Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Dr. Jay Snell Newsletter Feed and Free Bonuses

Part Two: The Dark Mystery Finally Removed
From The Baptism in The Holy Ghost

John 20:19-22 is a dispensational pivot. There is a lot of argument about what happened in this passage. So many denominations attempt to make this Scripture mean a future event, as if Jesus was saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost a few days from now on the Day of Pentecost." But that's not what He said. Read the scripture again.

John 20:19-22

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20 And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

When He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," He meant for them to do it right then and there, he did not mean wait ten days. He did not mean wait until the Day of Pentecost which was a few days away. He meant do it now. How do we know this? Because this passage in the Greek text is written in the Greek imperative mood, and in the Greek imperative, commands never had to do with a future undertaking. As a matter of fact, in the Greek imperative there is no such thing as a future form. There is no way a Greek could give a command in the imperative and give it any form of a future significance. It always meant do it now, especially when that command was given by one who was in authority to one who was his inferior. I don't think anyone would argue with me that Jesus was the one in authority here, and those to whom He was speaking were inferior to Him; and therefore, the Greek imperative meant that they were to receive the Holy Ghost then and there.

Why do I keep saying "the Greek"? Because the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language, the language of the common people during the days in which Jesus lived. So it was a common, ordinary Greek language that they used. The Greek language is a lot different from our language, it's a lot more expressive. As a matter of fact, classical Greek is the most expressive language that has ever been developed. The common Greek of Jesus' day was not quite so expressive, but it was still the most expressive language known at that time and a lot more expressive and exact and precise than our English today.

When a Greek would use a command in the imperative mood he meant do it now, not tomorrow, or ten days from now. So what Jesus said to them when He breathed on them was that they were to receive the Holy Ghost then and there. This is of major significance for this reason. It is at this point that the disciples actually received the indwelling of the Spirit of God. If we used further New Testament terminology we would say that it was at this point that they were born again. Because it was at this point that the Spirit of God came for the first time into their spirits, and they were literally born again.

Somebody might say, "Well, Brother Jay, weren't the disciples Christians? Weren't they saved before this?" They were saved before this, but you have to understand how. Prior to this time there was no such thing as a "Christian", because the Holy Ghost had not yet been given in the way in which He has been in the present Christian era.

They were saved because they were born into it, and they were promised that by Abraham's Covenant. And by keeping Moses' law they maintained what God gave them by promise. So they were saved in the Old Testament sense of the word.

Now Jesus' death was the final sacrifice under Moses' law, and when a person received Him as his Savior that was the final sacrifice for his sins under Moses' law. So yes, they were saved both in the New Testament and in the Old Testament manner of looking at it. But here is where Jesus gave for the first time the Holy Ghost as a permanent indwelling on the part of saved people. For in the Old Testament the Spirit of God did not permanently indwell a person, though they were saved. The saved in the Old Testament were as saved as any body in the New Testament; that includes Peter, Paul, or you and I. They were saved.

But in this scripture passage there is a dispensational change in the making. For it's here that Jesus breathed the Holy Ghost. And He, the Holy Ghost, was to be received by these disciples here in John 20, and He was to permanently dwell in them. So when he said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," He did it in the form of the imperative which lets us know that He meant for it to happen right then. At this point they became what you and I call Christians. ( They were not called Christians in scripture until Antioch some years later.)

Now to argue with this, here is what you have to do. You have to go back 2000 years, dig up every Greek grammar you can find, and rewrite it. Because until and unless you can unravel every Greek grammar that has ever been done in anybody's language and go back and change the language that was spoken, you cannot view this as being a command on the part of Jesus for those people to do something several days away. Therefore, He meant do it then. He breathed it and said do it now. And I firmly believe that they did. Here is where the Christian era, or the dispensation of the church age as we call it, actually began.

Now there is a difference in receiving the Holy Ghost for salvation or the new birth, and receiving the Holy Ghost for power, because some days later something happened to this same group on the Day of Pentecost when they were in the upper room. Look at Acts 2:1-4:

Acts 2:1-4

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

There was a space of days between the time when they received the indwelling Spirit at their New Birth, as the dispensation actually changed, and the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost baptized the whole planet. This, according to Peter, was a fulfillment of the prophecy given by the Prophet Joel.

