“What is hypocrisy?”

“Pretending to be someone you’re not.”

This is typically what we think of when we think of a hypocrite. Those who have a public persona that is honorable, but a private life that is full of shame and corruption. For Christians, our thoughts probably run to the Pharisees. They were hypocrites. They were whitewashed tombs. They looked polished on the outside, but inside were rotten, worm-eaten corpses.

That is a common, and right, understanding of hypocrisy. The hypocrite does not practice what they preach. But I want us to look at four other forms of hypocrisy that Jesus warns against. These are found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12 verse 1 through chapter 13 verse 9. These four faces of hypocrisy are the hypocrisy of profession, of practice, of impatience, and of procrastination.

If you look, you’ll see that Luke 12:1 begins this section with Jesus warning his disciples about the dangers of hypocrisy. Then, hypocrisy comes up again in 12:56, where Jesus rebukes the crowds for being hypocrites who know how to interpret weather patterns but won’t interpret the time of Jesus’ arrival. This is what is called a literary inclusio, where a similar wording or concept is placed as bookends within a passage of literature. When you hear inclusio, think include. The purpose of the inclusio is to introduce a theme that must be included when interpreting the contents between the bookends. So Luke 12:1 is the first bookend introducing the concept of hypocrisy. Then, Luke 12:56 gives us the other bookend of hypocrisy. By rules of inclusio, we must include the warning of hypocrisy to run throughout the whole section.

So 12:1-12 warns against the hypocrisy of profession. That is, you can be a hypocrite by not going public with your faith. You see, this kind of hypocrisy is not a hypocrisy of morals. The situation here is not that of a person who looks like an angel on Sundays but acts like a devil the rest of the week. Rather, this is a person whose moral life is consistent, and yet they shy away from confessing Christ before men (verses 4-12). It is a hypocrisy of profession, a failure to go public with your faith.

Then, verse 13-34 warn us against the hypocrisy of practice. Here we see a man who thinks following Jesus is a means of gaining wealth (tell my brother to give me my inheritance). Jesus does not give in for a moment, but calls him to follow Jesus. Jesus’ way of life is self-giving. The Lord is more concerned about the kind of person you are than the amount of possessions you own. The measure of a man’s life is his treasure. Do you treasure possessions, or do you treasure the glory of Christ and His kingdom? The body is more than food and clothing. A person’s life is wrapped up in how they will respond to Jesus. Will they renounce all and follow Him, live for His kingdom? Or will they be concerned solely about their own physical needs? Following Christ requires generosity, not stinginess. It requires self-giving, not self-getting. This hypocrisy is a hypocrisy of practice. A failure to practice Jesus’ way of life.

The third hypocrisy Jesus warns against is found in verse 35-53 of Luke 12. This is the hypocrisy of impatience. That is, this is the kind of hypocrite who will follow Christ for an hour, but not a lifetime. Because they have not treasured His kingdom above all else, they grow tired of waiting for it. “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ … the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him… and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful” (vv. 45-46).

The final hypocrisy we are warned against is the hypocrisy of procrastination. Luke 12:54-13:9 teach us that there are more hypocrites outside of the church than there are inside the church. This is the hypocrisy that sees Christ, yet rejects him. The person who hears the gospel message and refuses to repent and believe, this person is a hypocrite. The consistent warning is “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (13:5).

With all the ways to be a hypocrite, it is no wonder that Jesus warns us against it.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the New Testament Scriptures at least seven times. Out of those seven instances, three New Testament genres are represented. Many churches today make a distinction between being a Christian, and being a Christian who is baptized in the Spirit. Furthermore, there is a divide among Christians about the nature of the baptism of the Spirit and its implications for Christian living today. Thus, this doctrine should be of special concern for the Christian. Learning this doctrine will not only provide theological clarity, it will help believers’ understand their own spiritual journey, as well as grant discernment when hearing the teachings and experiences of professing Christians from various faith traditions. Christian unity comes through doctrinal unity. I pray this helps to bring doctrinal unity regarding the Baptism of the Spirit.

