As with
water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism is also a complete submersion, but it is a
complete submersion and surrender to Holy Spirit. Instead of being submerged and covered in
water, we are asking God to completely submerge us, surround us, and cover us
in His Spirit. His Spirit dwells inside
of us from the moment we confess our sins and ask His forgiveness. Now, we want to move to the next level and
live a life fully and completely surrendered to Him.
“I indeed
baptize you with water unto repentance: but He who is coming after me is
mightier than I, whose sandals I am not
worthy to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
“For John
truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now.” (Acts 1:5)
“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 Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8)
The call to
holy spirit baptism is a call to be completely filled and overwhelmed with Holy
Spirit. It is a call for us to burn with
desire for God and for His Word and for His work. It is a call for a fire to be ignited in us
and for us to have a passion for Him that overflows into every aspect of our
life. And, it is a call for us to be
empowered to spread the good news and the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
How do you receive the baptism of
Holy Spirit?
You
ask. Just as you asked for forgiveness
of your sins, you ask God to baptize you in His Holy Spirit and completely fill
your life and cover your life.
How do I know I have been filled with
Holy Spirit?
You
believe. You trust. You obey.
As you grow in your faith with Jesus, you will find that you actually
“feel” God’s Spirit and His presence with you.
There will also be times when you feel nothing. God does not deal with each of us the same,
He loves us and deals with us individually and uniquely. We are each individual and unique human
beings, we should not expect that we would hear, and react the same to God’s
presence and His Spirit.
There are
fruits of the Spirit that will develop in you.
The Bible teaches us that we are known by our fruits. Our faith, our Christianity, our beliefs are
not displayed by how we dress, how long our hair is… but by the fruit our lives
produce. Galatians 5:22-23 teach us that
a Spirit filled life produces love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There are
also gifts of the Spirit, or ways that Holy Spirit chooses to work in and
through us. Holy Spirit empowers us and
uses us to operate through nine gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith,
healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, diverse tongues, and
interpretation of tongues are all manifestations of Holy Spirit and He uses
these gifts to work through us to bless, to touch, and to profit His
church. That is one very important thing
to always keep in mind, the gifts of Holy Spirit are used to benefit the church
and to bring honor and glory to God… never to condemn, put down, tear down, or
destroy others.
God may use
you in a gift. You may have an urge to
pray a prayer of healing over someone’s life.
You may lay hands on a person to pray and they are healed or
blessed. A scripture may come to your
mind and you feel the need to speak it to a friend or loved one. These are all ways that God works through us
with His Spirit.
Differences
in sects of religion come from varying beliefs in the gifts of Holy
Spirit. Some churches preach and teach
that none of the gifts are operational in today’s church. Some churches teach and preach that all nine
gifts are operational. Other churches
profess that only certain gifts are operational, and some churches preach and
teach that unless you operate in the gifts you are not saved. The latter statement is most true regarding
the gift of speaking in tongues. Many
churches preach that unless you speak in an unknown language, or tongue, that
you have not been baptized or filled with Holy Spirit.
God’s Word
declares that He does not change. He has
always existed, and He always will exist.
He is the beginning and the end.
And, God exists eternally in three parts. Therefore, His gifts did not appear with the
beginning of the church, and they cannot disappear now that the church is
established… His gifts exist eternally, just like Him.
Our real
desire should not be to prove, disprove, or convince anyone of the operation of
specific gifts. If you desire a
particular gift from Holy Spirit, ask Him for that gift and to use you in that
way. But, your primary focus should
never be on a particular gift, but always on the giver. Therefore,
don’t concentrate on receiving a particular thing from God, but instead
concentrate on giving Him your every thing and allowing Him to use you in the
way He desires. Be willing, humble,
and obedient to allowing Him to operate in your life. Realize that the only requirement for Heaven
is confessing Jesus as Lord. Whether you
shout, dance, cry, or speak in an unknown tongue does not guarantee your
salvation, make you any better of a Christian, or mean that you have reached
some “level” of spirituality. At the
foot of the cross, we are all on equal ground and God knows exactly how to best
use each of us for His kingdom and for His glory.
Baptism of
the Holy Spirit is simply a surrender fully to God. It is a life that says “use me”. It’s not proof of how much you read your
Bible, how often you pray, or how much tithes you pay. It is a life that says, “God I belong to you. I want to be full of your Holy Spirit and
develop in your ways and be empowered to reach others for you”.
Read John
Chapter 20.
No comments:
Post a Comment