an earlier time (see John 20:21-22).
Most of us would agree that the disciples could not be born again until after Jesus died upon the cross as the sacrifice for sin and arose as our high priest to take His blood into the Holiest of Holies, into heaven itself. The Old Covenant was in effect until Jesus by His death on the cross instituted the New Covenant. As the writer of the Hebrew letter said
For where a testament is, there must also be the
death of the testator. For a testament is of force
after men are dead (Heb. 9:16-17).
Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren; therefore, Jesus is the prototype of the Christian, and there could not be a "Christian" until Jesus rose from the dead.
Those who believe that SALVATION and the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT are the same identical experience and are just different names for one's being incorporated into the body of Christ, and that there is no SUBSEQUENT experience after SALVATION, would designate the Day of Pentecost as the birthday of the church, the day the disciples were born again and incorporated into the body of Christ by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, those who believe that the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT is not SALVATION, but is an experience SUBSEQUENT to SALVATION, would designate the Day of Pentecost as the time when the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon born-again believers to empower them for ministry. In support of their explanation of the Day of Pentecost, they would point to the experience recorded by John as the time the disciples received the Spirit and were born 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 saith unto them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost (John 20:21-22).
On the day He arose from the dead, Jesus infused them with the Holy Spirit, and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were daily in the temple praising and blessing God. If one puts off conversion until the Day of Pentecost, the disciples must of necessity be in a state of spiritual uncertainty for almost 50 days--from the death of Jesus until the Day of Pentecost--before they were converted.
So we must answer the question in light of our understanding of the scriptures. Is the Day of Pentecost the birthday of the church, that is, the day on which the disciples were fully converted by receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit? Or, is the Day of Pentecost the day that the disciples, having received the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 20:22), were endued with the power that Jesus promised them (Acts 1:18)?
A Pentecostal would answer the question of SUBSEQUENCE by pointing out that the disciples were converted when Jesus breathed on them and imparted unto them the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 20:22), and that the impartation of the GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT with the EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost was an experience subsequent to the new birth, which gave the disciples an enduement of power for ministry.
The persons who believe SALVATION and the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT are the same identical experience would say that the disciples were born again on the Day of Pentecost by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Peter gave the scriptural means for such an experience when he said,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
(Acts 2:38).
They believe that there is no SUBSEQUENT experience following SALVATION and the so-called EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues is not a normative experience for all Christians.
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