Doctrine of Baptisms: Baptism of
the Spirit Part 1
Greetings Sons of God:
Being baptized of the spirit means going from a state of
powerless to being empowered through the Holy Ghost. This is a critical statement because
throughout the gospels Jesus states “he can do nothing of himself.” But let me show you the distinct difference
between baptized by the spirit and of the spirit. Let’s go to John 20:22
John 20:22 – Disciples Receive the Holy Spirit
In this scripture we see Jesus giving the disciples the gift
of the Holy Spirit. Now if you have read
the Bible, this should have sparked a question.
See, when Jesus gave the disciples the Holy Ghost, it was just to
confirm that they were born from Heaven and a son of God. However, there was no power transfer to them
in that baptism. So in conclusion Jesus
did not baptize any one of the Spirit while he was on Earth. On Earth is the
key! Now to bring this together go to
Acts 1:4-8
Acts 1:4-8 – Baptism of the Spirit
Look at verse 4! Jesus tells His disciples to go to
Jerusalem and wait for the promise. Now
verse 5, Jesus tells them that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days hence. But wait, didn’t they
have the Holy Ghost already?? Yes! But
to finalize everything look at verse 8! Here Jesus tells them that they shall receive
POWER after the Holy Ghost has come upon them and then they will be witnesses
of Christ. So being baptized of the
Spirit is the empowerment of the saint to be a witness unto Christ. So what does that mean! When you came to Christ and was “Baptized by
the Spirit” there was no empowerment in that, it was just confirmation of who
you are, much like a child being adopted by another family. But now that you are in the family, power and
responsibility is given to you when you become of maturity. So when you grow and become mature in Christ
then you are baptized of the Spirit and empowered to do the Will of God. Is
this not exactly what happened to the disciples, why do we think that this does
not happen to us.
Baptism of the Spirit happens spontaneously and in some
cases by the laying on of hands. For
example look at Acts 8:12! We see
Phillip preaching in Samaria and see the people believing and being baptized.
Now remember they have been Baptized in Water and Baptized by the Spirit but
not of the Spirit. Now look at verses
15-17. Now they have been converted but
have no power and that is what the people were waiting on from the Holy
Ghost. Now the key, look at verse
17! Then they (Peter and John) laid their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. This is the one situation where the people
received the power of the Holy Ghost from the laying on of hands but do not
fool yourself no man can give you the power.
This power is given from Christ to the Holy Spirit then to you. And in this case, from Christ to the Holy
Ghost, through the apostles. So many of our brothers and sisters have the Holy
Spirit but have no power. In other
words, they have not been baptized of the Spirit. And when you have no power you are very
vulnerable to vicious attacks from the enemy.
I cannot give you, nor can any man give you this power, it is only from
Christ through the Holy Ghost. Here is a
thought, no where between John 20:22 through Acts 2 do we see the disciples perform
any miracles. Because they were not
baptized of the Spirit.
Now we know it is through the Holy Spirit that we are
empowered. We are given spiritual gifts
and it is these gifts that the Holy Spirit empowers us to function in a certain
capacity. We will examine this in the
next message.
Peace, Love and Grace,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
