The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

When we study, and respond to, the Word of God on a controversial subject, we must adopt a stance of humility (no one knows everything, but God), obedience (you can't resist God's will, and win) and balance, (apparently conflicting ideas may, after reflection, be seen to be important parts of a larger 'truth'). God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). There are 366 'Fear nots' in the Bible, I'm told, one for each day of the year - including leap year! So when we ask our loving heavenly Father for good gifts, for his Holy Spirit (Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:1-13) he delights to give. Mind you, he's the 'God whose other name is Surprise': his good gifts may be different from our expectations. He is wise and loving, and gives what is best for his different children. The 'Lord's prayer' varies a little between Matthew and Luke. So it's not meant to be said parrot-fashion, but rather provides the general idea about the content of our praying. We have two requests in relation to God: 'May your name be hallowed' and 'May your kingdom come', then three requests about ourselves - in relation to things, sins, and tests. Then Luke gives us two of Jesus' parables - the 'friend at midnight' and 'fathers and sons'. They teach us that our praying should be urgent (God is not reluctant to give, but his best gifts come to those who are really 'fair dinkum': we'll find him if we search for him with all our hearts). And, arguing from the lesser to the greater, Jesus tells us that if human parents, faulty and sinful as they are, won't give harmful things to their kids, how much more will God, who is wholly good, answer our prayers aright. Then follows an interesting passage about spiritual discernment (Luke 11:14-36). Now, for the 'crunch' question: when we pray for God's Holy Spirit, what may we expect to happen? The Pentecostalists tell us that the full reception of the Holy Spirit happens in an event 'distinct from and subsequent to' conversion. This second experience, the initial evidence for which is speaking in tongues, gives a Christian power for witness and service through exercising the full range of the New Testament 'spiritual gifts'. The 'Neo- Pente- costalists' in the 1960s had roughly the same approach. Dennis Bennett exhorted people to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour, renounce false teaching in the cults, and ask in faith to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and normally they would then receive the gift of tongues. Briefly, the biblical accounts upon which this general approach is based, are to be found in the Gospels and Acts, and involve such precedents as Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit and later baptism in the Spirit, the disciples' 'receiving the Spirit' when Jesus breathed upon them, and their later experience at Pentecost, etc. Evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, have stressed that you mustn't build doctrines from these events, but rather ask 'What do the N.T. letters to various churches teach us?' And only once is 'Baptizing in the Spirit' referred to here (I Corinthians 12:12-13). And so the battle-lines formed, and the troops became entrenched within their fixed positions. It's been something like the French Maginot Line in World War 2. It faced the equally impregnable Siegfried Line. Each army was safe behind its ramparts but unable to advance. Suddenly the German panzer divisions moved swiftly around these fixed positions and rolled into Paris without a pitched battle. The Maginot Line remained impregnable, but unfortunately for the French its powerful guns were in the wrong place pointing the wrong way! So with our little theologies. We fight our wars, protect territory already won, and are often ill prepared to take new ground. 'For decades Pentecostal and traditional theologies of the Baptism in the Spirit faced each other along one major doctrinal battle line. Then suddenly the Holy Spirit moved around these fixed positions to infiltrate charismatic renewal behind the lines in mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches' (Charles Hummel, 'Fire in the Fireplace', IVP, p. 189). Paul tells his Ephesian friends 'God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing' (1:3). When a person becomes a Christian (and that happens in many different ways), he or she may not then realize all that's happened. The idea of 'justification', for example, may come much later. But it happened earlier! So we mustn't put a strait-jacket on this experience. It can happen dramatically (if the person was running hard from God beforehand, for example) or quite matter-of-factly! So with the Holy Spirit. Luke and Paul, for example, are writing from different perspectives. Luke describes the operations of the Spirit giving believers power for witness in the world - and that can be repeatable. Paul talks about the Spirit incorporating us into the Body of Christ - that's once-for-all. Paul's talking about the initiating function of the Spirit, Luke his 'overwhelming' activity. Luke uses the terms 'baptized' and 'filled' interchangeably. Paul uses other experessions - 'regenerating', 'sealing', 'sanctifying' etc. Luke is descriptive, Paul didactic. Luke talks about an outward manifestation; Paul an inward one. An event may be described different ways (the death of Christ, for example). And N.T. words can have different meanings in different contexts (Paul has perhaps five separate meanings for 'flesh'). 'Baptism' is used in the Scriptures as a flexible metaphor, not merely a technical term. Clark Pinnock says: 'So long as we recognize conversion as truly a baptism in the Spirit, there is no reason why we cannot use 'baptism' to refer to subsequent fillings of the Spirit as well. This later experience, or experiences, should not be tied in with a tight 'second blessing' schema, but should be seen as an actualization of what we have already received in the initial charismatic experience which is conversion'. I like that. Both Luke and Paul would agree that Christians ought to 'Go on being filled with the Holy Spirit'. If the Spirit gives gifts, O.K. Receive them gladly and use them for the glory of Christ, and to promote love and unity in his Body. (If these three outcomes are not likely to happen, then the gifts should be wisely and sensitively restrained, according to Paul.) (Incidentally, I think we'll be looking back onto these past eighty years and wonder why we've made such a fuss about the gift of tongues. Surveys in the U.S. and Latin America show that most Pentecostals don't regularly use this gift.) Are you filled with God's Holy Spirit? Are you disciplined in your daily life of obedience to Christ? I'm not asking about feelings or experiences: I'm asking 'Is your life open to the love and power of God?' Well........?

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