How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural experience in which a believer receives power for the Christian life and service to God. This experience happens after salvation. It is also often called being filled with the Holy Spirit or receiving the Holy Spirit. The term “baptism in the Holy Spirit” was first used by John the Baptist when he foretold what Jesus would do for believers.

“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.” Matthew 3:11

“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.” Acts 1:8

In this teaching, we will look at the Holy Spirit’s role in believers’ lives and the baptism in the Holy Spirit in greater detail:

However, it is important to note that all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit immediately after salvation. It is the Holy Spirit in the believer who confirms (by inner witness and regeneration) that one is now a child of God. Unbelievers do not have the Holy Spirit. Upon being born again, the new believer has the Holy Spirit living with and in them. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit as belonging to God (Ephesians 1:13). They become the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).

“For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20) and the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26). He is also called the Eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), the Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4), and so much more. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is sent by Him (Jesus) to his disciples and proceeds from the Father (John 15:26). He is also called the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).

It is the Holy Spirit who was sent by Jesus from the Father to be WITH us (born-again children of God and the body of Christ) and IN us after he ascended back to heaven. This intricate relationship reveals the Oneness of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” John 15:26

The Holy Spirit’s role before salvation

It is important to note that the Holy Spirit’s work begins before salvation. It is He who convicts souls of sin, showing men the need for a savior. The Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus by leading souls to him.

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:8-11

The Holy Spirit’s role in believers’ lives after salvation

Holy Spirit, our helper and sanctifier

Jesus called the Holy Spirit our helper/advocate/comforter. He told his disciples that after his resurrection, he would ask the Father to send another helper who would be with them forever (John 14:16-18; Acts 2:33). The Holy Spirit is our helper, guiding us through this world as children of God. He prepares us for heaven by sanctifying us as we submit to Him; He is our sanctifier (1 Corinthians 6:11).

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18

The Holy Spirit seals us and identifies us as God’s children.

The Holy Spirit comes to indwell the born-again child of God and seal and identify them as a child of God. He is the guarantee that the believer belongs to God (Romans 8:16, Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit allows us to call God ‘Abba Father’ (Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:15). Once we become born again, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. He marks us as God’s possession (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

The Holy Spirit, our teacher and guide

The Holy Spirit is the primary teacher of the child of God. The child of God must learn to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and know his voice. It is he who teaches us all things (John 14:26; 1 John 2:20, 27). He guides us into all truth. Whatever he hears from Jesus, he speaks and tells us things to come (John 16:13-15).

The Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus by taking what’s of Jesus and declaring it to us (John 16:14). He brings to the believers’ remembrance all that Jesus has spoken (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit never contradicts or goes outside the scriptures. He glorifies Jesus and always draws men to Him. Any spirit that glorifies anything or anyone apart from Jesus is not the Holy Spirit.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The Bible talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a separate experience available for believers after salvation.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers

When the believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit, they receive the power that enables them to witness for Jesus boldly and do the work of the ministry. The boldness the Holy Spirit gives is supernatural and not the result of personality or effort. We see in Acts 2 how the once cowardly Peter became bold and willing to die after he received the Holy Spirit.

“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.” Acts 1:8

Holy Spirit baptism activates supernatural spiritual gifts in believers.

The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts as he chooses to serve God (1 Corinthians 12), preach the gospel, and build up the body of Christ. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural, and they tend to be awakened in the believer once they are filled with the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 gives a list of spiritual gifts, which includes prophecy, healing, miracles, etc.

Many receive the gift of speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of being filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit. Tongues are a heavenly prayer language given to believers to communicate supernaturally with God (1 Corinthians 14:2). There are different kinds of gifts of tongues, and tongues can serve as a sign to unbelievers, like in Acts 2. The gift of tongues is also given to certain believers to give a message to the Church. This is usually accompanied by the gift of interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 14:27-28).

Holy Spirit baptism in the early Church

The Book of Acts gives us many examples of believers being baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit. Each situation was different.

The first disciples

When Jesus was ascending to heaven after his resurrection, he told his disciples, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you (the Holy Spirit); but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49.

10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, while the disciples worshiped God and waited for the filling of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had instructed them, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. He filled them, and they spoke with other tongues (read Acts 2).

The disciples were already born again, but Jesus asked them to wait for the baptism of the Spirit to receive power from on high. After this experience, the apostles preached the gospel with a power and authority that they did not have before. They also performed signs and wonders. This was despite the immense persecution that followed them as they preached.

“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.” Acts 2:1-4

The Samaritans

In Acts 8, Philip the evangelist preached to many in Samaria who got born again and baptized them in water. Afterwards, the apostles Peter and John went to Samaria and discovered that the new converts had not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit. They prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit by laying hands on them. This passage proves that one can be born again without receiving the baptism of the Spirit. Peter and John were able to verify this.

“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.” Acts 8:14-17

Cornelius, his relatives, and friends

The first Gentile converts, Cornelius and those in his house, were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues while Peter was preaching the gospel to them (Acts 10:44-46 and Acts 11:15-16). Cornelius and those in his house did not have Peter lay hands on them. They simply got baptized in the Holy Spirit as they listened intently to the Word of God. They were filled with the Holy Spirit even before baptism.

The believers at Ephesus

In Acts 19:1-7, Paul asks a group of converts he meets at Ephesus if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus. They said they had not. Paul then proceeded to baptize them in water and then laid hands on them, and prayed, and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

“Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Acts 19:1-2

In every account in the Book of Acts, the converts spoke in tongues after baptism in the Holy Ghost. Some received the baptism immediately upon salvation, some long after salvation, others after water baptism, and some before water baptism.

How to receive the Holy Spirit

There is no particular formula for receiving the Holy Spirit except for faith in God and his promise, as we have seen in the examples in the Book of Acts. Some were filled while worshiping and praying, others while listening to the preaching of God’s word, and others by the laying on of the Apostles’ hands. Some were filled before baptism, and some after baptism. Others received the baptism of the Holy Spirit immediately upon salvation, while others received it long after salvation.

Ask in prayer by faith.

You can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in many ways. You can ask God to fill you while in prayer or while worshiping, as the disciples did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). The disciples locked themselves in that upper room for 10 days, waiting in faith for Jesus to give them the promise of the Holy Spirit. And he did. You likewise ask in faith, believing what Jesus said in Luke 11:18, that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Do not give up. This promise is for you. The key is faith. All of God’s gifts are received by faith.

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13

Laying on of hands

You can also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by a Holy Spirit-filled servant of God. This is what happened in Samaria and in Ephesus through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. But please make sure you ask God to direct you to a born-again minister or Bible-believing church.

When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you will know. It is a wonderful and evident experience. You will receive boldness and power you didn’t have before. You will receive the gift of tongues if you desire and believe.

As children of God, we should know that we can have a personal and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. He was left with us here on earth when Jesus went to heaven. He is our helper and not only dwells with us but is in us.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14

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