BAPTISM IN HOLY SPIRIT, Deciding on
DECIDING ON “BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT”
Virgil Warren, PhD
Several issues arise with whether baptism in the Spirit occurs today. It is then not a question that can be answered until there is agreement on a New Testament definition of terms and a correct understanding of certain gifts.
1. How does scripture use the expression baptism in the Spirit?
Are those who speak of it today using the term the same way, or are they loading it with a foreign meaning or one that is too restrictive?
*In scripture baptism in the Spirit is an alternative expression equal to gift of the Spirit and therefore variable as to whether it has a supernatural component or miraculous/evidential element. It does not have anything particularly to do with supernatural enablement to perform some ministry or overcome some weakness. It is applied to every Christian just as surely as “gift of the Spirit” applies to every believer, and belongs to the conversion process itself rather than to a separate experience.
2. What is speaking in tongues/languages?
People who associate language-speaking with baptism in the Holy Spirit often assume that “speaking in languages” is not necessarily a human language.
*All language speaking in the New Testament fits with the characteristics of contemporary human languages. We find no basis for supposing that “languages” may be angelic languages, ecstatic utterance, or some other kind of non-linguistic expression.
3. What is the purpose of the occurrence?
In many people, it is an experience that shows God has accepted the person and perhaps that he is supernaturally enabling the person to perform some ministry or receive some capacity for Christian growth.
4. Does scripture talk about any second definite experience in believers’ lives as a uniform expectancy we should anticipate or even pray for?
Those who talk about baptism in the Holy Spirit in the modern setting may connect it with passages that recount the laying on of hands to impart some spiritual gift. But such texts are not necessarily talking about laying hands on everyone present, and they are associated with supernatural enablement for ministry. The problem then is created by taking a term that should be used broadly (as equal to gift of the Spirit) and making a technical expression out of it. It gets narrowed to something supernatural and mixed in with enablement for ministry. The expression baptism in the Spirit, however, does not occur in contexts about imposition of hands or imparting a spiritual gift.
5. Are miraculous phenomena to be expected beyond the foundational stage of the church, the apostolic age?
That seems to be a moot point in the biblical text. It is safer to make sure we understand properly what the various gifts are—particularly “language speaking” and how the New Testament uses terms—and then apply the definitional test to supposed cases today.
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