Joel 2:28-29

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Here it came. God baptized the whole planet at this time. The Holy Ghost came into the upper room, filled it up, sat on the 120 who were there, and then filled them up. Now they had already received the Holy Ghost, but at this point in time He was on them, around them, and in them by way of filling. Before He was just there, but now they're filled with Him. Do you see the difference? In John 20 they received Him by the new birth, but in Acts 2 this is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. These are two distinct acts separated by a matter of days.

Let me say this, what happened on the Day of Pentecost has never been withdrawn. The baptism in the Holy Ghost is still here. Look at 1 Corinthians 12:13,

1 Corinthians 12:13

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Let's learn some things about the baptism in the Holy Ghost. When I saw this, I broke out shouting. This Scripture had plagued me, I didn't understand it, and I have found there are not many who do understand it. But God revealed this to me as I began taking this Scripture apart from the Greek New Testament. One of the greatest problems we have is unlearning some of the wrong doctrines we've had programmed into our minds. I had this problem, and the Spirit of God had a real time with me, but He finally got through to me and showed me what this really means.

The popular denominational view of this passage is this. They define the baptism of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of God placing you into your particular place into the body of Christ. Well, I can't argue that we are placed into the body of Christ. And I can't argue that this is called a baptism. The body of Christ is pictured in chapters 12 through 14 of 1 Corinthians as a human body, with each member being located in the body of Christ just as each member is in our human body. For instance, my thumb, my little finger, my nose, my hands, and feet are various members in my one body, and they all go together to make up what we call my particular human body. The church is pictured as the human body, with each one of us as members having a different place and a different function in the body of Christ. It is a fact that when we become a Christian, we are baptized or placed into the body of Christ and into our specific place. Some of us are preachers, some of us are deacons, some of us are Sunday School teachers, some of us are praise and worship singers, but all of us do not have the same function. This is called being baptized into the body of Christ. Most denominations call this placing into our respective places in the body of Christ the baptism of The Holy Ghost.

This sounds real good, except there are some real problems with this view which I don't think the denominations can explain. First of all, look at the expression in verse 13, "For by one Spirit...." The word "by" in this Scripture is the Greek preposition "in" - "For in one Spirit...." It's the same preposition as our English preposition "in". In English I would say, "I am in the studio." You could turn on your television and in English say, "This program is coming right in to my home." This preposition in Greek means the same thing as the English preposition - it means "in". In our English Bible, however, this preposition is sometimes translated by the word "by" or "with", making it function as a word which describes instrumentality. When it functions like that it's called, in Greek grammar, the "instrumental in". But there is no case in the Greek New Testament where an "instrumental in" cannot be translated with our English preposition "in" and still be just as plain.

So what this Scripture is saying is this, "We were all baptized into our place in the body of Christ which is located in one Spirit, i.e., the same spirit that covered the planet on the day of Pentecost and has been here ever since.." When we got saved we were all baptized or placed into our position in the body of Christ which is located in one Spirit. For you see on the Day of Pentecost the Spirit of God fell. And Joel's prophecy was at least to that point complete, for he prophesied, "...I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh...." And since the time of Acts 2, out of God's Spirit has been poured some of that Spirit upon all flesh. There is no flesh that the Spirit of God does not at this point rest upon, because of that baptism in Acts 2.

When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior we receive the indwelling Spirit, but we were already plunged into the heavenly element of the Holy Ghost which covers this entire planet. The body of Christ is located in this heavenly element, the Spirit. What I want you to see is that we, you and I, are located in that one Spirit and baptized into the one body of Christ which is located in that one Spirit as a result of Pentecost in Acts 2.

It might startle you to know that every time the word baptism is connected with the term Spirit or Holy Ghost it is always linked with the word in, and it should always be translated "baptized in the Holy Ghost". How did they translate this passage "baptized by" when the word means "in"? There are two passages of Scripture which talk about being smitten or killed with or by a sword which explains this.

Luke 22:49

49 When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

Revelation 13:10

10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

The word by or with is again the Greek preposition in. Why didn't they say "smitten in the sword"? Here's what they mean by the instrumental in. The Greek would view the smiting and the killing that the sword does as actually being in it. Therefore, you could say that they were smitten in the sphere of the function of that sword, for there is smiting or the capacity to smite and take a person's life located in that sword or in the sphere of the functions that are inherent in a sword.

