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Topic: Two Spirit Baptisms
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Carol Swenson
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Baptism of the Spirit
This momentous spiritual operation is set forth in the NT as the basis of all the believer’s positions and possessions “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10; 3:1-4; etc.). The operation is prophetic in the gospels (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16-17; John 1:33-34, where Christ is the baptizer), historic in the Acts (cf. Acts 1:5 with Acts 11:16), and doctrinal in the epistles (1 Corinthians 12:13, where the Spirit is named specifically as the agent; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:9-12; Ephesians 4:5). The Spirit’s baptizing work, placing the believer “in Christ,” occurred initially at Pentecost at the advent of the Spirit, who baptized believing Jews “into Christ.” In Acts 8, Samaritans were baptized in this way for the first time; in Acts 10, Gentiles likewise were so baptized, at which point the normal agency of the Spirit as baptizer was attained. According to the clear teaching of the epistles, every believer is baptized by the Spirit into Christ the moment he is regenerated. He is also simultaneously indwelt by the Spirit and sealed eternally, with the privilege of being filled with the Spirit, as the conditions for filling are met.
No subject in all the range of biblical theology is so neglected, on one hand, or misunderstood and abused, on the other, as this. The baptism of the Spirit is widely confused with regeneration and with the indwelling, sealing, and filling ministries of the Spirit, as well as with water baptism and a so-called “second blessing.”
(Unger's)
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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CONTEMPORARY DOCTRINE OF TWO SPIRIT BAPTISMS
Because 1 Corinthians 12:13 is so clear about all believers being baptized, and because some contemporary teachers want to justify the concept of a special baptism for power (a second blessing), a doctrine of two Spirit baptisms has arisen that is, as far as I know, a new teaching. Whereas old Pentecostalism uniformly taught that the baptism of the Spirit was an endowment for power, tongues being the evidence of the experience, newer Pentecostalism sees two baptisms. One is that of verse 13 which all believers experience and is accomplished by the Spirit and places people in the body of Christ. The other is the baptism seen in the Book of Acts and is accomplished by Christ to place people in the Spirit for experiences of power. The first happens at conversion and results in a position; the second occurs later and can be repeated and is for power. The first does not require speaking in tongues; the second ideally does.
The New Testament uses the phrase “to baptize with, in, or by the Spirit” only seven times (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 1 Cor. 12:13). Actually these seven occurrences can be placed in three categories: the predictions in the Gospels, the pointing ahead and pointing back to Pentecost in the two Acts references; and the doctrinal explanation in 1 Corinthians. In the Gospels it appears more natural to understand Christ as the Baptizer and the Spirit as the sphere into which people are baptized. In Acts and Corinthians it seems to be more natural to understand the Spirit as the Agent of baptism and the body of Christ as the sphere into which people are baptized. However, those distinctions are not hard and fast. Both Christ and the Spirit are Agents, and both the Spirit and the body are spheres. Christ is the ultimate Agent for He sent the Spirit who is, so to speak, the intermediate Agent (Acts 2:33). Clearly the body is one sphere, and the Spirit is another. This is similar to the Spirit’s work in sealing—He is both the Agent who seals and the sphere in which we are sealed.
However, neo-Pentecostalism needs to make sharp distinctions. The references in the Gospels and in Acts, they say, are references to Christ as Agent and the Spirit as sphere which bring power to the believer. This is the baptism in the Spirit. The reference in 1 Corinthians reveals the Spirit as the Agent and the body as the sphere and is the baptism by the Spirit. All believers have been baptized by the Spirit, but not all believers have experienced the baptism in the Spirit.
Interestingly, ultradispensationalism uses the same argument for two baptisms to support their teaching of two churches within the Acts period. The Petrine church, or Jewish church, existed from Pentecost to Paul, and the body church from Paul on. The Jewish church received power by the baptism in the Spirit, and the Pauline, or body, church is formed by the baptism by the Spirit (Charles F. Baker, A Dispensational Theology [Grand Rapids: Grace Bible College Publications, 1971], p. 503).
Such an infrequently used and seemingly technical phrase would more likely refer to the same activity in all its occurrences. To establish two separate and quite distinct baptisms is tenuous at best. To see two agents is biblical because of Acts 2:33 and quite normal because different Persons of the Trinity are often involved in the same work. Besides, Ephesians 4:5 says there is only one baptism. It is Christ’s work through the agency of the Spirit’s ministry to join those who believe to the church, the body of Christ, with all the privileges and responsibilities that come with that position.
(Basic Theology)
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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