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Hi,
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and is sent throughout His creation.
2Cor 3.2f
” You are our letters, written in our hearts, known and read by all, being manifested that you are a letterof Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Sprit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts”
2Cor 3.12
” Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit”The Spirit is not a separate person from God. The Spirit of Christ sent from God to those born again by water and the Spirit fills us with the nature of Christ in God.
Hi,
Man loves to be in control. Most human religion is not directed by God but by men and therein is futility. Man is in control.We are only useful to God as cleansed and submitted vessels.
Jer 10.23f
“I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me ,O Lord, but with justice”
Gal 5.25
” If we live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit”
That is why a man must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Jesus. We must learn from the inner teacher, if we have received him, and let him direct our steps. We must submit daily our hearts and minds and bodies to be useful to the one we call Master.
1Jn 2.27f
“And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for any one to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him”Hi,
eliyah has told us that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey. That is true. It is given to those who obey the emmissary sent in the name of the Father from heaven by the Father. You must obey the Son who said we must be born again.It is not a prize for obedience to the ten commandments.
It is not given to those who are holy in their own eyes but freely given to all who have obeyed the instructions of the Son and been made clean in the eyes of the Father.
The only other thing you have to do is ask and the loving Father cannot refuse this blessing to His children.
Most do not have because they have not laid the correct cornerstone and have not asked.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of [YHWH]and all else will be added to you”
Hi,
If you met Paul in the street and he said to you the words he said in Acts 19“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptised”
what would be your answer?
I have not been baptised because faith is all I need.
I was baptised as an infant so I have no idea.
I go to church and read the bible so I must have.
My church doctrine tells me I did so that is good enough for me.
The Holy Spirit is guiding my church so that is all I need.
I am doing good works so I must have.
I have always been a good person so I must have.Are these things evidence we can rely on when we face judgement alone?
Rom 8.9
“..If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him”Hi,
Surely there are others who have come into this promised blessing [Acts 2 38-39]and would like to share their experience?Hi,
The Spirit is the life of the body of Christ. So, as Romans 8 says, if you do not have that life you are not part of him.Hi,
Many have listened to rationalisations that say the the Spirit was only given for the first 100 years.They have no scriptural evidence for such statements but rely on experience and human wisdom.
'The Spirit power is not seen so the Spirit has been withdrawn'
In fact the promise is given to “all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” [Acts 2.39].
Yes there are false powers and false gifts and misuse of gifts and many seem very familiar with these verses but few will acknowledge that God has not changed His plan but perhaps as James says
” You do not have because you do not ask”?
Hi,
So what did the Spirit do in Christ and the apostles? They were full of the Spirit but only Jesus had all the powers and abilities which are laid out in 1Cor 12.8f
Word of wisdom
Word of knowledge
Faith
Healing
Miracles
Prophecy
Distinguishing of spirits.
Tongues
Interpretation of tonguesOnly about Christ is it said:
Coll 2 9″for in Him was the fullness of deity in bodily form”Christ and some of the apostles healed and raised the dead -Healing.
Christ was given hidden information by the Spirit about the woman at the well-Word of knowledge.
Christ predicted his death and resurrection-Prophecy
Christ fed the multitudes etc-Miracles
Christ recognised the true father of the Pharisees-Distinguishing of spirits.
Christ told Peter to find the coin in the mouth of a fish-Word of wisdom.
We do not see Christ speaking in tongues though he went into the desert alone to pray and poured out his soul in the garden.These are examples of manifestation of Holy Spirit powers that we too are able to be given if we seek them.
Nick wrote:
“Many have listened to rationalisations that say the the Spirit was only given for the first 100 years.”If you are referring to something I wrote, I think we should clarify what you're saying. The SPECIAL MIRACULOUS GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT which were intended for a purpose and which fulfilled their purpose (HEB 2:2-4)–these are the “gifts” that I was discussing.
dave
Nick further stated:
“They have no scriptural evidence for such statements but rely on experience and human wisdom.”
