"And I will pray
the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide
with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth;
whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him:
but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you."
John 14:16-17 (KJV)
Do you want
emotion? Do you want a thrill? Do you want peace? Then read the opening verses
carefully, slowly, and meditate upon them for they are all that you need and
seek to be able to meet all the circumstances in this life. Pray to the Father,
for Him to save you from the sin that you cannot absolve by yourself; you need
God to save you, and not by anything, you do to gain it. Conversion is simply
to deny oneself and place oneself at the foot of God, His Son, and by doing so
God will send to you the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Some
teach that anyone can come to God, but this is not so, only those who God has
elected for salvation; for you see, original sin deserves death, and the
corruption that Adam caused by his sin is passed down to his progeny. The world
cannot receive the Comforter because God has not chosen them, they cannot find
Him, and they cannot know Him: but you can; the Holy Spirit resides, indwells,
the chosen of God. Here then is great comfort: The Holy Spirit will abide with
you forever. You may cavil and object vehemently about election, yet this is
what Scripture teaches and will be one of the subjects, once again, in my
blogs. Until then let us examine the baptism of the Holy Spirit in more depth
as there is great contradiction within the Church and we should want the truth:
don’t we?
The book of
Acts records that Jesus, before His ascension into heaven, and told His
disciples: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to
depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He
said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you
shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4–5). Jesus
further explained to His disciples that the coming upon them, the Holy Spirit,
they would receive power. Power for what? Some use this to mean that they are
to some of the most horrendous acts, and even though some attempt to be
healers, givers of prophecy, they miss the context. This power is to empower a
person to be martyrs (the Greek word μάρτυρες, means witness, although we use
this often to mean one who is killed), so we are to be witnesses for Christ.
How? It is the gospel proclaimed. It is our daily living, in all the
circumstances we face each day in this life and this by adhering to the
commands of God: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The
account in regards to the Pharisee Nicodemus states: “Jesus answered and
said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born again he cannot
see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). To be saved a person must be “born
again,” and this God accomplishes by given to a person the free gift of faith: “For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). This
most be admitted for Scripture is clear in these verses; being born of the
Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be the same and in John 3:6: “That
which is born of he flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit” (John 3:6). The Holy Spirit produces spirits and this by the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit when a person believes: “But this He spoke
concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for he Holy
Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not glorified” (John 78:39). The
Greek word for believing is a participle in the present tense; therefore it is
not someone who will believe, it is those who are now, believing, and this
assures us that this believing is not an on and off believing, it is “NOW”
believing, always believing. When you are saved and turn your life to Him you
will fully receive the Holy Spirit, not another receiving, in the now, in the
moment you are believing.
The
New Testament is void of any mention of a “Second Blessing,” that one receives,
or prays for, or an experience. Paul explains: “But you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is not in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors––not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:9–12). What
do we learn from this Scripture? When a person saved, they receive the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. If a person does not have the Holy Spirit they are not
saved and are not one of God’s children. They are lost and dead in their sin.
When the Holy Spirit comes and indwells a person; they become quickened: that
is, made alive, in Jesus Christ, and now ambassadors, witnesses of Jesus
Christ. This fact is only true if the Holy Spirit dwells in a person and it is
clear from Scripture that this indwelling occurs at salvation, and then we
become a new creature, all the old things have passes away, and all things
become new: (2Corinthians 5:16–17). Paul uses the word “if” a man be in Christ,
he is a new creature, and this begs the question: How can a man be in Christ
and not be indwelled by the Holy Spirit which is the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, the One that Jesus promised would come in Acts 2? (cf. Acts 1:5).
What
about the sign gifts? This will be in the next blog.
For as many as are led
By
the Spirit of God,
These are the sons of God.
Romans 8:14
Allow the Spirit to guide you
Richard L. Crumb
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