First off, we're all called to be holy:
1 Peter 1:14 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."'All men are called to be holy if they claim Jesus as savior. Churches which fail to teach holiness, are not teaching God's word (above). All true churches teach holiness. However, some of those who do teach holiness may have a different idea of what it takes to be holy.
Because Paul says "because it is written" one should ask "Where is it written?"
Leviticus 19:2 "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy."
Leviticus 20:7 "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God."If one compares the OT to the Letter to Peter, the reader should notice that they say the same thing in two different ways. The latter parts of each admonish "Christians" to copy God. Since God is holy, we are to be Godlike. Then if we look at the first parts of 1 Peter:14 and Leviticus 20:7 we see the that we are to "sanctify yourselves". That is done by being "obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance". In effect, being "holy" as God is, is being sanctified. Sanctification is to "dedicate and separate" for the sake of holiness. In layman's terms it's to set ourselves apart and be holy meaning simply that "we need to change"!
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."Christians are "new creatures". We no longer fashion ourselves according to the former lusts". We change the "old creature" into the new. That happens when we become "in Christ".
Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."We become "in Christ" when we place our faith in Jesus. Faith would be "believe in and trust" Jesus. What's most important is that Jesus saves us and is the only way to salvation. Not coincidentally, salvation is becoming that "new creature"! We are "born again". The old old creature dies and the new creature takes it's place.
If we look at the latter part of the verse, many believe that "baptism" consummates being "in Christ". That's a topic for another day! It too is controversial. However, it would appear that these two means of rebirth are at odds. We are in Christ because of our faith and then again, we have "put on" Christ with baptism. To me, that means with "faith" we get those new clothes and with "baptism" we put the clothes on. It's the difference between "accepting" and "obeying"! It's a difference between sola gratia and works. Since grace is the gift of God and salvation is by grace, then being "in Christ" is by grace, and baptism is a work of obedience.
Before Christ's death Christians had only the "Baptism of John". It was one of repentance.
Acts 19:1 "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.These Corinthians were disciples. As such they were people who were devoted to and followed Jesus. We know that they were also Jews because John baptized Jews only. Before the murder of John it had not yet been revealed that Christianity was for gentiles as well. These "disciples" aren't referred to yet as "Christians" (belonging to Christ) because they had yet to be called that. However, they had faith in Christ, had repented and followed Jesus.
Matthew 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."Jesus defined "disciples": 1) Those who present themselves a living sacrifice, 2) self-deny and faith that Jesus is the living God whose destiny is dying for the sins of mankind, and 3) follow after and serve Jesus. They were Jews who had faith in the living Christ, that he is the Messiah. They had repented of their sins, but were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit who had yet to come (they had never even heard of him!).
Paul ran across some of those Jews at Corinth. When Paul confronted them, it was after Jesus' death where their sins were paid for (redemption), and Paul gave them a good "Jesus Baptism". With the baptism of John, we have learned that only Jesus retained the Holy Spirit. With the others the Holy Spirit did not remain on them because Jesus had yet to ascend! The Comforter came after Jesus ascended.
When Paul baptized them in the name of Jesus, they already had faith, now they obeyed! When they obeyed, the Holy Ghost came on them.
If we look at the day of Pentecost, who was it that received the Holy Ghost that day? They were Jews from all over the world who were dwelling in Jerusalem:
Acts 2:4 "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven."Jews were peculiar people. It took miracles to convince them. The miracles of Jesus were for the Jews to believe. In the Book of Luke in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham (in paradise) told the rich man:
Luke 16:31 "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."The allusion here is that Noah and the prophets did miracles at the inspiration of God, and the Jews didn't even believe them! Why then would they believe a miracle from Lazarus. It took great miracles to convince the Jews, and that miracle was "the speaking in other languages" and the understanding of those. Again, these were not "unknown languages" but merely "other languages". The "Speaking in other tongues" was primarily for Jews who were hard to convince. They needed miracles!
The "speaking in other tongues" was a miracle to convince the skeptical Jewish people whose trust was still in Moses. It was meant for a certain people, but as the Jews were convinced, so were many gentiles, who also came to believe in Jesus and got the same Christ that the Jews did!
The Holy Spirit was given to mankind after the death of Jesus and after he ascended. Those who had repented, believed in and followed Jesus (saved) had not yet received the Holy Spirit. After Jesus died, if they accepted his free gift which they believed in before it happened, from scripture, they received the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost wasn't available to men, until Jesus was gone. After he was gone, the Holy Ghost came. This was the filling of the Spirit for those who were believers, but yet had not been baptized in Jesus name (The Baptism of Jesus). This was not a "second work of grace", but for the Jews, a completion of the first work of grace!
Christian Jews in Jerusalem were experiencing Christ for the first time because the Holy Ghost at that time, had not been with us. It wasn't a "second act of grace", but the consummation of the first. It was the time when the Jewish Christians tasted of the Holy Spirit the first time. They had Jesus before; now they had his replacement!
The argument then becomes "Does the filling of the Holy Ghost come with faith or does it wait on baptism?"
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