Understanding Matthew 11:12

 

    Matthew 11:12 is one of the enigmatic passages in The Bible, and various commentators have given different interpretations and meanings to it.

While coming to an understanding of such passages, it should be kept in mind that language and usage of words do change over time, and what a particular word meant at some time in the past (in the original as well as the translated language), may not necessarily be exactly the same as we understand it now.

One of the reasons for the difficulty in understanding this verse is the use of the word ‘violence’ and ‘violent’ and the negative connotations that we generally associate with these words in our common usage. The NIV translation uses the words ‘forcefully’ and ‘forceful’ instead, which though does mellow down the negative connotations but does not entirely do away with them. The original Greek word used in the text of this verse can mean both of the above as well as mean ‘being energetic’.

By using the alternative meanings of the original Greek words, we can also render this verse as follows: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is being pressed into through forceful and energetic efforts of the committed ones” (Matt 11:12 Paraphrased); which brings it more in line with the related verse – “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16).

With this background, a possible interpretation and understanding of the verse can be: “From the time John the Baptist started giving the call to repent and undergo the baptism of repentance, till now, those who responded to his call have done so with a resolute mind and firm determination, striving to withstand all opposition and to persevere in the call steadfastly.”

But do also keep in mind that when Lord Jesus spoke these words, the era of salvation by grace had not been initiated. At that time the people still believed in righteousness by works of the Law, which is why they believed in being forceful or industrious, and energetic in their efforts to be acceptable to God. Moreover, Lord Jesus categorically used the words “From the days of John the Baptist until now”, setting a definite time frame for the applicability of the condition; and neither subsequently in the gospels, nor later in any of the epistles has this (being ‘violent’ or ‘forceful’ or ‘energetic’) been mentioned ever again as an exhortation or precondition for gaining entry into the Kingdom of God. So it would be wrong to surmise from this verse that strong self-efforts are required or are a prerequisite for gaining entry into God’s Kingdom.

But energetic and determined efforts to grow in the Christian faith and maintain the sanctity of their Christian calling after being saved by grace through repentance of sins and coming to a personal faith in Lord Jesus has always been the call for all Born Again children of God, as we see from Paul’s example of persevering and forcefully disciplining himself for the sake of his ministry, and teaching the same perseverance and willingness to endure to young Timothy from passages such as 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Timothy 2:3-5 & 4:7.

In other words, for us living in this age of grace, salvation is by God’s grace not any self efforts, but maturing in faith and being active and effective for our Lord does require our being energetic and forceful in disciplining ourselves as well as facing opposition in the practice of our faith.

Responsibilities of a Christian Believer

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Responsibilities of a Christian Believer

Sabbath, Sunday, Christian Day of Worship

 

Question: What is the Sabbath; is it the same as Sunday? Should Christians worship on Sunday or on Sabbath day?

 

Answer:

     The simple, straightforward, one line answer is that Sabbath and Sunday are not the same, and Biblically, Christians ought to worship on Sunday.

     The word ‘sabbath’ means rest. Usually this alludes to the seventh day of the Jewish calendar, which is the Saturday of our current calendar, because on this day the Lord God completed His Creation work and rested (Genesis 2:2-3) and He established this seventh day as a day of rest for His people in His Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). But in the Old Testament, a sabbath day or a day of rest is not necessarily the seventh day of the Jewish week – it can be any ‘day of rest’ or of ‘cessation of work’ – see Leviticus chapter 23, where the feasts of the Lord and the methods of celebrating them are given, and see chapter 25, where the whole particular year is called the sabbath year. Similarly, in Exodus 31:13 and Leviticus 19:3 and 26:2 also the word is used in plural ‘sabbaths’ indicating more days than one were designated as ‘sabbath’ and this makes it clear that in the Old Testament the word ‘Sabbath’ was not used for just the seventh day of the Jewish week, but was for any day appointed by God for rest or not doing the routine work. The context of the word decided the meaning of the word; but generally speaking it meant the seventh day of the Jewish week, our Saturday, that, according to God’s Law and the Ten Commandments was to be a day of not doing any work, but to be spent in worshiping the Lord God – this was the demand of the Law, from them who were the people of God under the Law, whether they were the natural descendants of Abraham, or those residing with the Jews (Exodus 20:10), or those who had accepted to follow Judaism – like those people of the mixed-multitude who came out of Egypt with the Jews (Exodus 12:38), or those who became Jews later on (Esther 8:17; 9:27; Isaiah 14:1; 45:14; Zechariah 8:20-23) – they were all under the Law of God, and it was necessary for them to follow it, they were to maintain the sanctity of the Sabbath, or Saturday and observe it appropriately as commanded in the Law.

