At repentance God starts dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit. This is a relationship with him which can be strengthened by our obedience (good decisions, devotion, prayer) but also weakened by our disobedience. Such expressions as "be filled with the Spirit" in Ephesians 5:18, or "do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" in Ephesians 4:30 show that it strongly depends on us, our obedience how much the Holy Spirit can work in us. Paul says something similar in Galatians 5:25: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit".

In Acts 4:31 the first Christians were praying fervently and experienced great strengthening in their faith by the Holy Spirit:

...they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

We find the expression 'being filled with the Spirit' also in other situations in Acts when the Holy Spirit stregthened someone in a difficult situation: Acts 4:5-10; Acts 13:9-12. Being filled with the Spirit in such cases has a different meaning than e.g. in Acts 2:4 or elsewhere when somebody repented and received the Holy Spirit (e.g. Acts 9:17). It is not the beginning of the relationship with the Spirit but a strengthening of it and experiencing His power and help in a special way.

When we read about a Christian that he was full of the Holy Spirit it does not mean that he was baptized with the Spirit while others were not but it means that by his obedience the work of the Holy Spirit was very visible in his life, e.g. Acts 6:5: "they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit". It certainly does not mean that the other six brothers were not baptized with the Holy Spirit in contrast to Stephen.

PASSAGES MISINTERPRETED IN THE CHARISMATIC TEACHING.

There are some passages in the NT which are explained by Charismatics in such a way as if they separated repentance and being baptized / filled with the Spirit. If we keep the things explained above in front of our eyes it will be no problem to understand also these passages in the right way.

Nicodemus - being born by water and Spirit

...unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:1-8: )

The charismatic misinterpretation of verse 5 is that baptism with water and with the Spirit are two separate events because of the conjunction and. As we already explained concerning Titus 3 (and in footnote No. 2) two expressions connected by and are in the language of the Bible very often a parallelism, which means that both expressions refer to the same content emphasizing different aspects. We also showed above that water is used in the OT as a metaphor of the Spirit e.g.:

For will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on you offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. (Isaiah 44:3-4)

Pouring water on the thirsty land and pouring the Spirit on Israel's offspring are not two separate events but actually, they mean the same. Israel is compared with a dry land and then with poplars by streams of water after receiving the blessing i.e. the Spirit (Spirit and blessing are again a parallelism). Therefore being born by water and Spirit in John 3 means simply being renewed by the Holy Spirit like the water renews the one who is washed by it.

In Ezechiel 36:22-38 we find similar expressions which, however, describe even more clearly the new birth or birth from above (4) that is an action carried out by God and thus fit very well as parallel to what Jesus wanted to say in John 3 (and expected Nicodemus to understand as the teacher of Israel).

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezechiel 36:25-27)

The whole context speaks about an action (i.e. the birth from above which presupposes - of course - repentance from man's side) that is carried out by God and not by man like in the case of water baptism. On the other hand, if Jesus meant in John 3:5 also the baptism by water why does he speak from verse 6 on only about the Spirit and does not he say a word about baptism by water? Separating water and Spirit leads to a similar problem to that we pointed out concerning Titus 3: those who received only the water baptism cannot enter into the kingdom of God, consequently they do not have citizenship in heaven when they repent and are baptized with water until they do not get the baptism with the Spirit.

However, according to Philippians 3:20 "our citizenship is in heaven…" - which is valid for everyone who converted to Jesus.

John 20:19-23: Receive the Holy Spirit - how come before Pentecost?

He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit…" (John 20:22)

As we pointed out above the prerequisite of sending the Holy Spirit was Jesus' going away and glorification (John 7:39 and John 16:7). These prerequisites, however, had not been fulfilled yet in John 20 since Jesus had not ascended yet to the Father to his glory. That is why we have to exclude that the disciples received the Holy Spirit in this situation. Verse 22 is the confirmation of Jesus' promise given in the farewell discourses about sending the Counsellor. He wanted to remind his disciples who were rejoicing at his appearance that he had to leave the Earth: he would not leave them as orphans but would send them the Holy Spirit. The symbolic act of breathing could help them understand the connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit whom they were to receive some days later (Acts 1:5).

Acts 2:37-39: Repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit - the first two separated from the last?

Repent, and each of you be baptized… and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

There is no reason to conclude from this passage that repentance with baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit are two separate events with possible time delay in-between. Which other possibility (language tools) would Peter have had to express that repentance is answered by God with giving the Spirit immediately and by the Apostels with water baptism? We can see in verses 42-47 that the Holy Spirit immediately started working in their life greatly. He filled their heart and performed great miracles in and among them: deep brotherly love and unity.

