No. 40 John the Baptist testifies that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Is this what Pentecostals and some Charismatics refer to as the �baptism with the Holy Spirit� or �Spirit-baptism�? Such talk remains prevalent in many religious circles in Los Angeles. How are we to understand what John the Baptist was talking about and also what St. Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 14? And how does our confession of �one baptism for the forgiveness of sins� fit into this discussion? >>DR. LEOPALDO SANCHEZ M.: What a timely question, Nick. Especially in light of the increasing global growth of Pentecostalism and its influence in religion today. And now we have already tied John the Baptist's statement that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit with the church's reception of the same Spirit in baptism in our little Pentecost, our little Jordan. But now it will be good to revisit what it means for Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit in light of some Pentecostal charismatic thinking on this issue. Recall that on Pentecost day, Saint Peter preaches: God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiah. The hearers are contrite and ask: What shall we do? The Apostle responds: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and for your children. Now, Pentecostals and Lutherans understand Peter's words quite differently. I think it is fair to say that many Pentecostals see sort of an order of salvation in Peter's response. First, hearers are to repent of their sins. Such conversion occurs when one makes a commitment to Christ, when one accepts Christ as Lord and Savior and renounces sin. The second stage is for hearers of the Word to be baptized in water. But here baptism doesn't merely symbolize one's confession of commitment to Jesus, it also symbolizes one's lifetime commitment to him. Finally here is ours to receive what is called then the gift of the Holy Spirit. Which Pentecostals call Spirit baptism or baptism in or with the Holy Spirit. Notice how the so-called baptism in the Holy Spirit is completely disconnected from baptism in water. Now, the key in this order is not the number of stages but rather the idea that baptism in the Holy Spirit occurs after the new birth or conversion. Although not similar to Pentecostal views in every way. Many charismatics especially in mainline churches do tend to see the baptism within or with the Holy Spirit as a post conversion experience of the Spirit. For example they would say that even if you were baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit then, there is still a coming of the Holy Spirit later in life that may empower you for a mission or something like that. So that's a little bit different from the Pentecostal view. But still in both cases we are talking about a distinct baptism in the Holy Spirit that occurs after the new birth or conversion. After more specifically the baptism in water. Now, because the disciples were also filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and spoke of God's works in other tongues, most Pentecostals also assert that this fullness of the Holy Spirit for witness and with the evidence of tongues is available today to those believers who desire it and yield to the Spirit. For our purposes, I will only say that Lutherans see the message that calls to repentance, water baptism and the gift of the Spirit not as three distinct stages but as one reality. One work of God. One baptism in water for the forgiveness of sins. That offers the fullness of the Holy Spirit already at that time. On Pentecost know that the exalted Jesus receives the promise of the Spirit from the Father and pours him forth to empower the church in her preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all nations. And that's the message of Peter. He called to repentance a proclamation of forgiveness in Christ. In Scripture, such preaching is always intended to lead to baptism and is inseparably united with it. And so for example, in Acts 2 through the words spoken by Peter, God brought many to repentance, led about 3,000 of them to baptism in water for forgiveness of sins and gifted them with the fullness, not only part, of the Holy Spirit. The main point here I think is that baptism is not our work. Baptism is neither a symbol of our commitment to Jesus nor conditional upon our yielding to the Spirit as the Pentecostal view already described suggests. Rather, baptism is God's work. A sure promise. Means of grace for us. Baptism is God's gracious little Pentecost with a lasting significance in our lives, which Luther following Paul often refers to as a daily return to one's baptism where the old man in us is drowned or convicted of sin and a new man is raised to new life. Forgiven. Through the daily convicting call to repentance and the comforting word of forgiveness the Holy Spirit sent to us in baptism continues to make us faithful witnesses of Jesus according to the vocations and gifts he chooses to give us. Now this leads us to the questions of the gifts of the Spirit in general. And the gifts of tongues in particular. I think it is important to recognize that with the dwelling of the Holy Spirit from us in baptism from our little Pentecost or little Jordan also come various gifts of the Spirit. These gifts will vary from Christian to Christian. So it is not the case that the gift of tongues in particular has to be present in every Christian as evidence that he or she has the Holy Spirit. And in fact a number of Pentecostals are actually moving away from this position. On the one hand we must be careful not to domesticate the Holy Spirit by saying that he can no longer give certain gifts that he once gave. This is the so-called cessationist's view which states that all or some of the gifts that appear in Scripture, for example, speaking in tongues or healing, cease completely or over a period of time after the apostolic area. On the other hand we must be careful not to domesticate the Holy Spirit by saying that he's limited to give certain gifts that are listed in Scripture. This is the so-called biblicist's view which argues that the list of gifts in Scripture are exhaustive. And so that only the gifts specifically listed in the Bible can manifest themselves in the congregations of all times and places. What solution then can we bring to the question of gifts? First I think we should say that all gifts of the Spirit listed explicitly in Scripture did not necessarily have to be present in all churches of all times and all places. These lists differ from each other showing their congregational character. So it is not even the case that even in Paul's day all congregations had the same gifts. A second point that I will want to make is that ultimately the Holy Spirit has the freedom to give churches the gifts which he deems necessary for her to fulfill her mission in the world at any particular time or place. Even if these gifts are not necessarily listed in Scripture or we couldn't actually define them. Finally the text from I Corinthians 14 teaches us that there's a certain priority of certain gifts over others. Since the mission of the church is above all to proclaim the Word, gifts of the Spirit that are tied specifically to the proclamation of the works such as the gift of prophesy for example have a higher priority and importance for the building up of the church than other gifts such as tongues. And above all for Paul it is working the gifts of the Spirit in love that gives the higher priority to the work of God in the congregation.