     Our Sunday is the first day the Jewish week; and is the seventh day of our current calendar. This day is of special significance for the Christians, because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead on this day (Mark 16:9, see verses 1-9). Therefore the followers of the Lord Jesus, started to gather for worshiping the Lord and participating in the Lord’s Table or Holy Communion on ‘the first day of the week’ i.e. on Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) – and this God’s Holy Spirit got recorded for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17), for our instruction and observance. Nowhere in the New Testament have the Christian Believers been reprimanded for doing this, and neither have they been instructed at any place to rectify this and revert back to the ‘Sabbath’ or Saturday. In other words, worshiping God on Sunday, is from God, is accepted by God, and is appropriate to observe for the Christians. Later, this ‘first day of the week’ was also called ‘the Lord’s Day’ (Revelation 1:10) – again recorded in the Bible through the Holy Spirit. There is no instruction, reason, or compulsion to revert this back to the Jewish Sabbath day.

     Today many people are deceiving Christians into reverting to the Sabbath day in place of Sunday, and they quote from the Old Testament to support their arguments. But what they do not show from the Bible is that Christ Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us, has nailed it to the Cross and has taken it out of our way, and we too have died on the Cross with Christ for the Law (Romans 7:4; 10:4; Colossians 2:13-15) – pay attention to these verses, the Law has been fulfilled in Christ, in other words, all its requirements have been completed; and now it has come to its conclusion, i.e. by having been fulfilled it is now closed; now the Law cannot be broken – because it has been fully fulfilled, it is a closed chapter, and in its place God has made applicable the righteousness of His grace through coming to faith in the Lord Jesus. By nailing the Law to the Cross Christ has taken it out of our way – we simply don’t have to walk that path to righteousness anymore; in Christ we have died to the Law – therefore neither does the Law have any hold on us nor are we in any state to follow it; now we live by faith in Christ – now we have no reason to observe the Law and its instructions; we are made righteous by our faith in Christ, and not by observing the things of the Law (Romans 3:22-31; 10:8-11).

     In any case, right at the time of the first Church and the Apostles – the disciples of Christ, it had been thoroughly discussed and unanimously accepted and decreed for all times that no one had been able to keep the Law (Acts 15:10) and there is no need for observing the Law (Acts 15:24). Moreover, Paul, writing his letters under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has very clearly stated that no one is justified before God by observing the Law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:11), and anyone wanting to live by the Law is condemned to striving to fulfill all of it (Galatians 3:10), but Christ has redeemed us from coming into this condemnation (Galatians 3:13); and James wrote that anyone who breaks even one point of the Law is guilty of breaking the whole Law (James 2:10) – so why at all should we bring ourselves under such an impossible and absolutely unnecessary burden?

    Now whosoever wants to bring himself under observing the things of the Law, he is called ‘cursed’, he is not justified and made righteous by the Law, and the Law has nothing to do with Faith (Galatians 3:10-13).And these agents of Satan, under the garb of being religious and righteous (2 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15), in the name of the Lord Jesus are trying to push us back into observing the Law, are trying to make us cursed, so that we end up loosing our blessings in Christ, rendering them infructuous.

Beware of them, do not fall for their smooth talk, for the lie of the necessity of observance of Sabbath is being very energetically being preached in many ways and by all means, people are being deceived and led astray. Stay safe from such people, stay away from them.

Receiving the Holy Spirit – Part 5 – Conclusion

Conclusion 

 We have studied about the veracity of various teachings often associated with the Holy Spirit, and the Receiving of the Holy Spirit. As seen in the exposition above, these commonly associated teachings with the Receiving of the Holy Spirit have no Biblical basis and are wrong. From the Word of God, the Bible we learn certain things that are necessary to always keep in mind, so as to have a clear and Biblical concept about the Holy Spirit of God. 

