The New Testament Pattern

After a recent bible study, a woman raised her hand and asked if there was a pattern that we could find in the Bible relating to people being born again, and baptized in the Holy Spirit. She wondered if you had to be born again before you could be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was so glad that she asked that question, because it gave me the opportunity to share what I have found to be one of the most liberating truths in the New Testament. The answer to her question, also answers one of the most common questions, or misconceptions, that I have found among Christians when discussing the topic of the Holy Spirit. That question, which we have partially answered in earlier articles, goes something like this; “Why would I need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? I thought I got the Holy Spirit when I was born again.”

In earlier articles, we dealt with this subject, so I am not going to repeat all of that information here. The short answer is, yes you did receive the Holy Spirit when you gave your life to Jesus. But Jesus taught, and the New Testament confirms over and over, that there is a second, deeper, aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to Christians that comes in the form of what Jesus Himself called “being baptized in the Holy Spirit.” The difference between the ministry of the Holy Spirit received at the new birth, and that received at the baptism in the Holy Spirit is summed up in one word – power.

(Acts 1:4, 5; 8) On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit… …But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

To answer the question that was raised at our Bible study, yes, there is a pattern established in the New Testament concerning being born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Not only is there a pattern established, but there is only one pattern on this topic that can be found in the New Testament. Therefore, I would submit for your consideration, that possibly the only reasonable course for the Christian who wants to orient their understanding of God and the course of their life to the Bible, is to accept and follow this pattern. Today I will lay it out for you in very simple terms and pray that you will follow up with some Bible study and honest prayer. I am not going to print out all of the verses involved, because these are verses you need to look up, read, pray over, obey, and know well enough to share with others. I will give you the concept, and the references; the rest is up to you.

Stated simply, the New Testament, particularly in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, repeats a pattern over and over for us. That pattern is that a person needs to first accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. That means we stop trusting in any form of good behavior, church affiliation, community service etc., to make us good enough or acceptable enough to spend eternity with God. Instead, we accept the death of Jesus on the cross as full payment for our sin, and accept the free gift of salvation and right relationship with God that He offers. When any person does that, believes in their heart that Jesus died for their sins, and confesses with their own mouth that He is Lord, they are saved, born again, and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside them.

Being born again is the door, the entryway, and the necessary first step into the fullness of everything that God has in store for us. After we take that first step, another step becomes available to us. Just as God does not force us to accept His provision of a Savior, He does not force us to accept this next step–being baptized in the Holy Spirit. God loves freedom and choice. He wants real relationship with us that is chosen by us. But Jesus said, to His own disciples who had already received Him as Lord, “wait for the gift my Father promised… in a few days, you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” Just a side note, there were about 500 followers on the day that Jesus said to wait a few days and be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but only 120 waited. Almost 80% rejected the offer. I think those numbers are probably pretty consistent today.

On the Day of Pentecost, the promised baptism came in a dramatic form. You can read it for yourself in Acts chapter 2. Immediately, we see supernatural power begin to work in and through the disciples. For example, they were no longer hiding behind closed doors in fear, but out in the streets proclaiming the wonderful works of God. They proclaimed those works in languages that were foreign to the speakers by the power of God. Their words carried a power to influence other people, and 3000 came to Christ that day. As the story continues, power to heal, power to prophesy, power to evangelize, power over the enemy in every form marks the church and points people to a living, active God. All of this began with the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

So we have this pattern: accept Jesus, be born again, then receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and see various manifestations of God’s power begin to flow through our lives, all bearing witness to the fact that Jesus is Lord. Let me give you several other references that establish this as the pattern of normal New Testament living.

1. As we have discussed, the disciples of Jesus were born again, and “they received the Holy Spirit” in John 20:22. The Greek there says the Holy Spirit came “into” them. Later, in Acts chapters 1 and 2, Jesus tells the very same disciples, who were already born again and had the Holy Spirit living in them, to wait to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (He said the Holy Spirit would come “upon” them) so that they could be empowered to be witnesses. This is fulfilled in Acts 2, and the result is recorded through the rest of the New Testament. The pattern: born again and the Spirit comes into them, baptized in the Holy Spirit, power displayed in ways that other people could see or hear.

2. Acts 8:12-18 – Philip the evangelist goes to Samaria and tells people the good news about Jesus. The Scripture says that they believed (were born again) and were water baptized. Later, the apostles heard about the salvations that had occurred and came to pray for them to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit because, although they were saved, “the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them.” So, they were born again by hearing the Word of God, then later filled with, or baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then, something happened, the Bible doesn’t say what, that a man named Simon could see so that he knew they had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

3. Acts 9 – A man named Saul, AKA the Apostle Paul, had an encounter with Jesus while he was on the road pursuing Christians to have them imprisoned or executed. During this encounter, Paul was born again. While the Bible doesn’t say that in plain language, we have two good indicators. First, Paul refers to Jesus as “Lord,” and second, Ananias calls Paul his “brother” a term used between believers. Later, when Ananias comes to visit Paul, he prays for Paul and Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit. We see the power of God flow through his life from that time forward. Born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, power demonstrated.

4. Acts Chapter 10 is a wonderful story for all of us non-Jewish believers. In this chapter, the Lord sends Peter to the home of a gentile to tell him about Jesus. I wish we had space here to discuss the historical and cultural significance of that. But as Peter is speaking to the gentiles, the Holy Spirit “fell upon” them as they believed, and they began to speak in tongues and magnify God. Again, people believed when they heard the Word of God, accepted Jesus and, in this case immediately, the Holy Spirit came upon them with the result that the power of God began to flow through them in a way that could be seen or heard.

I need to add one thing here. Often people say, “If God wants me baptized with the Holy Spirit, He will just do it.” Well, sounds good, but there are only two instances in the Bible where that happened. Both instances were the very first introduction of the Holy Spirit into a culture–once for the Jews, and once for the Gentiles. After that, everything else flows with what Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “…how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Ask, and you will receive.

5. Acts 19:1-6 – Paul found some people who had received the form of water baptism that John the Baptist preached. John’s baptism was merely a baptism of repentance that pointed people toward the Savior, Jesus. Paul told them about Jesus, they received Him as Savior, and were again baptized in water, now in the name of Jesus–they were born again. Next, Paul laid hands on them and prayed, the Holy Spirit “came upon” them, and they began to speak in tongues and prophesy. Born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, power in evidence that could be seen or heard.

I believe that what we just laid out constitutes God’s only pattern for normal New Testament living. While He does not force us to receive either Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, the Bible clearly portrays Biblical Christianity as the acceptance of both. I pray that you will dig into these verses and allow the Lord to show you that being born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, and living life in the power of God, is His will for every Christian.

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. Just place them in the comment box below this article.