There has been a lot of confusion over this passage throughout the history of the church. In fact, there are a few Christian groups today who believe that the "baptism of the Spirit" occurs at some distant point following conversion. There are even a more groups who believe that baptism is necessary for forgiveness of sins. Still others insist that we receive the Holy Spirit during baptism just as the Spirit descended on Jesus during His baptism by John. Unfortunately, none of these views really fit with the teaching of Scripture.
When reading the book of Acts we must remember that the book is describing a period of dramatic transition. The book as a whole is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive. In other words, it is a good historical record showing us how the church, as we know it today, came into existence under the direction of the Apostles, those men commissioned directly by Jesus. We can look at the book and see how things were done, but it doesn't necessarily mean they must be done in exactly the same way today. It is a different type of writing compared to the rest of the New Testament, which is prescriptive, in that it says do this, don't do that, avoid this, cling to that, etc. So, when we seek to draw a specific principle from the book of Acts and interpret what we are reading we must compare it with the whole of Scripture.
With that in mind, let me provide a biblical definition and basis for baptism as I see it presented in Scripture. Baptism in no way provides salvation nor is it a means to salvation. Jesus' work on the cross is the sole means to forgiveness and redemption from sin (cf. Romans 3:24-25). Repenting of sin and turning to Jesus in faith is the only basis for forgiveness (cf. Romans 10:9). Thus, baptism is for followers of Jesus who desire to make their commitment to Him public and identify themselves with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism does not result in forgiveness of sins as some argue from Acts 2:38. There are two strong arguments to support this understanding of baptism:
(1) Luke, the writer of Acts and the gospel, clearly teaches in his other writings that repentance and belief (on the foundation of faith alone) are the basis for forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 5:31, 10:43; Luke 24:47). Other New Testament writers, such as Paul, clearly show that salvation (forgiveness of sins) comes solely "by grace, through faith" (Ephesians 2:8-9) to the "one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).
(2) Perhaps the most obvious support for this view is found in the linguistic support in the original Greek phrase of Acts 2:38: "repent and be baptized…for the forgiveness of your sins." In the Greek the verb makes a distinction between singular and plural verbs and nouns. In Acts 2:38 the verb "repent" is plural and so is the pronoun "your" in the clause "for the forgiveness of your sins." Thus, the verb "repent" is tied linguistically to the purpose of forgiveness of sins. Conversely, the imperative "be baptized" is singular, separating it from "forgiveness."
So, we repent of our sin, turn to Jesus through faith (internal) and publicly announce our faith to others through baptism (external).
In John 14:16-17 and 16:7-11 Jesus promised that when He left the apostles and ascended into heaven the Father would send the Holy Spirit to fill every believer. In fact, Acts 1:5 records Jesus telling the apostles they would "be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Sure enough, that happened in the very next chapter on the day of Pentecost. This is a perfect illustration of how the book of Acts is descriptive, not prescriptive. The day of Pentecost was a unique event, in that the apostles were already followers of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit at a later date. From that special event until today the Holy Spirit immediately indwells every believer at the moment of conversion and never leaves us. Romans 8:9 describes how the Spirit is in everyone who has eternal life and John 14:16-17 says that that the Spirit "dwells with" and "will be in" believers "forever;" meaning that He never leaves us.
Thus, there is no special "filling" or "baptism" of the Spirit. In fact, the Bible says that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). If you are a believer in Jesus you have the Holy Spirit in you as revealed by the statement in Romans 8:9 that anyone who does "not have the Spirit…does not belong to Christ." If you belong to Christ you have the Holy Spirit. His presence in your life should be confirmed through the outworking of the "fruits of the Spirit" in Galatians 5.
"So I say, walk by the Spirit." - Gal. 5:16
