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Falsehoods
are "sticky" for some people; they can't let go of them.
They continue to believe, for instance,
that sunbathing is healthful, or that an alcoholic nightcap improves
sleep, or that seatbelts are useless or even dangerous, or that the Pope
never goes to confession. One such falsehood that some people cling to
is the belief that all Christians are "charismatic" by the fact they are
baptized with water and living in the state of grace, especially if they
have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.
This position is one that confuses three
separate spiritual states: 1)
That of a baptized Christian in the state of grace (who is
sacramentally and canonically a Christian, "baptized into Christ"
(Gal. 3:27);
2) That of a Christian who is "born-again" ("regenerated"). That
is, a Christian who has undergone a kind of "conversion." Or a "metanoia"
experience, as the Greek Fathers called it, which involves a knowledge
of and commitment to Jesus as one's Lord and personal Savior
(Gal. 2:20).
It is a state which Pope John Paul II said is lacking in many "sacramentalized"
Christians; and 3) That of a charismatic Christian who has
received the baptism in the Spirit as an experience separate from, and
usually subsequent to, a "conversion" experience
(Titus 3:4-5).
Each of
these three spiritual states can be lost or diminished in some way. The
first, by mortal sin (1 John
5:16-17). The second, by loss or
diminution of an abiding commitment to Jesus as Lord
(John 15:6).
The third, by not "living by the Spirit"
(Gal. 5:16-26).
To simplify the problem, this three-fold
distinction can be reduced to a two-fold one, namely, the uncompromising
distinction between a "pre-charismatic" Christian and a charismatic
Christian-a distinction that seems to needle many non-charismatics, and
raises the hackles of some theologians whom I love to challenge.
The
Pentecost experience of becoming charismatic by being "baptized in the
Spirit" (Acts 1:5)
is something clearly distinct from and beyond the experience of becoming
a Christian by being "baptized into Christ"
(Rom. 6:3)
by water. The two baptisms have totally
different purposes. Water baptism makes one a child of God in a special
way, grafting one into the body of Christ
(Gal. 3:27 Rom. 6:3),
while Spirit baptism gives one
charismatic power to be an effective witness (evangelizer) in building
the Kingdom (Acts 1:8; Luke
24:48-49).
The
distinction between various baptisms (plural) is scriptural and
described as an "elementary teaching" of Christianity
(Heb. 6:2).
All four gospels quote John the Baptist emphasizing that distinction: "I
baptize you with water, but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit." (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8;
Luke 3:16; John 1:33).
Dissenting
theologians claim that it was the Church that corporately received the
Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and all Christians partake of that general
outpouring-somewhat like a huge vat being water-filled, with many
spigots for individuals to draw from the general supply. In this
view, the baptism in the Spirit is not an additional experience
subsequent to becoming a Christian, but a privilege that everyone
experiences by simply being a Christian and thus partaking of the
fullness of the Spirit-presence of the Church from the time of
water-baptism. If this partaking could be called charismatic, then of
course every Christian would be charismatic from the moment of Christian
initiation by water baptism. However, this theological theory was
disproved by St. Thomas Aquinas, who showed that within an individual,
there is a distinction between the "indwelling" of the Spirit
(occasioned by water baptism or Christian initiation) and the
"infilling" of the Spirit
(occasioned by a Pentecostal experience of being baptized in the
Spirit).
Jesus also
makes the distinction, in a pre-Pentecost discourse with his disciples
in John 14:17, by using two separate prepositions: "with" and "in": "The
spirit ... lives with you (now) and will be in you (later)." Jesus thus
clearly distinguished between two different levels of intimacy by which
the Spirit can relate to an individual. The baptisms mentioned in
Hebrews 6:2 were referred to by Jesus at the beginning of his public
life: in John 3:5 he tells Nicodemus that a person must be "born of
water and the Spirit." Then, at the very end of his earthly existence,
just before his Ascension, he again distinguishes between the two
baptisms: "John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit"
(Acts 1:5).
The
disciples were already Christians, of course, as shown by the fact that
they had already received spiritual life for having "heard his word and
believed in the one who sent him"
(John 5:24). Jesus had assured
them that they were "clean" (Luke
13:10), with their "names written
in heaven" (10:20).
Furthermore, the resurrected Jesus had
breathed upon them, even imparting the Holy Spirit to activate a
ministerial gift of forgiving sins
(John 20:22-23).
