- Feb 13, 2017
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1stcenturylady...
Just a few points, based on your post...
1. How could the 12 have received the Holy Ghost when Jesus breathed on them? The Holy Ghost had not yet been sent from heaven. I doubt that they actually received it that night. I suspect what Jesus gave was simply a preview of that "rushing mighty wind" that filled the house. Jesus was not yet ascended. He breathed a presence of Heaven over them, to keep them, perhaps, until the Day of Pentecost, when they would receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. "Baptism" means overwhelming. Dunking. And that's what happened on Pentecost.
2. I don't think there is sufficient Scripture to maintain the position that there are 2 Holy Ghost baptisms. The 12 who were breathed upon, did indeed receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost... just as did the others of the 120. And the 12 were among the group who were re-visited by the Holy Ghost again in Acts 4! That would have been their 3rd baptism, if each visitation were to be considered a re-baptism.
The early Pentecostals of Appalachia tried to put labels on subsequent visitations of the Holy Ghost. They had the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and then they called the next one, the Baptism of Fire, then there came Baptisms of Lyddite, etc. None of which are in the Bible. They just wanted to call it something. But it was based on their imagination, not the Word.
But there is only one Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and it is the "receiving" of the Holy Ghost, in Scripture.
3. In Acts 8, the way the Apostles knew the believers had not received the Holy Ghost, was not because of some deep, spiritual, unseen revelation in their spirits. It was because... read it in verse 16. The apostles went down to pray for them because the Holy Ghost had not yet "fallen upon" them.
They were baptized, but they had not yet received the Holy Ghost.
How did they know? Because the Holy Ghost had not yet "fallen upon" them.
What did "falling upon" consist of?
Well, you have to read further, to get a hint:
This "recieving" of the Holy Ghost by having Him "fall upon" you was so dramatic that Simon the Sorcerer asked for the power to do it.
Notice, Simon was a very carnal person. This was not something only perceived by super-spiritual people.
And Simon had followed Phillip around, marveling at the signs and wonders.
Simon himself was a wonder-worker. He was amazed at the power Phillip had, and was trying to pick up some "vibes" perhaps, by hanging around him.
But what he saw when the Holy Ghost fell upon the believers... it outdid all he had seen Phillip do. He knew THIS was the holy grail of spiritual power!
He saw something. Something bigger than any of the signs and wonders. What was it?
I think we are very safe to say it was tongues. And probably a good bit of other physical manifestation.
After all, what other outward sign was ever accepted as proof that new believers had received the Holy Ghost?
Acts 19, they believed and were baptized... and THEN, subsequent to the new birth, and to water baptism, they received the Holy Ghost. (which is the pattern, usually.)
Acts 8, They believed and were baptized... and then, it didn't happen... so the apostles risked their lives to make sure they received... and they did... they knew, by an outward evidence.
Acts 2, Peter preached that if the crowd would believe, repent, and be baptized, they would receive. (Notice the order of operations) And what that crowd was expecting to receive, was "THIS is THAT"... which the 120 were demonstrating... and that's what they got. Otherwise, Peter was guilty of false advertising.
4. New believers receive Christ, not the Holy Ghost, at the moment of the new birth.
NOW, The spirit of Christ is Christ Himself, not the Holy Ghost... After all, as a person before his baptism, Christ was God in the flesh. The Spirit of Christ from ages past dwelt in that body of flesh. But the Holy Ghost came upon Christ at His baptism. Two separate persons of the godhead there.
Romans 7 was a cry for help. Paul loved God in his spirit. His inner man. It wasn't really the real Paul, who sinned. This is happening to one who is born again. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He cries!
Romans 8 is a promise: There is deliverance from that power, by a greater power.
Look at verse 10. If Christ is in us, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive, because of righteousness.
This is Romans 7!!
BUT.
BUT there's a higher step, than just having Christ in you!
The word BUT means something.
It means "however".
You see, the one who raised up Jesus, isn't Jesus. It's the Father.
And the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit sent from the Father! Remember that Jesus said the Father would send the Spirit, if He would ascend to the Father? The Spirit could not come until Jesus went up.
So, if Christ is in you, your fleshly body is a dead weight on you, because the real you inside is alive in Christ.
BUT... HOWEVER!
... if the Spirit of Him who raised up Christ from the dead dwells in you--tell me what happens?!!
THEN, it brings to life this mortal body!
The context is not talking about the resurrection after physical death.
Not before or after.
The entire context is talking about death and life in a spiritual sense, and victory over a fleshly body.
Verse 11 is, too.
The path to victory over the flesh... the route to putting life into "the body of this death" ... is to be filled with
"The Spirit of Him that raised Christ from the dead!"
And THAT, my dear, is the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST.
Read Acts 8 and Acts 19. The disciples in Ephesus were asked if they had "received' the Holy Ghost since they had believed.
IF the Holy Ghost is received at the moment of conversion, Paul would never have asked them if it had happened. He would only have asked them if they had believed on Jesus Christ!
It's a bit like asking at a restaurant in south Georgia, if grits came with the eggs.
Today, most Christians would never dare to ask Paul's question, because of the implications.
But Paul's question is just as valid today as it was back then.
And once a new convert is baptized, they ought to have hands laid upon them, and the Holy Ghost should be expected to "fall upon" them.
Otherwise, we are not preaching the same gospel Paul, or any of the other apostles, preached.
And if we say the Holy Ghost is automatically received without any outward manifestation, at the moment of the new birth, then we preach a different doctrine than what the apostles in Acts 8 preached.
(sarcasm on) If the apostles had only known it was an automatic thing, they could have stayed in hiding, and not have risked their lives over this! (sarcasm off)
Third: Polly, Romans 7 is the conclusion of Paul's sermon on THE LAW before Christ, from chapter 1. And verse 10 of Romans 8 is NOT the same as Romans 7. Read it in context. Context, context, context!
See, Paul is talking about the LAW: "7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died."
Romans 8:10 is talking about our BODIES which are not renewed, only our spirit. "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. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
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