The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1): The Promise of the Spirit

The Baptism in the Spirit is when we receive the Spirit upon us, clothing us with His power to witness. 'Baptism means immersion, so to be Baptised in the Spirit means to be immersed in the Spirit (the Spirit upon us). There is a 2-fold ministry of the Spirit in Scripture for us to receive: (1) the Spirit WITHIN, at salvation, for our own blessing, holiness and life with God, and later (2) the Spirit UPON, at our Baptism in the Spirit. To be baptised in the Spirit, we must first be born again and receive the Spirit within (Matt 9:17), then we can receive the Spirit upon. Jesus Himself (1) had the Spirit within from conception, and then later (2) received the Spirit upon, when He received power for His ministry. At salvation, we were BAPTISED into CHRIST and received the Spirit WITHIN (1Cor 12:13). This is the ONE Baptism ALL believers have (Eph 4:4-5). In the Baptism in the Spirit, the Spirit within us also comes UPON us. The PURPOSE of the Baptism in the Spirit is POWER for ministry, for fulfilling the Great Commission. At our Baptism into Christ, we received the blessing for ourselves through the Spirit within, who connects us to God and His life. Next we need to surrender ourselves to God, to receive His power upon us, to be a blessing to others: “You shall receive POWER when the HOLY SPIRIT has come UPON you; and you shall be My WITNESSES” (Acts 1:8). The same Spirit we receive WITHIN us at salvation, wants to also come UPON us to clothe us with power. Both these ministries of the Spirit (the Spirit WITHIN and UPON) are available for ALL believers, and were prophesied in the Old Testament, as coming to pass through the New Covenant of Messiah. Jesus called this promised 2-fold Blessing of the Spirit: ‘the Promise of the Father’, which includes the Baptism in the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4,5). At Pentecost, Peter announced the Promise of the Father had now been received by the exalted Jesus on our behalf, and was now fully poured out and freely given to us (Acts 2:33,38-39). The Father's Promise of the Sp