THE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US
INTRODUCTION
What does it mean baptism?
What is the correct term: “baptism IN the Holy
Spirit” or “baptism WITH the Holy Spirit?
What is the difference between “baptism in the
Holy Spirit” and “to be filled with the Holy Spirit”?
What does it mean “to be baptized with fire”?
Is it the same thing that “to be baptized with the Holy Spirit”?
“To be baptized with fire” implies in receiving
spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit?
And “to be sealed with the Holy Spirit”? When
does it happens? What is it its relation with the baptism?
And what about the cleaning of the Holy Spirit?
What is it have to do with baptism in the Holy Spirit, in fire and in water?
When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit our
live becomes easier, more difficult or don’t change?
Considering the great confusion about this
subject and that a friend in Christ asked me about this, I decided to do this
essay.
CONCEPT OF BAPTISM
First of all, what is the meaning of the word
“baptism”. Many people consider this a mere religious ritual. The theologians
affirm that baptism means “immersion”. They stand up for this based on the
supposed meaning of this word in Greek, that, in according to them, it is the
original language wherein the Holy Scripture was written.
Nevertheless, let’s see what is written in the
Holy Scripture:
·
“But
I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed down until it
is accomplished!” (Luke
12.50). – Here Jesus
was saying about His death;
· “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6.3,4).
· “buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2.12).
As you can see, “baptism” means “burial”.
Understanding this, let’s analyze the following passage:
·
“And,
brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant that all our fathers were under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all were baptized to
Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” (1Cor 10.1,2).
Who is leading us? As nobody can serve two
masters (Matthew
6.24), if we are slaves
(servants) of men, we aren’t serving Jesus:
·
“For
now do I persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please
men? For if I yet pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1.10).
·
“You
are bought with a price, do not be the slaves of men.” (1Cor 7.23).
Perceive that people of the Old Testament had
to die (to be
baptized) to Moses,
that is to say, although they should abide by Moses and follow him, they
couldn’t bank on Moses, but only on the Creator. Understand the difference: one
thing is they hang on Moses, hoping that he sought Jesus for them and solve all
their problems (lamentably,
this is what most of the people do); other thing is to hang on to Jesus Christ and try to recognize Him in
all our ways and people around us (Proverbs 3.5,6).
So, people needed to be under the cloud and
walk through the sea so that they could be guided direct by the Creator without
have other option (after
all, how was it possible to walk in the desert that is very hot during the day
and very cold during the night without the protector cloud of the Creator?).
And what about us? Do we need to be limited by
“two big walls of water” and compelled by a big and terrible army lest we dodge
of the direction given by Jesus? I hope we are baptized (buried) in Christ for this world and vice-versa (Galatians 6.14) and can freely carry out His will with gratefulness
and love in our hearts.
WHAT DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT
DO TO SAVE US?
We can sum up the operations of the Holy Spirit
in five:
1. To be cleaned by the
Holy Spirit.
2. To be sealed with the
Holy Spirit;
3. To be baptized in the
Holy Spirit;
4. To be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
5. To be vivified by the
Holy Spirit;
Before the resurrection of Christ, the Holy
Spirit was only “on” the person:
·
“Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not
Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalms 51.11).
·
“But they rebelled, and grieved his
holy Spirit: therefore he
was turned to be their
enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered
the days of old, Moses and
his people, saying, Where is he that
brought them up out of the
sea with the shepherds of
his flock? where is he
that put his holy Spirit
in the midst of them?” (Isaiah 63.10,11).
·
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation
of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him.” (Luke 2.25).
Today the Holy Spirit abide inside us (1Cor 3.16; 6.19; 2Tim 1.14) and work five things:
1 - To be cleaned by the
Holy Spirit:
·
“not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us, through the
washing of regeneration and renewal of the
Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3.5).
·
“Now
you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you.” (John 15.3).
As we can see in this last verse,
the work of washing start before everything. We can see this in the life of
Cornelius:
·
“He saw
in a vision openly, as it were about the
ninth hour of the day, an
angel of God coming in unto him, and saying
to him, Cornelius. And he, fastening
his eyes upon him, and
being affrighted, said, What is
it, Lord? And he said unto him,
Thy prayers and thine alms
are gone up for a memorial before God.” (Acts 10.3,4).
