Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20011223.htm

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (ORGANIZED BIBLE KNOWLEDGE)
Part XI: Pneumatology (Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit)
C. God The Holy Spirit's Baptism, Sealing And Filling Ministries
  1. Introduction
    1. Many believe one must wait, tarry, pray for and seek God for a "Second Blessing" of the "baptism" or "sealing" or "filling" of the Holy Spirit in the experiences of tongues speaking, healing, etc.
    2. If there IS such a "Second Blessing" and we have not yet entered into that state, we would be lacking God's full blessing. Thus, we view Scripture to discern the truth on these matters (as follows):
  2. God The Holy Spirit's Baptism, Sealing And Filling Ministries
    1. We examine the Scripture to discover the truth on the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" as follows:
      1. Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, ed. by Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee (p. 40ff) teaches two different kinds of baptism involving the Holy Spirit: (a) a positional baptism where the Spirit baptizes one into Christ at salvation, 1 Cor. 12:13 ("by one Spirit") and (b) a second, later baptism whereby Christ baptizes the godly believer into the Holy Spirit ("with or in the Spirit") mentioned in Acts 1:4-5; 11:16. This doctrine is thus built on the wording in the King James Version!
      2. However, the New Testament Greek texts at 1 Cor. 12:13, Acts 1:4-5 and Acts 11:16 all have the same Greek preposition "en pneumati" ("in (the) Spirit"), cf. the UBS, Nestle and Kilpatrick eds.
      3. Since we have learned in our Systematic Theology studies that Scripture's autograph manuscripts are inspired and not their translations, there is no basis for a second Holy Spirit baptism in inspired Scripture! What Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12:13 occurs for every believer at his justification.
    2. We examine the Scripture to discover the truth on the "Sealing of the Holy Spirit" as follows:
      1. The KJV reads in Ephesians 1:13: " . . . after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise . . ." This version makes room for a sealing experience subsequent to one's faith in the Gospel of Christ.
      2. However, the Greek N. T. does not have the word, "after" in the text. The word is supplied by the English translation to express the logical order of thought represented by the Greek aorist verb tense of "believed." That tense reveals one must logically believe before he is sealed without implying any time frame in the process of both events. It means, "Based on believing, you were sealed."
      3. Well, Ephesians 4:30 speaking of believers who are sealed reveals they were sealed at the same time they were grieving the Holy Spirit: The imperative is a present active indicative with a subjunctive negative adverb, "may" meaning, "Stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God in Whom you have been sealed . . . unto the day of redemption" (UBS Greek N.T., p. 673) Hence, the sealing of the Spirit is not a reward for practical godliness, but a positional truth possessed by every believer at salvation!
    3. We examine the Scripture to discover the truth on the "Filling of the Holy Spirit" as follows:
      1. Paul commands believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. Thus, a believer may not be filled with the Spirit, so filling is a post-salvation possibility for believers.
      2. Yet, this is not a single, expansive, supernatural-gifting event like a supposed "Second Blessing":
        1. When Paul gave the command for the filling of the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, he explained activities not involving the use of sign gifts such as tongues speaking, healings, etc., cf. Eph. 5:19-6:9.
        2. Indeed, Paul through rhetorical questions expecting a negative answer in 1 Cor. 12:28-30 teaches not all had the gifts of tongues, performing miracles, etc. though they had been baptized "en pneumati" (by one Spirit) in 1 Corinthians 12:13. (cf. Machan, New Testament Greek for Beginners, p. 197; UBS Greek N.T., p. 606)
        3. Thus, the filling of the Spirit is an experience that occurs whenever the believer returns to fellowship in righteousness with God out of a state of practical sin, cf. 1 John 1:9; Gal. 5:16-23.
    4. Positionally, the believer has no "Second Blessing" as in Christ he has already been blessed with "every spiritual blessing" in the heavenlies in Christ, cf. Ephesians 1:3!
Lesson: There is no single, supernatural experience known as a "Second Blessing" of the Holy Spirit: Baptism and Sealing of the Spirit are positional truths that occur at salvation and Filling occurs EVERY TIME a believer returns unto fellowship with His Lord out of a state of experiential sinfulness.