Praying in TonguesSýnishorn

Day 1: The Day Jesus’ Disciples Were Saved

John 20:19-22 contains the very first record in the Bible of people receiving their salvation. It was the very first day of the week — Jesus had been crucified, and the disciples were still hiding behind closed doors. They were afraid of what the Jewish leaders might do to them if they were found to be disciples of Jesus — the crucified King of the Jews.

As you read John 20:19-22 you will notice that twice in these four short verses, Jesus said, “...peace be with you….” After speaking peace to the disciples for the second time, the Bible says Jesus “breathed on them.” In the original Greek text, “breathed on them” is the word emphusao, which means to breathe into or to inflate. It is the word we would use to describe the process of blowing up a balloon. To inflate a balloon, we don’t blow on it — we blow into it, and it receives our breath and is filled. ‘

This is exactly what took place when the Bible says Jesus breathed into the disciples and said:

…Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

The word “receive” is the Greek word labete, which is a direct form of lambano, and it means to take right now or to actively receive. In that moment, Jesus literally breathed His Spirit into His disciples’ spirits, and when the Holy Spirit entered them, they all became saved.

Up until that moment in history, the Spirit of God had never indwelt a person — when the Spirit interacted with someone, He always came upon them. We see this throughout the Old Testament. For example, when Sampson fought against the Philistines, the Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon him, and he was victorious (see Judges 14:19; 15:14). Once each person accomplished their assigned task, the Spirit of God would lift off them, and they would be reduced to an ordinary man once again.

But that was not the case with Jesus’ disciples. When He breathed into them and said, “...Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” the Holy Spirit entered them and never left! Indeed, this was a historic moment — for the very first time, the Spirit entered human hearts, and people became His temple (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). This day that Jesus breathed the life of the Holy Spirit into His disciples marked the first documented record of salvation, or in other words, becoming born again.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which takes place at the moment of salvation, is not the same as baptism in the Holy Spirit. We know this to be true because shortly after Jesus breathed into His disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit, He told them to wait in the city of Jerusalem to be “...endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

That promise was God’s supernatural empowerment, which is also signified by the word “endued.” In Greek, the word “endued” is enduo, which means to be empowered or to be clothed. The word “power” is the Greek word dunamis, which describes explosive, superhuman power with enormous energy that produces phenomenal, extraordinary, and unparalleled results. Dunamis is the very word used to denote the force of an entire advancing army, as well as the word for a force of nature, like an earthquake, hurricane, or tornado.

Through salvation, the disciples had received God’s peace. But what they also needed to carry out their ministries on the earth was God’s power — His dunamis — and that is what they were about to receive with the baptism of the Holy Spirit — the second work of grace.

Questions to Consider:

1. Can you remember the day you were born again? What was going on in your life at that time? How did God make Himself real to you and reveal your need for salvation?