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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 12:13
First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” According to the grammar of this verse, were all baptized and given to drink are in the aorist tense. Being baptized and being given to drink are not matters to be accomplished in the future, nor are they being accomplished in the present time. Rather, they have been accomplished already. In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the proper way to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit that we may have the power to preach the gospel.
Because the church has been on the earth for more than nineteen centuries, there are many lessons to learn and much helpful instruction to gain from its history. In the past few centuries many Christians have paid attention to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. According to the writings of church history and the experiences recorded in certain biographies, there are two schools of thought concerning this matter. The first school is represented by the teaching of the Brethren, who were raised up in the 1820s. This period of time may be considered a landmark, because it was not until then that, by the mercy of the Lord, the church became more clear concerning many things, including the baptism in the Holy Spirit. On the objective side, the teaching of the Brethren that the baptism in the Holy Spirit has already been accomplished is correct. In this aspect the baptism in the Holy Spirit is like the Lord’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension as the Spirit, all of which are accomplished facts. There is no need to ask the Lord to die for us once again, because His redeeming death has already been completed. We simply need to realize it and receive it. Likewise, the Lord has already resurrected and ascended, and ten days later He descended as the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Therefore, Christ today is both in the heavens and on the earth. In the same way, the baptism in the Holy Spirit has already been accomplished, completed, and perfected. There is no need to ask the Lord to accomplish it again. When we need it, we can simply receive it.
Strictly speaking, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is the actual meaning of the descension of Christ as the Spirit. Before His incarnation God was God and man was man. God and man had many transactions together, but God and man were not one before the incarnation. God was outside of man, and man was outside of God. In His incarnation Christ brought God into man (John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9). At that time there was one man in the universe who was the mingling of God with man. In His resurrection He brought man into God (John 14:3, 6, 20). As a genuine man, Christ is now in God and in God’s glory, that is, God’s expression. In His ascension to the heavens this God-man was enthroned, crowned with glory and honor, and established as the Lord, the Christ, and the Head over all things (Heb. 2:9; Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22). Now God, man, enthronement, authority, power, glory, and honor are all in this wonderful One. This is Jesus our Savior, who is Christ the Lord in ascension.
Ten days after His ascension, Christ descended as the Spirit to clothe His Body. The wonderful Jesus, after being incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and lifted up into heaven and after accomplishing all things, descended to cover the disciples, baptizing them in the ascended and descended Christ. In this way the baptism in the Holy Spirit was accomplished on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). On that day the Jewish believers as members of the Body of Christ experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Later, in the house of Cornelius the Gentile believers as members of Christ’s Body were baptized in the Holy Spirit (10:24-48). By these two steps the Head of the Body baptized all His believers, both Jewish and Gentile, once for all into His one Body. In recognition of this fact, in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized.” We all acknowledge that we are redeemed by the death of Christ and that our sins have been forgiven. We believe this because the Word of God tells us so (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14). In the same way, we must believe that we have all been baptized in one Spirit into the one Body of Christ.
The Bible is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. A testament is more than a covenant. A covenant is a contract, an agreement containing some promises that certain things will be accomplished for the covenanted people. A testament, however, is a will containing certain accomplished things that are bequeathed to the inheritors. A contract with a builder, for example, promises that a house will be constructed for an agreed-upon price, but a will testifies that a house that has already been built has been bequeathed to the inheritor. The Bible is not merely a covenant established by Christ, telling us all the things that Christ will do for us. It is a testament, telling us what He has already done. A will is in effect only when the one who made it dies (Heb. 9:16-17). Since Christ has died, the testament He made has been confirmed and validated (v. 15; Luke 22:20). Moreover, after a will is made and the testator dies, a mediator, an executor, is needed to execute the will. The resurrected Christ, who is the Testator, is also the Mediator, the Executor, of the new testament (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). All the items in the Bible have been accomplished, completed, and perfected, and they are already available for our realization and enjoyment.
When I was young, I was not clear concerning God’s salvation, and I thought that I needed to weep, pray, and ask the Lord for His mercy in order for Him to take away my sins. After I was saved, however, my eyes were opened, and from that time I had a different concept. In the Bible as the will there is an item telling us that Christ has died for us and already taken away our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24). This was in the will even before we were born. Now there is no need for us to ask for forgiveness. We simply need to receive it and thank the Lord. In the same principle, we have also been baptized in the Holy Spirit. We know this because the forgiveness of sins, regeneration, and the baptism in the Spirit are all items in the will. They have been accomplished already and given to us. If we believe this, we will be strong to claim the baptism in the Holy Spirit as an item of the will.
The second school of thought concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit is represented by the Pentecostal movement. This teaching mostly neglects the accomplished fact of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Instead, it uses the words of the Lord that He spoke before the baptism in the Spirit was accomplished. Before the day of Pentecost the Lord Jesus told His disciples that they needed to wait for the Spirit to come upon them as power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). The Pentecostal teaching also tells people that they must pray to ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Strictly speaking, this is not right. Before Pentecost the disciples needed to pray and wait for the baptism, but after Pentecost there is no further need to wait and ask for it, because the baptism in the Holy Spirit has already been accomplished. Now we simply need to receive it. To ask for it is to not believe. We need the baptism in the Spirit, and we already have it; hence, now we can simply praise the Lord for it.
