And You Shall Receive Power... {deeper dive}

baptism into the body + baptism in water + baptism of other tongues

Friend, I’ve resurrected some ‘old’ words to share this week. We are on a trip to celebrate a big change in my husband’s work life. He coached his last university basketball game during post-season play in March. I felt like his decades-long coaching career warranted a bit of celebrating. (He will remain as VP of Intercollegiate Athletics so not retiring just yet.)

This essay first appeared in my book “More Than A Church Girl: 100 Stories of Life, Faith, and Family.” The topic of this post is timely, with Pentecost Sunday coming this month.

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Baptism into the body…

For most of my life, I had a rather misconstrued idea of what being baptized in the Holy Spirit meant. But first, let me clarify because I do not want to lose you.

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12.13

It is my belief our initial “baptism into the body of Christ takes place at salvation.”¹ Those are the words of author, professor, and my friend, Dr. Garnet E. Pike. The understanding is that those who believe in the name of the Lord are baptized into the Spirit of God. This is our rebirth—our second birth into God’s family. At the age of six years old, I gave my heart to the Lord and received this salvation—my baptism into the body of Christ.

What about you? In your faith background, this doctrinal explanation may have been communicated clearly. For me, growing up in a Pentecostal church culture, this either was not the case, or I simply did not understand. Certainly, the latter is possible.

The emphasis on baptism, in my experience, was primarily focused on water baptism and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (the gift of tongues). At a young age, I was baptized in water—a public declaration of my decision to follow Christ.

Not to be overlooked is a third baptism. It is a gift of grace and available to every believer in Christ.