The Holy Spirit is God, is a person of the Holy Trinity. He has an extremely important role in the life – spiritual and physical, of every Christian Believer, a role that cannot be discounted, ignored or brushed aside as irrelevant. In the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, He is our God given Helper who dwells in us and abides with us always (John 14:16, 17), and teaches us all things, reminds us of all things (John 14:26). So critically important, so beneficial is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian Believer that the Lord Jesus Himself sent Him and stepped aside, for Him to take charge of His disciples (John 16:7), so that He could guide them in all truth and tell of the things to come (John 16:13). 

 Without the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, no one can learn the Word of God in its truth and effective applicability (1 Corinthians 2:9-15). So anybody seriously desirous of studying and learning God’s Word, ought to make sure that the Holy Spirit is present with him to help and guide him, else he will never learn the truth, and will keep fumbling around in works of human thought and wisdom, and never actually coming to the truth (2 Timothy 3:7). 

We have seen in detail how treacherous and dangerous the implications of all the unBiblical teachings given in the garb of glorifying the Holy Spirit are. In studying God’s Word, and to draw correct conclusions, it is imperative that we study every part of every verse, and every passage, in its proper context and along with the related teachings in God’s Word to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpreting God’s Word, since all parts of God’s Word only supplement each other, never contradict each other. So anything that does not smoothly fit into the context or with the other related teachings, is something extraneous to God’s Word, and should not be accepted. Whereas the wrong teachings and false doctrines are built around taking verse or its part, or a passage out of its context and interpreting it without paying attention to other related teachings in the Bible, to make it appear as saying a particular thing. 

 Satan very well knows the importance of the Holy Spirit working in and for a Christian Believer, and how detrimental for his interests this working of the Holy Spirit through a Christian Believer is. Since Satan cannot wish away the Holy Spirit from Believer’s life, he attempts to beguile and lead people away from being obedient and submissive to this God given source of power and ability. Satan well knows that like he did with Eve, he can exploit our gullibility for seemingly beneficial, attractive and extra-ordinary things (Genesis 3:6), and thereby lead us astray from God’s Word, through his manipulations and misinterpretations of God’s Word. Therefore for understanding the role and necessity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian Believer, and to stay safe from being misguided into wrong teachings and doctrine about Him, it is very important that we well understand and firmly plant our feet on some basic truths. Any teaching or doctrine that does not readily and conveniently fit into these basic Biblical facts, anything that has to be manipulated to try and make it fit these facts is a wrong teaching, is contrived, and ought to be rejected. 

 These basic facts are: 

 1. The Holy Spirit is God: He is not under the control of man; cannot be made to function under the control or whims and fancies of man; and, cannot be pushed or moved around as per desires and expectations of man. In our relationship with God, it is always God that lays the rules and it is always we humans who follow the rules and obey God. Anything that tends to reverse or even disregard this rule cannot be from God. So any teaching wherein there is even the hint of a suggestion that the Holy Spirit can be coerced, manipulated, or made to do something that is not in accordance with God’s Word through the efforts of man, is a wrong teaching, unacceptable, and not to be entertained at all. 

 2. The Holy Spirit is a person, a part of the Holy Trinity: The Holy Spirit is not an object that can be broken in pieces, made more or made less, or expanded or contracted, or given out or received in parts and instalments. Just as none of these things can be done with you and me, since we are persons, similarly they cannot be done with Him. Wherever His presence is, it is in His entirety not in parts or segments. 

 3. The Holy Spirit does not take any glory for Himself, but directs all the glory to Christ: The role of the Holy Spirit is to testify for the Lord Jesus (John 15:26), to take the things of Lord and declare them to us (John 16:15), to teach us and to bring to our remembrance the things the Lord Jesus has said (John 14:26). So those who go around speaking of having received visions and prophecies extraneous to the Bible, through the Holy Spirit beware – they are on very treacherous grounds. People should realize and accept that, like the Lord Jesus (John 8:26; 12:49), the Holy Spirit never ever speaks on His own authority, but only that which He hears (John 16:13). And what He speaks is always to glorify the Lord Jesus, and never Himself (John 16:14). So any concept, belief, or practice that tends to glorify the Holy Spirit instead of the Lord Jesus, cannot be from the Holy Spirit, cannot be from God; since God will never contradict Himself and His Word. 

