October 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
632
into the Church. The Apostle says not merely that “in one Spirit were ‘they’ all baptized,” but also “ were baptized into one body.” The baptism of the Spirit, then, can be nothing else than the new birth. “Except ye be born again ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is the one and only entrance to the company of believers. The Apostle’s use of the pasif'tense in telling of the “baptism in the Spirit” of those Corinthians adds further light. He says not that they were to be, but that they were baptized. At the same time, it should be noted that he was especially anxious that they should become “spiritual” (1 Cor. 3:1). If, then, he meant by the term “baptism” the fulness of the Spirit, why did he not urge them to seek the baptism? But no; he asserts that they already possessed this blessing. It would seem that about all that could be predicted of the majority of those Corinthians was that they were born again. They were but “babes in Christ.”® They had gone nothing' beyond that initial experience of the new birth. Hence we are again brought to the conclusion that the baptism in the Spirit is that operation of the Spirit which results in regeneration. N ot S ubsequent to S alvation (4) In full accord with the foregoing conclusion is the uniform teaching in all the Epistles of the New Testa ment. Mark you, these Epistles were written to believers, and in none of them is there a single hint that the baptism in the Spirit is a blessing which the readers did not pos sess, and one which they should seek. Believers are en joined to be filled with the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, pray in the Spirit; but never once to be baptized in the Spirit. And the very evident reason is that they already possess this blessing. Nowhere do the Epistles give the least coun tenance to the teaching that the baptism in the Spirit is a
at once to the conclusion that the baptism in the Spirit is that operation of the Holy Spirit which results in regen eration. (2) This conclusion is confirmed when we look at the conversion of Cornelius and his household. It is dis tinctly said of these that they were “baptized in the Spirit.” The Apostle Peter, in reporting what took place at Caesarea, said, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit” '(A c ts 11:15,16). When did this baptism take place? Some time after they yere converted? _No, but at the very time of their conversion. How is it described? Just after the Apostle made the above quota tion from the sayings of the Lord regarding this baptism of the Spirit, he adds, “If then God gave unto them [Cornelius and his household] the like gift as he did unto us, who was I that I could withstand God?” B aptism W h en U nited to C hrist The baptism, then, is the same as the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10:47 this coming of the Spirit is de scribed as the receiving of the Holy Spirit. That is, on God’s part it is a “giving,” but on the believer’s part it is a “receiving.” Now the Holy Spirit is always received at regeneration. It may be that the fulness or power or some enduement of the Spirit may not then be obtained, but the Spirit Himself comes at that time to take up His abode in the believer’s heart. He enters then once and for all, never to leave the “temple” which His holy presence hal lows. The Apostle Paul asked the Ephesian disciples the very significant question, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed.?” This question clearly implies that the Apostles expected men to receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. Since, therefore, the receiving of the Spirit is the same as the baptism of the Spirit, it follows that the baptism of the Spirit is that coming of the Spirit which takes place at regeneration. The conclusion the Jerusalem Christians reached re garding the reception of Cornelius and his household is significant. After hearing Peter rehearse the story of his going in unto the Gentiles, of his preaching, and of the consequent descent of the Spirit in baptism, they said, “Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). They did not speak of any endue ment, of any manifestation of signs or powers or won ders. They did not mention anything of any “second bless ing” ; but they spoke of the great primal blessing of regen eration. (3) Let us now look at 1 Cor. 12:13. In this verse the Apostle Paul says that those Corinthian believers were “all baptized in the Spirit.” Now this statement of the Apos tle concerning those Corinthians cannot refer to the en duement or fulness of the Spirit. For this body of “the baptized in the Sp'irit” contained “carnal” Christians and those who “were weak in the faith” (1 Cor. 3:1; 8:11, 12) and surely no one would assert that such were filled with the Spirit. That congregation contained some who had not broken entirely with idolatry, but were still eating meats sacrificed to idols; contained, also, many who were given to litigation and who were “defrauding one an other.” It could not be said that any such were full of the Holy Spirit, and yet it is written that they “were all baptized in the Spirit.” This baptism, then, is not the ful ness of the Spirit. But thq verse says further that it was this baptism which brought those Corinthians "into the body,” that is,
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