People today DO receive the Holy Spirit just as it was in the day of Pentecost.

People today DO receive the Holy Spirit just as it was in the day of Pentecost.

COMMENT:

People today DO receive the Holy Spirit just as it was in the day of Pentecost. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. People Do get baptized by the Spirit and fire today, speaking in tongues and receiving spiritual gifts. This promise was then, and this promise is still active today until the day of the coming of our Lord. If you have not received the baptism of Holy Spirit, then seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you!

ANSWER:

For about 30-years of my faith walk, I was in the Pentecostal and Charismatic denominational circles. I claimed to be 'baptized in the Spirit' and I participated in many intercessory prayer meetings, functioning in 'tongues', 'prophecy' and teaching. After I moved out from those denominational circles, through circumstances, I committed to really study the Word, looking first at prophecy and the gospels. When I continued into Paul’s epistles, I started to see a VERY different pattern. Paul said some really strange, but interesting things, like,

1 Corinthians 3:10-11 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation,

1 Corinthians 4:15 …for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. (Also see: 1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:17)

1 Timothy 1:16 …that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to stablish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, 

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Let me summarize:

Why would Paul say he is laying a foundation when the prophets and Jesus already laid a foundation? Why does Paul say he has ‘begotten’ us through the gospel and that we must follow him? Surely, we are to follow Jesus. It continues where Paul tells us that he is the pattern of God’s grace for us who would believe on Christ after him. I would have thought Jesus is the pattern of grace to imitate. Then Paul continues to say that we are stabilized by a gospel he calls, “my gospel”. Why does he personalize it? Does this mean that the gospel Jesus preached is a different gospel? Furthermore, Paul says that we are to preach Jesus according to the revelation of a mystery that was kept secret since the beginning of the world, but now made manifest to him. What mystery is this he is speaking of? Lastly, and most shockingly, Paul says that we no longer know Christ after the flesh, or according to Jesus’ earthly ministry. How do we receive this? How could Paul even say such things! Also, what does he mean saying that old things are passed away and something new has come?

All these things only started to make sense when I learned that I must rightly divide the Word of truth, 2Tim.2:15. What this means is that we must recognize that Israel, under prophecy and law, is separate and distinct from the Body of Christ, under mystery and grace. These are two different programs, but they both fit into and complement God’s one redemption plan for creation and humanity. We cannot mix them together because they have different purposes and have different doctrines. They are in actual fact mutually exclusive. Just consider the words, prophecy and mystery, law and grace, Jew and Gentile, earth and heaven, etc. These are complete opposites of the other.

Back to your comment:

So, to come back to your comment, when I learned that I must divide the two programs and keep them separated, things started to make more sense. The above statements fell into place, and things that you refer to concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit, tongues, spiritual gifts, and promises made, come into correct context and explain why the church is so confused in doctrine today.

Consider why Paul tells us that whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away, 1Cor.13:8. What happened to signs and miracles? They appear to cease from after Acts. What happened to the Kingdom ministry of Peter and the 11 apostles? If you look at the Biblical timeline, their ministry vanishes after AD48 (corresponding to Acts 15). The Kingdom ministry made way for the Mysteries of Paul. Israel was being blinded, Rom.11:25 while Paul’s ministry was increasing. Law gave way to grace through the cross of Christ. There was a MASSIVE transition taking place through Acts and this transition was changing everything; the gospel, the audience, practices, ordinances, giftings, and doctrine.

I’ll end by saying that I truly believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word and that everything in the Bible is for our learning. But not everything in the Bible is written for us and addressed to us. Much of the Bible is for Israel under law. Paul’s epistles are written specifically for our doctrine and application today. We are not under law, but under grace, Rom.6:14. So, we have to understand doctrine and as we study it and recognise its divisions, we need to adapt our faith, rejecting what has been instilled into us by traditional church doctrine and be renewed in our mind, receiving by faith the form of doctrine that we are actually to live out and apply according to the mysteries of Paul.

Apologies for the long reply, but I have to make it clear and provide evidence for what I write. I hope you will review this reply and go and look into these things I say, lining them up with what the scriptures say and making an informed decision regarding what to believe. The Bible is our final authority, and we live according to what it dictates, not according to what we think it says.

PS: Concerning being baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, it is common for Pentecostals to call upon the fire of God, connecting this with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is again a misinterpretation of scripture. Being baptized with fire is not a ‘good’ thing! It is in actual fact a reference to the horrific judgements of the tribulation, leading up to the second coming of Christ. We have fire 3 times in Matt.3:10-12. In v10 it is negative and regarding fruitless trees being burned up in the fire. In v12 it is negative referring to the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire. So, why would v11 be any different? Its context remains the same as the verses that surround it, interpreting the fire as judgement at His second coming. That’s not a fire I want to call down upon myself!! Can you see how misinterpreting verses like this cause a false narrative of scripture and lead to doctrines that are skewed and confusing.