 4. As we have seen throughout this write-up, the truly Born Again Christian Believers are temples of the Holy Spirit, and not leak-able or leaking tanks through whom the Holy Spirit can leak out over a period of time, or under certain circumstances. The Holy Spirit is given to every truly Born Again Christian Believer at the very moment of their coming into faith in the Lord Jesus, and He abides in him, dwells in him, and will continue to do so till their last breath on earth. So any talk of receiving Him through some means, after having come into faith, or of incrementing the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, through any alleged “baptism” or “filling” is a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and misapplication of Biblical truth – it just cannot happen! All a truly Born Again Christian Believer needs to do to manifest His presence in them in a better and more prominent manner is to remain submissive and obedient to Him; the more He is allowed to guide and control them, the more useful they will be for the Lord, and the more will He manifest His power through them. 

  Concluded

Receiving the Holy Spirit – Part 4 – The filling of the Holy Spirit – Part 3 – Implications

What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? – Part 3 

Implications

Accepting this unBiblical and false doctrine, once again, as for the previous false doctrine of ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit,’ serves to divide the body of Christ, His Church into two – the ‘have's’ and the ‘have not's’ i.e. those who do have the ‘filling’, and those who do not have the ‘filling.’ And this therefore brings in the divisiveness of superiority, greater ability and working, and of greater receiving of the blessings and rewards of service from God for the ‘have's’; while the ‘have not's’ are sent into an infructuous wild goose chase of somehow receiving that ‘filling’ so that they too can join the elite club of the ‘haves’ and enjoy its privileges. In either case, the net result is the decline in actual Christian maturity and effectiveness for the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) – in the ‘haves’ because of the sense of pride, superiority, and one-upmanship that it causes; and in the ‘have not's’ through the waste of time and efforts in striving for something unnecessary and vain instead of growing in faith, Word of God, and being effective in the service of the Lord.

Besides, in this seemingly innocuous wrong teaching, once again Satan has wrapped up a major conspiracy against God, and dished it out to us as something ‘pious and reverential.’ And therefore it is very important and essential that we be aware of this ploy, understand it, come out of it, and remain safe from its effects (2 Corinthians 2:11). After having received the Holy Spirit, to say that by some other means or process there can be a different ‘filling’ of the Holy Spirit to increment His effective presence and power, conveys the meaning that, in some manner the Holy Spirit can be increased or decreased, He can be given out or received in installments, i.e. be broken into parts, etc.

All of these things are not only contrary to God’s Word, but also are an attempt to negate the well-established doctrine of the Holy Spirit being God and a person of the Holy Trinity. This wrong teaching makes the Holy Spirit instead of a person of the Godhead, an object that can be broken up into parts, and can then be given out or taken up, and that too by the will and efforts of persons. The worst thing is, this doctrine tends to make the Holy Spirit a toy in the hands of human beings, so that a person through his works, behavior and conduct, can control the availability of the Holy Spirit; can determine as to when, to whom, and in what ‘quantity’ should He be given; and then, accordingly, how He will function and which works can He do or not do in the recipient!

In other words, the Holy Spirit no longer remains God but is rendered a puppet in the hands of man. And since all three of the Holy Trinity Godhead – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, therefore either the other two have also become similar puppets as well; or it brings a division in the Holy Trinity, separating and segregating the Holy Spirit as different from the other two, being lesser than them, which means falsifying the doctrine of the Holy Trinity of God, and that in turn means falsifying the Word of God that teaches the doctrine of Holy Spirit.

Accepting this wrong teaching means that God has come under the control of man; and now man can control and use Him in whichever way he wants! May God protect us from harboring even the thought of such utter blasphemy, and may He protect us from ever falling into this deplorable deceit. All these wrong teachings are very clever and devious ways, very subtle attacks from Satan to make God and His Word a lie and to render their power ineffective in our lives; and it is absolutely essential that we be very careful to understand these satanic ploys and stay away from them, avoid falling for Satan’s deceit.

