Sunday, June 11, 2017

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit

"But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment." Jesus in John 16: 7-8


I realize this is a very touchy subject among Christians. I am not writing this to start a debate. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something everyone can have, but not everyone HAS to. A lot of people do not think it's still something we do. And that's OK. It's ok to agree to disagree. I merely want to talk about what I've learned.
Jesus told His disciples that He had to go away so that Advocate aka The Holy Spirit could come. Later, in verse 13 of that same chapter, in John, He said, "When the Spirit of truth comes; He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future."
My Bible study book says this:
"The Holy Spirit is a Person. In other words, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive Him, the third Person in the Godhead, not an "it". Jesus said, "that HE may abide with you forever" John 14:16
It is the Holy Spirit that imparts eternal life to the unregenerated spirit of the sinner. (Titus 3:5-7) It is the Holy Spirit who recreates the sinner's spirit and makes him a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with the spirit of the born-again one that he is a child of God. (Romans 8:16)
Now, this all shows you that when you ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your heart. He leads, guides, directs you, and helps you understand Scripture.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is when He comes UPON you in a different way.
There are several Scriptures that talk about when the Holy Spirit came UPON people. This is after people became Christians or had an encounter with Jesus. I will only show you what happened to the disciples.
The disciples and many others, around 120 to be exact, where in an upper room waiting.
In John 20: 19-23 we see Jesus giving them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them: "19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! "Peace be with you," He said. 20 As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again He said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." 22 Then He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
So, this is where they became Christians with the Holy Spirit came in them for eternal life. This is when their name was written in the Lambs Book of Life. This is when their sins were forgiven and they claimed Jesus fully as their Lord and Savior.
Later, Jesus told them in Acts 1:5, "John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Then He went on to explain in Acts 1:7-9, "He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes UPON you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts Chapter 2 describes the Holy Spirit coming in the room with them in what looked like flames or tongues of fire and it settled on each one of them. (Acts 2:1-4)
Do you see how these are two separate things? They had already received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them, then, when the tongues of fire came in the room, the Holy Spirit come UPON them. This is just one example. There are many others. You can do a search of the word UPON to see where the Holy Spirit came upon people.
Now, let me clarify this. You DO NOT have to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As long as He lives in your heart as a Christian, that's your salvation, your eternal life.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that gives you more gifts and like Jesus said, power.
Sometimes, I think Christians are too timid and scared because they don't know the power that is in them. Having Holy Spirit means you have power.
If you don't know much about the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to learn more. Read the Bible and all that it has to say about Him. I'm so glad I have been learning. It's been awesome.
God bless you today and always!

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