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Baptism Of The Holy Spirit
It is sometimes said that speaking in tongues occurs when someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, and that this is a special event that not all believers experience. Let's examine this for a moment.
First, the word "baptism" means "to be washed or cleansed." This has nothing to do with physical baptism, being baptized with water. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit is a spiritual event. It means that our sins have been washed away:
"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
(Acts 22:16)
"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelation 1:5)
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5)
We know that every single true believer is filled with the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation:
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans 8:9)
We also know that there is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5); there isn't a second or third baptism. We are baptized once in the Holy Spirit and that baptism is permanent. The Holy Spirit does not leave us and return on specific occasions.
The Bible tells us that not every believer received the gift of tongues, but every believer has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit:
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:8-13).
We have evidence that the following people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and did not speak in tongues:
1. The jailer of Philippi (Acts 16:30-33)
2. The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35-39)
3. Lydia her family (Acts 16:14-15)
4. The 3,000 in Acts (Acts 2:38-41)
There is a verse that is often considered to suggest that a person can be saved without having yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit:
"He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." (Acts 19:2)
True, this passage does refer to disciples who had not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1). One thing we must first remember is that not all disciples in the Bible were saved:
"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." (John 6:66)
Second, the word "believe" also does not necessarily indicate that a person is saved. Luke 8:13 tells us about those who "believed" for a little while but then fell away because there was no root. John chapter 2 tells us of those who "believed" but weren't saved because their faith was based on miracles. Acts 8:9-23 tells us of Simon who believed and was baptized, but was not saved because he thought salvation could be bought with money. James 2:19 reminds us that even the devils "believe" but of course they are not saved.
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