Why Does God Give the Baptism of the Holy Ghost?

[Scott Hutchinson]

Here is something to listen to.
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Speaking_in_Tongues.aspx

[KWSS1976]

So did the Phillipian jailer have the Holyghost? He wanted to know what he needed to do to be saved....

[Scott Hutchinson]

Bishop Leslie is getting down here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD2jpfDgrdQ

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

The term "baptize with the Holy Spirit1" occurs several times in scripture:

• Matt. 3:11, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
• Mark 1:8, "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
• Luke 3:16, "John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
• John 1:33, "And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’"
• Acts 1:5, "for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
• Acts 11:16, "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’"

We can clearly see that the phrase baptized by the Spirit is used in the Bible. But, we do not find a clear teaching in the Bible of what the phrase means. Therefore, the debate continues.

There are many other words associated with "baptism" when it refers to the Holy Spirit....this is a chart from DB's The New Birth:

Biblical Terminology

The Book of Acts describes the baptism of the Spirit in many ways: "filled with the Holy Ghost" (2:4); "the promise of the Holy Ghost" (2:33); "the gift of the Holy Ghost" (2:38); "the Holy Ghost fell on all them" (10:44); "poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost" (10:45); "received the Holy Ghost" (10:47); and "the Holy Ghost came on them" (19:6). The epistles explain that the Holy Spirit dwells in us (Romans 8:9).

All these phrases simply identify the same New Testament experience in different ways. When empty human vessels are baptized in the Spirit, they are filled with the Spirit. When God pours out His Spirit on people, the Spirit comes on them, they receive the Spirit, and they are filled with the Spirit. When God gives the Spirit, He fulfills His promise and men receive the Spirit.

The following chart demonstrates the equivalence of all these phrases.

Table 7 - Biblical Terminology for the Spirit Baptism (from the book of Acts)
Baptized Came on Fell on Filled Gift Received Poured
Came on (upon) 1:5, 8
Fell on 11:15-16 10:44-47; 19:2, 6
Filled with 1:5; 2:4 1:5, 8; 2:4 2:4; 11:15
Gift 11:15-17 2:38; 19:2, 6 10:44-45 2:4; 11:17
Received 1:5; 2:33 19:2, 6 10:44, 47 2:4, 33 2:38
Poured out 10:45; 11:15-16 1:8; 2:16-18 10:44-45 2:4, 16-17 10:45 10:45, 47
Promise 1:4-5 1:4, 8 1:4-5; 11:15-16 2:4, 33 2:38-39 2:33 1:4; 2:16-17

[This chart didn't come out right, please go to the link provided to view it better]

Some of these descriptions compare the Holy Spirit to water, and Jesus described the Spirit as living water that would quench spiritual thirst (John 4:14; 7:38). However, the Holy Spirit is not actually a fluid but is God Himself. The Bible also associates the Spirit with fire (Matthew 3:11) and wind (John 3:8), but the Spirit is not literally fire, wind, or water.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...al/New-Ch8.htm

Dan, my question to you is since you cannot tell when someone receives the Spirit of Christ/Holy Ghost as there is no outer sign could you explain Acts 8?

The Samaritans believed the gospel.
The Samaritans were water baptized in the name of the Lord.
Despite having faith and being baptized, the Samaritans had to wait for the apostles to come to receive the gift of the Spirit.

(should we ASSUME that Philip preached repentance and that the Samaritans repented even though it does not explicitly state this?)

This doesn't add up in your paradigm.

[Tim Rutledge]

Originally Posted by Edward Anglin

Why does God give us the baptism of the Holy Ghost?

Is the gift a reward for a person's "perfect" repentance?

Is the gift given as a token of God's approval of us?

Why does God give the gift of the Holy Ghost to people who have not been baptized in Jesus' name?

How can they be qualified to receive it without baptism?

What is the purpose of Holy Ghost infilling?

The Holy Ghost is given to us to lead us, and give us power to overcome the devil and our flesh. Anyone with faith and true repentance can recieve the Holy Ghost.

[tv1a]

Repentence has nothing to do with the infilling of the Holy Ghost. It has something to do with keeping the Holy Ghost, but not getting it.

Jesus said the Holy Ghost is for power to become witnesses. The rest of what you said is icing on the cake. If we are not witnessing, the Holy Ghost isn't fulfilling its role in our life.

Originally Posted by Tim Rutledge

The Holy Ghost is given to us to lead us, and give us power to overcome the devil and our flesh. Anyone with faith and true repentance can recieve the Holy Ghost.