“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Matthew 3:11
Having experienced what some Christian traditions call “baptism in the Spirit” or “being filled with the Spirit” (Acts 2:4; Ephesians 5:18), I have spent years searching for ways to explain it. Before I experienced it, I felt that it had been explained poorly by many in the church, so I set out to find as many analogies as I could to describe it. In simple terms, it is when a person who has the Holy Spirit within them gets flooded by the Holy Spirit coming upon them. It’s not that we get “more” of the Holy Spirit but that the Spirit gets more of us.
- Lightening Strike: When a positive streamer coming up from the ground (Holy Spirit within us) meets with a step leader coming down from the cloud (Holy Spirit upon us) and creates an explosion in the air that we call lightening.
- Flood: When the water in the lake (Holy Spirit within us) experiences torrential rain (Holy Spirit upon us) to the point where the dam breaks and floods the area.
- Temple: Baptism in the Spirit is when the curtain between the Most Holy Place (our spirit) and the Holy Place (our soul – mind, will, emotions) gets torn in two and the Holy Spirit breaks out from our spirit, into our soul and body (outer courts).
- Exodus: Israel not only went through the waters of the Red Sea setting them free from slavery, they also went through the waters of the Jordan River as they stepped into their promised inheritance. We not only are baptized by water, symbolizing cleansing from being enslaved to sin, but we are baptized by the Spirit, allowing us to step into the inheritance of the Kingdom that God has for us.
- Chocolate Milk: When we put chocolate syrup in the milk, it all goes in but it doesn’t mean we have chocolate milk yet. It all rests at the bottom of the glass. It’s not until the chocolate syrup is stirred up that it infuses through the whole glass of milk. Likewise we have all of the Spirit when we get saved. Baptism of the Spirit is when the Spirit upon us stirs up the Spirit within us and causes it to spread throughout our whole being. The result is something new.
- Popcorn: A kernel of popcorn has a tiny droplet of water inside it. When it is heated to a certain point it pops. Though nothing was “added” to the popcorn, it has become something completely different. It is flipped inside out. The pressure from the internal steam cooks it and pops it open. Baptism in the Spirit is when a Christian gets set on fire to the point of “popping.”
- Soda: When a cap is on a soda, even if you shake it up, it doesn’t overflow. But if you shake it up and then twist the cap, the internal carbonation starts bubbling up and overflowing. Baptism in the Spirit is when someone with the Spirit within (carbonation) gets shaken by the Spirit upon them and the cap gets removed causing an overflow. The cap is often something in our lives that has been resisting God in some way. It’s different for each person.
I hope these help. If not, I’ll continue to seek the Lord for better ways to describe this work that He does in our life.
Fire and Light 