The Baptism and Filling of the Holy Spirit

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the February 4, 2017 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:17, NIV

When I was in my middle teen years and had just begun attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I shared my new-found faith with a close friend I had grown up with. He was drawn to my enthusiasm and as we studied together, he decided he would like to join the church. He went home to share his desire with his family. He reasoned that everything sounded so wonderful, why wouldn’t he share it with his family. He believed that they would want to join also. As it turned out, his mother was heavily into Spiritism and wanted nothing to do with any churches. She forbade her son to have any further contact with me and instead bought him a Ouija board. We drifted apart due to our inability to see one another.

When I graduated high school, I left to join the Army, eventually when I returned home on leave, I decided to try to contact my friend. I reasoned that since we were both over 18, perhaps he would be allowed to make his own decision about friendships, churches, and so forth. He was delighted to hear from me and invited me to attend church with him. I discovered that he was now attending a Pentecostal Church. The service began simply enough, but soon people were babbling strangely. They told me that to receive the Holy Spirit people had to act this way. The more the service went on, the more uncomfortable I became. The spirit I felt there was nothing like the spirit I felt when attending the Adventist Church. It felt dark and oppressive as they tried to pressure me to join in their strange behavior. I beat a hasty retreat from that church, and again lost contact with my friend. I wish I could say the story turned out well in the end, but although I still consider him a friend, his lifestyle and mine took completely divergent paths. As a result, I have long wondered if there was more of Spiritism than Holy Spirit in that church. It did not seem to have a positive influence on my friend’s life, and I am deeply saddened by that. But I did decide to study the matter to determine if the Holy Spirit was something you had to “pray through,” preferably by babbling, in order to receive? What I found was that the Bible makes no secret about how to receive the Holy Spirit. On one hand, it is really very simple, but on the other hand, it may be the hardest thing some of us have ever done.

Receiving the Holy Spirit is a three step process. Peter, the Apostle, boldly shared those three steps with thousands at Pentecost.[i] The followers of Jesus had just received the Holy Spirit themselves and with that infilling, they were able to proclaim the Kingdom of God with greater fervor and more understanding. Thousands joined the body of Christ as a result.[ii]  The first step that Peter identified was repentance. The Greek word, translated “repentance” in our Bibles today is μετανοια and it means literally turning and going in the opposite direction. This is because when we are going our own way, we are walking away from God, seeking to place our ideas and desires foremost in our lives. We might even say that we are worshipping at the throne of Self. It is easy to recognize this in ourselves and others because we tend to talk mostly about our desires and what we hope to achieve. Our circle of friends may consist only of those whom we feel can help contribute to fulfilling those desires. There is little interest in helping others unless it somehow helps to achieve our dreams. If others take time away from focusing on us and what we want, we find new sycophantic friends who will recognize the superiority of our ambitions and stoke our egos, fellow worshippers around the throne of Self. But God invites us to do an about face and travel toward Him instead. He asks us to dethrone self and place Him on that throne. But why would a self-centered ego choose to do that, especially since it can be incredibly difficult to deny those desires?

It is very simple. We are drawn to the selfless love of God, modeled in Jesus Christ. For three-and-a-half years, Jesus preached about and modeled acts of selfless, loving service, and then He dramatically demonstrated it by dying a guiltless death on a rough, wooden cross. He did not deserve to die, and did not have to die, since He could command an army of irresistible force that only God can muster.[iii] His love for us held Him upon that cross, and that kind of love has the power to draw us.[iv] If you don’t know Him, even now, you may be feeling a desire to know this Jesus who did so much for you. His death set you free, you know. It is His blood that covers our past misdeeds and allows us to walk toward Him confidently[v] as though we were as righteous as He is. Self is really a terrible master. It binds us in chains of desires that can never be fulfilled in any lasting manner. They can be like cotton candy, big and desirable when you look at it on the paper cone, but when you bite into it, it shrinks down to almost nothing. On the other hand, when we walk toward Jesus, we find ourselves not only serving others instead of focusing on our needs, but in doing so we find our needs met as well.[vi]

