Bautismo del Espíritu Santo

gospelrelevance.com/2021/10/26/baptism-of-the-holy-spirit

October 26, 2021

[especial] Nota : El siguiente artículo es un texto académico que ha sido modificado para su
formato de blog. En lugar de examinar todos los pasajes posibles sobre el bautismo del
Espíritu Santo, el artículo a continuación argumenta en contra de una interpretación
carismática tradicional del bautismo del Espíritu Santo según Hechos 19:1-7.[/especial]

La expresión literal “bautismo del Espíritu Santo” no aparece ni una sola vez en la Biblia,
aunque la frase “bautismo en el Espíritu Santo” aparece seis veces. A veces se hace
referencia a esta frase como una “segunda bendición”, aunque ese lenguaje no se encuentra
en ninguna parte de los escritos de Pablo. Curiosamente, muchos líderes cristianos que se
identifican como carismáticos no solo creen en el bautismo del Espíritu Santo –o, como
algunos prefieren, una segunda bendición–, sino que enseñan con autoridad sobre él y
alientan a otros a seguir su ejemplo.

En términos muy sencillos, el bautismo del Espíritu Santo puede definirse como la llenura del
Espíritu Santo después de la conversión, generalmente acompañada del don espiritual de
lenguas. La implicación detrás de esta definición es que uno puede ser cristiano y no estar
lleno del Espíritu Santo.

Es mejor rechazar la interpretación carismática tradicional del bautismo del Espíritu Santo.
Por el contrario, es mejor considerar la expresión como un lenguaje metafórico para denotar
la purificación continua del pecado en la vida de uno.

El espacio aquí no me permite examinar este tema en detalle. En lugar de examinar esta
doctrina a partir de toda la Escritura, nuestro enfoque principal será Hechos 19:1-7 . Es cierto
que Hechos 1:5 y el pasaje de Pentecostés (Hechos 2) son amenazas mayores para mi
conclusión, pero tendremos que examinar esos pasajes en otro momento hoy. Nuevamente:
nuestro enfoque principal será Hechos 19:1-7.
Al examinar estos versículos, argumentaré que la palabra “discípulos” en este contexto no
se refiere a los seguidores de Jesucristo en el entendimiento moderno de la palabra y que
uno no puede defender responsablemente el Bautismo del Espíritu Santo para los cristianos
a partir de este pasaje .

Leamos el pasaje.

Hechos 19:1-7

Aconteció que mientras Apolos estaba en Corinto, Pablo, recorriendo el interior del
país, llegó a Éfeso, donde encontró a algunos discípulos. Les preguntó: «¿Recibieron
el Espíritu Santo cuando creyeron?» Ellos respondieron: «No, ni siquiera hemos oído
que exista el Espíritu Santo». Entonces les preguntó: «¿En qué, pues, fueron
bautizados?» Ellos respondieron: «En el bautismo de Juan». Pablo respondió: «Juan
bautizó con bautismo de arrepentimiento, diciendo al pueblo que creyese en aquel que
había de venir después de él, es decir, en Jesús». Al oír esto, fueron bautizados en el
nombre del Señor Jesús. Y cuando Pablo les impuso las manos, el Espíritu Santo vino
sobre ellos, y comenzaron a hablar en lenguas y a profetizar. Eran en total unos doce
hombres.

Pablo entra en Éfeso

Hechos 19:1 nos dice que Pablo entra en Éfeso. Leemos que “allí encontró a algunos
discípulos”. Les pregunta si habían recibido el Espíritu Santo cuando creyeron, a lo que
respondieron “no” (Hechos 19:2). Más aún, afirmaron que “ni siquiera habían oído que
hubiera Espíritu Santo” (Hechos 19:2b). Después de algunas preguntas más de Pablo, una
aclaración sobre Jesús y un bautismo cristiano, él [Pablo] finalmente impone las manos
sobre estos hombres, y es entonces cuando “el Espíritu Santo vino sobre ellos” (Hechos
19:6).