- To Be Continued

 Next: Conclusions

Receiving the Holy Spirit – Part 4 – The filling of the Holy Spirit – Part 2 – Understanding (2)

What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? – Part 2
Understanding (2)

If a person does not follow the directions of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), does not make use of His power by being obedient to Him, then the Holy Spirit remains ineffective and inactive in his life (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Understand this through this example – you have an electric connection and wiring done in your house and the electric current remains flowing through those wires; but till the time you connect a working and appropriate electrical equipment to it and allow that electric current to do its work, till then the presence of that electric current in your house remains inactive and ineffective. The evident manifestation and proof of the presence of the electric current, its power, and its utility, will depend not only upon the type and capacity of the electrical equipment you connect to it to utilize the electrical power, but also on your allowing the electric current to flow through it. Whether the equipment is small and of a low capacity, or large and of a big capacity, the electric current flowing both of them will always be the same. The ability to utilize the power of the electric current, and manifest that power, is solely dependent upon the capacity of that electrical equipment.

Similarly, the more obedient and submissive you are to God, the more you adhere to and follow God’s Word, the higher the priority and honor in your life God and the Word of God has, the more will the power of the Holy Spirit work in your life and be evident to others. If your own spiritual life is weak, then the power of the Holy Spirit too will be that much less evident in your life. If all you can do is muster a few minutes of perfunctory reading of a Bible passage, and mumble a few routine words of prayer – and many people do not even do that, then how can you hope to have a powerful and vibrant presence of the Holy Spirit evident in your life?

Children have to regularly go to school, have to sit in classes and attentively learn that which is being taught, have to do their ‘home-work’ well, have to clear their exams, only then can they increase in knowledge and understanding, and be able to do something in life. This is not achieved by their just running through the various corridors of the school for a few minutes every day, and spending the rest of the day foe various other things. Similarly, in the spiritual classrooms as well it is necessary to sit for the requisite time and attentively spend time in learning from the Holy Spirit, and pass through the experiences of the examinations of life. Only then can the life and power of the Lord be seen in the life of the person.

Every truly Born Again Christian Believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is continually present in, dwells in every truly Born Again Christian Believer (2 Timothy 1:14). When this Christian Believer, depending upon his level of spirituality and spiritual maturity, through the power and his obedience to the Holy Spirit, is able to do something for the glory of God, that was not possible for him to do on his own, nor was possible through any human strength, or knowledge, or ability then that is working through being filled with the Holy Spirit, as we have seen above in the examples of Peter, John and Paul.

Since usually not all Christian Believers are of the same level in their faith, submission, and obedience to God and His Word as are some special people of God in their Christian obedience and maturity, therefore it appears that to be filled with the Holy Spirit to do something, i.e. to something wonderful or extra-ordinary through the power of the Holy Spirit, is only possible for certain special people, not every Christian Believer. But this is a misunderstanding, and the misunderstanding is misused to state and propagate the false doctrine of the necessity of ‘filling with the Holy Spirit’. Increase in your obedience to God, His Word, your spiritual life, and you too will be able to do things through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is a very simple, straightforward, and common-sense example from everyday life, that you would never expect a person who is ill and weak with some sickness to be physically able to do the same or as much work as a healthy and strong person can do.

As long as the sickness of the things of the world and of compromising with the world for the sake of earthly gains continues to weaken the Christian Believers and keep them spiritually unhealthy; so long as we continue to weaken our souls by the habit of obeying and working for the people of the world, and to do so, continuing to put God and obedience to His Word to a lower position in our lives, making it a matter of convenience instead of an overbearing necessity, we too will never be able to do that which a spiritually healthy and strong person can do. And we will continue to be carried away, to be tossed to-and-fro by the preachers and teachers of such false doctrines (Ephesians 4:14).

God has given us the required ability through His Holy Spirit and guidance through His Word the Bible; it is up to us to make use of it and be a worthy witness of the Lord.

- To Be Continued

 Next: What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? Part 3 – Implications

Receiving the Holy Spirit – Part 4 – The filling of the Holy Spirit (2) - Understanding (1)

What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? – Part 2 

Understanding (1)

Even by common sense this is nothing mysterious, nor something that requires some extra-special understanding. As we see in Acts 2:4, along with the other disciples, Peter also received the Holy Spirit, and then in Acts 4:8 it says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and confronted the officials opposing the Christian Believers effectively and successfully and preached the Lord to them. For Peter and John, as per their abilities, education, and status this was something very extra-ordinary and beyond their own capabilities, since they were uneducated and untrained men (Acts 4:13), and they were confronting scholars of the Scriptures and high ranking officials; but still, without any hesitation or committing any mistakes the two of them so boldly stood up to those scholars and high officials, that they could not say anything against what the two of them said (Acts 4:14) and they realized that this was possible because those two had been with the Lord Jesus.

