What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? Is it necessary for Salvation? Does it require speaking in tongues as evidence?
This is another doctrinal distinction some Christians believe: that one must experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, a separate event that occurs after salvation, while others believe the Gifts of the Spirit are already fully available when a person gets saved. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is defined as receiving the power of God as a believer and is typically accompanied by the outward evidence of speaking in tongues. More about speaking in tongues here.
Those who hold this view believe there is a distinction between the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Those two terms come from John 14:16-17, which states that the Holy Spirit will dwell with us and shall be in us.
John 14:16 [NLT] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[e] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs when we get saved. The disciples received the Holy Spirit because they believed in Jesus, as stated in John 20:21-23.
John 20:21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
However, they were instructed to remain in Jerusalem until Pentecost to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Did they receive the Holy Spirit twice? No, the second event was receiving the power of the Holy Spirit upon them. We see most of the gifts of the Spirit in the Old Testament with Prophets, as well as the disciples in the Gospel when Jesus sent out the 12 and later the 70, which means the power of God was available before Christ died and rose, but it was limited. This is referred to in many theological circles as the Holy Spirit UPON, which is distinct from the Holy Spirit WITHIN. With Jesus’ death and resurrection came the ability to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit on the inside, who transforms our hearts. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power coming upon Christians to do the miracles of the Old Testament and the gospel, but now as Christians who are saved and transformed in our hearts. This is what happens in the book of Acts.
The infilling of the Holy Spirit refers to the distribution of the power Jesus spoke of in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8 that they would receive by tarrying in Jerusalem after he left. This power arrived 10 days after Christ’s ascension in Acts 2, and Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that this power was necessary for them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria, and the other parts of the earth. Then he ascended.
Luke 24:49 49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” 50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.
The promise in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8 is separate from when he breathes on them in John 20:22-23. In John 20, he hadn’t left yet because he still had to see Thomas, who wasn’t there at that moment and showed up a week later to meet the risen Jesus (John 20:24-29). Jesus’ ascension is recorded in Luke 24:50-51 and Acts 1:9, which means the John meeting was closer to a week after the resurrection, while Luke and Acts are recording Jesus just before the ascension, which is 40 days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3-4). It looks like they received the Holy Spirit twice, but the distinction is between being saved by believing Jesus rose from the dead (the Spirit within) and receiving power to do miracles (the Spirit upon). The Spirit comes in Acts 2 at Pentecost, and Peter preaches that the Holy Spirit will join all those who receive Jesus as Lord in Acts 2:38.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
Similarly, in Acts 8:12-13 Philip evangelized, and the Samaritans received Jesus and became believers, but it wasn’t until Peter and John showed up afterward to lay hands on people so that they could receive the power of the Holy Spirit in verses 14-17. This shows that salvation and baptism of the Holy Spirit can be distinct events in a believer’s life. However, in the case of Cornelius in Acts 10:44-48, it can also happen all at once, as evident in the fact that they spoke with tongues as Peter preached to them and they believed.
The same thing happens in Ephesus in Acts 19:1-7, when Paul preaches to 12 men who get saved, then are baptized in the name of Jesus in water, and then AFTERWARDS Paul lays his hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit (just like Peter and John in Acts 18). Speaking in tongues shows up in these scriptures as a sign that the Holy Spirit has empowered a person. This power is the source of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul discusses in 1st Corinthians 12. So Baptism of the Holy Spirit is seen in Scripture as a distinct subsequent event.
Some Christians see this as proof of it being distinct, while others may say it was only distinct in the early days, but it’s all at once now. Some believe there needs to be evidence of speaking with tongues like shown in Acts 10 and 19, but others will point to the distribution of the Holy Spirit by Peter and John in Acts 8 in Samaria as evidence that speaking in tongues isn’t necessary. However, Acts 8 says that a man named Simon the Sorcerer saw Peter and John giving people the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:18 and wanted to buy the power. How did he see the Spirit being given? The people were already Christians because they believed Phillip, so they didn’t get saved with Peter and John; this was something different and subsequent to salvation. So what outward evidence was there? The only outward evidence that we could expect, and that is consistent with the other scriptures, is speaking in tongues, even though it is not recorded.
It seems to me that speaking in tongues is consistent evidence of Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Scripture and can be expected today. We are not tarrying in Jerusalem since that was for the initiation of it all; we can just ask (Luke 11:11-13) or have a minister who has this power lay hands on us as they did in the book of Acts.
Luke 11:11 “You fathers—if your children ask[e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Once we have, we can initiate speaking in tongues ourselves. Remember the disciples did the speaking, not the Spirit; the Spirit just gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).
Acts 2:4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Furthermore, Baptism of the Holy Spirit is shown to be a subsequent event that applies only to believers and can be received right around the time of salvation, like in Acts 10 and 19, or a little later, like in Acts 2 and 8. Now maybe there are believers who operate in the gifts of the Spirit but never spoke in tongues; if that is the case, then it is not necessary to receive Baptism of the Holy Spirit to operate in these gifts, but it does hurt to go through the process for those who haven’t operated in any gifts. Like with Salvation, Baptism of the Holy Spirit is simply about asking God to give us the power that He promised.