Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Definition and Meaning

Baptism in the Holy Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit coming upon a believer to fill that person or to unite him or her to the body of Christ (the church). It is distinct from water baptism. Denominations differ on when this occurs and what signs accompany it. There are two main views. One holds that every believer receives it at conversion; the other holds that it is a distinct experience received after conversion.

Biblical and Historical Background

John the Baptist said of Jesus, "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mark 1:8). Before his ascension, Jesus repeated this promise (Acts 1:5). The events of Pentecost, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues (Acts 2:1-4), are commonly understood as the fulfillment of that promise. Paul wrote, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13).

In the eighteenth century, John Wesley taught entire sanctification. The nineteenth-century Holiness movement, which built on his teaching, sometimes identified the "second blessing" received after conversion with baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal movement, which began in the United States in the early twentieth century, regarded baptism in the Holy Spirit as an experience distinct from conversion and held speaking in tongues to be its initial evidence. From the 1960s onward, the charismatic movement also spread within established denominations.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Full Gospel (Assemblies of God): Pentecostal bodies such as the Korea Assemblies of God teach that baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience of empowerment received after salvation, and they regard speaking in tongues as its initial evidence. The ministry of Pastor David Yonggi Cho at Yoido Full Gospel Church is regarded as having contributed greatly to the spread of this teaching in Korea.
• Holiness: Churches such as the Korea Evangelical Holiness Church uphold the Fourfold Gospel (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming). They have a tradition of associating the experience of sanctification that follows regeneration (being born again) with baptism in the Holy Spirit, but they do not regard speaking in tongues as a required evidence.
• Methodist: Methodists inherit the emphasis of Wesleyan theology on sanctification (growth in holiness). However, the way the term "baptism in the Holy Spirit" is used varies from church to church.
• Presbyterian and Baptist: Presbyterians in the Reformed tradition and many Baptists appeal to 1 Corinthians 12:13. They hold that baptism in the Holy Spirit occurs once for all in every believer at regeneration, and they tend to describe subsequent, repeated experiences instead as "being filled with the Spirit."

Across denominations, the exhortation "Receive the Holy Spirit" has long been common in Korean churches at revival meetings and at gatherings held in prayer retreat centers (prayer mountains). Whether gifts such as speaking in tongues continue today is the subject of the cessationism and continuationism debate.