Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Last week in our discussion of baptism we visited the idea of “rebaptism,” and how some churches require those baptized as infants to be baptized again as adults. This week, we’ll continue by looking at a different kind of “second” baptism.

In Acts 19, Paul encounters a group of believers in Ephesus. He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So, Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:2-5). This is similar to what we see in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16, where John the Baptist says, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”