I am persuaded the Scriptures teach that the Baptism of the Spirit is inseparably connected to the work of Christ in redemption, and as such is something that occurs today for every believer at the moment of their salvation.  

Pentecostal/Charismatic View

Several evangelical denominations grew out of the Pentecostal movement, including the denomination I grew up in, the Assemblies of God. In my experience, the church in which I was raised loved Jesus, lifted up his name and gospel, and was highly active in sharing that good news both locally and internationally. And yet there was also an understanding of the Baptism of the Spirit that was not biblical, leading to certain expected manifestations of the Spirit, such as speaking and tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

There are three key ways the Pentecostal understanding of Baptism of the Spirit differs from the understanding I now advocate for, and these three key differences permeate the rest of their theology. The source of the difference is timing. When does the Baptism of the Spirit occur? This question leads to the second, which concerns evidence. What sign accompanies the Baptism of the Spirit? The third question is that of expectation. Should Christians expect to experience the same phenomena as did the believers in the book of Acts?

When does the Baptism of the Spirit occur?

From the Pentecostal perspective, the Baptism of the Spirit occurs sometime after conversion. It is only after faith in Christ and repentance from sins that a believer may be baptized in the Spirit. As J. Rodman Williams writes in his extensive work, Renewal Theology, “Against the background of salvation, however worded, the Holy Spirit is given…. As a community redeemed from their old life, they were told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come. Hence when the extraordinary event did occur, it happened to those who had already repented and now truly believed in Jesus Christ.” At first glance the Scriptural account would seem to give credence to this view. For example, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait for the promise from the Father saying, “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” It is clear that after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, those who believed in Him still had to wait a few days before they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. 

This was not the only time a believer experienced a delayed Spirit-baptism. In Acts 8, after Philip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, there was a gap between initial saving faith and baptism of the Spirit. The account reads, “But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” They believed the word of God, and yet they had to wait for Peter and John to come to them to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, since “They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Only after the apostles came and laid hands on the Samaritan believers did they receive the Spirit. We are not told how long this delay was. The news traveled from Samaria to Jerusalem, and Peter and John needed only to travel from Jerusalem to Samaria, so we should be safe to assume the delay was only a few days to a few weeks, at most. 

The last instance of delayed Spirit-baptism is found in Acts 19:1-7. In this instance, however, we must note that the words “baptism of the Spirit” do not occur. The Pentecostal view holds that the Baptism of the Spirit is implied by the what happened when Paul laying his hands on these believers, “the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy.” Even if it is correct to speak of this event as a baptism of the Spirit, we must say that the delay between saving faith and the baptism of the Spirit was of the briefest nature that it is not worth building a case for a pattern of delay that continues on today. At least not from this passage.

What accompanies the Baptism of the Spirit?

Just as Jesus challenged the Pharisees about which is more difficult, “to say your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk,” an external sign of baptism in the Spirit is clear proof that one has indeed been baptized in the Spirit. Jesus promised his band of followers that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This Holy Spirit empowered witnessing is one evidence of Baptism of the Spirit. When the disciples in Acts 2:4 were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in different tongues by the Spirit’s empowerment. Pentecostal theology has taught that speaking in tongues is the evidence, the proof, that one has indeed been baptized in the Spirit. “It is clear that the primary activity consequent to the reception of the Holy Spirit was that of speaking in tongues,” writes Williams. He even says, “The evidence in Acts does not allow us to draw an absolute conclusion that speaking in tongues invariably followed the reception of the Spirit; however, the texts much incline in that direction” (emphasis mine). Thus speaking in tongues is a central tenet of the Spirit-filled life according to Pentecostal theology. 