Quienes usan este pasaje para abogar por una segunda bendición para los cristianos lo
hacen principalmente debido a su comprensión de la palabra “discípulos” en este contexto.
Su lógica para este pasaje es algo así como esto: “Pablo fue a Éfeso. Allí encontró a algunos
discípulos de Jesucristo. Después de hablar con estos discípulos, Pablo descubrió que no
habían recibido el Espíritu Santo. Después de orar e imponer las manos sobre estos
hombres, recibieron el Espíritu Santo. Por lo tanto, podemos concluir que uno puede ser
cristiano y no tener el Espíritu Santo. Los cristianos deben buscar una segunda bendición”.

Pero no creo que el propósito de Hechos 19:1-7 sea enseñar una segunda bendición para los
cristianos. Dicho esto, sin embargo, debemos respetar a nuestros hermanos y hermanas
carismáticos evangélicos en Cristo y a quienes creen en una segunda bendición. Su amor
por el Espíritu Santo es contagioso. La denominación pentecostal está aumentando en
número rápidamente, y me pregunto si eso se debe a su sincero compromiso con la oración
y la devoción a ser guiados y capacitados por el Espíritu Santo.

Sin duda, todos podemos estar de acuerdo en que necesitamos al Espíritu Santo para recibir
poder en la vida cristiana, especialmente para el ministerio cristiano (Hechos 2:4). Y, sin
embargo, cuando examinamos la interpretación carismática popular de Hechos 19:1-7 en
particular, vemos en muchos sentidos cómo las conclusiones exegéticas asociadas con
este pasaje son insuficientes. Como escribe I. Howard Marshal: “Esta historia se ha utilizado
a menudo como base para doctrinas sobre la recepción de los dones del Espíritu posteriores
a la conversión; pero no tiene ninguna conexión real con ellos”. [1]

¿Qué significa “discípulo”?

The word “disciple” has linguistic flexibility. In this context, it is not referring to persons who
have saving faith in Jesus Christ. Marshall writes, “These men can hardly have been
Christians since they had not received the gift of the Spirit; it is safe to say that the New
Testament does not recognize the possibility of being a Christian apart from possession of
the Spirit.”[2]

The Greek word specifically used here (for the word “disciple”) is mathētēs. What does this
mean? It can mean a few different things, and BDAG provides several helpful definitions.
Broadly, this word can mean “learner, pupil, disciple.”[3] This is how the word is often used.
To be more particular, BDAG provides two more helpful definitions: 1. “One who engages in
learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice (in contrast to the teacher,” and 2.
“One who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical reputation or
a particular set of view, disciple, adherent.”[4]

It is wrong to assume, then, that when the word mathētēs is used in the Bible, it is always and
exclusively in reference to followers of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, this word may refer to
disciples of John (Luke 5:33), disciples of Moses (John 9:28), and so on. Even more, as we
have seen from BDAG, the word mathētēs can mean one who follows or learns or associates
with another person who has a pedagogical reputation. One can be a disciple and not have
saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Others have proposed that Luke was referring to disciples of John. Howard argues that this
is “unlikely” since “John the Baptist did not need to be held responsible for any strange views
from his followers.”[6] However, in 19:3 these men confess to having been baptized into
John’s baptism, and one can see the correlation between being baptized into John and being
John’s disciples. It is not far-fetched to say that these disciples were followers of John as we
see direct correlations to this conclusion in the text.
It is not clear whether these “disciples” were disciples of John or not, but it clear that they
were not yet Christians. Since they had a relationship with John the Baptist, it is hard to
believe that they would know nothing about Christ since he was the one who John pointed
to. However, one can know about Christ and not be saved by him. It’s not that they had no
knowledge of Jesus whatsoever; it’s that their knowledge of Jesus was insufficient.

Thus, when Luke uses the word “disciples,” we can conclude two possibilities: 1. He was
using the word in reference to disciples of John the Baptist who had some knowledge, but
not saving knowledge of Jesus. 2. He was using the word in reference to how these men
originally appeared to Paul.[9]

I think number two is correct.

