What Is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?

A promised immersion, not a new religious idea

Baptism carries the picture of being surrounded and immersed. Bruce uses that picture to explain something more than learning information about the Holy Spirit. Jesus desires believers to experience His presence and power, so that the truths we confess become part of the way we actually live.

This promise did not begin as an unexpected idea in Acts. Joel 2:28–29 spoke of God pouring out His Spirit upon sons and daughters, young and old, and servants. Bruce emphasizes the breadth of that promise: God’s outpouring is not reserved for a privileged class of people.

How it differs from the new birth

Every born-again believer receives the Holy Spirit at salvation. Bruce explains John 20:20–22 as the disciples receiving the Spirit in connection with their faith in the risen Jesus. Later, those same disciples were instructed to wait for the promised baptism with the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:4–5.

These are distinct experiences in his teaching. The baptism with the Holy Spirit does not replace salvation or become the means of earning it. It is God’s promised gift to people who already belong to Christ. Receiving spiritual life and receiving this empowering encounter should not be confused.

Water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism

Water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism are also distinct. A minister can baptize someone in water, but only Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Others can teach, encourage, pray, and lay hands on a believer; they do not own or manufacture the power.

Acts 8 and Acts 10 show that the experience is not bound to one sequence in relation to water baptism. Some received before being baptized in water, while others received afterward. Bruce identifies faith in the risen Lord Jesus and being born again as the necessary starting point.

Speaking in tongues and power to witness

At Pentecost, the believers spoke in other tongues as the Spirit supplied their utterance. Bruce teaches speaking in a new tongue as evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and explains the personal prayer language as a continuing means of Spirit-led prayer.

The purpose reaches beyond an experience or a new way of speaking. Acts 1:8 connects the coming of the Spirit with power to witness to Jesus. The believer is strengthened to pray, live faithfully, and participate in Christ’s work instead of depending entirely on natural courage or ability.

A promise to receive in faith

Bruce reads Acts 2:38–39 as a promise extending beyond the first generation of the Church. Jesus still baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit today. Come to Him with trust in His Word, ask for what He has promised, and yield yourself to His work. The source of this gift is His goodness, not your ability to make an experience happen.