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Baptism with the Holy Spirit
According to the New Testament, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience sent by Jesus Christ. As recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes it as "the Promise of the Father", through which believers in Jesus Christ receive "power from on high" (). According to the book of Acts, Jesus further referred to the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an experience through which his disciples would "receive power, after that the Holy Ghost[1] [was] come upon [them]" (). Among various Charismatic groups, interpretations differ as to what the baptism with the Holy Spirit means to practical Christian experience. The anointing with holy anointing oil is often considered synonymous with receiving of the Holy Spirit.
Catholic viewAccording to the official teachings of the Catholic Church, Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life. Catholics believe that in the Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are "regenerated and renewed"[2]. To be viewed as a 'gateway to life in the Holy Spirit.'http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jn%203:5;&version=31;. Catholics believe we all have God's light in us, and that it is through Baptism that we are enlightened in the understanding of the Word by the Holy Spirit.
Catholics Believe that Baptism is one part of three sacraments in which to 'lay the foundation' to a solid Christian life. Baptism {when one is born anew), Confirmation {When one confirms their understanding, thus Strengthening their faith} and Eucharist {food of eternal life - One accepts Jesus in Body and soul}, therefore the Holy Spirit guilds one towards perfection of charity.[5] Confirmation; the effects causes the "full Outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost" [6]. That is to say, the Holy Spirit has already awakened the faith, the light, in baptism Thus the Holy Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness. The angel answered Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one will be born...[7] There a growing community of "Charismatic Renewal Catholics" (numbering over 44 million in 2000[8]), believe that there is a further experience of Empowerment with the Holy Spirit. As stated by Rev. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, "baptism in the Spirit is not a sacrament, but it is related to a sacrament...to the sacraments of Christian initiation. The baptism in the Spirit makes real and in a way renews Christian initiation"[9] Emphasis of the event is on the release of existing spiritual gifts already given to the individual through baptism and Confirmation. Pentecostal/Charismatic viewIn Christian Pentecostal theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit is a distinctive Christian experience, the Biblical basis for which is found in the description of Pentecost in Jerusalem in . Pentecostals emphasize that to be 'baptized with the Holy Spirit' is to be immersed in the Holy Spirit, and the experience presupposes conversion. That is to say, it is both distinct from and subsequent to salvation, which is itself a definite work of the Holy Spirit. Support for this can be found in the book of Acts, most notably the disciples of John the Baptist who were possibly converts to Christianity but had not yet heard of the Holy Spirit (). Another compelling argument is the encounter with Simon the Sorcerer (). Charismatics are not as dogmatic, generally, as Pentecostals in the claim that the Holy Spirit baptism is distinctly separate from the experience of salvation. Some Charismatics believe that the Gift of the Holy Spirit is 'given to all Christians', occurring with the experience of salvation. Such Charismatics claim that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ? that is, exercising spiritual power such as speaking in tongues or prophesying, are evidences of a release of the Holy Spirit's Power rather than the baptism itself with the Holy Spirit. At large, Charismatics and Pentecostals have very similar beliefs. Charismatics, however, focus more on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Charismatics and Pentecostals both point to , where the Apostle Paul urges his audience to "be filled with the Spirit" using an imperative mood verb. Pentecostals see this gift (baptism in the Holy Spirit) as an experience following salvation. Whereas other churches have seen being filled with the Holy Spirit to require piety and grace, some Pentecostals and Charismatics have seen it as a requirement that all who are saved must have a Pentecostal experience. This belief has its roots in , in which Jesus commands His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they "are clothed with power from on high" (NIV). After His followers have received this experience, they are to be His witnesses "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (). In contemporary theology, there is a divergence between the two main strains of Pentecostal believers, with some organized as Pentecostal and others as Charismatic or Second Wave churches. Both believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is spoken of by Jesus in and also and that it was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit prophesied in the Old Testament books of and . Both of these strains of Protestantism diverge from other churches in the essential nature of grace and what grace is granted without an individualized experience of the Holy Spirit. Charismatics and Pentecostals differ from one another in the evidence they require for proof of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Charismatics will look for the "fruit of the spirit" spoken of in , and the Pentecostals will look for glossolalia (speaking in tongues), prophecy, and other "gifts of the spirit" described in . This was, according to Pentecostals, the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. Paul (Saul) the Apostle also spoke in tongues when he received prayer from Ananias (who was sent to pray for Paul's salvation, blindness and be filled with the Spirit (). We know he not only had the scales fall from his eyes so he could see, but also was filled with the Spirit because Paul later says in 1 Corinthians 14:18 "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you." () Ananias completed what he was sent by God to