For a long time
he had been cleaned by the Holy Spirit and, when he was prepared to abide by
the will of Jesus, the Holy Spirit spoke in his heart. This process accompanies
us for all our life.
In order to understand better how
the Holy Spirit cleans us by the Word of Jesus (the true baptism in the water), read this
excerpts:
·
“So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God who teaches you to profit, who leads
you by the way that you should go. Oh that you
had paid attention to My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a
river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48.17,18).
·
“But let judgment roll down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5.24).
Our justice should be as the waves of the sea
or as a mighty stream. That is to say, our justice must make difference where
we pass for. The interesting with the water is that, as it isn’t solid, it’s
necessary affluence of water and great quickness so that the water can
transform some place.
Similarly, our justice needs to be copious and
active, that is, we can’t be just only for ourselves. We can’t stand false
witness against our neighbor (Exodus 20.16). We must seek out
the justice of the Kingdom of Christ (Matthew 6.33), which imply to let
Jesus use us to call off all attitude that eggs bad behavior on.
Jesus redeem us
from the sin. However, only when the Church carry out the justice of Jesus (who gave
His life to clean us up) in opposition to the desires of the flesh (Galatians
5.16,17) it is that our bodies will have been washed with pure water (Hebrews
10.22). In other words, the satanic disposition in us (the sin) only
will be taken away when we give in to the gush of justice spouted by the
Church.
2 - To be sealed with the
Holy Spirit:
·
“In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise” (Ephesians
1:13).
·
“And
grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” (Ephesians
4:30).
When the person finally believes in
Jesus Christ in the right way (see 2Cor 5.16-17),
they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. This occurs once in the life and it is
the confirmation that Jesus separated us from the world (John 15.19). Henceforth the process to make us sons of the
Creator starts (see John
1.12). Jesus breathes His
Holy Spirit “on” and “in” us and seals us. Our breath just contains air and
water, whereas God's Breath contains Spirit and Water. At this moment we become
His.
We can see it in the verse below,
when Jesus sealed His disciples:
·
“And
when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the
Holy Ghost:” (John
20:22).
And this is promised to everyone who
believes in Jesus:
·
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11.13).
·
“(But He spoke this about the Spirit, which
they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7.39).
·
“Then
Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.” (Acts
2.38).
3 - To be baptized in the
Holy Spirit:
The baptism in the Holy Spirit can take place
immediately after the sealing with the Holy Spirit or after some days.
·
“I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” (Matthew 3:11).
·
“Until
the day in which he (Jesus) was taken up, after that he through
the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to
whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” (Acts 1:2-5).
·
“And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
Note in Acts 1.5 that the baptism in
the Holy Spirit didn’t have happened in the life of the apostles before this
moment. The baptism in the Holy Spirit only took place in the Day of Pentecost.
By the way: the correct term is
baptism “IN” the Holy Spirit (and not baptism “WITH” the Holy Spirit). Let’s think: when John the Baptist baptized,
he didn’t baptized the person WITH water (pouring water on their head), but IN the water, namely, burying
their old man so that the new man could arise (Colossians 3.9).
·
“I
have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives
in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf” (Galatians 2.20).
·
“But may
it never be for me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6.14).
·
“Do not lie to one another, having put off the old
man with his deeds and having put on the new, having been renewed in
knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,” (Colossians
3.9,10).
The difference is that the baptism
IN the water is symbolic, while the baptism IN the Holy Spirit is real and
permanent. That is to say, the person baptized IN the Holy Spirit stay in Him PERMANENTLY
(unless
the person gives a cold shoulder to Him):
·
“For you died, and your life has been hidden with
Christ in God.” (Colossians 3.3).
·
“But the anointing which you received from Him
abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing
teaches you concerning all things, and is true and no lie, and as He has taught
you, abide in Him.” (1John
2.27).
·
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?” (1Cor 3.16).
The objective of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit is to introduce the person into the dead body of Christ and keep
them there buried:
·
“For
also by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
whether bond or free, even all were made to drink into one Spirit.” (1Cor
12.13).
