Side notes: a few more scriptures about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

These notes are supplementary material to this essay. If you found this page first, I recommend that you go to that page for the main bulk of the information; without the text surrounding these scripture references, they may not make a lot of sense to you! :-)

What Does The Bible Say About the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not the same as salvation

In addition to the examples in the main text, you can also take a look at Mark 16:15-16 for an instance where Jesus Himself indicated that salvation happens at the moment someone believes (the "baptism" he mentions is water baptism, not Holy Spirit baptism), and Acts 8:14-17 for an example of people who received their salvation (earlier in the chapter, when Philip preached the Word of God to them), and then received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit later (when Peter and John laid hands on them).

Speaking in Tongues is an indication that a person has received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

In Acts 19:6 we read that speaking in tongues was what happened when Paul laid hands on people and the Holy Spirit came on them. Also, in our passage from Acts chapter 8, we found out that there was a whole city full of people who received salvation when Philip preached Jesus to them, and then when Peter and John laid hands on them they received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Take a look at verses 18-19; Simon the Sorcerer "saw" that the people had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. It doesn't say what he saw them doing that convinced him, but what could it be besides speaking in tongues?

What Are These "Tongues" For?

Tongues are a prayer and praise language.

Acts 2:11 tells us what the people that heard the 120 speaking in "their own languages" heard them saying... they were "declaring the wonders of God"! That's praise! And in Acts 10:36 we find Cornelius's family "speaking in tongues and praising God", as though the two were not mutually exclusive actions. I think the things they were saying in tongues and the things they were saying in their own language were pretty much the same thing!

Scripture quotations drawn from The Bible Gateway at Gospel Communications Network.

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