Let me say, I am a Pentecostal and a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church because our doctrine is more in keeping with the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures than any other denomination for which I am familiar. However, I have found that our Artice 11, which deals with the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not properly worded accordijng to my understanding to the Scriptures.
Therefore, I would like to address my observations and remarks concerning Article 11, of our Articles of Faith in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Manual.
This article reads as follows:
11.We believe in the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire is obtainable by a definite act of appropriating faith on the part of the fully justified believer, and the initial evidence in speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance (Luke 11:13; Acts 1:5; 2:14. 8:17; 10:44-46; 19:6.
Luke 11:13
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
KJV
Acts 1:5
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
KJV
Acts 2:14-18
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
KJV
Acts 8:17
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
KJV
Acts 10:44-46
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.
KJV
Acts 19:6
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
KJV
The wording of this article of faith is Scripturally not correct. When referring to the gift of the Holy Spirit it should read baptism with or in the Holy Spirit.
In every baptism there has to be an agent, an element, and a subject, as well as a place and time and a purpose.
It was John the Baptist who said of Christ, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He (Jesus Christ) that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoe I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire” (Matthew 3:11).
Let us compare this Scripture with 1 Corinthians 12:13:
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
KJV
We can clearly see that there is a distinction between the baptism by the Spirit, and the baptism with the Spirit.
These Scriptures bring into focus the difference between John the Baptist who baptized with water, and the baptism by the Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit.
The Rev. Mr. N. J. Holmes, founder of Holmes Bible College when referring to what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:13, wrote that the first clause in the above Scripture text refers to the baptism by the Holy Spirit with the blood of Jesus Christ. And the last clause . . . refers to the baptism by the Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost. (Baptism By the Spirit, The Baptism By Christ, and Other Topics, a booklet published by Holmes Bible College, Greenville, SC, in 1952.)
In the first, we are baptized into the body of Christ. In the second we are made to drink in the Holy Spirit. In the first the Holy Spirit is the designated Agent, and we are the designated subjects, and the blood of Jesus the implied element. In the second, Christ is the implied Agent, we are the designated subjects, and the Spirit the designated Element.
In regeneration which includes the forgiveness of sins and the pardon by God the Father, justification, adoption, and initial sanctification it is the Holy Spirit that brings us to God by providing repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the implied Agent, we are the subjects, and the blood of Jesus is the implied element. The same is true in the definite experience of sanctification which is a definite act as well as a lifelong growth in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Therefore, it is not Scripturally correct to refer to the Pentecostal experience as baptism by the Holy Spirit or baptism of the Holy Spirit because it suggests that the Holy Spirit is “the Agent” rather than “the Element.”
I recommend that we change this language in Article 11, with regard to “the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost,” to “the baptism with or in the Holy Spirit.”
As a committed Christian, loyal member and ordained minister of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, I respectfully submit my recommendation that this wording be changed to be in harmony with the Word of God. I pray that the Polity Committee and the Council of Bishops, as well as the church body will understand the distinction, and all agree to change this wording to bring it into agreement with the Word of God as recorded in the Bible.
Yours in Christ,
Hugh H. Morgan
Posted on
Tue, July 6, 2010
by Hugh Morgan