·
“Do
you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into His death?” (Romans 6.3).
·
“For
as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.” (Galatians
3.27).
This means to be overlaid with Christ, that is, to be hidden inside His Body
while He manifest through us. Now it is possible to figure out why Jesus said
to the apostles “if I
do not go away, the Comforter will
not come to you”
(John
16.7).
·
“For
where a covenant is, the death of him covenanting must be offered. For a
covenant is affirmed over those dead, since it never has force when The one covenanting is living.” (Hebrews 9.16,17)
The motive by which it was necessary
Christ to be dead so that the apostles could be baptized in the Holy Spirit is
because we are baptized in the dead body of Christ. How could the disciples be
baptized in the dead body of someone that was alive?
We are heirs of a body that is
crucified to the world (Galatians 6.14).
You can see this in the Holy Supper: note that its objective is to keep alive
the death of Jesus (1Corinthians
11.26), and not His
resurrection (although
this is important too).
Why is the death of Jesus more important than His resurrection, to the point of
exist an order to keep it in mind?
Although the resurrection of Christ
is a fantastic thing, certainly His death (its motive, the circumstances in which
it occurred, the behavior of Jesus) speaks more deeply in all hearts and minds.
So, each person stays being
introduced into the Holy Spirit increasingly (more and more infused in the body of
Christ) and, by
consequence, the person become PERENNIAL habitation of the Holy
Spirit. See that each person isn’t merely temple of VISITATION of the Holy
Spirit, but of HABITATIon. And, while the person is being
more and more buried (baptized) IN
the Holy Spirit (being a
perpetual baptism from which the person never should go oút), they are, at the same time, being
baptized IN the fire:
·
“I indeed baptize you with water to repentance.
But He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to
carry. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; whose fan is in
His hand, and He will cleanse His floor and gather His wheat into the
storehouse; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew
3.11,12).
Observe that John the Baptist didn’t
say that He will baptize His sons with the Holy Spirit and the wicked with
fire, but He will baptize His sons with the Holy Spirit and fire (at the same time), what is in according to the
following excerpt:
·
“Behold, I will send My messenger, and He will
clear the way before Me. And Jehovah, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His
temple, even the Angel of the Covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He comes,
says Jehovah of Hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who
shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's
soap. And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He shall
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may be offerers of a food offering in righteousness to Jehovah.” (Malachi
3.1-3).
While the person has their
relationship with Jesus, His Holy Spirit keeps on working His salvation in the
life of the person with fear and trembling (Philippians 2.12,13) through His judgments and trials,
which we ought to receive with thanks (see Leviticus 26.41,43; Psalm 139.23,24).
4 - To be filled with the
Holy Spirit:
·
“And
it happened as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her
womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,” (Luke 1.47).
·
“And
his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,” (Luke 1.67).
·
“And
when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together;
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)
Jesus stayed with His disciples 40
days. After this, He rose to heaven. Ten days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the
disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit and were thoroughly filled with the
Holy Spirit.
After the baptism IN the Holy
Spirit, we need "continually" to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Just
like a mobile needs to be recharged, we need to stay one
hundred percent filled with the Holy Spirit.
It comes the question: if we are
baptized IN the Holy Spirit, why doesn’t the affluence of the Holy Spirit stay
perennially inside us? The baptism IN the Holy Spirit ensures us that we are
sealed, protected externally against the onset of Ha-Satan:
·
“We
know that everyone who has been born of God does not continue to sin, but the
one born of God guards himself, and the evil one does not touch him” (1John 5.18).
Nevertheless, we need to be purified
in our innermost being and, for this, we need His renovation:
·
“It
is by Jehovah's kindnesses that we are not destroyed, because His mercies never
fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3.22,23).
5 – To be vivified by the
Holy Spirit:
One thing is to be filled with the Holy Spirit;
other one is to be vivified, although this last one is consequence of the
former one. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our innermost becomes
alive, what enable us to react to what come about us in a way that glorify the
name of Jesus, confirms His word and make us clean inside us:
·
“It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh
profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6.63).
