Acts 19
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is one of those divisive issues within the church. Some teach that this passage indicates the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate act that occurs subsequent to the moment when the believer prays to accept Jesus as Savior. Others argue the Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment a person genuinely prays to receive Jesus as Savior.
God’s timing in the coming of Christ and the revelation of His Word is perfect. This is one of those moments when His timing helps us find clarity on a certain passage. Roughly three centuries before the incarnation of Jesus, Alexander the Great conquered the known world and started the process of hellenization. That means he made the conquered lands adopt Greek culture and the Greek language. Greek became the international language of trade and diplomacy. It is a very exact language and there is less danger of misinterpreting what someone means when they use Greek.
When Paul posed the question to the disciples he found in Ephesus, his choice of words combines the aorist participle pisteusantes with the verb elabete makes Paul's inquiry very exact. The Greek used here means a very specific moment-period. This is not a gray area.
The explication here is a conditional question. If you are a genuine Christian and have salvation that comes by grace through faith in Christ, this means you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at that moment. It is a way of judging whether the fruit is ripe or not.
The explication here is a conditional question. If you are a genuine Christian and have salvation that comes by grace through faith in Christ, this means you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at that moment. It is a way of judging whether the fruit is ripe or not.
The implication here is these disciples embraced the teachings and repentance baptism of John the Baptist. In spite of John’s efforts to ensure he was not mistaken for the Christ, many of his followers believed he was either the Christ or equal with the Christ. They may have had some head knowledge of Christ but had not yet prayed to receive Him as Savior and immediately receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the time of this prayer.
There are many testimonies of people praying to receive Christ but not getting serious about their faith until a later point in their lives. They use these testimonies as evidence of a subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is not accurate teaching nor is it a deal breaker for fellowship with people who believe this way. Generally, those who believe in a subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit hold to the core doctrines of the Christian faith. God’s Word is perfect but subject to the imperfect interpretation and flawed translation by people.
Have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9) You need not pray for a subsequent baptism. Your salvation is secure and you are empowered for Kingdom work with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