Acts 8:5-24: Samaritans' repentance and receiving the Spirit with time delay

Peter and John... came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 8:14-16)

The evangelism of the Samaritans was a historic event which proved that not only the Jews are invited into and welcomed in God's kingdom. Because of the enmity for several centuries between the Samaritans and the Jews it was important that Peter and John as apostles and pillars of the church went there to greet the new Samaritan converts and to express to them that they were accepted in the Church as new brothers in Christ. But how shall we understand that: "the Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Basing on the first part of this treatise we surely cannot understand it so that they were not filled with the Holy Spirit when they converted. The Spirit's falling upon them must have therefore a different meaning here. It must refer to a powerful and miraculous acting of the Spirit(5): a clear sign of the Spirit's presence in their life that they had not yet experienced before Peter's and John's coming. It must have been something visible as verse 18 says: "Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands." So we have to understand verse 17: "they were receiving the Holy Spirit" so that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, most probably speaking in tongues. This was a confirmation of that the Spirit works in their life but not the moment when the Spirit was poured out into their heart. The fact that it happened through Peter and John and not through Philippe when they repented could be explained by the above mentioned unique situation of the Samaritans. It was important that their acceptance in the Church is approved by the apostles(6).

Acts 19:1-7 The twelve disciples of John the Baptist

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19:2)

These disciples were baptized into John's baptism that means they were John's disciples, the followers of his teaching but did not know the teaching of Jesus neither about the Holy Spirit. Consequently we cannot regard them as Christians. We can suppose that they were men in Asia Minor who had heard about John the Baptist and had repented from their sins and had been trying to live righteously according to their recognitions. That's why they are called disciples in v.1 and Paul regards them as believers in v. 2. It seems they had also fellowship with each other. They got to know Christianity through Paul and accepted it immediately. They decided to follow Christ and so Paul baptized them and they received the Holy Spirit immediately. When Paul laid his hands on them they also received gifts from the Spirit: speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Acts 18:23-28: Apollos

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John. (Acts 18:25)

Although also about Apollos we read that he was acquainted only with the baptism of John he differs in several aspects from the twelve disciples of John in Acts 19:

• he had been instructed in the way of the Lord

• he was fervent in spirit (cf. Romans 12,11 - as the only parallel in the NT with the same expression: it is clearly about Christians)

• he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus

• he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue

• when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they explained to him the way of God more accurately

• he was not baptized by Aquila and Priscilla

All these differences show that Apollos was on a completely different level than those twelve in Ephesus so that although there were things he did not know about Jesus and the Christian teaching Aquila and Priscilla regarded him as a brother in Christ and consequently they did not baptise him but just explained to him the things he lacked.

Hebrews 6:1-2: washings as one of the elementary teachings about Christ

...instruction about washings... (Hebrews 6:2a)

Washings (in Greek: ß?????µ?) [baptisma, Plural of baptismos] are mentioned in the same letter also in 9:10: "various washings". Washings refer here (9:10) to the ritual washings according to the Mosaic law. The aim of Hebrews is to encourage Jewish Christians not to fall back to Judaism and to point out the differences between faith in the OT and NT. Therefore the most probable understanding of the instruction about washings is to distinguish clearly the baptism of Jesus from the ritual washings according to the law and other washings of the OT-time like the proselyte baptism or the baptism of John. This is indeed a fundamental teaching, which the addressees understood when they became Christians and the author wants to remind them of it. This understanding does not support the Charismatic theory (washings = water baptism and Spirit baptism) but fits well the topic and the teaching of the Letter to the Hebrews.

Luke 11:5-13

...how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? (Luke 11:13b)

Basing on this passage Charismatics and Penticostals organise special meetings where they "ask God" for the Holy Spirit. However, the context and the original Greek text do not support this understanding. The Greek text says only (as NASB quoted above): „those who ask him" and does not say „those who ask him for the Spirit". In the context Jesus teaches his disciples to pray and as an encouragement he speaks about how God relates to our prayers. In the parallel passage in Matthew 7:11 instead of Holy Spirit „good things" is written. So Jesus wants to say that we can turn to God as to a loving father when we need help and what we ask him for is in harmony with his will (1 John 5:14). Besides this message Luke still highlights that God gives this help through the Holy Spirit: through the fellowship, leading and strengthening of the Spirit. This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost when Jesus' followers received the Spirit but the promise of hearing our prayers is valid also for those who have been filled already with the Spirit: God listens to the prayers of the believers and gives them strengthening through the Holy Spirit. We can see an example for this also in Acts 4: the disciples did not pray for Holy Spirit but for God's support and God strengthened them through the Spirit.

Summary, conclusion

Christian life starts with a decision to turn away from sin and follow Christ. God's response to this decision is that he immediately pours out his Spirit abundantly into the heart of the new convert so that he can experience that God has accepted him as his child. By the Spirit he can experience God's love, peace and power in fighting against sin. The Spirit fills his heart so that he can love his brothers and other people who do not know God yet. He helps him understand the sound teaching about Christ and come to unity with other Christians. No Christian has to wait for being baptized with the Holy Spirit after he repented because he is God's beloved child whom God wants to give his fullness:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. (John 1:12-16)