Look at it this way, you wouldn't take a feather and smite someone because it's not in the sphere covered by the functions of feathers. This is how this Scripture was translated "by" instead of "in". The Greek mind thinks differently and expresses itself differently from the English mind. Their language was geared to enable them to express how they thought. We don't think like they did then. So we have to put ourselves in the place of the Greek and say it like he said it.

So every time baptism of the Holy Ghost, or with the Holy Ghost, or by the Holy Ghost is used, it always means baptism "in" the Holy Ghost. Now if you have been saved you are in the body of Christ that's automatic - but you are also in the Holy Ghost. This means that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is yours. All you have to do is receive it by faith and start acting on it. For when you act upon it things start happening, because the power inherent in the Holy Ghost begins to manifest itself in your life and ministry. The silliest doctrine around today is the one that some well-meaning folks teach, and it's that you have to tarry to receive the Holy Ghost of God. Let me tell you something. God is not going to pour out the Holy Ghost on the world again. He did it one time. And when He did, the Holy Ghost filled the upper room, covered all the planet, fell on all flesh, and he will not do it again. What we do is accept by faith what He has already done, and when we receive by faith what God has already done the power of that baptism suddenly becomes real to us for we begin to operate in what we already have.

This is no different than the same principal of salvation through Jesus Christ as a finished work. Christ died once for you and I. He came to this earth once and was crucified once for all. He is not coming back again to be crucified for anyone else. It is now up to us to accept His finished work by accepting salvation through Christ. In the same manner we accept, or actively receive, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The greatest discovery that I ever made in my life was the fact that almost every thing I ever prayed for as a Christian was already mine. I just didn't know it.

My job now is to build people's faith and show them that they don't have to pray for what they already have. Act on it, and enjoy it. Listen, I am in the Holy Ghost now, right this minute. So are you if you're saved. I am in that baptism that occurred 2000 years ago. I don't have to do one thing to get it except receive it by faith. Stop praying for what is already yours. If you'll do this you'll begin to flow in the power of God.

I've heard people pray the most heart wrenching, sincere prayer asking God for power. Let me tell you something, you don't have to ask God for power. That power came on the Day of Pentecost and it has never left. All God is waiting for is you to start moving in it, because you've got it. If you're saved you are already in the baptism - begin to operate in it. Stop asking God to baptize you, and ask Him to open your eyes so that you can see that all you have to do is receive it.

Your asking God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit would be the same as asking God to send Jesus to the cross to die for you so you could be saved. God did that 2000 years ago, and He's not going to do it again. You receive by faith what He did then, and you're saved now.

Well, God sent the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, and He's never left. You're in it, you're in it, you're in the heavenly element. He's not going to send Him again, no matter how long you tarry. He's here, He was poured out upon all flesh. Are you flesh? Then He's upon you.

You're in the body of Christ located in the one Spirit. So you receive what He did then, and you have power now.

Remember what I previously said concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit - you DON'T have to tarry to get it. As a matter of fact, it's an insult to God to tell Him you're tarrying when He has already poured His Spirit out on you. I want to again make a distinction between the Holy Ghost at salvation and receiving the Holy Ghost baptism. Read this account in Acts chapter 19 carefully.

Acts 19:1-7

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.

4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

7 And all the men were about twelve.

The Holy Ghost at salvation gets you born again and indwells you. The baptism in the Holy Ghost is for power, and there is a radical difference between the two. I know Christians (in fact I used to be one) who don't have enough power to blow the hat off your head in a wind storm. Then I learned about and tapped into the secret of God's power - the baptism in the Holy Ghost of God. When I did the power was there; I didn't have to tarry, I didn't have to wait. All I had to do was operate in it. Denomi-national teaching does all kinds of things to try and explain this away. They say that the expression "have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed" means did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed, taking it from the past into the present and making receive The Holy Ghost occur the same time as believing. But this is not what the Greek text says, and it's not what common sense says either.

The expression "did you receive the Holy Ghost since you believed" is structured in the form of a certain kind of participle in the Greek text, and this participle means this - it has to do with a finished action that occurs prior to the time of the main verb in the national teaching does all kinds of things to try and explain this away. They say that the expression "have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed" means did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed, taking it from the past into the present and making receive The Holy Ghost occur the same time as believing. But this is not what the Greek text says, and it's not what common sense says either.

