Many today are concerned with what they call the "baptism of the Spirit", or the "baptism of the holy Ghost". They want to know what Jesus taught on the subject and how that baptism brought spiritual power to the early church.

They want the same power and some think they must personally be baptized with the Spirit to get it. Is that really true? Because answering that question prepares us to understand our Bible freedom, our freedom in Christ, we will take up the issue here. By the time we are done, you should be able to distinguish between baptism in Spirit and the filling of the Spirit.

I will start with Matthew 3:11 and with the second part of that verse. John says that Jesus himself would baptize his converts with the Holy Ghost. Here are the elements in this verse:

1. Jesus himself would do the baptizing. In other words, the baptism would be from heaven.

2. That baptism would be "with holy Spirit" or "in holy Spirit".

3. Jesus' baptism was also "with fire", or "in fire".

John was talking about an event that had not happened yet, but which would happen. Looking back from our place in history, we know that it did happen. So we have to ask ourselves, "When did that event take place?" When were Jesus' converts actually baptized in both Spirit and fire?

The disciples must have wondered about that for a long time, but at the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus told them when that would take place. He was speaking to them just before he returned to heaven:

Act 1:5 . . . ye shall be baptized with the holy Spirit not many days hence.

This is a good place to mention that the word "Spirit" and the word "Ghost" are both a translation of the same word  in the original New Testament. The reason for the two translations is because when the King James Version of the New Testament was written, there was more than one team of people rendering the various parts of it. One team preferred the word "Spirit" and the other preferred "Ghost". That is the reason we find two different words used in the KJV. Both words identify the same divine Being, the holy Spirit. I prefer to use the word "Spirit" because our word "Ghost" no longer means what it once did.

The disciples had been promised that as they waited in Jerusalem, they would soon receive the necessary "power" to effectively preach the message Jesus had spent three years teaching them. Here is the KJV rendering of that event as it finally happened on the day of Pentecost. I will add emphasis to some of the words:

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Here we see that God's holy Spirit from heaven is present. That it is the Spirit which filled the house is also true. The evidence is considerable:

1. The context shows this. Luke recorded the words of Acts 2:2 as a direct fulfillment of Jesus' prediction in Acts 1:5. "You will be baptized in the holy Spirit not many days from now." If that prediction was not fulfilled in Acts 2:2ff, then when was it fulfilled? Luke gives no other occasion that would fit the timeline.

2. What the disciples heard came "from heaven."

3. The word "wind" is a translation of a Greek word which to the Hebrews referred to the breath of God or of man. A mighty movement of air was not just an impersonal force of nature like men view wind today. The Old Testament contains example after example where the wind indicated God's Spirit was on the move. What the disciples heard coming out of heaven on the day of Pentecost was a "rushing, mighty Spirit." That is what Luke wanted to get across. He was using the language of the Old Testament and the word he used is the very same one that the Greek Septuagint Translation had used so often. This word is pnoe, and if you click on that link, you will see how often the word had been used of the mighty blast of God's breath.

It is God's Spirit that Luke pictures as having filled the house where the disciples were waiting. It would seem to an observer that they were immersed in holy Spirit. That is why the event was called "the baptism in the Spirit". The word "baptism" means immersion.

At the same time, they were filled with Spirit and they began to preach with power what the Lord had taught them. Some preached in the languages of the Jews who had come up to Jerusalem from other parts of the Roman Empire. That way everyone who was present for Pentecost would understand the somewhat new message being preached by the still very young church.

We now need to make a point very clear; There is only one other place in the New Testament where we are actually told that this baptism in Spirit was repeated. That was later at the house of Cornelius. Because we are told that was a repetition of what had happened at Pentecost, we can be safe in believing that it was an identical event. Here is the proof: When Peter later had to report what had happened at the house of Cornelius, he used the following words:

Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as [he did] unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

Clearly, this was an exceptional event. Never before or after that did an Apostle have to give account of actions this way. Peter had been accused of misconduct.

Now to fill in the blanks. Notice how Peter used "us" and "them" in his account to the Jerusalem church. Why the distinction? To understand that, we must see what a grand occasion these two events were. Jesus had promised the church power, but in the mind of the original church, that power would only be given to them, members of the Jerusalem Church.

There is more than that to the story, however. This was a racial issue to the Jews. In the minds of that original church, God's power was extended to the Jewish church alone.

What happened at the house of Cornelius changed that attitude. It proved that Jesus was not just talking about the Jews when he promised the power of the holy Spirit. He also planned to extend that power to any church made up of Gentiles. Peter had to find that out by hard experience, and the rest of the Jewish church would too. For dealing with Gentiles as he did, Peter had to give an account. He had to defend his actions in dealing so openly with the house of Cornelius.

It was a momentous occasion and God would not let Peter keep silent. The baptism in the Spirit was given not only to the Jewish church, but also to a church made up of Gentiles.

Understand then that this marked the official beginning of God's giving power to both the Jewish church and the Gentile church. Of course people had been empowered before, to one extent or another on various occasions. But not like this, for this occasion was the big day of official recognition for the church.

God had now given the whole church a great sign. It was a sign that would never have to be repeated. That is why we do not see it repeated ever again in the New Testament. In subsequent events, we see that the church still has this power, but we never see a repetition of the Pentecost event -- what was specifically referred to as a "baptism in Spirit". Since the church never lost that power given to it at the beginning, there was no need for a second baptism in Spirit.

We see many occasions after Pentecost when people were filled with the Spirit and that causes us to form some conclusions. Let's spend a moment on them.

As we look back from our time in history, some things stand out. The power to preach Christ crucified, buried and risen from the dead was poured out on the church, both Jew and Gentile. From that point on, the Spirit has lived in churches that remain faithful to Christ.

The lesson here is that God empowers people to do his work. The Spirit of God is already present in the church but at times like this, he fills the speaker to the extent necessary to get the job done.

After the day of Pentecost, and after the exceptional event at the house of Cornelius, we do not see baptism in Spirit as the goal for the church. No! From that time to this, it is the filling of the Spirit that is notible. We see more than one occasion after that when this filling caused people to preach with power: That shows us how our experiences today may be similar to those that happened in the early church.

Act 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel. . . .

Men of God still preach the New Testament message and God, through the filling of the Spirit, causes these men to both understand his Word and to preach it effectively.

We do not see everything being repeated today that happened back then. There is no need to repeat the baptism of the Spirit; The church has already been empowered. What we need now is for the individual to make himself available to be filled with the Spirit. That way God can work through a man to proclaim Christ and to share his teachings from the New Testament, to the glory of God and for the benefit of God's creation.