Does Spirit Baptism Occur After Conversion?

Some charismatic teaching indicates that a person must undergo a separate experience of receiving (or being baptized with) the Holy Spirit sometime after conversion. To arrive at this perspective, they lean heavily and sincerely upon instances in Acts when this either did happen (Acts 2:4ff, Acts 8:14-17, Acts 19:1-7) or merely appeared to happen (Acts 11:15-17). Do these occurrences teach that all believers must undergo the same experience? Or do they teach something else?

The Spirit Baptism Instances in Acts

The instance in Acts 2 occurred to the twelve apostles and perhaps to a larger group of Jewish disciples of Jesus, numbering about one hundred twenty (Acts 1:15). These men and women were already believers in Christ, but Spirit baptism occurred to them after their individual conversions because Jesus foretold that this would happen (Acts 1:4-5). Furthermore, it did not occur because they had arrived at a new level of spiritual understanding or maturity. It happened, instead, because it began a new era in which God would baptize every believer with the indwelling Spirit. It did not occur when they first believed in Christ because that happened before this era began. Spirit baptism was not a “thing” when they believed. It became a “thing” the moment they received the Spirit in Acts 2, and it has continued ever since.

The incident in Acts 8 features a new set of recipients. In Acts 2, Jewish believers had been baptized by the Spirit; but in Acts 8, a new group of believers shared this same experience – some Samaritans (Acts 8:14). When Jewish believers in Jerusalem heard that their Samaritan neighbors to the north believed on Jesus, they sent the apostles Peter and John to verify the authenticity of their faith. They did this because of a deep-seated prejudice amongst the Jews against the Samaritan people. The apostles verified that these Samaritan disciples genuinely believed on Christ and therefore authorized Spirit baptism for them as well, something which Jewish believers would have been reluctant to accept apart from apostolic affirmation.

Unlike the Acts 2 and Acts 8, the instance of Spirit baptism in Acts 10 and 11 did not occur after conversion. Rather, it occurred simultaneously with conversion. To suggest that it did occur after conversion, some will point to Acts 10:1-2, which describes the people who would later receive the Holy Spirit as ones who already “feared God” and “prayed to God always.” Such a description, however, does not prove that these people were Christians. They only reveal that these people respected the God of the Jews and sought a relationship with Him as best as they knew how. In fact, when Peter retold the story of their conversion, he made it clear that they would be “saved” after he told them the words of the gospel, not before (Acts 11:14).

The remarkable thing about this third instance of Spirit baptism is not when it occurred (i.e., before or after salvation), but to whom it occurred. The first instance occurred to fully Jewish believers, with participation and authentication by the apostles. The second instance, then, occurred to partially Jewish believers (also authenticated by the apostles). This third instance occurred to entirely non-Jewish believers, again authenticated by the apostles. In fact, this development was so stunning to the Jewish audience that Luke repeated the story in two consecutive chapters (Acts 10 and 11). In Acts 10 he recorded the instance itself, while in Acts 11 he recorded Peter’s retelling of the story to the skeptical Jewish believers in Jerusalem. The Jewish believers found it surprising that God would grant the Holy Spirit to people having no Jewish ethnicity whatsoever. Nevertheless, Luke recorded this progression of events to ensure confidence that God indeed granted this new ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers from any nation, whether Jewish or not.

The final instance of Spirit baptism in Acts appears in Acts 19:1-7. It features twelve disciples who, like the group of believers in Acts 2, believed on Jesus prior to the start of the “Spirit baptism” era. This is a unique case, however, because these followers had not heard the most recent preaching of Jesus. They believed the message about Jesus as preached by John the Baptist, but they were missing the most recent revelation from Christ. With Paul’s guidance, they “upgraded” their belief and embraced the complete gospel of Jesus Christ. Following this, they received the indwelling, baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit like every other believer, with apostolic affirmation from Paul. This is a unique event, which does not happen today, since no one follows the ministry of John the Baptist.

Spirit Baptism Today

All together, the four instances of Spirit baptism detailed in Acts provide a narrative, historical, and chronological timeline and progression of events that occurred as God introduced the divine ministry of Spirit baptism to believers. Through the events that Luke described, we know that God gives Spirit baptism to every believer, whether they are fully Jewish, partially Jewish, or not Jewish at all. We also know that Spirit baptism accompanies belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Spirit baptism did not occur to people who believed prior to the completed work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Paul summarized these observations most clearly in his letter to the church at Corinth when he said, “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 Cor 12:13). By saying this, Paul affirms that everyone who believes on Christ is also “baptized into” the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Unlike the initial days following the introduction of Spirit baptism, there is no such thing as a genuine believer today who has not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit occurs simultaneously with conversion. In fact, Paul clearly states that it is a mark of salvation. In his letter to the believers at Rome, he said, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his” (Rom 8:9). Knowing this, if a person says that he has believed on Jesus Christ but has not yet received the Holy Spirit (or has not yet been baptized by the Spirit), then he is wrong in one of two ways. Perhaps he is wrong because he is a genuine believer who does not understand that the Spirit already baptized him. Alternatively, perhaps he is wrong because he has not genuinely believed on Jesus Christ for salvation and therefore baptism by the Spirit has not happened. It is impossible for him to belong to Christ without the Spirit of Christ indwelling him. If a person does not have the baptism by the Holy Spirit, then that person is not a believer at all.

---

Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.