what does baptism of the spirit feel like?

tripletiger1200

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The thread title says it all. What does it feel like? I'm fairly certain I experienced it a few months ago, before I was water baptized (I don't know if that matters). I had some doubts about my salvation, and then that night I was praying and the concept of grace just hit me, like the biggest A-HA moment of my life. I felt really humbled and happy, and I just felt a whirlwind of emotions. My faith has been strengthened since then, despite some difficulties. I just wonder because most people close to me spiritually are either calvinists or undecided on the issue of Spiritual gifts, so I haven't ever been taught about those things. I haven't spoken in tongues ever, and I do not have any of the spiritual gifts that I can tell.
Would anyone mind explaining what your experience was like and how your life changed afterward?
 

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It actually doesn't have feelings attached to it. The Holy Spirit comes in and indwells our spirit. Our emotions are part of the physical body, and that is not where the Holy Spirit dwells. We receive the baptism in the Spirit by faith. If we trust in feelings, we are not receiving the Holy Spirit. What is flesh is flesh, and what is Spirit is Spirit.

Here is how we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives.

1. We believe it is God's will for us.
2. We ask Him to come in.
3. We receive Him into our spirit.
4. We confess that we are baptised in the Spirit.

This is the path of faith. We take these steps because they are supported by Scripture.

Once His indwelling is settled by faith, we will then have experiences as the Holy Spirit affects our hearts, minds and emotions. We don't go looking for experiences or emotions. We leave those to how the Holy Spirit wants to work with us.

The Scripture says that the just shall live by faith. This is very simple. It is merely believing the Word of God and acting on it. No emotions or feelings are necessary. Obedience is not an emotion or an experience. It is an act of the will on the basis of our belief in God's Word.

Whatever is not of faith is sin. Dependence on feelings there is sin.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, if we trust in feelings we are not pleasing God. We are barking up the wrong tree.

But when we determine that we are going to be obedient to what God tells us in His Word through actions determined by our will, then we are pleasing God, and then any experiences or feelings that He wants us to have will be bonuses brought about by His love, care, and grace.
 
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JimB

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The thread title says it all. What does it feel like? I'm fairly certain I experienced it a few months ago, before I was water baptized (I don't know if that matters). I had some doubts about my salvation, and then that night I was praying and the concept of grace just hit me, like the biggest A-HA moment of my life. I felt really humbled and happy, and I just felt a whirlwind of emotions. My faith has been strengthened since then, despite some difficulties. I just wonder because most people close to me spiritually are either calvinists or undecided on the issue of Spiritual gifts, so I haven't ever been taught about those things. I haven't spoken in tongues ever, and I do not have any of the spiritual gifts that I can tell.
Would anyone mind explaining what your experience was like and how your life changed afterward?
My understanding of scripture, as opposed to my former Pentecostal understanding, is that a believer is baptized and filled with the Spirit and given access to every spiritual gift the moment he/she receives Christ (see 1 Cor. 12.12-13; 2 Peter 1.3; Eph. 1.3). To teach, as Pentecostals do, that it takes a crisis experience of some kind in order to receive “all (ALL) things necessary to life and godliness” and “every (EVERY) spiritual blessing” is counter to the teaching of Christ and the apostles. The only mention of a “baptism of the Holy Spirit” found in the Epistles is the mention by Paul in the verse in Corinthians (above). According to him, we are baptized in the Spirit at the very moment we become members of the Body of Christ (i.e., at conversion).

So, whatever you felt at the moment you received Christ is what you feel when you were baptized into the Body of Christ. You don’t have to wait, or tarry, or fast, or pray, or become sanctified, or clean up your back yard or anything else to receive anything Christ has for you. You already have them and have had them from the day you received Christ.

Now use what the Spirit has given you. :)

~Jim
Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber
 
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Optimax

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My understanding of scripture, as opposed to my former Pentecostal understanding, is that a believer is baptized and filled with the Spirit and given access to every spiritual gift the moment he/she receives Christ (see 1 Cor. 12.12-13; 2 Peter 1.3; Eph. 1.3). To teach, as Pentecostals do, that it takes a crisis experience of some kind in order to receive “all (ALL) things necessary to life and godliness” and “every (EVERY) spiritual blessing” is counter to the teaching of Christ and the apostles. The only mention of a “baptism of the Holy Spirit” found in the Epistles is the mention by Paul in the verse in Corinthians (above). According to him, we are baptized in the Spirit at the very moment we become members of the Body of Christ (i.e., at conversion).

So, whatever you felt at the moment you received Christ is what you feel when you were baptized into the Body of Christ. You don’t have to wait, or tarry, or fast, or pray, or become sanctified, or clean up your back yard or anything else to receive anything Christ has for you. You already have them and have had them from the day you received Christ.

Now use what the Spirit has given you. :)

~Jim
Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber


It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. ~Pierre Beaumarchais

:p :D
 
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Deba

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My understanding of scripture, as opposed to my former Pentecostal understanding, is that a believer is baptized and filled with the Spirit and given access to every spiritual gift the moment he/she receives Christ (see 1 Cor. 12.12-13; 2 Peter 1.3; Eph. 1.3). To teach, as Pentecostals do, that it takes a crisis experience of some kind in order to receive “all (ALL) things necessary to life and godliness” and “every (EVERY) spiritual blessing” is counter to the teaching of Christ and the apostles. The only mention of a “baptism of the Holy Spirit” found in the Epistles is the mention by Paul in the verse in Corinthians (above). According to him, we are baptized in the Spirit at the very moment we become members of the Body of Christ (i.e., at conversion).

So, whatever you felt at the moment you received Christ is what you feel when you were baptized into the Body of Christ. You don’t have to wait, or tarry, or fast, or pray, or become sanctified, or clean up your back yard or anything else to receive anything Christ has for you. You already have them and have had them from the day you received Christ.