do. With this experience comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowing of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (; ; ). Not all Pentecostal churches would accept that all Christians receive the Holy Spirit at the time of their conversion as in the case of the Apostolic Assemblies of Christ, a Oneness denomination (not Trinitarian). But in the more traditional Evangelical point of view, and in non-Evangelical churches, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is equated with this reception. Others, even outside the Pentecostal church, consider the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a separate experience. Even among those who accept this, opinion is divided as to whether all those who receive the Holy Spirit baptism also receive the gift of tongues. Both Pentecostal and Charismatic churches regard the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be requisite for the apostolic and evangelical mission that they believe is the duty of all Christians. Other relevant Bible passages include , and . Reformed viewReformed theology views the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a "once-only" event that occurred at Pentecost. In contrast to the Pentecostal/Charismatic view, Reformed Theology sees the baptism with the Holy Spirit not as an "empowering" or "gifting" experience received by individual believers, either at the time of salvation or subsequent to salvation, but rather as part of a "once-for-all," completed accomplishment for the church as a whole. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is seen as a "seal" of the Spirit of Christ given to the church as a whole, at one specific point in history. It is not an experience to be individually repeated among believers. At Pentecost, according to the Reformed view, the baptism with the Holy Spirit was received at once for all Christians then and future ? a completed fulfillment of the "Promise of the Father" of , when the Holy Spirit was "poured out on all flesh" () for all time. Wesleyan viewJohn Wesley spoke of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and as an expression of this baptism practiced groanings which cannot be uttered. His personal secretary wrote an eyewitness account of this practice which is completely consistent with the modern practice of Tongues. However the bulk of his followers, the Methodists, have historically disagreed about how Wesley defined this baptism. While "mainstream" Methodists (such as The United Methodist Church and its precedent bodies) have tended to agree with most Christians in the belief that the Holy Spirit is conveyed in some manner to all people, and certainly all Christians (see Prevenient Grace), other Wesleyans have argued that Wesley was referring to Entire sanctification despite his own writings to the contrary, the belief that after one's sins are forgiven, a Christian can be actually cleansed of sinful corruption. These Wesleyans founded the Holiness movement and are today found in the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, and other denominations. See The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley for a chapter exploring Wesley's interpretation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Development of the termThe term "baptize with the Holy Spirit" is encountered in each of the four gospels in descriptions of John the Baptist's prophecies of the coming Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (, , , ). Jesus is quoted using the phrase "baptized with the Holy Spirit" in , where he commands his followers to wait in Jerusalem for this experience, which he also referred to as the "Promise of the Father" in . In , the Apostle Peter terms the experience of the household of Cornelius (described in ) as being "baptized with the Holy Spirit", declaring that the experience was "the same gift that [God] gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ" at Pentecost (see and compare ). Other terminology in the New Testament may refer as well to the baptism with the Holy Spirit: the language of filling ( and ); other language of the Holy Spirit being poured out ( (referring to , and ); the language of receiving the Holy Spirit ( and 17), the falling of the Holy Spirit on individuals ( and ), and also descriptions of the Holy Spirit coming upon individuals ( and ). Members of the Holiness churches have also referred to the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a "second blessing" or "second work of grace." This language and practice eventually evolved into the modern Pentecostal movement, and Pentecostals adapted the Holiness usage of the term as they understood it. Baptism with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tonguesBiblical scholars note the close association of Biblical references to "baptism in the Holy Spirit" with descriptions of "speaking in tongues." In the Acts of the Apostles, there are three specific references to individuals speaking in tongues: , and . Each of these instances of tongues-speaking is immediately subsequent to or contemporary with an experience of being "baptized in the Holy Spirit." The experience in , which included tongues-speaking (see ), may be connected with the prediction by Jesus in that the disciples would be "baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." This experience was referred to later in retrospect by Peter as well, as being "baptized with the Holy Spirit" (). The description of Cornelius' household receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Peter and his companions in , which included a reference to their "speaking in tongues," is later associated by Peter with the Pentecost experience of the disciples, relating that Cornelius and his friends and family were "baptized with the Holy Spirit" as the disciples had been at Pentecost () and , which includes reference to individuals in Ephesus "speaking in tongues," although not specifically using the term "baptized with the Holy Spirit," states that the "Holy Spirit came upon them" when the Apostle Paul laid his hands upon them. Pentecostal tradition points to these passages to affirm what it believes to be adequate scriptural basis for their view that "speaking in tongues" is the initial physical evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. ReferencesBible references
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