The subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit has caused much confusion. Let us consider what Scripture teaches on this important matter.

-Baptism of Holy Spirit promised
Matthew 3:11
(John the Baptist speaking) "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

--Promised specifically by Jesus to His apostles
Luke 24:46-49
"Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Acts 1:4-5
"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'"

Acts 1:8
"'But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"

-We see from these passages that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus specifically to His apostles. They needed to wait in Jerusalem until they could receive power from on high. When they did, they would be Jesus' witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but "to the end of the earth". This "Promise of the Father" was fulfilled in Acts 2.

-Baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4, 6
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance…And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language."
-What an amazing thing! These Galileans began to speak in tongues they did not know (v. 7)! Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared and sat upon each of them. Something spectacular was happening! What Jesus had promised would happen "not many days from now"(Acts 1:5) was happening-the baptism of the Holy Spirit!

Acts 2:14-17
"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams."'"

-Peter explains to the crowd that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was prophesied back in Joel's time. Where did it come from?

Acts 2:33
"Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

-Just as John the Baptist had prophesied, Jesus had baptized with the Holy Spirit!

It should be noted that the purpose of this act of the Holy Spirit was to confirm the message of the apostles. "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs"(Mark 16:20). Here were uneducated Galileans preaching about God. Why should we listen to them?
-The Holy Spirit gave the apostles credibility to speak with the authority of God in religious matters. Hence this outpouring signaled the first gospel sermon, preached by the apostle Peter (Acts 2:14-40).

-It is also important to note that as the apostles preached the gospel in the first several chapters of Acts, they preached it to Jews alone. The church existed in Jerusalem alone from Acts 2 to Acts 8:1, when persecution caused the Christians to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria. Consider:

Acts 11:19
"Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only."

-At this point in the history of the Lord's church, only Jews were preached to or allowed to become Christians. However, God saw fit to change that and allow Gentiles to become Christians as well. Here's how:

-Baptism of Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his company

This Holy Spirit baptism occurred a second time when God allowed Gentiles to become Christians.

-A Gentile named Cornelius was a righteous man-"a devout man and one who feared God with all his household"(Acts 10:2)-yet because he was a Gentile, he could not yet be a Christian. An angel came to Cornelius instructing him to send for Peter (Acts 10:3-5).

-Peter had a vision in which he was told to kill and eat all kinds of unclean animals. He refused to, saying it was unclean (according to Jewish law). A voice spoke to him saying "What God has cleansed you must not call common"(or unclean). This happened three times. This is found in Acts 10:9-16.

-God was teaching Peter a lesson about people-that he must not call the Gentiles common or unclean. When Peter goes to meet Cornelius and his friends and family, he says,
"You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."(Acts 10:28).

-Peter begins to understand that, because of the angel appearing to Cornelius and the vision he had, God was trying to show him that Gentiles too can be Christians. He says,
"In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him"(Acts 10:34-35).

-This is a tremendous statement for a Jew. Despite the fact that Jews looked down on Gentiles, Peter recognizes that all men who do God's will please Him, regardless of nationality.

-Peter preaches the gospel to them (Acts 10:34-43). Then something amazing happens.
"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."(Acts 10:44-48)

-Read the above passage very carefully. The very same thing that happened on Pentecost happened again! They began to speak with tongues, just as the apostles had!

-But we must ask the question, "Why?" Why did Jesus pour out the Holy Spirit on these as well? On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit baptism occurred to confirm the words of those speaking. Here, it occurs to confirm that the Gentiles could receive the gospel. That is exactly the conclusion Peter and the other Jewish brethren came to-that is why they were astonished (v. 45), and that is why Peter wanted them to be baptized (v. 47). If God Himself testified to the Gentiles' ability to be Christians, how could anyone forbid water for them to be baptized and become Christians?

-This understanding of Acts 10 is further justified by Peter's discussion of the scene in Acts 11. Understandably, when Peter returns to Jerusalem, the brethren there are upset that Peter went and ate with Gentiles.
"And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, 'You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!' But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying"(Acts 11:2-4)

-Peter then retells all we have just discussed. Hear what he says, and the conclusion he draws.
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?' When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life'"(Acts 11:15-18)

-Read this passage carefully. Peter says that the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles who heard him, just as it did upon the apostles "at the beginning," meaning on Pentecost. Then he says he remembered Jesus' promise of a baptism of the Holy Spirit-and that this had occurred. Notice especially v. 17 ("If therefore God…"). If God wanted the Gentiles, it wasn't Peter's job to stand in their way. If God had given them the Holy Spirit, He wanted Gentiles to become Christians. Notice that this is the exact conclusion the rest of the Jews drew (v. 18).

-From that point forward, Gentiles (praise the Lord!) were allowed to become Christians. Although it sometimes caused difficulty-the circumcision issue, eating of meats, difficulty in association-Gentiles were never questioned to be allowed to become Christians. Why? God had poured out His Spirit on Cornelius to prove He wanted Gentiles.

-That is the end of the story of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Although these two occasions are very important, it is clear they were necessary at the beginning to establish the authority of the apostles and to signal major changes in God's truth (i.e. acceptance of Gentiles).
-Nowhere in the New Testament is Holy Spirit baptism a requirement for salvation. Only twice did it occur, and it is not part of the Christian's life today. Although the Holy Spirit is active in and through Christians today, it is not through Holy Spirit baptism.

-As to having to receive the Holy Spirit before water baptism, we have records of people being Christians in the New Testament without the Holy Spirit in this special, miraculous way!
Acts 8:14-17
"Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."

-These had believed and been baptized (Acts 8:12), which remitted their sins (along with repentance and confession, Acts 2:38, Rom 10:10), yet they did not have the Holy Spirit in this special way.

Acts 19:5-6
"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on the, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied."

-Paul found these men and asked if they had the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2), indicating that perhaps many Christians did not have this special miraculous power of the Holy Spirit! When he found them, he taught them the truth, baptized them into Christ (Gal 3:27), then laid hands on them! The Holy Spirit was NOT a prerequisite to being a Christian, it was a benefit some Christians enjoyed in New Testament times!

-For us today, there is but "one baptism"(Eph 4:5). We must follow God's pattern to become a Christian, knowing that God was with Jesus and His apostles. The burden rests on us, not God-will we obey? ___Jacob Hudgins