·
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all
will be made alive.” (1Cor 15.22);
·
“Foolish one! What you sow is not made alive
unless it dies.” (1Cor 15.36);
·
“And so it is written,
"The first man, Adam, became a living soul," the last Adam was a
life-giving Spirit.” (1Cor 15.45).
·
“who also has made us able ministers of the new
covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the
Spirit makes alive.” (2Cor 3.6).
·
“I charge you before God (who makes
all things alive) and in the sight of Christ Jesus (who
witnessed the good confession to Pontius Pilate),” (1Tim 6.13).
·
“For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the
flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;” (1Pedro 3.18).
BAPTISM IN THE FIRE
Here is important to differentiate:
- One thing is the baptism IN the
water (Heb
10.22), which
imply in washing the body with pure water (Heb 10.22), that is, have their outward
attitudes cleaned up through the Church whose work it teaching her members
to keep everything that Jesus taught.
- Other thing is the baptism IN
the fire, which imply in to be cleaned up within through the Work
of the Creator, which use the circumstances to try and judge us so that we
can participate of His holiness (Hebrews 12.10).
It’s important to clarify that to be
“baptized in the fire” isn’t the baptism IN the Holy Spirit, let alone the
concession of spiritual gifts by Him. The baptism in the fire is the working of
the Holy Spirit inside us in order to purify us of the satanic disposition
inside us (the sin). This can come about through the
trials and tribulations:
- “I have spoken
these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you
shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world” (John 16.33);
- “confirming the
souls of the disciples, calling on them to continue in the faith and that
through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14.22);
- “For
to you it is given on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer for His sake,” (Philippians
1.29);
- “so
that no one should be drawn aside by these afflictions. For you yourselves
know that we are appointed to them.” (1Thess
3.3);
- “We
are bound to thank God always for you, my brothers, as it is right,
because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of you
abounds toward one another; so much so
that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations which you endure. For this is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
counted worthy of the kingdom
of God for which you also suffer, since it is a righteous thing with God to
repay tribulation to those who
trouble you, and to give
rest with us to you
who are troubled, at the revealing
of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with the angels of His power,” (2Thess 1.3-7).
- “Servants,
be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to those
good and forbearing, but also to the perverse ones. For
this is a grace, if for conscience toward God anyone endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if you patiently
endure while sinning
and being buffeted? But if you suffer
while doing good, and patiently endure, this is a grace from God. For you were not
called to this? For Christ also suffered on our behalf,
leaving us an example, that you should
follow His steps, he
who did no sin, nor was
guile found in His mouth, who when He was reviled did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but gave Himself
up to Him who judges
righteously. He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the
tree, that dying to sins, we might live
to righteousness; by whose stripes
you were healed.” (1Peter
2.18-24);
- “Beloved,
do not be astonished at the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
a strange thing happened to you, but rejoice according as you are partakers of Christ's suffering, so that when
His glory shall be revealed, you may be
glad also with exceeding joy. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed,
because the Spirit of God and of
glory rests on you. Truly
according to them, He is blasphemed, but according to you He is glorified. But let none of
you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or a meddler in the affairs of others. But if one suffers as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed, but let him
glorify God because of this. For the time has come for the
judgment to begin from the house of God. And
if it first begins from us, what will
be the end of those
disobeying the gospel of God? And if the
righteous one is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore let those who suffer according to the will
of God commit their souls in well-doing, as to a faithful Creator.” (1Peter 4.12-19).
Nevertheless, at these moments, the
order is:
- “Do
not at all fear what
you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil will cast some of you into prison,
so that you may be
tried. And you will have
tribulation ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown
of life.” (Rev 3.10).
After
all:
- “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, "My son, despise not the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is
he whom the father does not chasten? But if you
are without chastisement,
of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Furthermore we have had
fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we
gave them reverence. Shall we not much
rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For truly they chastened us for a few days according
to their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now chastening for the present does not seem to be
joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who are exercised by it.” (Hebrews 12.5-11).
And, of
course, if the person shy away from Jesus, certainly they will be reproved and
cursed:
- “Now, "the Just shall live by faith. But if he
draws back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we
are not of those withdrawing to destruction, but of those
who believe to the preserving
of the soul.” (Hebrews 10.38,39).
