The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons who form the godhead. Therefore, He is called God (Acts 5:3). He has the attributes of God – being eternal and omnipresent (Hebrews 9:14; Psalm 139:7). Although He was active in the Old Testament, His primary work is in the Christian age. Joel, eight hundred years before the birth of Christ, prophesied about the work He would do in the last days (Christian Age). When the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles in Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 2, Peter quotes Joel to explain what the Spirit did that day and what He would do during the Christian age. “And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy,(Acts 2:16-18; Joel 2:28-32).
Even though there is just one Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:4), His power is displayed in three different measures. (I use the word “measures” because that phrase is used about the Spirit in John 3:34). When the word “measure” is used the Bible doesn’t mean that some people get different amounts of the Holy Spirit such as a gallon, a quart, or a pint. The Bible means that different people got different amounts of the Holy Spirit’s power. Those three measures are: (1) Baptismal, (2) Laying-on of hands, (3) The indwelling of the Spirit.
The Baptismal Measure Upon the Apostles. The apostles were the only ones who were promised the baptismal measure. John the baptizer was the first to announce this promise. He said, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” (Mattew 3:11). John is speaking about Jesus and what He would do. John said that when Jesus came, He would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. This is not foretelling the baptism of the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20), because humans do the baptizing of that commission. What John spoke about was something special that only Jesus would do.
The night before Jesus was arrested, He promised His apostles that He was going to send the Holy Spirit to them. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you,” (John 13:1ff; 14:16-17, 26). On the evening of His resurrection, Jesus said to the apostles, “You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high,” (Luke 24:48-49).
During the period of forty days from Jesus’ resurrection until His ascension, He appeared to them several times (Acts 1:1-3). On one of those occasions “He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which’ He said, ‘you heard of from me,’” (Acts 1:4). Interestingly, He references what John had said, “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now,” (Acts 1:5; Matthew 3:11). He went on to say, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth,” (Acts 1:8).
A week later, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance,” (Acts 2:1-4). The antecedent of the pronoun “they” is the word “apostles” mentioned in 1:26.
These verses record the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the apostles as John and Jesus had promised (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:4-5). The purpose of this baptism of the Holy Spirit was to give the apostles power (Acts 1:8; Matthew 19:28).
The Baptismal Measure Upon the Household of Cornelius. The events recorded in Acts 10:1-11:18 occurred about eight years after the events in Acts 2. The Gentiles had not been brought into the church yet. Acts 10 gives the details as to how Peter was instructed to go to Cornelius. Acts 11:1-18 is the report that Peter gave to the other apostles and brethren when he returned to Jerusalem. Acts 11 helps put the events recorded in Acts 10 in the proper order (Acts 11:4).
As Peter began to speak (Acts 11:15), “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God,” (Acts 10:44-46).
Peter identified what happened to Cornelius and his household as the baptism of the Holy Spirit by saying, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning,” (11:15). When he said “the beginning” he had reference to the beginning of the church which is recorded in Acts 2. The “us” refers to the apostles (Acts 1:26-2:1-4). He went on to say, “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,’” (Acts 11:15-16). Thus, what happened to Cornelius and his household was another account of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Although the events were the same, the purpose of each event was different. The apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit to give them power. The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius was to show the Jews that Gentiles could now be baptized and become part of the church. When this happened, Peter said, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” (Acts 10:47-48).
When Peter explained his actions to the brethren in Jerusalem one sees the purpose of baptism stated this way, “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life,’” (Acts 11:18).
Question
Because the household of Cornelius was baptized in the Holy Spirit, just as the apostles, did they receive the same power as the apostles? This writer does not believe so. The purpose they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit was so the Jews could know from God, that the Gentiles could be baptized and added to the church (Acts 10:44-45; 11:18). But, even if they did receive all the power the apostles received, their miraculous power would have come to an end, just like the apostles’ miraculous powers came to an end (I Corinthians 13:8-13).
Wayne Burger