One can appear to be a Christian – especially when you first meet them – but really not be a
Christian. That may be what happened here. That is, Luke may be simply writing from Paul’s
point of view. They appeared to be Christians but were not.

When You Believed?

Another aspect of this passage that we must address is the Greek word for “when you
believed.” This is admittedly a more difficult issue to flesh out. The word, in this context, can
be rendered as “having believed.” The ESV states it slightly differently when it says, “Did you
receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2; emphasis added). The implication is
that these men have already believed in something. But the text does not mention what they
believed in.

The advocates for a second blessing will say that they believed in Jesus, thus showing that
one can believe in Jesus and not have the Holy Spirit. The root word for “having believed” is
pisteuó. The two definitions BDAG provides for this word are: 1. “To consider something to
be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust, believe . . .” 2. “To entrust oneself to an entity in
complete confidence, believe (in) trust.”[11] Two similar words are used in James 2:19: “You
believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19;
emphasis added). It would be ridiculous to assume that demons could have saving faith in
Jesus or the possibility to receive the Holy Spirit, yet James tells us that they also “believe.”
So we can conclude that this word is not always used in association with saving faith in
Jesus.

Ephesus

The city in which Paul found these men, Ephesus, was known for cults and idolatry.[12] As a
result, there seems to have been many theological errors floating around in Ephesus which
separated Christ’s resurrection and outpouring of the Spirit, and these men fell into those
errors.[13] Their confusion about the Holy Spirit is obvious when they say, “we have not even
heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). It is best not to take this statement literally.
Wallace argues that the rendering of this sentence can be: “we have not heard whether a
Spirit can be holy.”[14] Bock mentions that this does not mean that they did not know the
Holy Spirit exists. That’s because John the Baptist spoke about it (Luke 3:15-16). Rather this
statement is best understood to mean that they didn’t know the Holy Spirit has come.[16]
They were those who “knew about Jesus but not the work of the Spirit that is also a part of
the promise”[17] They lacked both sufficient knowledge and saving faith.

Paul Points Them to Jesus

Remember, these men appeared to Paul to be disciples. Naturally, then, it is fitting that Paul
would ask a question about belief and faith as an introductory question. When you have faith
in something, and you meet someone who you think also has faith in that same thing, you
naturally would want to talk to them about it. But soon into the conversation, Paul realizes
that appearance is not always reality.

While in conversation with these men, Paul realizes that the disciples’ understanding of
Christ is skewed, and Paul seeks to correct their misunderstanding. That’s why Paul says,
“John Baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who
was to come after him, that is, Jesus” (Acts 19:4). The Apostle Paul is essential saying: “Your
baptism was not done in the name of Jesus. The one you follow, John the Baptist, pointed to
a greater reality, Jesus, and you must turn to him and be baptized in his name.” Paul is
showing these men their need for Jesus Christ, that’s why he mentions “repentance” in verse
four — to point these unbelievers to John the Baptist’s primary message: repent and believe
in Jesus.

If we describe this text as “Paul evangelizing these disciples,” we might be using too strong
of language. But it is not too strong to say that Paul provided clarification about Jesus to
these men for the purpose of persuading them to repent and believe in Christ. Paul
succeeds. Faith comes by hearing, and after hearing about repentance and Jesus, these men
come to faith in Christ: “On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus”
(Act 19:5).

They were not Christians when Paul met them. They became Christians through Paul. They
were baptized and received the Holy Spirit. While there are certainly examples of the Spirit
empowering certain Christians for Christian ministry after their conversion, the example of
the Holy Spirit “coming upon” these men in Ephesus in Acts 19:6 should not be understood
to be a second blessing, but merely the recipient of the Holy Spirit at the time of their
conversion. That’s what happens to every person who repents and trusts in Christ: they
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).
Baptism of the Holy Spirit from John’s Gospel

One may object to this discussion of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and refer to John the
Baptist’s saying on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke
3:16). It seems appropriate to address this here because the disciples in Ephesus in Acts
19:1-7 may have been disciples of John, although I won’t address it in-depth.

