Here are twelve men who had apparently been baptized by followers of John. We don’t know exactly when this was. Did this go all the way back to the time when John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Lord? Were these some disciples of his [John’s] whom had been recently baptized, who didn’t know about the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord? Well, we don’t know. But, what we do know is that these had not yet received the Holy Spirit—the gift of the Holy Spirit—which was promised by Peter in Acts 2, verse 38. And so Paul baptized these ones into the Name of the Lord Jesus. Now, the logical conclusion here is: now that they have been, if you will, “properly baptized,” or that they had been baptized with the right understanding, with the right knowledge, then they received the Holy Spirit.

As an addendum here, outside of the purview of our discussion of the Holy Spirit, but nonetheless one that I think is worthy of consideration, let’s ask the question: Does the nature of one’s baptism really matter? Does it really count what one knows or what one understands when they are baptized? Well, this text certainly says it really does matter, doesn’t it? The nature of one’s baptism is absolutely important! Just ask these twelve men at Ephesus who were baptized, but the result was that they had perhaps “only gotten wet,” and not much else. Yes, it does make a difference!

Also worth noting here is that the receipt of the Holy Spirit upon those who repent and confess and are baptized is different from the miraculous receipt of the Holy Spirit. We see here in this text that those were two different, separate actions. Some people want to run that together in this passage and say, “Well, look, once these were baptized, then they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and they began speaking in tongues!” No, that’s not what this text says at all. They were baptized, and the conclusion is that they did receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as those on the Day of Pentecost did, and just as those who, every time thereafter, were baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. But separate from that, the apostle Paul laid hands on these ones, and it was then that they received the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. This particular point is illustrated not only here, but also in Acts, chapter 8, when Philip had gone to Samaria and had preached there. The text tells us that men and women were baptized. But it took a visit from two of the apostles, Peter and John, to come to Samaria and during their visit, they would lay hands on some that they selected there in Samaria. [Acts 8:14-17: “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”]

Continuing with our discussion of the Holy Spirit, we’ll look at a few more instances where it speaks about the Holy Spirit and His relationship with those who are believers. Romans, chapter 8, verse 9 says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Well, Paul is speaking here about the Holy Spirit dwelling in, and remember that he’s writing here to Christians in Rome.

Then in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” And in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 19, Paul again writing to the Christians in Corinth says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

Well, YES, the Holy Scriptures clearly teach that not only was the Spirit promised by the Lord, not only was it promised again on the Day of Pentecost by Peter, but it is specifically spoken of in the Scriptures, in a very clear way, that the Spirit dwells in the Christian. I don’t think there is any denying that fact. It’s as plain as can be. There are many other passages that we can look at to verify that point. So that’s that! That clears it up! Everybody now knows that the Spirit dwells in you and there’s nothing else to learn on that subject!

Well, there are a few other things we can say. Does anyone want to discuss how the Spirit dwells in you? Does anyone have a good answer on that? It’s in the Scripture! Well, there is a lingering question, and that is how does the Spirit dwell in us? Is His indwelling a literal indwelling? Is it a personal indwelling? Is it a direct indwelling?

The Scriptures say clearly and distinctly that He does dwell, but the Scriptures are a little vague on exactly how that is done. And, thus, it is a subject that has been studied and debated for generations. I do not propose to have all of the answers, nor could we in this hour or the hours that remain in this day and tomorrow and probably into next week adequately cover and discuss every facet of this question.