Again it is said in Acts 13:52 that the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit – this kept on happening repeatedly, i.e. they continued working with His power; and not that the Holy Spirit would leave them and go out every few days – this could not be since the Lord had promised that the Holy Spirit would 'abide with them forever' (John 14:16); and we have already seen above that the Holy Spirit cannot be ‘topped up’ to restore Him back to a certain level, and then they had to receive Him all over again.

It is written for Paul that in Acts 9:17 he was filled with, or, received the Holy Spirit, and then again in Acts 13:9 when he had to confront the demonic power, it is written that he did so being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Word gives no indication that these people had received the Holy Spirit all over again, or of some different kind to suit the need of the hour, or in some extra quantity; nor that He had left them but then was given again to them in some excess than before; and then they ‘were filled’ and could do that work. It was the same Holy Spirit, in quantity and quality that they had received before; what was different was that as per the need of the hour, in submission and obedience to the Lord, they made an effective use of the power of the Holy Spirit available to them, and accomplished the job at hand.

Actually speaking, there is nothing unusual in the phrase “being filled with the Holy Spirit” for doing something special, neither is it something unique that is possible for only a select few people. But many preachers keep on presenting it as something unique and extra-ordinary, just to maintain a sense of supremacy, and to project themselves as unique and extra-ordinary, they keep on teaching this wrong doctrine, one that is not in any manner consistent with the facts of the Bible. The expression, “being filled with the Holy Spirit and doing”, is similar to the day-to-day common use of similar expressions in routine language.

Take note of some expressions used or experienced practically every day by all of us: whenever you either say, or read, or hear that a person, "being filled with love…", or that "he was filled with joy and…", or that "being filled with indignation, he…" etc., then how do you understand it? Do you understand it to mean that this is indicating that the person, received some kind of an unusual or different kind of love, or joy, or anger, etc. one that is not usually present in all people, and then did the thing he did? Or without any strain on your mind you readily understand that, the person used that which was already present within him, with a certain unusual intensity and did something extra-ordinary; or in a unique circumstance made a special application and use of that feeling to do what he did?

Just the same applies to using this phrase of being filled with the Holy Spirit to accomplish something unusual or extra-ordinary. It just conveys using the power of the Holy Spirit already present within every true Christian Believer, to accomplish something unusual or extra-ordinary, something over and above the general capabilities and capacity of the person, as we have seen the examples of Peter, John, and Paul above.

- To Be Continued

 Next: What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? Part 3 – Understanding (2)

Receiving the Holy Spirit – Part 4 – The filling of the Holy Spirit (1) - Ephesians 5:18

What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? – Part 1 

Ephesians 5:18

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to work in the power and in control of the Holy Spirit. For this, on the basis of Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit ” it is claimed that the Bible teaches to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But if we step out of the influence of the often, and emphatically reiterated wrong teachings about the Holy Spirit, and look at this sentence according to common sense, and that too in its correct context, then there is nothing confusing here. This sentence has a simple and straightforward meaning; here the effect of wine to control a person has been expressed through a figure of speech. What Paul has written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can be understood by paraphrasing as follows, “Just as person ‘full’ of and inebriated with wine can be recognized by his dissipation, i.e. debauchery, that he is under the influence and control of the wine within him, similarly a Christian Believer has to express and demonstrate by his spiritual behavior that he is ‘full of’ and under control of the Holy Spirit” and then from verse 19 to 21 he speaks of the  behavior expected of a person ‘full’ of the Holy Spirit.

