Did Pentecostals Really Get It Wrong? (Part 4: Untangling the Baptism “with, in, or of” the Holy Spirit.)

It is not unusual to find many believer’s who have personally experienced a Pentecostal type encounter to start from the theological square of trying to understand this experience. Is it Scriptural? Is this moment a God-moment or simply an emotional moment? How should I interpret this new happening in my life? For others, which would include myself, I started from the theological square of asking, “What does the Bible say?”, before I ever had an experience. I think it is legitimate to approach the question of the baptism with the Holy Spirit from either direction as long as Scripture supports the reality of this experience. This is why I maintain that one of the most important distinctions in Pentecostal theology is between the Holy Spirit’s work in salvation and the Holy Spirit’s work in empowerment. Many traditions collapse all New Testament references to Spirit baptism into a single, salvific event; but a careful reading of Scripture shows that the Bible distinguishes between the Spirit baptizing the believer into Christ and Christ baptizing the believer with the Holy Spirit. To conflate these experiences is to ignore important biblical distinctions and obscure the empowering dimension of Spirit baptism that the early church clearly experienced. The confusion and conflation is the misunderstanding between I Corinthians 12:13 and Acts 1:5-8. Let’s unpack these verses carefully.

I Corinthians 12:13 states, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body…”

Pentecostals understand this passage to describe the Spirit’s role in conversion/regeneration, where the Holy Spirit places the believer into the body of Christ. This text is frequently cited by Cessationist’s to claim that Spirit baptism always occurs at salvation. However, while Pentecostals agree this verse describes something universal to every believer, we deny that it is identical to the Acts 1–2 Spirit baptism. Why? Allow me to set this up in hopefully an understandable form:

THE AGENT, is the Holy Spirit. He is the One doing the baptizing.

THE RESULT, is salvation or regeneration and relationship with Christ.

THE PURPOSE, is incorporation into Christ’s spiritual body which is the Church.

Paul will say, “we all” were baptized into one body BY the Spirit. This is true of every Christian, not merely a select group. Thus, Pentecostals affirm that the Spirit’s baptism into Christ’s body occurs at salvation and is the Spirit’s regenerative/salvific work.

Acts 1:5 states, (Jesus speaking to His disciples) “You shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

If Acts 1:5 is identical to 1 Corinthians 12:13, then several problems emerge. The One baptizing changes. John the Baptist clearly identifies this in Matthew 3:11, that Jesus is the One baptizing. This is critical. The agent, result and purpose changes.

THE AGENT, is Christ Himself.

THE RESULT, is an endowment of divine power.

THE PURPOSE, is the divine catalyst to do the work of ministry to which believer’s are commissioned.

It is fascinating that the preposition changes from “BY the Spirit” in I Corinthians 12:13 to “WITH the Spirit” in Acts 1:5. The preposition “with” indicates that the Holy Spirit is already present in the life of the believer (indicated by the reality of regeneration according to I Corinthians 12:13) and is now immersing the believer in a subsequent experience as He is currently WITH the person. That being said, Jesus further explains the purpose of this baptism:

“But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me…” (Acts 1:8)

This “immersion” is from the inside -AND- the outside. It is both WITH -and- UPON.

This mirrors Old Testament language where the Spirit came upon individuals for:

• Prophetic ministry
• Leadership
• Empowered service

Examples include:

• Saul (1 Samuel 10:10) for prophetic utterance.
• David (1 Samuel 16:13) for kingly anointing.
• Samson (Judges 14:6) for supernatural strength.

The emphasis in Acts 1:5-8, is not inward regeneration but outward empowerment. This is a distinct empowering experience, not initial regeneration. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is vocational and missional in purpose.

The question then arises, “Why does this even matter?”

It matters because if all Spirit baptism language is collapsed into conversion:

1. Acts 1:8 loses its experiential distinctiveness.
2. Pentecost becomes merely symbolic.
3. Luke’s repeated emphasis on empowerment becomes redundant.
4. The church loses expectation for supernatural empowerment.

Pentecostals maintain that this distinction preserves the full biblical witness. Therefore, we maintain that 1 Corinthians 12:13 should not be conflated with Acts 1:5 -or- 1:8. The former concerns conversion and union with Christ; the latter concerns empowerment and commissioning for ministry.

So, to return to the original reason for these posts, it is important for “Spirit-filled” people to know that just because a celebrity Cessationist says, “Pentecostals got it wrong”, doesn’t make it so. The Pentecostal position stands on solid exegetical ground.

Next episode I want to explore tongues from the concept of “evidence” of this baptism.

See you then…