In opposition to the Pentecostal teaching, the apostle Paul seems to indicate that not all who are baptized in the Spirit speak in tongues. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, especially verse 30, he argues that those who are baptized in the Spirit become members of the Lord’s body with a necessary diversification of functions, one of which was tongues. The rhetorical question in verse 30 implies that not all who are baptized in the Spirit speak in tongues. Therefore we must not conclude that tongues ought to be held up as a primary evidence Spirit-baptism. Where should we look, then?

The Bible itself uses the language of fruit when it speaks of external evidence for internal realities. The false prophet, though a wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing, can be discovered by his or her fruit. Likewise, the evidence of the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit, chief of which is love.

Should Christians today anticipate a post-conversion Baptism of the Spirit?

Christians today should not expect a post-conversion baptism of the Spirit. The key for us is noticing the transition from the Acts 8 Samaritan experience and the Acts 10 Gentile experience. Whereas in Acts 8 those who believed the word were baptized in the name of Jesus initially, and then received the baptism of the Spirit subsequently, those in Acts 10 were baptized in the Spirit before being baptized in Jesus’ name. A transition occurred from a water baptism in Jesus’ name followed by Spirit-baptism, to a Spirit-baptism instantaneously upon hearing the word followed by a water baptism. This is an indication for us that in the Acts narrative itself the delay-time between initial faith and the baptism of the Spirit decreases to become nearly instantaneous. Most instructive for us should be 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink.” This teaches that the baptism of the Spirit is the means by which Christians are baptized, i.e. immersed, into the life of the church. This is no doubt what occurs when one repents and believes in the gospel the Lord Jesus Christ. There is the complete package of redemption, which includes the baptism of the Spirit.

How does this work? Jesus is the one who baptizes in the Spirit. “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34, LSB). God the Father gives God the Spirit to God the Son without measure. This is seen in Jesus’ baptism, when the Spirit descended bodily like a dove onto the Son, followed by a voice from Heaven stating, “You are my Son, in you I am well pleased.” At His baptism, the Spirit rested on the incarnate Son, and the Father gives the Son the Spirit without measure. He, the Son, is the one who baptizes in the Spirit. Jesus poured out the Spirit onto the church on the day of Pentecost. He baptized the church in the Spirit. The life of the Church is immersed in the Spirit. And when one comes to Christ, when one is engrafted into Christ’s body, the Church, that person enters into the Church which is already baptized in the Spirit. The person enters into the Spirit immersed Church. They enter into what has been baptized in the Spirit.

So, what about my experience?

For those who have experienced what they would call the Baptism of the Spirit some time post-conversion, what should they think? Should they think that they were Christians yet lacked the Spirit before that moment? Or should they think that they were not truly Christians until that moment? A third way of reflection will reap more fruit. When you became a Christian, you were truly immersed into the Church, grafted into the body of Christ which is baptized in the Spirit. You received the Spirit. You were genuinely a new creation, a true believer. Your subsequent experience was not a second baptism of the Spirit. However, it could be a true experience of the Spirit. We are commanded in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit. So, perhaps a better word to describe what happened is a renewed filling of the Spirit.

Conclusion

While disagreeing with the Pentecostal teaching that baptism of the Spirit occurs some time after conversion and is accompanied by speaking in tongues, all Christians should learn from the Pentecostal movement to be eager for manifestations of the Spirit in their lives and pray earnestly to be filled with the Spirit at all times for the mutual upbuilding of the church (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12).

In the Scriptures we have what may seem to be incoherent teachings on the means of forgiveness. It is clear that Jesus came to forgive his people from their sins. Before his birth, Jesus’ mission was proclaimed to his mother, Mary. “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Just before his death, Jesus proclaimed his mission to the disciples. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins'” (Matt. 26:27-28).

