Baptized by One Spirit

Here today I would like to present a question that many people ask, if they are opposed to the reality that the baptism of the holy Ghost with the sign of speaking in tongues is the true experience of being born again: "If the baptism of the Spirit is the only way that anyone can get into the body of Christ, then why do we see instances in the Scriptures where it says things like "the same day there were added unto them [the early believers] about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41), but yet nothing is said about anyone being baptized with the Spirit or speaking with tongues? The best way to answer this question is through a common sense scenario comparison. Let's think about someone who is sitting outside of a movie theater watching people go into the theater, and afterward writes about what he observed. Mostly what he would say in his writing would be something like this: "The first fifteen minutes that I sat there, I must have seen a hundred and fifty people file through the line and into the theater." But if he were to momentarily focus on a few select people that he saw making their way into the movie, he might say something more like this: "This one particular family that I saw seemed to be really eager to get in. After purchasing their tickets they all moved anxiously ahead, stretching their arms out in front of them toward the ticket taker, as though they might get in just a little bit sooner if they could just reach a little further. After having their tickets taken, they quickly moved ahead in anticipation of getting the best seats possible." The point is this: If this individual sat outside the theater for thirty minutes watching a multitude go through the lines buying their movie tickets, and having them collected, it's certain that he is not going to describe in specific detail exactly how each person got into the movie theater; though in a few cases he probably would. This is exactly what took place with the writers of the new testament scriptures, particularly Luke in the book of Acts, who wrote about so many events.

It is certain that the scriptures cannot lie, seeing that they are inspired by God. It is just as certain that the scriptures inform us that the baptism of the Spirit is the way that we get into the one body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13). This article is not dedicated to showing that everyone who is baptized with the holy Ghost speaks in tongues initially, but it is nonetheless true and confirmed by the Bible in many of our previous articles. It would surely be an exhausting effort to say the least, for someone to write specifically of how each and every person out of three thousand went about receiving the baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking with tongues. It would also be ridiculously repetitive, like beating a dead horse. On the other hand, it is quite revealing how that in several instances he did break down the details for us so that we would be assured of the God-ordained method by which any and every person becomes a member of the body of Christ (Acts 2:1-4; Acts 8:1-19; Acts 10:34-46; Acts 19:1-6). And it is equally revealing how that through these several instances where Luke focused on just how certain people entered into God's congregation, that it lines up perfectly with the apostle Paul's statement in I Cor. 12:13, regarding how we get into the the body of Christ. This same principal runs true in cases such as the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts ch. 8, Lydia of Thiatyra and the Philippian jailor, both in Acts 16, where some details are provided specifically, but it still doesn't mention the baptism of the Spirit or speaking with tongues. Once this experience was given from heaven, it never changed, and it has always been the only way into the body of Christ; regardless of whether or not it is graphically described every time it says that someone believed on the Lord, or was added to the number of His people, or whatever the case might be. God is not the author of confusion, and he did not orchestrate a Gospel experience that was received one way by some, and another way by others. "A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth" (Prov. 14:6). Amen.