When we change direction and begin moving toward God, we are invited to be baptized, publicly immersed in water and then raised out of it. This can be seen as symbolically representing our death to our old way of life and our rebirth into a new life. This to a degree parallels Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. But it also has another profound meaning we will discuss in a moment. Once we have given our selfish hearts to God and begin walking toward God covered in the righteousness that only Jesus’ blood can place upon us, once we have been baptized in the water, then we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not something we have to struggle to receive. Peter, after they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was inspired to reveal it is received automatically. He did not say, “You might receive the Holy Spirit.” He did not say “You have to try to receive the Holy Spirit.” He said “You will receive the Holy Spirit.” There was no hint of doubt in Peter’s words. So why then did Peter and the others, though baptized, not receive the Holy Spirit until Pentecost? This may be because they had only been baptized by John. They had not been baptized in Jesus. This is because Jesus baptized no one, not even John the Baptist,[vii] not even His disciples.[viii] Interestingly, Jesus immediately received the Holy Spirit upon baptism, even though baptized by John. This is likely because he did not need the imputed righteousness the rest of us need through Jesus, because He was already righteous. Further confirmation of the difference between the baptism of John and the Holy Spirit not being conferred until the believers were baptized in the name of Jesus we can also look to Paul’s experience when he came upon twelve men who only had John’s baptism when he traveled to Ephesus. Upon baptism in Jesus, they received the Holy Ghost.[ix]

Some might have you believe that the Holy Spirit is some secret power that can only be parceled out by powerful clergy, who alone have the right to baptize. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One follower of Jesus baptizing another into fellowship with the Savior is all that is required. But why is that? Doesn’t the Bible require special ordination services to give certain, more spiritual people, especially men, the power to do things like baptism? The institutional church we have today with its hierarchical power structure may see itself, in a very Catholic way, as the source of grace imparted only by ordained clergy, specifically clergy they have ordained. They question the authority of anyone to depart from that model, much as the church officials of Jesus’ day questioned His authority.[x] This is where the more profound meaning of Peter’s three-step process becomes important. You see, it is not just a celebration of grace. It is a ceremony of ordination. God never intended for ordination to be the creating of a class of career clerics who controlled who was allowed to minister and when. Instead, through Jesus, He opened up the ministry to every believer, and ordained each one to the priesthood. He then imparts the Holy Spirit to each to empower that ministry. The same Peter who said all about these three steps at Pentecost, also further reaffirmed this idea of universal priesthood. He may not have fully understood it, but under inspiration, he proclaimed to those who had come to Christ, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.”[xi] Through the blood, the water and the Spirit, we each are fully empowered to build the body of Christ and to engage in service to others.

Those who like to claim authority over others in the name of the institutional church like to claim the authority of the Aaronic Priesthood. They do not understand that was a finite priesthood done away with at the cross. It has now been replaced by a higher, eternal order,[xii] and God will grant His people eternal life that they may fulfill the demands of such an order. Christ is our high priest in that order, and He grants us all authority to teach and to baptize all nations, everywhere.[xiii] Let us be about our ministry.



[i] Acts 2:38

[ii] Acts 2:41

[iii] Matthew 26:53

[iv] John 12:32

[v] Hebrews 4:16

[vi] Matthew 6:25-33

[vii] Matthew 3:13-15

[viii] John 4:1-3

[ix] Acts 19:1-7

[x] Matthew 21:23

[xi] 1 Peter 2:9

[xii] "A Concise Theology of Ordination," Stephen Terry, Still Waters Ministry, January 16, 2013

[xiii] Matthew 28:18-20

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this commentary, you might also enjoy this book. Now on sale at holiday pricing with over a 30% discount!

To learn more click on this link.
Romans: Law and Grace

 

 

 

This Commentary is a Service of Still Waters Ministry

www.visitstillwaters.com

 

If you wish to receive these weekly commentaries direct to your e-mail inbox for free, simply send an e-mail to:

commentaries-subscribe@visitstillwaters.com

Scripture marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

 

 

 

If you want a paperback copy of the current Sabbath School Bible Study Quarterly, you may purchase one by clicking here and typing the word "quarterly" into the search box.