- “But if any
of you lacks wisdom, let him ask
of God, who gives to all liberally
and with no reproach, and it shall be given
to him. But let him
ask in faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts
is like a wave of the sea,
driven by the wind and
tossed. For do not
let that man think that he shall
receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded
man, not dependable in all his ways.” (James 1.5-8).
- “When the unclean
spirit has gone out of a man, he walks
through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. Then he said,
I will return into my house
from where I came out.
And when he has come, he finds it empty, swept, and decorated. Then he goes
and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and live there.
And the last state of that man
is worse than the first.
Even so it also shall be to this
evil generation.” (Matthew 12.43-45).
WHEN THE PERSON IS BAPTIZED
AND FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE THERE SOME SIGNAL?
Let’s analyze some situations:
- And suddenly a sound came out of the
heaven as borne along by the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And tongues as of fire appeared to
them, being distributed; and it sat upon each of them. And they were
all filled of the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other
languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2.2-4).
Here is the first time that someone is baptized
IN the Holy Spirit and filled with Him. All the 120 people began to speak in
other languages. This happened in order to serve of signal for all unbelievers
that were there (1Cor
14.21,22) and, later,
this was sign for the Israelites (Acts 11.1-3).
- “And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing
that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to
them; who when they had come down, prayed for them that they might
receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had not fallen on any of them,
they were baptized only in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they
laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy
Spirit. And when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was
given through laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them
money,” (Acts
8.15-18).
Although here it isn’t said that someone
prophesied or spoke in tongues, but certainly something visible took place,
inasmuch as Simon offered money to the apostles so that he could have the power
of laying his hand on people and they could receive the Holy Spirit.
This served of signal so that Israelites could
see that Samaritans could receive the Holy Spirit.
- “While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those hearing the Word. And those
of the circumcision, who believed (as many as came with Peter), were astonished because
the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the nations also. For
they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter
answered,” (Acts
10.44-46).
Here all those who were in the house of
Cornelius were baptized IN the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit and
they spoke with tongues and magnified God, without necessity of the apostles
lay their hands on them. This was signal to the Israelites about the
acceptation of the non-Israelites before Jesus (Acts 10.45-48).
- “And it happened in the time Apollos was
at Corinth, Paul was passing through the higher parts to Ephesus. And
finding certain disciples, he said to them, Have
you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit
is. And he said to them, Then to what were
you baptized? And they said, To John's baptism. And Paul said, John
truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that
they should believe into Him coming after him, that is, into Jesus
Christ. And hearing, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. And as Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on
them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19.1-6).
Certainly, the presence of the Holy Spirit in
the life of someone makes this person into other else. After all, immediately,
Paul perceived that they didn’t have the Holy Spirit.
When Paul laid his hand on them, they spoke
with tongues and prophesied. Maybe this was sign to them that they were doing
the right thing, and probably for all the church of Ephesus.
- "Then Peter said to them, repent and
be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of
sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the
promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many
as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words he earnestly
testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from
this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized. And the same day there were added about three thousand souls.
And they were continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in
fellowship and in the breaking of the loaves, and in prayers.
And fear came on every soul. And many
wonders and miracles took place through the apostles. And all who believed were together and
had all things
common. And they sold their possessions
and goods and distributed them to all,
according as anyone had need. And continuing with one accord
in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, they
shared food with gladness and simplicity
of heart,” (Acts 2.38-46).
Here, although nothing is said if these 3000
souls received or not the baptism of the Holy Spirit and were filled with Him,
notwithstanding the behavior of them (shown in the underlined words) highlight the difference that the Holy Spirit made in their lives (probably it was so that Barnabas saw
the grace of Jesus in Actos 11.23). Also, it isn’t mentioned that they spoke with tongues or prophesied.
- “And now, Lord, behold their threatening,
and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your
Word, by stretching forth of Your hand for healing, and miracles,
and wonders may be done by the name of Your holy child Jesus. And
when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken. And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God
with boldness.” (Acts 4.29-31).
