I have used both the expression the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It is important to distinguish between the two. I think it fair to say that many Christians view these interchangeably. Certainly, at the baptism of the Holy Spirit individuals received the Spirit. Nevertheless, it was a collective event of notable significance and not merely an individual one.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned in each of the four Gospels (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). In each instance John the Baptist speaks of it as a future thing. Finally, in the book of Acts the Lord Jesus Himself makes the promise: “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:5). The next occurrence of the expression makes it clear when this took place: “As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 11:16). The Holy Ghost fell upon the disciples— “as on us at the beginning”—on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
The final reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs in First Corinthians where it is treated as an accomplished thing: “For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or free, and have all been given to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13 JnD). Here we have its doctrinal significance; we have been baptized into one body, the church—the body of Christ: “The church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22-2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)). This body was incorporated on the day of Pentecost when the believers from among the Jews were baptized into one body. The gentiles in the home of Cornelius were later added to that same body when they were baptized by the same Spirit (Acts 11:16). “There is one body, and one Spirit” (Eph. 6:4). These two events—the one on the day of Pentecost and the other in Caesarea—are alone referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Though separated by a few years they form a single operation: the incorporation of the church, as the body of Christ, consisting of both Jew and gentile.
An individual is never spoken of as being baptized with the Holy Spirit—neither when he receives the indwelling of the Spirit nor as a later experience. One will search the Scriptures in vain for verses to support this popular view. Some may offer the verse in First Corinthians as an example. It is, however, entirely consistent with all that has been presented. In the business world, a business is incorporated at its founding. Employees of that business will, however, freely use language such as: We were incorporated in such and such year. The individual may not have been present at the time, nor for that matter even born, and yet their language is correct and unambiguous. We should note the absence of the definite article in this verse—baptized into one body, not the one body. If the article had been present, then it might add credence to the thought that a body existed to which believers were added. This, however, was not the case. Believers were baptized in the power of the Spirit into one body. It was the very act which formed the body.