Take note of another thing in this sentence, Paul has written, ‘...be filled” i.e. let it be a continual process, always be or always remain under the influence and control of the Holy Spirit; do not make it an intermittent process. This does not and cannot mean that you will have to keep on taking measures of the Holy Spirit till you are finally ‘full’ of Him; or that since one leaks out the Holy Spirit, so whenever that happens, take a topping up dose of the Holy Spirit to restore its levels within you. This simply cannot happen at all, since as we have seen above, Holy Spirit is God, a person of the Holy Trinity, He cannot be broken into bits and pieces, He is not given out in parts or installments, He cannot be increased or decreased, and He is just the same in quantity and quality in every true Christian Believer. Since this is the truth therefore the only thing possible is that as soon as a person truly comes into the Christian Faith and receives the Holy Spirit, then at that very moment he has become ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit, because over and above, or besides the Holy Spirit that has been given to him, he will never receive any extra or ever again; the Holy Spirit within him will always remain just the same in quantity and quality; now all that the person needs to do is to keep expressing the Holy Spirit within him, through his practical life keep demonstrating the influence of the Holy Spirit in him. So, what can vary is a person’s expressing or demonstrating his own obedience and submission to the Holy Spirit ‘filled up’ within him at the time of his salvation; but his behavior and conduct (as we will see shortly) is not an indicator of the ‘amount’ of Holy Spirit present within him – because that can never ever vary, in quantity or quality.

- To Be Continued

 Next: What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? Part 2 – Understanding (1)

Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Part 3 – Count; Implications

Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Part 3

How Many Baptisms? 

Implications

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a baptism to be taken or given separately; and neither have the Christian Believers been instructed to have it. The Holy Spirit, through Paul very clearly writes that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). Now, if after being saved there is the water baptism, and then, allegedly, to be effective for the Lord there is another Baptism of the Holy Spirit, then it is no longer one baptism but two, and the statement in Ephesians has become false! This means that the Holy Spirit, through whom all of the Scriptures have been given (2 Timothy 3:16), has had a lie written in God’s Word, He has contradicted Himself, He has Himself brought in an error – these are all impossibilities, even entertaining such a thought is utter foolishness.

Now, since water baptism is an established fact – that is the baptism John the Baptist gave (Mark 1:4-5, 8), the Lord Jesus took (Mark 1:9), and the Lord prescribed in His Great commission to the disciples (Matthew 28:19), and it is the one administered to all the initial Christian Believers in Acts chapter two at the birth of the Church (Acts 2:41), and is being given to all Christian Believers since then; therefore the count of one gets completed here with this water baptism. Hence teaching the doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is then deliberately introducing an error in the Word of God, turning it into a lie, and misusing God’s Word simply to support ones wrong doctrine and teaching. When it has been made very clear in Acts 11:15-18, in the name of the Lord and through His teaching it has been clearly explained that receiving the Holy Spirit and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit are one and the same thing, then where is the necessity of changing this and bringing in concocted teachings and instructions about it?

Pay heed that how cleverly and subtly Satan has disguised this wrong doctrine and teaching as a seemingly pious and reverential act, and has beguiled people into falsifying God’s Word and becoming disobedient to God. Therefore Paul through the Holy Spirit, warns about those who preach such wrong teachings, “Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words” (Colossians 2:4); “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). As we have seen and established in the discussions above, the ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit’ mentioned in Acts 11:16 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 is the use of figurative language, employing a figure of speech, to express the accomplished act of bringing together all the actual Christian Believers into one body by the Lord i.e. the Church, through the Holy Spirit, to give all of them one and the same status and honor in the body of Christ; it is not an instruction that has been given for being followed in future.

There is only one baptism – the immersion water baptism, which every Christian Believer ought to take after coming into the Christian Faith in obedience to the commandment of the Lord – baptism does not give salvation (do not be misled by misinterpretations of Acts 2:38; see: Does Acts 2:38 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?), baptism is for those who have received salvation to testify of their submission and obedience to the Lord (Matthew 28:19) – baptism was to be given to those who had become the disciples of the Lord, and not that by being baptized they became the disciples).

Implications

The body of Christ, His Church has come into existence; and those who are Born Again i.e. those who come into faith in the Lord Jesus through true repentance of sins, sincerely seeking the Lord’s forgiveness for them and actually fully submitting their lives to Him, automatically become members of the Body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit resides in them. If it were to be hypothesized that as per this verse, only those who additionally have received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit become the active and effective members of the Body of Christ, then it introduces a very dangerous and very un-Biblical doctrine, of there being atleast two bodies of Christ – one composed of those who have received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the other of those who have not; the former being the ones useful for the Lord, while the latter cannot be useful for the Lord. Naturally then, all the rewards and benefits for eternity will go to the former group, and the latter will have to remain empty handed for eternity. So, see for yourself how destructive, abhorrent, un-Scriptural, and un-God like are the implications of this seemingly pious but utterly deplorable contention.