In Acts 2.43 is said that the signs were made
by the apostles, while here all the 5000 (Acts 4.4) prayed for the privilege of announce the Word
of Jesus with boldness in midst of several manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
And we see that their prayer was accepted.
- “And Ananias went and entered into the
house. And putting his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord,
Jesus, who appeared to you in the way in which you came, has sent me to
you that you might see and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And
instantly scales as it were fell from his eyes, and he instantly saw
again. And rising up, he was baptized.” (Acts 9.17,18).
Here Paul first is baptized IN the Holy Spirit
and filled with Him. Only after this, he was baptized in water. And nothing it
is said if in this occasion Paul spoke with tongues or prophesied.
Nevertheless, scales fell from his eyes.
Beyond these seven examples, there are some
excerpts of the Holy Scripture to be taken into account:
- “And miraculous signs will follow to those
believing these things: in My name they will cast out demons; they
will speak new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink
any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick,
and they will be well. Then indeed, after speaking to them, the Lord
was taken up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And going
out, they proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and
confirming the Word by miraculous signs following. Amen.” (Mark 16:17-20).
Jesus worked with the apostles asserting His
Word by miraculous signs and He said that He would do this by everyone that
believe in Him.
The writer of Hebrews confirms this happening:
- “God also bearing them witness, both with signs
and wonders, and with different kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy
Spirit, according to His own will?” (Heb 2:4);
And Paul said that this is the
essence of the Kingdom of Jesus:
·
“For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1Cor 4.20).
- “for the kingdom of God is not
eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit.” (Rom
14:17).
So much so that he prayed for the followers of
Christ so that they could abound in the power of the Holy Spirit that operates
in us (Ephesius 3.20).
- “And may the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 15:13);
And he rejoiced when he saw that people was happy
in the Holy Spirit and filled with His power:
- “For our gospel did not come to you in
word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and in
much assurance, as you know what kind of men we
were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of
the Lord, welcoming the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy
Spirit,” (1Thess
1.5,6);
So, to be fraught of the Holy Spirit implies in
live like Christ (1John
2.6), both in character
and power.
HOW CAN WE BAPTIZED AND
FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
At first place, let’s analyze the instruction
given by the apostles:
- “Then Peter said to them, repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to
remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all
those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Act 2.38-39).
- “And
we are His witnesses of these things. And so
also is the Holy Spirit, whom
God has given to those who obey Him.” (Act
5:32).
There are three conditions quoted here:
Ü To repent – to rue who they are and to yearn
for being born again and being a new person;
Ü To be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ – to be
buried in what Jesus is, as well as in His teachings (Matthew 28.19,20).
Ü To obey Jesus Christ – the objective of this is to
prepare the heart to be guided by the Holy Spirit:
·
“For
on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the
first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of
his God on him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of
Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel.” (Ezra 7.9,10).
·
“The
voice of him who cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah,
make straight a highway in the desert for our God.” (Isaiah 40.3).
When we pay attention to the background in each
one of the occasions wherein the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place, we can
see this preparation:
1.
“these
all were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with His brothers.” (Acts 1.14).
“And in the
fulfilling of the day of Pentecost, they were all with one accord in one
place.” (Acts 2.1).
Observe how the one hundred and twenty
disciples was in prayer and supplication with one accord and in one place.
2.
“And
a certain man named Cornelius was in Caesarea, a centurion of the Italian
cohort, one devout and fearing God, with all his household,
both doing many merciful deeds to the people, and praying continually
to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw plainly in a vision an
angel of God coming to him and saying to him, Cornelius! And he was gazing
at him, and becoming terrified, he said, What is it,
lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and
your merciful deeds have come up for a memorial before God.” (Acts 10.1-4).
Note how the Cornelius and all his household
were devout and feared the Lord, always doing merciful deeds and praying to the
Lord.
3.
“And
the people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip spoke,
hearing and seeing the many miracles which he did. For out of those having
unclean spirits, many came out, crying with loud voice. And many who had been
paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that
city. But when they believed Philip preaching the gospel, the things
concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,
both men and women. And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had
received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them; Then they laid
their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8.6-8,12,14,17).
