Few doctrines have divided the modern church more sharply than the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Entire denominations have split over it. Believers have been told it's essential for salvation — wrong. Others have been told it ceased with the apostles — also wrong. Both extremes are reading the same Bible and reaching opposite conclusions. The reason isn't a lack of intelligence. It's a failure to distinguish what Scripture actually says from what various traditions have added to it.

Last time we examined the Church as Christ's body — designed to carry His authority and mission. Now we turn to a pivotal question for every member of that body: What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who receives it, and what is it for?

Let's walk through what the Bible actually teaches about this important subject.

1. Most people who've grown up in mainline Protestant or Catholic traditions have been taught, implicitly or explicitly, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is either the same as conversion or was a temporary apostolic phenomenon that no longer occurs. But look at what Scripture actually presents.

There really is a baptism in the Holy Spirit — this isn't something people made up Matthew 3:11Matthew 20:22-23Mark 1:8Luke 3:16John 1:31-34Acts 1:4-8Acts 2:1-39Acts 8:14-20Acts 9:17Acts 10:44-48Acts 11:14-18Acts 15:7-11Acts 19:1-7Galatians 3:14Hebrews 6:2.

2. Jesus Himself was the first person to be baptized in the Holy Spirit Matthew 3:16-17Matthew 20:22-23Luke 3:21-22Luke 4:16-21John 1:31-34John 3:34Acts 10:38.

3. This baptism fulfilled Old Testament prophecy Isaiah 11:2Isaiah 42:1-7Isaiah 61:1-2Matthew 11:2-6Matthew 12:18Luke 4:16-21.

4. Regular people weren't baptized in the Spirit until Pentecost — and that couldn't happen until after Jesus was glorified John 7:37-39John 14:16-17, 26John 16:13-15Acts 1:4-8Acts 2:1-21, 33-39.