What Is Meant by Being "Baptized with the Holy Spirit" in Acts 1:5 ?
The Holy Spirit is received at conversion, but the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a further enduement, an experience which comes usually at some time after conversion. The disciples were regenerated men when Jesus told them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until: they should be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). This was the experience to which he had previously referred as the coming of the Comforter (John 14, John 15, John 16). God's Spirit is constantly trying to get into a man's heart. He speaks to him in many ways, convicting of sin, urging to repentance, etc. The impressions leading to a wise and safe course of action, which a man may receive before he is converted, are really the messages of the Holy Spirit. God is very good, and tries to help us in every way. But it is not until one has become a child of God and received the fullness of the Spirit that he can expect to have the clear guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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