Much of the controversy in the church that comes with the topic of sign gifts such as speaking in tongues centers around what I believe to be a misunderstanding of the doctrine of Spirit baptism. This misunderstanding stems from two incidents in Scripture both found in the book of Acts. When Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1:5, He promised that His disciples would be baptized by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:4, this promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost which included these followers of Jesus speaking in tongues. A second incident in the book of Acts occurs when Cornelius and his family speak in tongues when the Spirit comes upon them (Acts 10:44-46) which Peter described as them being baptized with the Spirit (Acts 11:15-16)
As a result of these two incidents, many have concluded that the baptism of the Spirit is something that happens at a point and time after your salvation and that it is always evidenced by speaking in tongues. As a result many will encourage believers to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some will go as far as to say that if one has never spoken in tongues, they have never really received the baptism of the Spirit. Is this really what the Bible teaches?
In 1 Corinthians 12:13 the Bible teaches us that by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. This clearly teaches that every Christian has received the baptism of the Spirit which is the act of God whereby we are placed into the Body of Christ. In fact, there is no evidence in the Bible at all of any follower of Christ seeking the baptism of the Spirit. Why? Because every believer has already been baptized by the Spirit. The only way that it is possible for each and every believer to have received the baptism of the Spirit is if it happened the moment we trusted Christ to be our Savior.
It is also important to note that in 1 Corinthians 12:30 we discover that even when the sign gift of speaking in tongues was operational, not every believer was given this gift. So if every believer has already received the baptism of the Spirit and not every believer was given the gift of speaking in tongues even when it was available, then it cannot be Biblically correct to say that speaking in tongues was evidence of Spirit baptism.
Some distinguish in the Bible between being baptized “by” the Spirit and being baptized “with” the Spirit. They would see being baptized “by” the Spirit as the believer being placed into the Body of Christ which happens to every believer at the moment of salvation. However, they would identify being baptized “with” the Spirit as the giving of supernatural power by the Spirit which occurs at some time after salvation and which is evidenced by speaking in tongues. This thought is propagated by the fact that in some English translations of the Bible the word “with” is used and sometimes the word “by” is used when speaking of Spirit baptism. However, in the Greek text, it is the same preposition used for every occurrence of the topic of Spirit baptism in the Bible. They are not two separate events. Spirit baptism is one event which places a believer into the Body of Christ and which takes place at the moment of one’s salvation.
As a result of these two incidents, many have concluded that the baptism of the Spirit is something that happens at a point and time after your salvation and that it is always evidenced by speaking in tongues. As a result many will encourage believers to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some will go as far as to say that if one has never spoken in tongues, they have never really received the baptism of the Spirit. Is this really what the Bible teaches?
In 1 Corinthians 12:13 the Bible teaches us that by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. This clearly teaches that every Christian has received the baptism of the Spirit which is the act of God whereby we are placed into the Body of Christ. In fact, there is no evidence in the Bible at all of any follower of Christ seeking the baptism of the Spirit. Why? Because every believer has already been baptized by the Spirit. The only way that it is possible for each and every believer to have received the baptism of the Spirit is if it happened the moment we trusted Christ to be our Savior.
It is also important to note that in 1 Corinthians 12:30 we discover that even when the sign gift of speaking in tongues was operational, not every believer was given this gift. So if every believer has already received the baptism of the Spirit and not every believer was given the gift of speaking in tongues even when it was available, then it cannot be Biblically correct to say that speaking in tongues was evidence of Spirit baptism.
Some distinguish in the Bible between being baptized “by” the Spirit and being baptized “with” the Spirit. They would see being baptized “by” the Spirit as the believer being placed into the Body of Christ which happens to every believer at the moment of salvation. However, they would identify being baptized “with” the Spirit as the giving of supernatural power by the Spirit which occurs at some time after salvation and which is evidenced by speaking in tongues. This thought is propagated by the fact that in some English translations of the Bible the word “with” is used and sometimes the word “by” is used when speaking of Spirit baptism. However, in the Greek text, it is the same preposition used for every occurrence of the topic of Spirit baptism in the Bible. They are not two separate events. Spirit baptism is one event which places a believer into the Body of Christ and which takes place at the moment of one’s salvation.
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