Acts 1v5

For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

These words in the early part of the book of Acts are among the last the Jesus was to say before he was taken up into Heaven in Acts 1v9. Here Jesus shows the greater administration of baptism first promised by John the Baptist (Matthew 3v11 {4 }, Mark 1v8 {20 }, Luke 3v16 {33 }, John 1v33) is about to come to pass. Up to this point, the promise has not been fulfilled, and they have not yet received the Holy Ghost.

In Acts 1v8 Jesus explains what the Holy Ghost is for: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The baptism in the Holy Spirit is so that the believer will have power – as Jesus promised in the following verses:

Mark 16v17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe”.

John 14v12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Just as Jesus suggested to the Pharisees that one possible reason to believe Him was because of the miracles or works that He performed (John 10v25, John 10v37-38, John 14v11), so this was also to continue during the church times. In fact, as we saw above in John 14v12, we are called and expected to do greater works than even Jesus Himself did – the reason given in John also explains why the Holy Spirit hasn’t been given as yet in this verse in Acts – because Jesus hasn’t yet returned to the Father.

It is worth noting that the water baptism of John was not to be replaced by the baptism of the Holy Spirit – in fact, in Acts 10v36-48 {64 } {65 } {66 } Peter commanded that Cornelius and his household be baptised in water after they had received the Holy Spirit. The water part of the baptism was to be in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 10v48) to receive remission of sins (Acts 10v43). This evidence (and other examples we shall see as we get further) shows that the baptism of the Holy Spirit does not replace the water baptism, but is a deeper revelation of the love of God for us, adding on to that which went before.