Yet he told them to pray for
(Luke 11:13)
and to wait for
(Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4)
a subsequent (and therefore separate)
grace of the baptism in the Spirit a "few days" after his Ascension
(Acts 1:5)--clearly
an additional experience beyond the basic Christianity they had been
experiencing.
A
close study of the Acts of the Apostles shows that the early Christians
regarded it as normal and normative for believers to be baptized in the
Holy Spirit; hence, in the early
Church a pre-charismatic Christian
was regarded as a kind of "sub-normal" Christian.
This is clear, for instance,
in the case of the converted Samaritans, mentioned in Acts 8, who had
fulfilled the two requirements for salvation given by Jesus
(Mark 16:16):
belief and baptism. Yet, when Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they
"prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the
Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
(Acts 8:15-16).
They obviously had not received the
baptism of the Spirit at the time of their conversion and water baptism.
A similar example is seen in Acts 19. Paul found twelve disciples at
Ephesus who were believers, and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy
Spirit when (or after) you believed?" When they answered in the
negative, Paul baptized them. Then, "when Paul placed his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied" (verse 6).
If mere believing or being converted carried with it the baptism in the
Spirit automatically, then Paul's question would have been meaningless.
The Ephesians' baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to (and
therefore distinct from) their belief in Christ and also distinct from
their water baptism.
While the
baptism in the Spirit is always distinct from the conversion experience,
it need not necessarily be subsequent to it, as in the case of
Cornelius' household, all of whom received the baptism in the Spirit
before they were baptized in water
(Acts 10:44-48).
In recounting this episode at the Council
of Jerusalem (Acts 15:7-9),
Peter referred to two separate acts:
1) Purifying their hearts by faith (conversion), and 2) Receiving
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul's
baptism in the Spirit at the hands of Ananias came three days after his
conversion on the road to Damascus, and just before his water baptism
(Acts 9:3-18). Here again, Spirit-baptism is seen as distinct from a
conversion experience and distinct from water baptism.
A
common misunderstanding is to regard Spirit baptism merely as a one-time
isolated event, rather than the beginning of a "growth in the Spirit,"
with a need for "refilling" periodically
(by prayer meetings, etc.).
Hence Scripture urges, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are
in the habit of doing" (Heb.
10:25). When Peter and John joined
in a prayer meeting after being released from prison, they were
re-filled by a deepened presence of the Holy Spirit
(Acts 4:31).
The exact translation of Ephesians 5:18
is not "Be filled with the Spirit," but "Be being filled with the
Spirit"-an ongoing receptive experience. Thus, it is clear that the
baptism in the Spirit is an experience over and above the experiences of
water baptism, the born-again experience, and in general the conversion
experience. It adds to the "indwelling" of the Spirit a new kind of
presence-an "infilling" that is meant to produce empowerment and
growth-a growth in the fruits of the Spirit
(Gal. 5:22-23)
as well as the gifts of the Spirit
(1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6).
Although
Paul found much to criticize among the Corinthian Christians, still he
called them "sanctified," and yet "called to be holy"
(1 Cor. 1:2). That is, he
attributed to them what some theologians call "positional
sanctification," and yet he urged them to "progressive sanctification."
The growth factor in this "progressive sanctification" is the Holy
Spirit himself (I Pet. 1:2; Rom.
13:16), who "helps us in our
weakness and ... intercedes for us"
(Rom. 8:26).
Hence, it follows that those with a
deeper relationship with this "Spirit of holiness"
(Rom. 1:4)
through the baptism in the Spirit have an advantage in opportunities for
graces inducing that growth. (1
Th. 3:13; John 7:38-39).
Ultimately, in personal self-evaluation, the matter of the baptism in
the Spirit resolves itself into a question. And this question is not,
"Do I have all of the Holy Spirit?", but rather, "Does the Holy Spirit
have all of me?"
(c) Rev. John H.
Hampsch, C.M.F., Used with permission |
Fr. John H. Hampsch,
C.M.F.,
an "itinerant preacher-teacher" with special emphasis on teaching and
healing services in the Charismatic Renewal, is a member of the
Claretian Missionaries, an officer in the Los Angeles archdiocesan
Communication Association, a psychological consultant to the National
Broadcasting Company, and a member of the Association of Christian
Therapists. |