We cannot miss this fact: forgiveness of sin is accomplished by the saving work of Jesus Christ, not by any work of our own. And yet, some may think that baptism is a requirement to receive forgiveness. That is, one cannot be forgiven unless baptized. This is due in part to what we have recorded in Scripture. Peter announced to the Jews in Jerusalem at Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,” (Acts 2:38). Even the great forerunner, John the Baptist, came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (see Mark 1:4).

So we cannot miss this second fact: baptism goes hand-in-hand with the gospel message. But we ought not to interpret the words in Acts 2:38 to mean that forgiveness of sins is a result of baptism. The verse does not state, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ in order to be forgiven of your sins.” That would mean baptism in and of itself secures forgiveness. But we cannot take someone and baptize them Nacho Libre style and believe they are forgiven of their sins, even though that person has not repented nor believes in Christ. Instead, the verse says, “Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Understanding How Prepositions Work

The key to theological accuracy is often found in the details. Those details are what grammarians call prepositions: through, from, out of, and yes, even the pesky word around baptism, for. The English preposition for can be used to explain or clarify something. “Little Timmy hobbled on crutches, for he was crippled.” In this case, for explains why Timmy was using crutches – he was a cripple. For can also be used to specify a beneficiary of certain acts. “The batter got hit by a 100mph fastball. He took one for the team.” The team benefitted an advance of base runners at the expense of the batter’s pain. The word for can also be used to express a purpose or intention; “The entire South went into the grocery store before a snow storm for some milk and bread.” The intention of the trip was acquiring milk and bread.

The preposition for is used in these three ways when Jesus instituted the Last Supper. He had his disciples eat the bread and drink of the cup for it was his blood of the covenant that was going to be poured out (explanation), for the many (beneficiaries), for the forgiveness of sins (intention/purpose). I write all this to make one simple point: the preposition for does not de-facto mean in order to.

Check Your Surroundings

Too often we can fall into theological error by zooming in on one verse, or one word in a verse, and then building our theology on that one word. That may sound contradictory to the whole discussion above that zoomed in on the one word for. But theological clarity is achieved by using a microscope and a fish-eye lens, a telescope and the naked eye. We need the minute details, and we need the view of the horizon. Now that we have zoomed in, we need to zoom out and check the literary surroundings.

In the gospels we have a move towards redemption. That is, forgiveness in Christ’s name has yet to be accomplished, but the story is going there. The teachings are future-oriented. Jesus will die, he will save his people from their sins, his blood will be poured out for forgiveness. In Acts we look backwards towards redemption. Christ has died and rose again, his blood has been poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness has been accomplished in Christ’s work alone.

So when the men of Israel who crucified and killed Jesus by the hands of lawless men, when those men asked Peter what they should do, Peter answered, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” This is not because baptism would accomplish forgiveness of sins; only Christ can do that. Rather, we must read that the right response to Christ’s resurrection was twofold: repent and be baptized. But this is not just any baptism. The baptism Peter refers to is clarified as baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” That whole phrase goes together. That is the kind of baptism Peter is referring to. It is not “be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” so that you may be forgiven. It is be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” This baptism, Christian baptism, is the baptism that says forgiveness of sins is in the name of Jesus Christ. Being baptized is faith responding to the teaching that in Christ alone is forgiveness.

A Voice from our Past

Hear these words from St. Basil the Great in his work, On the Holy Spirit. “Now Faith and baptism are two ways of salvation that are naturally united with each other and indivisible. While faith is perfected by baptism, baptism is established by faith, and is carried out by the same names. For as we believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so also we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The confession that brings salvation comes first and there follows baptism which seals our ascent.” (ss. 12,28).

Concluding Thoughts with a Question

Here is the key distinction: Baptism has no power of its own to wash away sins; but Jesus Christ does. So Baptism does not forgive sins, for only Christ can do that. Baptism in Christ’s name for the forgiveness of sins, then, is faith responding to the question “What can wash away my sins?” with the resounding, “Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

So then, should you be baptized? If you believe Christ alone has accomplished forgiveness of your sins, then…