Reference: Acts 2:38 and I Corinthians12:13
In the thirtyeighth verse of the second chapter of the book of Acts the apostle Peter is telling a group of people that inorder for them to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, then they had to repentand be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins.Now according to this verse of scripture one absolutely must first repent ofsin and be baptized in water before they can receive the gift of the HolyGhost.
Now the receiving of the Holy Ghost isabsolutely not the baptism of the Holy Ghost, of which I will attempt to prove.Have you ever wondered why Peter did not tell the people on the day ofPentecost just to believe on the Lord Jesus and accept him as their ownpersonal Lord and Saviour like many thousands of preachers will tell you today?When the jailer asked Paul what he had to do in order to be saved as recordedin Acts 16:30 the apostle Paul told him to believe on the Lord JesusChrist and he would be saved and also his house. Now many people willignorantly get the idea that one doesn't have to repent and be baptized inChrist's name like Peter said to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. Now Paul didnot say the same words that Peter said, but nevertheless the jailer wasabsolutely told to repent and be baptized simply because these two commands arethe very basic fundamentals of the doctrine of Christ as recorded in thegospel.
Paul told the jailer to believe on theLord and he would be saved meaning of course that he was to accept and believethe word of God. To believe on the Lord Jesus is more than just believing onhis name and that he died for the sins of the whole world etc. Christ is theWord of God and we are told to live by every word and not just a few of them.
Now when the people gladly received whatPeter said, they were baptized and we are told that they continued stedfastlyin the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and inprayers. Now according to God's word, as it is stated in Acts 2:38, we are plainlytold that God would give the gift of the Holy Ghost upon obedience to thecommand of repentance and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.
Now if we will count God as being true andto count all men as liars, then according to what he said we will receive thegift of the Holy Ghost if we do what he tells us to do. Now to believe what Godsays in his word will absolutely bring to pass exactly what he said. Since weare told that we will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost upon our obedience torepentance and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, then we absolutelymust by faith believe that we did receive the promise gift of the Holy Ghostlike his word plainly says.
Now this receiving and believing what Godhas said is not all there is in God's saving plan of his salvation. We are notjust to accept the fact that we received the Holy Ghost upon our obedience tothe commands of repentance and water baptism and let it go as that, but ratherwe are to continue stedfastly in the doctrine of the apostles just like thepeople did on the day of Pentecost after they obeyed the commands of repentanceand water baptism in Christ's name. We by faith accept the fact that God gaveus the gift of the Holy Spirit, but our continuing on in the apostle's doctrinewill reveal to us the truth and it is this truth that will set us free as Jesussaid in his word recorded in John 8:32.
Now the truth that Jesus is talking aboutis revealed to us by the revelation of the Holy Spirit that we received byfaith. This revealing of truth is exactly what the baptism of the Holy Ghostis. We were baptized into the body of Christ meaning that we are being baptizedinto his death. This baptism is our burial of the old carnal natured man sothat the new man can come forth in a newness of life.
If more people would believe what God'sword says instead of trying to make God's word fit their own predicament thenthere would be more people knowing the truth that will set them free as Jesussaid it would. The trouble with most people today is they won't let God's wordbe the judge about a certain situation such as their relation to the sinproblem.
God's word plainly teaches that sin willnot have dominion over the believer, but since ninety some percent of thepeople today still find themselves prone to sin's power they will then come upwith an excuse of some kind and twist the word of God to suit their ownpernicious way. In the religious realm of the world today it's commonly taughtthat sin will yet be evident in the life of the born again child of God, butGod's word is directly opposed to this teaching.
Today's preacher and Bible teachers aresaying that the child of God possesses the duel nature one being their owncarnal nature and the other being the devine nature of Christ. This doctrine isreally a conflict with one's own carnal nature consisting of both good and evildeeds. What the average person fails to realize is that Christ becomes the lifeof the true believer through the power of the Holy Ghost. Christ becomes ourlife as the Holy Spirit reveals him in us as we walk in the light of the truth.
The many false prophets that has risen inthese last days, like Jesus said they would, have deceived countless thousandsof people into believing the doctrine that teaches that a person first receivesChrist, by faith, as being the second member of the Godhead that supposedlyconsists of three seperate and distinct persons. They then teach that the HolyGhost is received as being either a second or third work of grace and he thenbegins to reveal the Christ that is already in them.
The Bible does not teach the receiving ofChrist into our being as our own personal Lord and Saviour. To receive Christdoes not mean to receive his person or his Spirit, but rather to receive Christas stated in John 1:11-12 this means to receive him by accepting what he says. Toreject Christ is to refuse to take heed to what he teaches. To receive Christmeans to accept what he says and teaches.
When Christ came to his own people theyrefused to accept what he taught. This in reality meant that they did notreceive him. We are then told that as many as did receive him, to them wasgiven the power to become the sons of God. Christ was received by some in thesense of saying that they received him by accepting what he taught them.
You do not receive Christ's person by yoursaying that you accept him as your Saviour no matter how much the false prophetwill tell you this. Christ can only become your life within you by the HolyGhost revealing him to you as you walk in the light of the truth of the gospelof Jesus Christ.
The Holy Ghost does not teach you thatChrist is already in you. Christ becomes our life as we are obedient to thegospel. This is the sole purpose of the gospel, to make and create sons ofGod....