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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit:

• What is The Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
• What is The Baptism of the Holy Ghost?
• How Do I Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
• What Does Being Filled With the Spirit Mean?
• How Does Someone Get Filled With the Spirit?
• When Does Someone Get Baptized in the Holy Spirit?
• Is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for Today?
• Can I Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
• What is the Second Blessing?


Christians have disagreed on this topic and have misunderstood it for a long time. The answer is clear when you investigate it by studying the Scriptures. The Bible must always have the final say in any matter. We must always say, “what does the Bible say about it”. When we do this we find the Biblical answer, whether man agrees or not, the Word of God is the final authority. With that in mind, we will search the Word and see what it has to tell us.

Regarding Baptism, we must understand the entire concept of Baptism. It requires a person doing the baptism, a person being baptized and a mode or method of baptism. In the New Testament, the Greek word for baptism, is Baptizo (bap-tizdo), which according to Strong’s Concordance means: to be whelmed (i.e. fully wet). We call this immersion, and the mode is water. When a person is immersed into the water, the water completely surrounds the person becoming baptized and the person becomes fully wet. We must understand this concept in order to fully understand about receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible speaks of at least 4 baptisms in the New Testament.
1. Water Baptism
2. Baptism by the Holy Spirit
3. Baptism of the Holy Spirit
4. The fact that we were baptized into Jesus Death (Rom 6:3) a good example of this is Gal 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me”

We will deal with the first three.



Water Baptism
The Bible says in Matt 3:6, “they were baptized by him in the Jordan”
John in Matt 3:11 said this, “I baptize you with water”

This is referring to the ministry of John the Baptist, so in these examples,
John is doing the baptism, the new believers were being baptized and the mode was water. John would place the person into the Jordan river and they would become completely wet being fully surrounded by water. This is the method of N.T. baptism which occurred by the disciples, as they obeyed the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” Matt 28:19.

This baptism is an outward manifestation of an inward reality, that our old life dies with Christ and we are raised to walk a new life in Him



The Baptism by the Holy Spirit:
This is often incorrectly referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit and we will examine what the scripture actually teaches. The verse is found in 1 Cor 12:13 and it reads, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” Once again, we need to refer to the way baptism is performed, remember, it requires a person to perform it, a person to receive it and a mode of baptism. I this case, the person performing the baptism, is the Holy Spirit, the persons being baptized are believers, and the mode of baptism is the body of Christ. So the picture painted by these words, shows us that the Holy Spirit baptizes believers into the body of Christ.

We believe that this occurs at the moment of salvation when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin. The purpose in this baptism is to place us permanently into the body of Christ. The Scriptures that reveal this are:

  1. Ephesians 1:13 “After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation,--having also believed, you were sealed in Him (the body of Christ) with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

  2. Ephesians 5:23 “…Christ is also the Head of the church being the Savior of the body”

  3. 1Cor 12:27 “you are the body of Christ and individually members of it”

  4. Ephesians 1:22-23 “and He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over the church, which is His body.”

  5. John 14:12 Jesus said “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he shall so also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father.”

Because we are the body of Christ, the mouth, the hands, the feet, we must carry out and perform the things that He did. Now, I did not say this, Jesus did, and He is the head of the church. This is some of the ministry of the church, to heal others, to lead them to Him, to raise the dead and perform miracles. So, this baptism has two parts, one were are put into the body of Christ and secondly, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit with the promise of being presented to the Father. But we do need power to do these things because we can’t do them by ourselves with the Equipper, the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” How does this happen. We need to see what the Bible says about it in the gospel accounts.



The Baptism of the Holy Spirit:
In Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16, John the Baptist said, He (Jesus) will baptize your with the Holy Spirit and fire, In Mark 1:8 John said that He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:6, Jesus said to the disciples “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Then in Acts 2:4 they received this baptism and “were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Thus fulfilling the Word of God. In other accounts the Holy spirit was given by the laying on of the hands (Acts 19:6). This was the early church in its infancy and this is how the Holy Spirit was given, but Jesus was the author of it because it was He who called, saved, and trained Paul. The disciples on Pentecost (Acts 2) received it as Jesus promised. But what about you and me? The church is nearly 2000 years old and the original disciples and apostles aren’t here and neither is Jesus (physically), Again, we must look to the Word of God to find the answer. We need Jesus to baptize us into the Holy Spirit, just like the baptism into water and also into the body of Christ.

But how? Well the answer is to ask the Father to have Jesus baptize us. Really?

Yes, in Luke 11:11-13 the Word of God (Jesus) says, “Now suppose one of you fathers asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1,1:14, Rev. 19:13) and we can’t separate the written Word of God from the living Word of God. John 14:6 says Jesus is Truth and Psalm 119:160 says Thy Word is Truth. This is the teaching of the Word of God. How do you get the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? You ask Father and Jesus will do it. It is something we have to ask for like Luke 11 says. It is not a second blessing because Ephesians 1:3 says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” If we have every one, we can’t get another one. Besides the Bible never refers to the Holy Spirit as a blessing. He is the power of God, He is the Equipper of the church with gifts. He is the Comforter, He is our Teacher. We must believe the Word, Jesus spoke of the signs that would accompany believers in Mark 16:15-18. We need power (Acts 1:8) and when Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, He will surround you and equip you to do the same things Jesus did. Trust Him, believe Him and ask the Father for this baptism today. It will revolutionize your life and ministry! Praise Him!!