The Baptism in the Holy Spirit – Part I
Peter G Kuskie,
Introduction
I would like to share my thoughts on the
often-misunderstood doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Sprit. I would like to make abundantly clear at the
outset that I do not set myself up to be an authority. I have however arrived at my conclusions
based on my own study of the scriptures.
I trust that through this study we will gain a fresh
perspective on this subject and that we will all be brought closer to God.
The study will be spread over several segments.This
will give us time to prayerfully examine these things for ourselves. May God bless you richly.
1. The view from my
corner
What I am sharing has to do with my understanding of the
word & my experience. If there is
one thing that has been highlighted to me though chatting (particularly in
Bible chat) is that many people have a contrary position to mine and firmly
believe they have a revelation from God.
I have never been a great
Bible scholar. I am more an encourager
then a teacher. A teacher is one who
gets into the Word and dissects analyses and pours over it. Although I have studied this topic my
conclusions are based on a) what seems obvious to me from an examination of the
Word, b) my experience and c) the experience of others.
My first experience with
Pentecost was when I was about 11 years old. I was on a holiday with my mum
& my aunt & her 3 sons, all round my age. I had never heard of speaking
in tongues but somehow it came up in the conversation. My cousins had all been
baptised in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. I asked them to speak for me. All 3 did. I
went to my room & wept & wept. I remember the Presence that was in the
room. I look back on that time as my 1st real touch from God. All I wanted to do after that was to get
saved. Unfortunately although I
committed my life to God shortly thereafter, there was no follow up & the
experience was not maximised. I
continued to believe in Jesus but I was living for myself.
I continued to attend the
Presbyterian Church. My 2 best friends
went there. Mum was attending the
Presbyterian Church in the morning and the AoG
sometimes of an evening.
When I was about 14 we
went on a camp. The youth leader was
someone who was very anti charismatic. I
don’t remember how we got into the conversations but I remember being in one of
the tents with him where he played a tape that basically insisted that the
spirits must be tested. The inference
was that in testing the spirits Christians who claimed to speak in tongues
would be found to be deceived. You can
imagine that as a 14-year-old this scared me.
I implored my mother to test the spirits. (She had been baptised in the
Spirit).
One day when I was 16
years old I was at a friends home when I decided to ring an AoG
pastor to find out where the church stood on the issue of drugs. He invited me to the church office and after
talking to him for 2 hours I recommitted to the Lord. From then on I had a hunger for the things of
God.
I do not remember how it
happened but I think, because I was now attending a Pentecostal church I became
hungry for the baptism in the Spirit.
The warnings that I had received at the youth camp were relegated to
“yes test the spirits but this experience is genuine & is for me”. On that basis I studied the word & books
on the topic.
I made an appointment to
see one of the elders in the church with the express purpose of receiving
prayer for the baptism in the Spirit.
The day before I was to
meet him I was reading a book called “
I decided that I would
not tell the elder, but would see what he said when I started to speak in this
language as he prayed for me. As he
prayed & I spoke, he encouraged me to continue. I then told him that I had received the day
before. I guess this was my little “test
the spirit”.
Luke 11:11 If
a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a
serpent? 12 Or
if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
2. Salvation & the Baptism in the Spirit –
Two separate experiences
There are those of the
view that unless one speaks in tongues they are not saved. In my opinion this view is not only wrong but
it is dangerous in that it is divisive.
There are many in the body of Christ who could teach we
Pentecostals much about Christian virtue, grace and the fruit of the
Spirit. These folk are thoroughly born
again and love the Lord with all their heart.
The following references
reveal to me that being saved and being filled with the Holy Spirit are two
separate experiences. It is possible to
be saved but not filled with the Spirit but impossible to be filled with the
Holy Spirit without being saved.
1.
Saul on the
Saul was on his way to
Ac
9:3 As he
neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around
him.
4
He fell to the
ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
me?"
5
"Who are
you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,"
he replied……
In calling Jesus “Lord”,
Saul shows he had been saved in that moment.
At this point there is no indication that he had been filled with the
Spirit – that was to come later.
2.
The thief on the cross
Lk 23:43 Jesus answered
him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Jesus was speaking to the
thief on the cross. This guy was going
to heaven. Again there is no mention of
being filled with the Spirit or speaking in tongues.
3.
The Samaritan believers
Ac 8:12 But when they
believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
This verse shows that the
Samaritans to whom Philip preached got both saved and baptised in water. It is not until a little later that they
received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Ac
4.
The Corinthian believers
Ac 19:1 While
Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at
Here again we see
believers who had not spoken in tongues (of course that was about to change).
So although there may
have been (& may still be) those in Pentecost who equate speaking in
tongues with being saved, it is not a doctrine upheld by Scripture. Pentecostals can just as easily fall into
legalistic traps as anyone.
I believe what the Word
states can be summarised as follows:
“There is a work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, but that is not called
receiving the Holy Ghost. That is call
being born again, receiving eternal life.
Then there is an experience which follows salvation that is called
receiving, or being filled with the Holy Ghost.” (Kenneth E. Hagin – Concerning Spiritual Gifts)
