{"id":14618,"date":"2008-04-10T22:27:09","date_gmt":"2008-04-11T03:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=14618"},"modified":"2019-11-01T22:31:47","modified_gmt":"2019-11-02T03:31:47","slug":"did-paul-really-receive-the-holy-spirit-before-his-baptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-paul-really-receive-the-holy-spirit-before-his-baptism\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Paul really receive the Holy Spirit before his baptism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

I was just reading your answer to\u00a01\/24\/2008’s question<\/a>\u00a0about Paul receiving the spirit before he was baptized.<\/p>\n

I could be mistaken, but I have never gotten from that passage that Paul received the Spirit before baptism.\u00a0 Ananias told Paul that he would receive his sight and then be filled with the spirit.\u00a0 Then, his sight was restored and he was baptized to wash away his sins.\u00a0 Nothing about receiving the Spirit is said to have occurred between.\u00a0 According to Acts 2:38, we receive the Spirit at baptism.\u00a0 I have understood this passage to be saying that Paul’s sight was restored, and he was baptized to receive the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Just some food for thought. I’m learning quite a bit from your site.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized<\/em>” (Acts 9:17-18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You are correct that Ananias’ statement does not promise that the Holy Spirit would fill Paul immediately. We know that Peter had stated that all Christians were promised the gift of the Holy Spirit after their salvation. “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’<\/em>” (Acts 2:38-39). It would be logical to assume that Ananias equated being filled with the Holy Spirit with being baptized. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit<\/em>” (I Corinthians 12:13).<\/p>\n

That all said, I cannot\u00a0prove<\/em>\u00a0that Paul did not receive the Holy Spirit before his baptism. In other words, I cannot claim it is a\u00a0necessary<\/em>\u00a0inference — a likely inference but not a necessary one.<\/p>\n

When answering the argument made, I decided that it would not make a difference in the end. To point it out would actually be a distraction. The person was arguing that receiving the Holy Spirit before baptism was proof that salvation can come before baptism. My counter was that the Spirit has come upon people who were not saved in the past. Some, such as Cornelius, were commanded to be baptized after receiving the Holy Spirit’s gifts. Even if we accept that Paul received the Spirit before baptism, it remains that he was told to be baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16). Thus, all this serves is another piece of evidence that receiving the Spirit does not necessarily bring salvation to a person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was just reading your answer to\u00a01\/24\/2008’s question\u00a0about Paul receiving the spirit before he was baptized. I could be mistaken, but I have never gotten from that passage that Paul received the Spirit before baptism.\u00a0 Ananias told Paul that he would receive his sight and then be filled with the spirit.\u00a0 Then, his sight was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,86,118],"class_list":["post-14618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-holy-spirit","tag-paul"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13667,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/paul-was-filled-with-the-spirit-before-he-was-baptized-so-wasnt-he-saved-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":0},"title":"Paul was filled with the Spirit before he was baptized, so wasn’t he saved before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I figured I would just point out two significant points in the Bible. Acts 10:43-48 clearly illustrates that one can have the Holy Spirit before baptism.\u00a0\u00a0The passage also says \"whoever believes in shall have remission of sins.\"\u00a0\u00a0Once you have the Holy Spirit in your life you are saved.\u00a0\u00a0Also, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54098,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-ananias-give-paul-the-holy-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":1},"title":"How could Ananias give Paul the Holy Spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If Paul was an apostle, he was supposed to receive the Holy Spirit from another apostle or directly from God, yet he received it from a disciple. I thought only apostles had the ability to give the Holy Spirit. Answer: \"But the Lord said to him, \"Go, for he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-paul-asked-the-ephesians-if-they-had-received-the-holy-spirit-what-was-he-referring-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":2},"title":"When Paul asked the Ephesians if they had received the Holy Spirit, what was he referring to?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When Paul asked the Ephesians, \"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?\" in Acts 19:2, was he referring to the gift of Acts 2:38? And is that the same as the\u00a0Spirit given in Acts 5:32. Thanks. Answer: \"And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-receive-the-holy-spirit-when-he-was-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":3},"title":"Did Jesus receive the Holy Spirit when he was baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is about Jesus and him being baptized. Did he receive the Holy Spirit during his baptism? Answer: When Peter said, \"Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22011,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-receive-the-holy-spirit-without-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":4},"title":"Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism? Answer: The clear answer to this is \"yes.\" Baptism is a command found in the New Testament, yet people had received the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In addition: \"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-baptism-only-for-the-jews-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":14618,"position":5},"title":"Was baptism only for the Jews? (3)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day. Does I Corinthians 12:13 refer to Holy Spirit baptism? Was water baptism only for the Jews? Did it stop when Paul got his assignment to the Gentiles? Thanks. Answer: I Corinthians 12:13 tells us who was behind the means by which we can be saved. The Holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}