Publisher's Synopsis
On the day of Pentecost, two worlds collided. One was the old world of the Jewish theocracy; the other world, the undisclosed Body of Christ, the Church, initially all Jewish but eventually consisting mostly of Gentiles.
The Jews looked forward to outpouring of the Spirit upon the remnant of Israel (Joel 2). The Gentiles were startled to find themselves included in the mystery of the Body of Christ, equal in spiritual privilege to the Jews.
The Jews looked for signs in the heavens and the earth and found them [Joel 2; Acts 2]. But instead of the signs of the arrival of the promised Kingdom, they received signs of a coming judgment, the loss of their status as the missionary agency of God in the world and the ordination of a new and unknown entity, the Church, as the new vehicle of evangelism, including the evangelism of even the Jews themselves through the spiritual gift of tongues [1Cor 14.21-22].
We are not talking about two literal baptisms occurring on and after the day of Pentecost. We are talking about a single event, one baptism that was understood in two different ways by the Jews and the Gentiles. To the Jews it was seen as a fulfillment of prophecy, and it was. To the Gentiles it was a previously undisclosed event, a mystery that created a new era of spiritual possibility, and it was.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a comprehensive treatment of this sovereign action of God that is received by every true believer in Jesus Christ, making him a member of His spiritual Body, the Bride of Christ, an heir and joint heir with Him for all time. The Baptism of the Spirit is not what one is usually taught today, It is a divine work that defines the stupendous spiritual opportunity made available to every true Christian in this age and the eternal privilege awaiting us in the ages to come.
