Several observations are in order: First, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift promised by God the Father. That means it comes wholly apart from anything we do. It is an undeserved blessing from God. Second, Jesus had previously instructed his disciples regarding this promised gift. This evidently refers to the instruction Jesus gave his disciples in the Upper Room Discourse—John 13-17, especially John 14:16-18 and 16:7-15. Jesus pointed to a day when the disciples would experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit unlike anything they had known up until that moment. Third, water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism are somehow related to each other. Fourth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was absolutely necessary for effective Christian witness. That’s why Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem. He knew they could never reach the world with the gospel unless they had the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.
With that as background, we turn now to some basic questions about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.(1)