Let’s look at this verse from John’s Gospel: “. . . ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and
remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’” (John 1:32-33).

When the authors of the Gospel accounts speak of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, what
exactly are they trying to tell us? I believe Andreas J. Kostenberger eloquently contributes to
our discussion when he writes: “In context, this also reveals a soteriological dimension of the
Spirit’s work in that Spirit baptism is related to the removal of sin.”[19] When John speaks of
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he is using metaphorical language; he is not speaking literally.
In particular, when the Gospel writers speak of the baptism of the Holy Spirit they are
illustrating the purification, removal, and sanctification of sin through the empowering Holy
Spirit whom every Christian receives at the time of their justification.

Does that mean we do not need the Holy Spirit? Perish the thought. Every Christian has the
Holy Spirit and needs continuous empowerment of the Holy Spirit. So while we want to avoid
the language of speaking of a “second blessing” or presuming upon a subjective, emotional
experience that one has at a given point to authenticate the Holy Spirit’s working in one’s life,
we must speak of experiencing the Holy Spirit and receiving empowerment from the Holy
Spirit – particularly for Christian ministry. This is what happens at Pentecost. The believers
are told to wait for the Spirit: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). This particular verse is unique
in that it embarks in a new covenant age, something Old Testament believers would have not
experienced in full. But still, the point remains that even believers who have been sealed by
the Spirit should seek to be continually and regularly empowered by the Spirit.

Acts and the Holy Spirit

We must understand that we are not Apostles and our time is not the same as the time of
the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a unique time period in redemptive-historical history in
which miracles, manifestations of the Spirit, and other supernatural occurrences simply do
not happen in the same measure today as they did back then. It is also best to avoid proof-
texting when it comes to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

We must, furthermore, admit that our text here in Acts – Acts 19:1-7 – is descriptive, and not
prescriptive. That is, Luke is merely describing one unique story in Apostolic history and not
trying to prescribe a new normal concerning the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. One
would be unwise to build an entire theology of the Holy Spirit based on one passage –
especially on just one passage (or verse) in the book of Acts. The Scriptures that are rare or
ambiguous must be combined with the Scriptures that are clear. And it is clear from New
Testament teachings that one cannot be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit (Ephesians
1:13). Therefore, we should assume that our text in Acts is not an attempt to prescribe a
second blessing for the life of the church. It’s merely describing one story in redemptive-
history.

Acts 19:1-7 is an encouraging text, but the application of the passage can cause damage in
the church if the exegesis of the text is not appropriately done. Can you argue for a baptism
of the Holy Spirit from another passage? Maybe. But not from Acts 19:1-7. Indeed, we should
think twice about a second blessing when we examine Acts 19:1-7 since all of the exegetical
evidence seems to vote against it.

[1] I. Howard Marshall, Acts: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: IVP
Academic, 2008), 323.

[2] Ibíd., 323.

[3] Ley de la Agricultura y la Alimentación, 609.

[4] Ley de la Agricultura y la Alimentación, 609.

[5] Bock Darrell, Hechos de los Apóstoles. Comentario exegético de Baker sobre el Nuevo
Testamento (Ada: Baker Academic, 2007), 599.

[6] Ibíd., 323.

[7] Bruce, FF El Libro de los Hechos, Nuevo Comentario Internacional sobre el Nuevo
Testamento (Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 1988), 363.

[8] Libro, 599.

[9] Marshall, 324.

[10] Barrett CK, Hechos: Volumen 2: 15-28 Comentario crítico internacional (Nueva York: T&T
Clark, 2004), 893.

[11] Documentos BDAG, 816-817.

[12] Wallace B. Daniel, Gramática griega más allá de lo básico: una sintaxis exegética del
Nuevo Testamento (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 312.

[13] Ibíd., 325.

[15] Wallace, 312.

[16] Libro, 599.

[17] Libro, 599.

[18] Ibíd., 325.

[19] Kostenberger Andreas, Comentario exegético de John Baker sobre el Nuevo Testamento
(Ada: Baker Academic, 2004), 71.

[20] Libro, 600.

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