Exactly the opposite is true. Nick is the one relying on his own experiences and sences and somehow is blind to what the scriptures say about the gifts of the spirit.Nick continues:
“'The Spirit power is not seen so the Spirit has been withdrawn'
In fact the promise is given to “all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” [Acts 2.39].”Not at all Nick. I see the power of the holy spirit at work in people all the time. It's the same “free gift of the holy spirit” mentioned in the Acts 2:38. But this verse is not refering to the miraculous “gifts” of the spirit that we have been discussing.
dave
the “free gift of the holy spirit.”
Quote (david @ Oct. 07 2005,07:24) Nick wrote:
“Many have listened to rationalisations that say the the Spirit was only given for the first 100 years.”If you are referring to something I wrote, I think we should clarify what you're saying. The SPECIAL MIRACULOUS GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT which were intended for a purpose and which fulfilled their purpose (HEB 2:2-4)–these are the “gifts” that I was discussing.
dave
Hi David,
Heb 2.4
“,God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will”
So where does it state these gifts have been withdrawn?Quote (david @ Oct. 07 2005,07:34) Nick continues:
“'The Spirit power is not seen so the Spirit has been withdrawn'
In fact the promise is given to “all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” [Acts 2.39].”Not at all Nick. I see the power of the holy spirit at work in people all the time. It's the same “free gift of the holy spirit” mentioned in the Acts 2:38. But this verse is not refering to the miraculous “gifts” of the spirit that we have been discussing.
dave
the “free gift of the holy spirit.”
So David,
What have you seen that indicates the work of the Spirit? Is this Spirit in all people you meet or just the JWs?Nick writes:
“Heb 2.4
“,God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will”
So where does it state these gifts have been withdrawn?”NOWHERE IN THIS VERSE NICK. BUT I NEVER SAID THIS VERSE WAS SAYING THAT. What does this scripture say though?
HEBREWS 2:4
New Living Translation
and GOD VERIFIED THE MESSAGE BY signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose to do so.Amplified Bible
[Besides this evidence] it was also established and plainly endorsed by GOD, WHO SHOWED HIS APPROVAL OF IT BY signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of [His] power and by imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit [to the believers] according to His own will.New International Version
GOD ALSO TESTIFIED TO IT BY signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.Worldwide English
GOD ALSO PROVED THAT IT WAS THE TRUE WAY. He gave signs. He did things that surprised people. He did many things by his power. He gave the gifts of the Holy Spirit to people just as he wanted to.The Message Bible
All the while GOD WAS VALIDATING IT with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.Contemporary English Version
GOD HIMSELF SHOWED THAT HIS MESSAGE WAS TRUE BY working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to.And just to be sure we’ve covered it, let’s look at the 2 verses before:
HEBREWS 2:2-4
“For if the word spoken through angels proved to be firm, and every transgression and disobedient act received a retribution in harmony with justice; how shall we escape if we have neglected a salvation of such greatness in that it began to be spoken through [our] Lord and was verified for us by those who heard him, while God joined in bearing witness with signs as well as portents and various powerful works and with distributions of holy spirit according to his will?”So, as various Bibles show, God used these “gifts of the holy spirit” to show his approval, to prove that it was the true way, to validate it, to show that his message was true.
Hence Nick, we are given a reason for these miraculous gifts–to verify and prove that God’s approval now rested on the followers of Jesus.
Nick, if the need to verify this ceases, would not the gifts cease too?1 CORINTHIANS 13:8
“Love never fails. But whether there are [gifts of] prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will be done away with.”Love has always been and will always be an essential part of pure worship. Not so with the gift of tongues. These gifts of the spirit accomplished two things:
1. As stated above, they verified that God’s favor had shifted to the Christians.
2. They helped the new Christian congregation grow from it’s infancy.David.
So,David, you say we are given these gifts? Or do you mean they were given these gifts and we have to take that on faith as history based on the bible record and believe that because you are unfamiliar with anything supernatural then the Power of God among men no longer exists?
Hi David,
So the gifts are finished then?
Acts 2.17
” 'And it shall be in the last days',God says,'That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men dream dreams; even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth My Spirit' and they shall prophesy'And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below…”Have these days passed yet?
These are gifts of the Spirit. Wake up David.
The following article may prove interesting for some.
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