They heard the gospel, were baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ and followed Philip until the apostles went to Samaria.
4.
“And
he was three days not seeing, and did not eat or drink. And there
was a certain disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a
vision, Ananias! And he said, Behold me, Lord. And the Lord said to him,
Arise and go into the street which is called Straight and inquire in the house
of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, and
has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on
him so that he might receive his sight. And Ananias answered, Lord, I have
heard from many of this man, how many evil things he has done to Your saints at
Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all
who call on Your Name. But the Lord said to him, Go! For this one is a
chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before nations and kings and the sons of
Israel. For I will show him what great things he must suffer for My name's
sake. And Ananias went and entered into the house. And putting his hands
on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, who appeared to you in the way
in which you came, has sent me to you that you might see and be filled with the
Holy Spirit. And instantly scales as it were fell from his eyes, and he
instantly saw again. And rising up, he was baptized.” (Acts 9.9-18).
Paul was fasting and praying continually after
have the vision of Jesus.
5.
“And it
happened in the time Apollos was at
Corinth, Paul was passing through the
higher parts to Ephesus. And finding certain disciples,” (Acts 19.1)
Although the Holy Scripture don’t say
explicitly what these disciples was doing, also it wasn’t any special occasion
of worship. Similarly, it isn’t said that Paul tried to mount up the disciples.
So, they were together in spirit of praise and worship to Jesus.
Furthermore, we need to consider the
instruction given to the Ephesians by Paul:
- “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God
and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” (Ephesians 5:18-20).
Although there are several versions, most of
them quote “speaking to yourselves” and “in your heart”. That is to say, the
path for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit is singing and making melody
inside our heart and, first of all, speaking to our own self, such as the
psalmists did (see
Psalms 42.5,11; 43.5; 62.5; 103.1,2,22; 104.1,35).
And pay heed to what Paul said:
·
“Therefore the one
teaching another, do you not teach yourself?... “ (Romans 2.21).
And we see this self-ministration in Jesus
Christ:
·
“And going out, according to His custom, He went
to the Mount of Olives. And His disciples also followed Him.” (Luke 22.39)
After all, when Jesus prayed, He prayed to
Himself, inasmuch as He is God. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit help ourselves in
this self-ministration:
·
“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us,” (Eph 3:20).
·
Likewise the
Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for
as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8.26).
So, it
there is one doubt: what is psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs:
·
Psalms are songs that were sung in the temple (in the
court, to be more exact, in courses to guard the temple), accompanied
by instruments of cords or of blow. The theme of the songs was prayers, praises
and instructions (1Chronicles 23.5,6).
·
Hymns are songs that were destined to praise the
Creator when they meet together in the synagogues or in their houses. They were
only sung (without musical instruments).
·
Spiritual songs are songs that it was sung with
the purport to get amused in parties or informal meetings. At these occasions,
all type of musical instruments was permitted, as well as dances (see, for
example, Judges 11.34; Matthew 11.16,17; Luke 15.24,25).
RELATION BETWEEN TO BE
FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SALVATION
At the Old
Testament the Creator established the law (Deuteronomy
5.27) so that the human being could comply. At the New Testament Jesus
fulfilled the law so that, in Him, the sin finished forever.
·
“He Himself bore our sins in His own body
on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by
whose stripes you were healed.” (1Peter 2.24).
·
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins.”
(1John 4:10).
·
“even from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the
First-born from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,” (Rev 1:5).
But if Jesus take
our sins away, so why do we stay sinning? Why do we pray:
·
“and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.” (Mat 6:12).
At the Old
Testament there was two sacrifices in what the lamb was used:
1 – Passover Lamb:
·
“Therefore purge out the
old leaven so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” (1Cor 5:7).
The lamb of the
Passover was initially sacrificed so that its blood could mark the houses of
the people of Israel in order that the destroyer angel didn’t kill the
first-born Israelites. By this8 happening, the Israelites got away from the
external captivity. It there was no one more to coerce them to abide by pagan,
evil and unrighteous laws.
Today Christ, as
our Lamb, frees us from the vanity of our minds, of our understanding darkened,
wh make us alienated from the life of God through the
ignorance that were in us, because of the blindness of our heart.