Now use what the Spirit has given you. :)

~Jim
Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber


I don't know what form of Pentacostalism you experienced, but I can promise you, I went through no "crisis", no fasting, no work of any sort, except some Bible study on my own and a 30 second prayer to ask for what I read in the Bible that I could ask for. And it was given to me.
 
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whatfor

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I felt an undescribable feeling for over a week when I was saved.
I was prayed for two months later and after that knew I could pray for someone and see them healed.
Some time in between these two events I started praying in tongues.

I can not tell you when I was baptized in the spirit so can not tell if there was anything to mark it, my guess would be when I was saved and believed .
 
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JimB

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I don't know what form of Pentacostalism you experienced, but I can promise you, I went through no "crisis", no fasting, no work of any sort, except some Bible study on my own and a 30 second prayer to ask for what I read in the Bible that I could ask for. And it was given to me.
Yep. I went through (i.e., was forced to go through) the group therapy "tarrying" style of receiving what the Pentecostals call (i.e., mistakenly identify as) "the baptism of the Holy Ghost" in the typical Pentecostal manner in an AOG church. You are blessed that you didn't have to endure the ordeal. :)

~Jim

Christianity without signs and wonders is just another religion. ~John Wimber
 
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mrhappy3

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I know the feeling Jim.

The "baptism" as I see it is received in 3 ways

asking - luke 11v13

laying on of hands - acts 19

by god himself - acts 10

Myself ? God zapped me from within and without, and i spoke in "italian" and "japanese" LOL !!

It came up like river OUT of me - john 7v 37-39 - this was AFTERmy initial "born again" experience. In fact 2 weeks later.

even though a "text book" experience - everyone gets it different from my analysis.

Jim got it by being massaged it seems - it was almost dragged out of him !

Not good....
 
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bobhickman

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the holy Ghost entered me bob hickman like a body my perfect size like me floating into you or you into me. IN ezekiel 2, it says, and the spirit entered into me/. the bible says, God was in christ, God was inside that body, but, while christ was here many were filled with holy Ghost like both marys, john the baptizm, the priest................................................I dont kno what it felt like to them
 
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Bob Carabbio

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In my case, I was prayed for in a Breakfact meeting of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship Iinternational (FGBMFI) back in '73. And the prayer was that I would receive the "Baptism in the Holy SPirit".

Nothing detectable happened.

I'd been Christian for 11 years at that point, and had, about a year previously had a "Crisic Experience" related to Peter's experience in John 21:
15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

The KJV English obscures the meaning of the passage, since Jesus uses the word "Agape" for love, and Peter answers with "Phileo" - essentially saying "not really" to Jesus' question.

And the Holy Spirit turned the tables on me, and asked ME the same question - do YOU LOVE (Agape) Me??

And, of course I had to answer as Peter did: Not really. I Understood that not to be acceptable, and I did a "house cleaning" of all the THINGS (Mostly hobbies that I was obsessive about), and turned my attention to Reading the Word - about 3 times through that year. It seemed like a good start. And I got exposed to some teachings by Derek Prince, and Bob Mumford and others that clarified some things.

I, for a long time, had intellectually accepted the CONCEPT of a "Second act of grace" - since it was something that I found in the testimonies of any number of teachers, and pastors across the board in most denominational groups for hundreds of years. THEY didn't call it "the baptism in the Holy Spirit", but the EFFECTS of it were similar - a "Power in ministry" a greater desire for the Word, a more effective prayer life, etc.

Spurgeon called it "Being filled with the Holy SPirit", Baptists called theirs "Perfect Submission" Oswald Smith called it "The enduement of power", Wesleyans called it "Being Sanctified Wholly", and of course the Pentecostals called it "Baptism in the Holy Spirit" - AND taught the doctrine of "Initial Evidence" - tongues - which was the way the "Package" generally came in the '70s.

In any case I was prayed for - and NOTHING overt happened - until the next Dinner meeting of the Sidney, OH FGBMFI. We had just finished dinner, and they were in a time of musical worship, and in the middle of THAT, an unfamiliar word appeared in my mind. SO I spoke it, and more unfamiliar words just began to flow through as I spoke them. There was NO "Emotion", or other reaction - OTHER THAN the realization (with a certain satisfaction) that I was actually "Speaking in tongues", and that I could do it as long as I felt like it, and it just continued to flow.

But that was all there was at the time, but about three weeks after that, I attended a "cottage Bible study" among folks from the United Church of Christ (Not the Campbellite denominations), and the asked me a Biblical question.

And I wound up teaching that group for the next 4 years, and several others for the next decade - being "Fed" what to present the night before by the Holy Spirit. It was NOT anything I could have done before - teach the Word extemporaneously for a couple of hours, as the Holy Spirit led.

SOME people have well-nigh CATACLYSMIC experiences when they are Baptized in the Spirit. Bellow in tongues for Hours, see visions, experience FANTASTIC excitement, get slain in the SPirit, etc.

I didn't, never had much "Emotional reaction" to it at all, and I've NEVER been "burdened by the Spirit" to deliver a "Message in Tongues" in a church meeting.

I HAVE been burdened many times to Interpret tongues spoken by others, and to give prophetic utterance, which gifts work just like tongues, except that the words that "Flow through" are in English.

Simple as that.

P.S. in the years before, in the Assemblies of God (where I'm still a member), I did participate in any number of Pentecostal "Back rubbing sessions" trying to "Get Filled". I had folks try to "Prime my pump" by talking baby talk, or making nonsense sounds. I was told to "HANG ON", or to "LET GO", to kneel, to lie on the floor, to wave my arms in this or that way. - Bupkus.

But that evening in 1973 - I just Happened when it was supposed to.
 
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