The Baptism With the Holy Spirit
topic: The Power Of The Spirit
A new Believer is placed in the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. He is baptized in water by the visible church. Now that Believer needs to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, so he can be energized and supernaturally empowered to live the born-again life the way God wants it lived. We have too many people who want to live this Christian life according to their own rules and regulations, and living the Christian life does not work that way. We have to do it according to the rule book, and the Bible is the rule book.
God tells us through the mouth of the prophet in Ezekiel 36:26-27: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." God is not talking in verse 26 about the organ that pumps blood through your body. If He took that out of your flesh, you would be in trouble. He is talking symbolically about the heart of the spirit of man. You were given a brand new spirit when you were born again. That is what Paul means in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he tells us: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. However, the only old things that are passed away are the things in the spirit part of our nature. Not in our flesh, nor in our soul--just in our spirit. We need supernatural help for us to overcome the traditions and garbage we may have in our minds. It is a constant battle because our minds and bodies will pull on us to do what they want to do. That is one reason we need the power of the Holy Spirit--to help our recreated human spirits do God's will and follow His Word. Jesus gives us another reason in Acts 1:8: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." When indicates that before the time when occurs, you do not have whatever it is when is referring to. Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they received power. Once they received that power, they would be witnesses of and for Him in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. "To the end of the earth" actually refers to us. The disciples did not know about a North American continent, or a South American continent, or the islands of the sea, because they lived all their lives in a small area, geographically speaking. Jesus had to be talking about all the people who would believe in Him as an eventual result of the disciples' ministry. This includes us. There are too many Christians with zeal and commitment, but without the power, and a direct result of that is a lot of mediocre witnessing. Jesus would not tell us about receiving the power if we did not need it. And when it comes to going about the Lord's business, we definitely need it. The word translated as power in Acts 1:8 really means "ability." Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we do not have the supernatural ability to be as effective as we can be. We need to be witnesses on Jesus' terms, because Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:9: For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. He adds in 2 Corinthians 6:1: We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. We are not workers for God; we are workers with Him. That is a very important distinction. It implies that God is doing something, and He is privileging us to assist Him. However, you cannot be a worker with God without His power. This makes it vitally important for us to not only find out what our assignment from God is, but also to get a hold of His power so we can fulfill that task. That is why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit -- so we can operate in the same power and ability that God operates in.
Scripture Of The Day: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
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