"Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …" (Acts. 2:3–4).
Most charismatic Christians believe that a person can be born again but not be filled with the Spirit—the baptism which was manifest at Pentecost in the book of Acts. While this view might be common among many Christians because of personal experiences of greater spiritual empowerment long after being born again, it is based on an erroneous interpretation of Scripture. Those who hold to this view are trying to create a theology out of their experience rather than looking at the whole of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit in redemptive history.
There is a difference between the new birth and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we see in Acts. The Spirit’s work at that time was not to regenerate, but to empower people for the ministry of carrying out Christ’s mission for His church (Acts 1:8). Only a few people had this empowerment in the Old Testament. Moses was one such person, and he prayed that the Spirit would be poured out on all the people. This prayer turned into a prophecy, which said that God would pour out His Spirit on all the people (Joel 2:28–29). This was fulfilled at Pentecost, first for the Jews, then the Samaritans, God-fearers (Gentile converts to Judaism, i.e. Cornelius—Acts 10:1–2), and Gentiles at Ephesus until all groups received the Spirit.
According to the accounts in Acts, there was a time-gap between regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit because when Jesus was among the people the prophecy had not been fulfilled. It wasn’t until after He ascended into heaven that He sent the Spirit to empower His church. Once it was done for all people (Jews, God-fearers, Samaritans, Gentiles), the prophecy had been fulfilled. There is no longer such a time-gap. It there were, we would still be waiting for Pentecost to occur in the cases of individuals who had not received the baptism. But it has happened and was fulfilled when all the people received the baptism. This is why you do not hear any more mention of this profound occurrence in Paul’s writings. Today, as was the case with everyone at Pentecost, all Christians have been filled with the Spirit (though not equally equipped for ministry). Those who are regenerated are baptized with the Spirit; there are no second-class, non-filled believers in our midst.
Read Acts 1:4–8. Why was Jesus sending the Holy Spirit (v. 8)? Read Acts 2:1–13. Who received the baptism in this account? Were there any Gentiles, Samaritans or God-fearers mentioned? Read Acts 8:14–17; 10:44–48; 19:1–7. Who received the baptism in these three passages? How do these passages reveal the fulfillment of Joel 2:28–29?
