The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Essay

The Holy Spirit: Who He is, What He Does written by Robert Gromacki is good read for any individual wanting to become more knowledgeable about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Gromacki holds a doctorate degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a distinguished professor of Bible and Greek at Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio.

My family and I got up, got ready, and drove less than a mile down Old Hickory Boulevard to Forest Hills Baptist Church, like we had always done. Except, that day I packed my swimming trunks. On August 5th of 2007, I was baptized by a minister at my church. I was eager to get started. With both of us cloaked in white, the minster and I stepped into the baptism “tub” during the worship service. Colorful rays of light were beaming through the stained glass windows, the water was warm, and my mother was standing beside of me for comfort and reassurance; I was at peace. Out of the opening, I could see the watchful eyes of the choir, worship leader, congregation, and my family; I was at peace. As part of tradition, I was getting ready to be immersed into the water; I was at peace. While in the water, an extraordinary sensation of purification swept through my body. I, for the first time in my eight years of life, had truly felt cleansed from head to toe. This feeling was a direct action of the Holy Spirit entering and presiding in my vulnerable self permanently.

The Holy Spirit, as a member of the Trinity, has eternally existed and worked with the Father and the Son to bring about the plan for our salvation (CCC 686). In a similar vein, the Holy Spirit, along with the Word of God, “are at the origin of the being and life of every creature” (CCC 703). The Holy Spirit is present with humanity from the beginning of time and the beginning of our individual lives, for as the Gospel writer John says, “he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:17).

Lesslie Newbigin in his book The Open Secret starts by giving a historical background of Christian missions in the world. Newbigin goes on to ask two questions about Jesus, the first being what authority does Jesus have in today’s world and the second who is Jesus. The authority of Jesus, “is not derived authority; it is the authority of God himself present in the midst of human history.”

The Holy Spirit of God is the active force or power in one’s life, which most certainly includes spiritual formation (Pettit, 2008, p. 46). When Jesus was speaking with his disciples he made it clear – by using the analogy of a vine and branches – that apart from him they could do nothing (John 15:5). Only if one is connected to Christ will they have the ability to bear fruit and the way Jesus empowers those connected to him is through the Holy Spirt that that father will send in his name (John 14:26). The fact is that the triune God dwells in the Christian in and through the Holy Spirit. One sees this when they place multiple passages together to gain a full understanding of this concept. For example, Jesus made it clear that he and the father would come and make their home with the disciple (John 14:23). In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are the very temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them which is similar to what Jesus said would happen when he sent the Holy Spirit after his resurrection and ascension (John 14:17, 16:7).

So, Jesus explained to his disciples that he would baptize them with the Holy Spirit to empower them as his witnesses. He indicated that the Spirit would act in them as he had acted through so many others that we read about in the Old Testament and, he would give them the words to speak to those who opposed

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and is equal in essence and in power in the Trinity to the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit was originally sent by Jesus after his ascension into heaven, Jesus himself saying that he would send a “helper” after he departed from the earth. This spirit is worshipped just as the Father and the Son are, and also participated in the creation of the world, sustaining and giving life continually to all things, and exhibits the uniqueness and characteristics of the third person in the Trinity. This is the same Holy Spirit that divinely inspired the infallible word of God, and although the canon is now closed, the Holy Spirit still works powerfully and constantly in the life of the church and in believers. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts, which are given at conversion and help the believer become more like their creator. The presence of the Holy Spirit is evident in the life of all true believers, and this Spirit turns cowardly men into mighty warriors for Christ who accomplish actions way beyond their natural ability.

Many Pentecostals believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an event that occurs after salvation and is always accompanied by the gift of tongues. This belief leads to a separation of the Body of Christ into spirit-filled and non sprit-filled believers.

baptism in the Holy Spirit, explaining it thoroughly as I usually do in class. They said they don’t have

Baptism in (or with) the Holy Spirit is a very important, distinctive Christian experience in the life of the believer. The basis is found in the book of Acts, specifically the event of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit is considered to be the Father and the Son as one person so completely. The Holy Spirit approved the humanity of the Son. This meant that the eternal relationship between God and the Son was then extended to the human man, Jesus. The Holy Spirit in a way can be foreseen as the protector of Jesus in addition to guiding him through his every earthly action. In addition, the Holy Spirit played a large role in the communication between God and Jesus. Not only was the Holy Spirit the unity of mankind in God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Jesus allowed for communication with God through his human consciousness. After his crucifixion, Jesus is the resurrected through the transformation of his human body into a spiritual one.

As we receive baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, and we serve the Holy Spirit as our hearts become church of God.

God gave us Jesus Christ his Son, so we can be forgiven of our sins and have life in Heaven. Christ blood on the cross, his death and his resurrection, Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins.

The various gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in Scripture are conveyed according to the will of the Holy Spirit to every man for the eventual purpose of the edification and building up the church body.

Spirit baptism has been an important topic in the Church for a really long time and while we discuss this topic we always have several questions rising about this issue. Churches have different perspective about the way they address the issue. The common question which arises with this topic are that, some of the Churches claim that spirit baptism is demonstrated after receiving the gifts of tongues and the other issues which often raises is that its relation with the word.