According to the lessons we have learned from history, we can see the proper way to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. First, we should simply realize that the baptism in the Holy Spirit has already been accomplished for the Body of Christ, and as the members of the Body we are entitled to the bequests of the new testament as a will. Second, we must receive the baptism by the exercise of living faith. When we received the Lord’s redeeming death by believing, not according to our feeling or to certain signs and manifestations, the Holy Spirit honored our believing, and we experienced peace, joy, and the impartation of life. The New Testament does not speak of feelings, signs, and manifestations related to believing in the Lord’s death for us. We simply believed in what the Lord accomplished according to what is written in the will. The will says that Christ died for our sins, and we say, “Amen, I receive this.” The living God honors this kind of receiving. It is the same with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One item in the will is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit has already been accomplished and that it is available today for us to receive. Now we should say, “Amen, Lord. I receive it in living faith.” If we mean business with the Lord to do this, He will honor our believing.
There is no need to seek manifestations, feelings, or signs. We must not trust in these. To seek these things means that we have an evil heart of unbelief, as the people of Israel had in the wilderness when they tried the Lord by testing Him, not knowing His ways (Heb. 3:8-12). We seek proofs only when we do not believe, but if we know the way of the Lord today, there is no need for us to put Him to the test. Rather, we can take His word in the will and have no need for further signs or proofs. We must reject the evil heart of unbelief and tell the enemy, “Satan, we do not need signs. All that we need is the will.” The will is the strongest, most complete proof that the baptism in the Holy Spirit has been accomplished. Now we simply need to receive it. When we believe in the Lord’s word in the will, He honors our belief. Therefore, we must not pay attention to signs, results, and issues. We must leave these in the hands of the Lord. Instead, we should simply and peacefully believe in the will. Then whenever we need power, the Lord will grant it to us at the right time.
We need to preach the gospel with a proper faith in all that the Lord has accomplished. Too often we preach the gospel without having a proper faith. We believe one part of the Bible without believing the whole. We may believe that the Lord Jesus died for us, but we may not believe that the Lord Jesus has baptized His Body in the Spirit. If we do not receive the entire Bible by faith, we will not have the adequate power when we preach the gospel. As we are preaching to an unbeliever, Satan may say to us, “You are coming to this person to tell him that Christ has accomplished all things, but you yourself do not believe this. Do not come to preach to him; you are not qualified.” This kind of challenge from the enemy exposes us, weakens us, and sends us away in defeat.
The evil one knows our situation, and he attacks our weaknesses. Once we hesitate and consider in unbelief, our power for preaching is gone, and the door of the unbeliever’s heart is shut. However, if we believe not only that the Lord Jesus died for us but also that He baptized His Body in the Holy Spirit and that in the Body we have received the baptism, our speaking in faith will chase away the enemy. We will be able to say, “Praise the Lord, I believe. I have power because I believe in the baptism in the Holy Spirit.” This will shut the mouth of the enemy, bind the strong man (Matt. 12:29), and cause “the walls of Jericho” to fall down. Then we can tell the unbelieving one to simply thank the Lord that He died for him. In this way he will be saved. This is the proper way to have power when we preach the gospel.
According to the history of the church, many martyrs were not consciously aware of the baptism in the Spirit. Instead, they simply loved the Lord and were willing to sacrifice their lives for His testimony. However, when they were brought to the place of their martyrdom, the power of the Spirit was manifested, and sometimes their face even appeared like the face of an angel. This illustrates that we can believe in the accomplished fact of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and receive it with a living faith.
In order to experience the power from the baptism in the Holy Spirit for the preaching of the gospel, we must love people. We should pray, “Lord, impress me with and grant me a concern for others. Impart Your love into me that I may have a genuine love for the perishing souls.” If we have this kind of concern, the Lord will honor our believing, and our experience in going out to preach will be greatly improved.
We also need to thoroughly confess every offense in our conscience. We need to exercise ourselves to have a conscience without offense toward God and men (Acts 24:16). If there is an offense that condemns our conscience, it will be difficult for us to have living faith. Therefore, we must confess our sins. If we have a genuine love for people and a proper confession of our sins, our faith will be living.
We also need to go out in faith. Whenever we contact people, we must believe that we are under the baptism in the Holy Spirit. If we go out in this way, the Lord will honor our faith. Many times in my ministry in the past, according to my own feeling, I seemed to be weak, depressed, and perturbed. However, because I realized that I still needed to minister not by myself but by the Lord, I took the standing that the baptism in the Spirit was upon the Body and that I was a member of the Body. Then I was able to minister with the full assurance of faith. The Lord honors this standing. Sometimes for the sake of my weakness the Lord gave me a certain manifestation while I was ministering, but we should not seek that kind of manifestation. We must leave the manifestations to the Lord. We simply need to realize that the baptism in the Holy Spirit has been accomplished upon the Body, and as members of the Body we are entitled to it. Then we can receive it by faith. If we mean business with the Lord in this way, He will honor our faith.
