"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).
In John 7, Jesus refers to the fulfillment of prophecy when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church at Pentecost. Because this activity of the Spirit is often misunderstood, I will try to clarify it in today’s lesson. Then, for the next week, we will deviate from our study of John to take a closer look at the Holy Spirit, who He is and what His role is in redemption.
Regarding Pentecost, it must first be clearly stated that the work of the Spirit at that time was not identical to His work in regeneration. There is a significant difference between new birth and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we see in Acts. We will address regeneration later this week, but for now we will focus on the “baptism of the Spirit.” When we talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to which Jesus was referring in John 7, we must not neglect its full redemptive connotations; but, in this case, reference to the Holy Spirit had to do with the fulfillment of particular prophecies. Once Jesus rose again, the Spirit came upon the church to empower people for the ministry. Only a few people had this power in the Old Testament. Moses is one example, and he prayed that the Spirit would be poured out on all the people for service. This happened at Pentecost, first for the Jews, then the Samaritans, God-fearers (Gentile converts to Judaism, i.e. Cornelius), and Gentiles. Once this occurred, Pentecost was complete.
The unique nature of this event in redemptive history cannot be underestimated. The prophecy from Joel 2 was not fulfilled until Jesus rose again. But once Christ’s work on the cross was finished, the Spirit could come upon the general church. But the event of a believer being filled with the Holy Spirit, yet lacking its fullness, no longer exists. If it did, we would still be waiting for Pentecost to occur in the cases of some individuals. But Pentecost has happened and has been completed. 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 and equipped to fulfill the church’s mission. Those who are regenerate are baptized with the Spirit. If you do not have the Spirit, then you do not belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9).
Read Acts 1:4–8. Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit (v. 8)? Read Acts 2:1–13. Who received the baptism here? Read Acts 8:14–17; 10:44–48; 19:1–7. Who received the baptism in these passages? How do these passages fulfill Joel 2:28–29? Does it appear these experiences should be replicated today?
