There is a division within groups of believers about specific belief regarding spiritual gifts. One side believes that after a person is saved they then need the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they can truly live the life Jesus intended. The other side of that view is that, at the point someone believes, they fully receive the Holy Spirit, and that IS the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I waded into this discussion while pastoring in Northern Idaho among the wackiest sets of believers anywhere (some were members of my church). It was an interesting learning experience. I waded into the discussion on the side believing that the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs when someone is saved. As a result of what I discovered in Scripture, I had to modify that view to somewhere in the middle.
Perhaps a semantic issue is at work here. The term “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is rare, not even occurring in some translations. The term I looked up was “filled with the Holy Spirit”, which occurs rather frequently in Acts. What I found is that the normal occurrence of the term was in reference to the present condition of the person which explained why there were able to take the action they did (or at least that’s my interpretation, and I can discuss that further if someone wants to pursue the subject).
There were only two exceptions to this, one more than I expected. The first exception was the event of Pentecost where the believers were “filled with the Holy Spirit” as an event with reference to time. That one I expected. But, later on, in Chapter 4, the believers pray and are again “filled with the Holy Spirit” as an event with reference to time. That one surprised me. That indicated to me that this event can happen to the same people more than once.
Why I say I ended up in the middle though is because the effect of the second filling was boldness, not speaking in tongues. It seems that tongues came either initially, or isn’t referred to at all. Unfortunately, this didn’t please either side of the discussion, and left me with more enemies than friends. How dare I side with Scripture rather than them, what was I thinking? Anyway, once again I found that my Master seems less interested in sides of arguments among His kids than the kids are.
So, to once again invoke the voice of my lovely wife, “so what?” Well, what I believe from this is that I am full of my Master’s Holy Spirit. But I also know that I can seek Him in prayer and experience the rush again of His Spirit enabling me to speak with boldness. When I compare my abilities, skills, and knowledge against the onslaught of evil in this world, I don’t stand up well. I need the resource of my Master just to stand, and the empowering of His Spirit to stand boldly.
Today, I endure the knife of a doctor before I head to work. I face the last day of the fiscal month with my team behind and my manager under fire for it. I look forward to a long weekend, but with lots of stuff in it. Some of this I can handle, but a lot if it is beyond me. So, knowing I face it with the power of the Spirit of my Master means that I can face this day with boldness.
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