Power and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit


The word “power” appears in the New Testament 121 times in the NIV. I learned in Bible College that if a word is used that many times it is because it was important enough to use over and over again and we should pay attention to it.

There are two root words in the Greek that are translated “power” in English.

The first is exousia which means ability, force or delegated authority. This is the word that is used when the Bible talks of Satan’s power. It is a limited power. It is a power that God allows. It is the power of the kingdom of this earth.

The second word is dunamis which means miraculous, supernatural power. This is the power that Jesus used while He was walking the earth to establish the beachhead of His heavenly kingdom. It is also that power which flows through the Holy Spirit and is available to the saints for the furthering of His kingdom.

Acts 4:33
“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,”

All of this was to fulfill Joel’s prophecy from God which said,
Joel 2:28-29
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

The power of the Holy Spirit was meant for, not only the Apostles, but for all those who believed in the name of Jesus and were baptized by His Spirit. This is the true Priesthood of all believers. Like John Wimber used to say, “everybody gets to play” because the power of His Spirit is available to all of us.
Some insist that we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at conversion. In fact, they believe that this is what conversion is, when the Holy Spirit takes us from darkness into light. The Bible, however, makes a clear distinction between the two.

Acts 8:14-17
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
This verse makes it clear that conversion and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are distinct and separate things. Conversion is an act of grace that writes our names in the Book of life. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an impartation of supernatural power to be used to expand the Kingdom of God.

Another example is this,
Acts 19:1-7
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?"  "John's baptism ," they replied.  4 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.”

Of course this passage, while denoting that they are separate things, also opens the door to suggest they can occur at the same time.

In some traditions it is called a “second work of grace”, however I take exception with this because like water baptism it is not in itself the vehicle of salvation. While it does not affect our eternal destination, it does give us power for living while we are still in the “here and not yet” of the kingdom of God.
The fact that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the vehicle for the pouring out His power for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God, also nullifies the argument that this power, and by inference the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, were only for the Apostles, or for the Apostles’ time. They argue that after the completion of Scripture there is no longer need for this power.

My argument for the ongoing need of the Spirit’s power is the second reason given in Scripture for power; it is to bring about hope as we see His power manifest in our lives.

Rom 15:13
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Without that power we are left with empty arguments that clever people can use to argue any side of the equation. But when His power is made manifest, no one can argue with it. To say, “the Bible says” is meaningless in today’s culture. Most people have grown up not knowing God or His Word. But when God shows His Word to be real through a supernatural demonstration of His power, hearts’ are convicted of sin.

1 Cor 2:4-5
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power , 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power .”

If the greatest Apostle of all, who was responsible for writing most of the New Testament, needed the demonstration of that power; what makes us think we don’t need the power that comes through the baptism of the Holy Spirit? If it was not meant to be passed on down to us to be used, then why do the passages of Paul’s instructions, regarding the correct use of that power and the gifts, survive until today in our Bibles and take up so a large amount of his attention?

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