The expression "did you receive the Holy Ghost since you believed" is structured in the form of a certain kind of participle in the Greek text, and this participle means this - it has to do with a finished action that occurs prior to the time of the main verb in the sentence. The main verb in this sentence is "received"; therefore, the participle makes this statement to mean "having previously believed, have ye received The Holy Ghost?" In other words, did you receive in the past - finished act, received in the past - the Holy Ghost prior to the time of your believing. So people are on shaky ground when they say that this should be translated "did you received the Holy Ghost simultaneous with believing", because that's not what it says.

Let's assume for a moment this denomi-national belief is right. Let's assume that they have the Greek language down to a science (which they don't) - but let's assume they do. And let's assume that the participle was really supposed to be translated "did you receive the Holy Ghost simultaneous with believing in Christ as your Savior." Let me give you a logical argument against this. The fact that Paul framed the question implies that it's possible to receive Christ as your Savior and not receive the Holy Ghost in the manner in which he is speaking of here. Otherwise, why would he ask a question like this? The fact that Paul asked this question implies that it is possible to be a born again Christian with the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and still not have received the Holy Ghost in the way in which Paul is talking. Again, why would he ask this question? Those people at Ephesus would have looked at him like he was nuts. He just would not logically have done such a thing.

But he did ask; therefore, it is indicative that it is possible, even if these critics are right about their Greek, for these Ephesians to really be saved and have the indwelling Spirit of God and still not have received the Holy Ghost. In Acts 19:5 he told them about Jesus, and they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. And then when Paul laid his hands on them the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. So it is possible to be saved and still not have received the Holy Ghost in the form of the baptism in the Holy Ghost.

When you get saved, you automatically have the Holy Ghost. Let me illustrate it this way. I performed a wedding once in a beautiful, huge home. When I arrived the butler let me in and closed the front door behind me. He said, "I'll see if they will receive you now." He left me in the foyer (which by the way was bigger than my entire house). Now, do you know who is the most important person at a wedding? It's not the bride. It's not the groom. It's the preacher, because without him or some other officer of the state there is not going to be a wedding. So, I was the most important one there - not me personally, but what I stood for - they needed my name on the license. Without me nothing is going to happen; and this butler said to me, "I'll see if they will receive you".

He then turned around, walked away, and left me standing there. And I'm the number one person! Well, in a few minutes the man of the house and his wife came to the foyer and very warmly received me. They showed me through the house, and in fact they gave me Carte Blanche. They said, "Anything you want is yours." They received me.

You can get saved and have the indwelling Spirit of God; and go on about your business and leave Him in the foyer, just barely inside your home. You haven't received the Holy Ghost yet. But when you become aware of the fact that the third person of the Godhead is actually living in you, and He's not a theological concept but is a real person – and not just any person but the third person of the Godhead you will begin to think, "Good heavens, what have I done to the third person of the Godhead? I have left Him in the foyer while I go on about my business!"

The average Christian doesn't think about the Holy Ghost at all except on Sunday. They don't want anybody, the third person of the Godhead or anybody else, to interfere with their lifestyle. I have found that people love for me to preach hard and be dynamic and evangelistic as long as I don't mess with their lifestyle. But the moment that I do, they resent it. They don't like the Holy Ghost interfering with their lifestyle, and that's the real reason they don't like the doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Ghost. That's the real reason they don't want anybody to tell them that they need to receive the third person of the Godhead, who is in the foyer of their heart, into the balance of their house for they don't want to be bothered with Him. They've left Him standing, waiting in the foyer of their being.

Until you receive The Holy Ghost as a person, you'll never experience the power of this baptism, for the power comes immediately when you receive the Spirit of God as the third person of the Godhead. Get Him out of the foyer and welcome Him into your entire home. When you do, the baptism that came on the Day of Pentecost will suddenly become not only theological concepts and denominational catch-all phrases to explain things away and rob you of your power, but will become electric and will empower you to live a victorious Christian life. You can receive the baptism in the Holy Ghost after you receive Him at salvation.

You don't have a problem receiving God the Father, everybody prays to God. You don't have a problem receiving God the Son. God created, Jesus saved, the Holy Ghost has the power to apply. And all three of them are God.

So Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" They answered, "We haven't even heard of Him." The average Christian does not realize that the Holy Ghost is in them. And they certainly don't realize that He is the third person of the Godhead. To most of them He is an impersonal It that resides somewhere in their brain - only when they think about it.

"Well, how do I receive the Holy Ghost?" Look at John 1:12.

John 1:12

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

When you receive Him, that is Jesus, you receive Him as your personal Savior. You accept Him at face value. You accept Him in your mind and heart and your whole being as the Son of God. You accept the fact that He died for your sins, that God raised Him from the dead, and He accepted His death as the clean slate for your sins. All this resides in Jesus. So you say, "Dear Jesus, I receive You, I accept You, You are who You said You were, and I want You."

The same thing happens at a wedding. The bride and groom stand before the minister, and he asks the groom, "Do you take this woman to be your lawful and wedded wife before God and everybody present?" He says, "I do," because if he says, "I don't," the wedding is off. But when he says, "I do," he has received her as his wife. The minister says to the woman, "Do you take this man to be your lawful and wedded husband before God and everybody present?" She says, "I do." What she means by that is that she accepts him as a person who is willing to marry her, and she is willing to marry this person. It is an interchange, a personal relationship between two people.

"To as many as received Him....", that is Jesus - a person, the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead as what He is, the Savior - when I say, "I do," to Him, He says, "I do," to me, then I have received Him. When I receive Him, He gives me the power and right to become a Son of God, and I'm saved right on the spot.

Let me clarify something again. When you get saved you've got the Holy Ghost in you. The Bible says in Romans 8:9, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His." The minute you get saved the Spirit of God recreates your spirit, makes it alive toward God, and moves in - but He's in the foyer, because the Holy Ghost is a perfect gentleman. He'll not run over anybody. He'll not come where He is not wanted. He's automatically there at the time of salvation, but He's in the foyer, and He won't move until you invite Him into the rest of your home.

To receive the Holy Ghost you just recognize that the third person of the Godhead is already living inside your heart, and He's been there since you received Jesus. Begin talking to Him, "Dear Spirit of God, I receive you now. Come out of the foyer of my heart and into my home, come into me."

Now listen, there are people going around all over the land telling dear Christians that they can't believe what I'm teaching you. But I want to ask you a question. Are you tired of being powerless? Are you tired of the Devil walking all over you and your family? Then why don't you receive the Holy Ghost just like the people in Ephesus did. Just say, "Dear Holy Ghost, I'm tired of having no power in my life. I've tried to live on my own without Your help. I've listened to Brother So and So, and it's gotten me no where. There's got to be more to being a Christian than what I have. I want to receive You. Spirit of God, please come out of the foyer into the rest of my home and You run my household."

My friend, guess what is going to happen? Denominational blinders are going to fall off your eyes, and power is going to surge into your life probably for the very first time. You will become aware that the Holy Ghost is not a Holy It who sits somewhere between your ears. He is a person who lives within you. He will take over your heart and life, and the power of God Almighty will begin to manifest itself in and through your life and the lives of your family.

Jesus said that God the Father would send the Holy Ghost down here to earth, and the Spirit of God would say and do only those things that God the Father instructed Him to do. And Paul asked, "Have you received that One."

In John 14:15-16 the Holy Ghost is called the Comforter. That is the translation of a Greek word which combines two Greek words; the Greek word Para, which is the preposition from which comes our word parallel (along side), combined with the Greek word Klatos, which means to call. Jesus said the Holy Ghost is going to be called along side. The King James translators viewed that as meaning called along side the believer to be his helper, consequently they translated this by our English word "Comforter".

I believe the Holy Ghost was called along side Jesus to be His right hand man on this planet while He's gone, carrying out what Jesus didn't have time to do while He was here. Yes, the Holy Ghost is our comforter. But the Holy Ghost is the representative of Jesus here on this earth to do exactly what Jesus wants Him to do. This is the One you need to receive. He is Jesus' representative, the third person of the Godhead; not a Holy It, but the Holy One from God Almighty. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? I have, and I can tell you that this experience is real.

Copyright 1996 - 2009
Date Last Updated: April 15, 2009
PO Box 59 ¦ Livingston, TX ¦ 77351
936-327-3676
http://jaysnell.org