’Cause there’s a difference between the two, despite what non-charismatics claim.
Ephesians 1.13-14 KWL - 13 In
Christ you heard the truthful word—the good news of your salvation!- In
Christ you believed; you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit!- 14 He’s the down payment of our inheritance—
- releasing
our trust fund—praisingGod’s glory. - In
’Member when you got saved? Maybe not; maybe it was a gradual process. Doesn’t matter. At some point in that process God decided to take up residence in your life. We call it indwelling. You got “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” as Paul put it. He’s in you. Right now. Whispering God’s will into you. Hope you’re listening.
Now, non-charismatics claim when the Spirit gets into us like that, yeah it’s called indwelling, but it’s also called “the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
Why do they claim this? ’Cause they’re non-charismatics. A
And if God doesn’t do supernatural stuff, the Holy Spirit’s baptism doesn’t look like it does in
Charismatics, by comparison, believe Spirit baptism is gonna resemble its description in the bible. Maybe not with rushing wind and tongues of fire. Then again, maybe so. But if that doesn’t happen, there will at least be speaking in tongues—a topic I’ll discuss elsewhere.
But not today. Today I just wanna make clear: Getting sealed with the Spirit is not the same as getting baptized in the Spirit. One happens when you come to Jesus. The other happens when the Spirit decides you’re ready to use his power.