·
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord,
that you should not walk from now on as other nations walk, in the vanity of
their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of
their heart. For they, being past feeling, have given themselves up to
lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Eph
4:17-19).
That is to say, this represents
the work of Christ in order to purify our minds:
·
“For I delight in the Law of God
according to the inward man; but I see another
law in my members, warring against the law
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin being
in my members. O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then with
the mind I myself serve the Law of God,
but with the flesh the
law of sin.” (Rom
7:22-25).
Our minds became purified (Matthew 26.43), but our feelings don’t.
2 – THE TWO LAMBS OF THE
DAILY SACRIFICE
However, it there was other two lambs to be
sacrificed every day:
·
“And
you shall say to them, This is the fire offering which
you shall offer to Jehovah: two lambs of the first year without spot day by
day, a continual burnt offering. The one lamb you shall offer in the morning,
and the other lamb you shall offer between the evenings.” (Num 28:3-4).
This means the work of the Holy
Spirit inside us that make our inward man (our spirit) to delight in the Law of Jesus, which
continually cleans us up:
·
“Now
to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His
glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy; to the only wise God, our
Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever.
Amen.” (Jud
1:24-25).
·
“But
the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and guard you from the evil.”
(2Thess
3:3).
·
“Therefore,
my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.“ (Phil 2.12,13).
·
“being
confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Php 1:6).
Jesus is the Lamb which had been slain, but
rose and lived again (Romans 14.9).
He is the alive Lamb that takes our sins away (John 1.29) through the washing of renovation and
regeneration of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3.4-6):
·
“But
if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” (1John 1:7-10)
·
“My
little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin.
And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And He is the propitiation concerning our sins, and not
concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of all the world.” (1John 2:1-2).
The salvation doesn’t consist of
our efforts to reach the pureness and holiness, but in the work of Jesus in us
which keeps us undefiled:
·
“And
you know that He was revealed that He might take away our sins, and in Him is
no sin. Everyone who abides in Him does not sin. Everyone who
sins has not seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive
you. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as that One is righteous. He
who practices sin is of the Devil, for the Devil sins from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He
might undo the works of the Devil. Everyone who has been born of God does
not commit sin, because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin,
because he has been born of God.” (1John 3.5-9)
CONCLUSION
Only it is saved who was received by Jesus (it was sealed), died to themselves (it was baptized), had their mind and heart occupied
by Jesus (it was filled
of the Holy Spirit) and
was born again (it was vivified); and this after being cleaned up by
the Word ministered by Jesus:
· “He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles which you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3.2,3).
·
“Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6).
·
“But
you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be
witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the
end of the earth.” (Acts
1.8).
There are cases wherein the person is sealed,
baptized, filled and vivified by the Holy Spirit at the same time:
·
“While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell on all those hearing the Word. And those of the
circumcision, who believed (as many as came with Peter), were
astonished because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the nations
also.” (Acts 10.44,45).
·
“And
it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through
the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto
them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto
him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any
Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were
ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they
should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And
when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” (Acts 19:1-6).
The first thing that the person experiences is
the cleaning of the Holy Spirit, which will be accomplished during all the life
of the person (John
15.3).
When the person believes in Jesus in the right
way, they are seal with the Holy Spirit (John 20.22). After this the person is baptized in the Holy
Spirit, coming to be part of the dead body of Christ (Romans 6.3), what keep them sealed, covered and protected
by and with Christ forever.
After this the person is filled with the breath
of Jesus and vivified as Adam with one difference: the
Creator breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of life (Gen 2.7), while Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the
nostrils of the Church (John 15.26; 16.7).
When the Holy Spirit is breathed in the spirit of the man, he is vivified
spiritually, that is, he become alive spiritually.
- "Any one
who has lately bathed," said Jesus, "does not need to wash more
than his feet, but is clean all over. And you my disciples are clean, and
yet this is not true of all of you." (Joh 13:10).
We are cleaned by the Word of Jesus (John 15.3), buried by the baptism IN the Holy Spirit, and
live moved by the Holy Spirit who fill us with His power (1Cor 4.19,20).
