I believe in Baptism in the Spirit. Admittedly, no one doesn’t, we just debate what we mean by that. But I believe in receiving the Holy Spirit as an experiential reality that (ideally) happens at conversion, though it can happen later.
You can read my brief summary of how to approach this question, and my longer paper exploring it.
Sometimes the debate about the content becomes a debate about language. Should we call this ‘Baptism in the Spirit’ or ‘Receiving the Spirit’ or being ‘Filled with the Spirit,’ and of course the shadow-question is which names signal effectively what we believe; and which names create or deny associations with other Christians that we want to be (or not be) associated with.
So, because I find this sort of thing interesting, I’ve listed below all of the occasions of receiving the Spirit listed in the New Testament and the verb associated with them.
The aim here is to not make or prove any arguments about what we’re talking about, but instead to give us a sense of how the Bible uses language. I have been liberal in my inclusion of passages, some of these are arguably out of ‘scope’, but they have been included for the sake of having the broadest palette on which to draw.
I’ve listed just the verb (technically a couple aren’t verbs per se, but hopefully my decisions make sense) in connection with the Holy Spirit. Before we get too carried away my translations are the semantic domain of the words according to the sources I checked, that doesn’t mean each translation is how the Biblical author is using the word in their context.
| baptizō to baptise, wash, dip, immerse, cleanse by washing (drown, flood, drench) | Mat 3.11 Mar 1.8 Luke 3.16 John 1.33 Acts 1.5; 11.16 1 Cor 12.13 | 7 occurrences |
| tithēmi to place, set, put, appoint | Mat 12.18 | 1 occurrence |
| plēthō to fill, be completed, brought to a close (includes plērēes, full and plēroō to fulfil or make full ) | Luke 1.15, 41, 67; 4.1 Acts 2.4; 4.8, 31; 6.4, 5; 7.55; 9.17; 11.24; 13.9, 52 Eph 5.18 | 15 occurrences |
| eperchomai to arrive, invade, come in, surprise | Luke 1.35 | 1 occurrence |
| epi upon, on, in | Luke 2.25, 4.18 | 2 occurrences |
| didōmi to give, grant, deliver | Luke 11.13 John 3.34 Acts 8.18; 15.8; 19.2 2 Cor 2.13; 5.5 Eph 1.17 1 The 4.8 2 Tim 1.7 1 Jo 4.13 | 11 occurrences |
| gennaō to beget, generate, give birth to | John 3.5, 6, 8 Gal 4.29 | 4 occurrences |
| lambanō to receive, take up | John 7.39; 20.22 Acts 1.8, 2.38; 8.17, 19; 10.47 Rom 8.15, 15 1 Cor 2.12 Gal 3.2, 14 | 12 occurrences |
| eimi to be (given) | John 7.39 | 1 occurrence |
| menō to dwell, stay, abide, remain, live | John 14.17 1 Jo 4.1 | 2 occurrences |
| en in, on, among | John 14.17 | 1 occurrence |
| ekcheō to pour out, scatter, shed | Acts 2.17, 18, 33; 10.45 Tit 3.6 | 5 occurrences |
| epipiptō to fall upon, to come on, to embrace, to press upon | Acts 10.44 | 1 occurrence |
| erchomai to come, go | Acts 19.6 | 1 occurrence |
| oikeō to dwell in, inhabit | Rom 8.9, 11, 11 1 Cor 3.16 | 4 occurrences |
| echō to have, be, hold, keep | Rom 8.9, 23 1 Cor 6.19, 7.40 | 4 occurrences |
| energeō to be active, to be at work, to empower, to energise | 1 Cor 12.11 | 1 occurrence |
| potizō to water, irrigate, cause to drink | 1 Cor 12.13 | 1 occurrence |
| sphragizō to seal, to mark an object for possession, authority, identity or security | 2 Cor 1.22 Eph 1.13; 4.30 | 3 occurrences |
| epichorēgēo to supply, support, furnish, give | Gal 3.5 | 1 occurrence |
| exapostellō to send out, away (sent into our hearts) | Gal 4.6 | 1 occurrence |
| enoikeō to live in, dwell in, inhabit | 2 Tim 1.14 | 1 occurrence |
| metochos to share, partner with, partake | Heb 6.4 | 1 occurrence |
| katoikeō to dwell, cause to live in, settle in, colonise | Jam 4.5 | 1 occurrence |
| ginōskō to know, come to know, recognise, understand, have sex with | 1 Jo 4.2, 6 | 2 occurrences |
| zōopoieō to make alive, give life to, quicken | 1 Pet 3.18 | 1 occurrence |
| hagiasmos holiness, santification | 1 Pet 1.2 2 The 2.13 | 2 occurrences + every time the Spirit is called Holy |
| anakainōsis renewal, renovation | Tit 3.5 | 1 occurrence |
| palingenesia regeneration, new birth, renewal | Tit 3.5 | 1 occurrence |
| krataioō to strengthen, become strong, confirm, be firm, be resolute | Eph 3.16 | 1 occurrence |
| enduō to clothe, dress, put on | Luke 24.49 | 1 occurrence |
| kathizō to seat, rest upon, appoint, place | Acts 2.3 | 1 occurrence |
The most frequent terms to describe clear experiences of the Spirit are being “filled” or “receiving” the Spirit. Now, we could have a good debate about whether all of these are referring to the same reality or whether there are multiple actions of the Spirit included—that is a worthy question.
What’s the takeaway? I think this table is worth reflecting on, but the main takeaway is simply this: God in Christ by his Spirit clothes you, rests on you, strengthens you, renews you, sets you apart, makes you alive, unites with you in marital bliss, lives in and with you, sends you out, partners with you, supports you, falls upon you, pours upon you, abides with you, begets you, fills you, drowns you, anoints you, cleanses you, causes you to drink, seals you, invades you, appoints you, and is a gift that you receive from the hand of Jesus.
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