I want to be completely honest with you who may be reading this. There is so much teaching out there on the holy spirit and the manifestations, it may seem hard for one to come to a proper conclusion. I have seen both extremes over the years and at times I am not sure where I fit in. One extreme is there is no real significance to the indwelling holy spirit, the other is everything is spiritual and anything goes kind of mind set. I have seen many silly things go on in churches and be labeled “coming from the holy spirit”. I do not agree with most of what I have seen over the years and the outright stupidity it produced. I have seen and dealt with the disillusioned and discouraged when real life problems hits them square in the face. I have seen the many failures of modern day prophecies and so called prophets. Then there is the seemingly easily fooled Christian that blindly follows leaders of such false groups.
As I think about this I find my own self in the middle somewhere. That in it’s self creates a problem, because today there seems to be this thinking you belong to one group or the other, there is no middle ground. We are encouraged to take sides, but the problem with that is I can not be honest with myself if I do. I have many friends in ministry that come from both kinds of mind sets. I love them dearly, but can not agree with them in the matters of their teaching about the indwelling holy spirit. I also find that in each group the mind set that will not allow anyone to speak otherwise to them or even think differently. Yes, I have been given the label heretic, trouble maker, lost, or just plain stupid. I do like to think of myself as a free thinker and willing to ask the questions, most are not willing to ask.
I was raised basically Pentecostal, now that carries a lot of different meanings to others. I have been exposed to nonsense, and spiritual stupidity. Yet, I have seen and bear testimony to many great things and demonstrations of God’s power. I have been a seeker of truth basically all my life and more so today than ever. I have experienced God’s word at work in my own life and felt Him doing a work in me. I know first hand the goodness of God’s indwelling presence, and what His spirit can do. I do speak in tongues, (my prayer language), I can never that I have spoken in another human language, I just don’t know. Like Paul to the Corinthians, I may speak in tongues a lot, maybe more than most. I do understand what I am saying and know what praying in the spirit has produced in me.
I have not done it for the glory from man or exploited it for recognition, or gain. I have worshiped God in it and opened my heart in prayer through it. It has interceded on my behalf and when there were no words that I could utter, it knew what to say. I will not say I understand it all or that I am an expert on this subject. What I do have and come to believe can be found in the scripture; I do believe it’s for everyone and for today’s believer. I will not say everyone should speak in tongues as I do, but I would encourage you to seek God and His Word about it and maybe you would find the manifestation of His spirit at work in you.
Now, I know there is a lot of debate over when one receives holy spirit. Two basic schools of thought on this, no matter how they may feel it is reveled. One, you receive it at your confession of faith. The other is, you have a separate experience called the baptism of holy spirit. Two extremes exist in these thoughts. One there is no spiritual significance and manifestation other than fruit. The other is, only if you speak in tongues do you have it. Like I said, I am this guy who is in the middle somewhere.
First of all, today’s understanding of salvation is not truly biblical. Saved from what? This is my question. Hell maybe? What are we saved from, maybe we need to understand that first. What does it truly mean to believe? The demons believe there is a God, are they saved? (James 2.19) One must be transformed, born again by the Word and the spirit.
(1 Pet 1:22-23 NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. {23} For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
I will deal with this subject later, but for now I do believe salvation is something that is only completed at the resurrection and the rebirth is now and a growing process, called maturing, coming to fruit. This is an ongoing obedience to the gospel message, our God, and Jesus. Repentance is to change, do a 180 in all we do and how we live. I have always asked the question, “How can one claim to be saved or be filled with the spirit and never change?” Now it is not my place to judge another, but many of their fruits have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Enough said for now.
Jesus himself said that the spirit would dwell in us. (John 14:17 NKJV) "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. Then Paul comes along and teaches the workings of the spirit in as, and confirms that it dwells in us. This will create in us two natures and Paul often deals with them. One is our human nature with all its emotions and earthly knowledge, born in sin and is evil in heart. The other is God’s spirit at work in us producing godliness, preparing us for the complete change from mortal to immortality. His spirit will cause us to change and walk in obedience to Jesus. This is an ongoing work that one day will produce a harvest of who God intended us to be. Just Like the parable of the good seed and the tares, they had to grow up together until reaping time. Then the one is gathered for destruction, and the other for life.
Romans chapter 7 is all about the earthly sin nature in man, who is incapable of obeying God’s laws. (Rom 7:20-24 NKJV) Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. {21} I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. {22} For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. {23} 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 which is in my members. {24} O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
We are all held captive and in need of an answer to this dilemma, that death rules over us. That is why Paul continues on.
(Rom 7:25 NIV) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.(Rom 8:1-10 NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, {2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. {3} For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, {4} in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. {5} Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. {6} The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; {7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. {9} You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. {10} But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Notice what Paul is saying, without the spirit of God we are not capable of living the Christian life. If I could put it this way, until one is born again of the spirit they are still in the womb incapable of living freely as God designed. You cannot live for God without His spirit in you, Paul says it is impossible. So, how can one truly say they are saved and not have the spirit? On the other hand how can one say they are filled and are experiencing so many manifestations and still not be able to walk in obedience to God? I say maybe neither is truly possible according to Paul. Our human rational soul can only be changed by the spirit of God.
Paul, even uses a little stronger words in (1 Cor 3:16 -20 NIV) Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? {17} If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. {18} Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. {19} For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; {20} and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." God’s spirit dwells in us and we are to change our lives to reflect that. We are the temples not made with men’s hands. How are you treating God holy place of dwelling? Here Paul tells us that God would even destroy those who disrespect His dwelling place. I am not sure if that is now or the coming judgment, I feel maybe both in many respects.
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