In addition, this is again, another way of shying away from the responsibility of telling the people the truth and explaining to them that if they are not feeling the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in their lives, then either they are not actually saved and Born Again, and need to take a decision about it and rectify it immediately; or they are not fully submitted and obedient to the Holy Spirit and so He cannot express Himself through them, and this too needs to be properly rectified immediately.

- To Be Continued

 Next: What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? (Part 1)

Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Part 2 – 1 Corinthians 12:13 (Part 4)

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? – Part 2 

 1 Corinthians 12:13 (Part 4)

Take another look at the verse1 Corinthians 12:13 – the phrase used is ‘we were all baptized’ – past tense; something done and accomplished; something completed. The ‘we’ implies Paul and Sosthenes (1 Corinthians 1:1) and all of Paul’s other companions, and all of the Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, free, or slave. Everyone together were immersed or submerged into the one body of Christ. Now, throughout the New Testament, is there any record that Paul or any of his ministry colleagues and companions received a separate Baptism of the Holy Spirit at any time; or that they were empowered by this Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then they set out on their world changing ministries (Acts 17:6)? Paul’s baptism, after his being saved and converted on the road to Damascus is duly recorded (Acts 9:18) ; and it is also recorded that “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). He did so with such zeal and intensity that people were amazed (Acts 9:21), and from thereon Paul continued to increase in strength and confounded the Jews more and more (Acts 9:22). Neither did Paul have to ‘Tarry’ for the Holy Spirit; nor did he ask or wait for any ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit’, and yet his ministry was so intense that no one could stand before him; and therefore eventually the Jews started to plot executing him (Acts 9:23). Does not Paul’s initiation into the ministry make it clear that there is no requirement for this Baptism of the Holy Spirit before one can be useful for the Lord?

Coming back to our lead verse, 1 Corinthians 12:13, while it says “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…”, yet nowhere does it say that any of those mentioned in this verse asked for this to be done, or they waited and prayed for it to be done for them. It was something that the Holy Spirit did on its own – covered them all in Himself and joined them all together into one Body of Believers. Moreover, nowhere does it say that on some grounds, some were considered worthy of this being done for them, but others were left out since they could not qualify for it. Nowhere does it say or even hint that any new members of the Corinthian Church, or any other Church at any place, at any point of time, will also have to undergo this Baptism of the Holy Spirit, if they want to serve the Lord, or want to be useful for the Lord. Using this verse to preach all such thoughts and teachings is contrived and ridiculous. By no means can any such teaching be derived or justified through this verse.

This verse also provides an excellent example of the very selective use of Biblical words and phrases and manipulating them to propagate, and promote a false doctrine (another such example is in 1 Corinthians 14, but we will look at it at some other time, as and when the Lord wills). The proponents of the doctrine of Baptism of the Holy Spirt quite vehemently cite this verse as a proof since it says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body….” But then they very conveniently forget to say anything about the ending phrase of this very verse “…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

Ever heard of anyone saying, teaching, or stressing that one needs to drink the Holy Spirit too? Are not ‘baptized’ and ‘made to drink’ part of one and the same sentence? Therefore if the initial part is so necessary, that a doctrine has been built upon and is aggressively taught, then why completely ignore the subsequent part? If the subsequent part is a figure of speech, then why not give the same consideration to the initial part, and put an end to this concoction of untenable doctrines and teachings by misinterpreting and misusing Scripture? The simple and straightforward meaning of the verse through use of these two figures of speech is that every member of the body of Christ is totally surrounded – inside and outside by the Holy Spirit of God – He has us all totally covered and protected.

The plain and simple fact is that there is no doctrine of the requirement of a Baptism of the Holy Spirit for being effective for the Lord spoken of here. To push such wrong teachings is to distort the Word of God and to speak lies to mislead the gullible into a useless and fruitless endeavor.

- To Be Continued

 Next: Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Part 3 – How many Baptisms; Implications