LLM Question for 8-19-2012, and, Have Ye Received the Holy Spirit Since Ye Believed?

First the Question: God Chooses to Forget, AND, God Forgets Not. Is this statement True or False?

Take a moment to respond at the LLM Question of the Day

And now the answer to the LLM Question of 8-17-2012

Question: The anointing, the sealing, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, are received at the moment the sinner believes unto Salvation. True or False?

Answer: TRUE! In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short. Now, out of the 723 responses we received to this question, 88% of you got it right! Good! Therefore, NOW, let us take a look at an in depth look at…

Have Ye Received the Holy Spirit Since Ye Believed?

"Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed?" Acts 19:2. This rather loose translation of Acts 19:2 in the Authorized King James Version has been used as a basis for the erroneous teaching that a Christian receives the Holy Spirit as a second blessing or second work of Grace, sometime subsequent to his being saved. The American Standard version actually in this case is more accurate “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?” The actual text uses the present participle of believing, so literally it is: “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit upon believing?” showing that the receiving and the believing had been contemporaneous, (existing or occurring in the same period of time). The same construction is used in Ephesians 1:13; although it is no longer a question, but an attested fact, that when these Ephesians believed in Acts 19, they were AT THAT MOMENT sealed by the Holy Spirit. The same Greek participle of the Greek word, “believe”, is used in Acts 19:2 and Ephesians 1:13.

But if it be true that we receive the Holy Spirit upon believing, why did Paul ask whether these had received when they believed? Does not the fact that they hadn’t yet received give proof that it is possible to believe without receiving the Spirit? This question is plainly answered in the context of Acts 19. These men had not believed the Gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ; they had only heard the message of John the Baptist that One was coming. They didn’t know whether He had come; they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit being given. No doubt Paul met many others who knew only John’s baptism of repentance, a message which had no promise or power in it to give the Holy Spirit. John said that the One coming after him would baptize in the Holy Spirit but these men hadn’t heard about that One. When Paul told them about Jesus Christ, they believed and received the Holy Spirit. The water baptism, laying on of hands, speaking with tongues, etc., which accompanied their believing, was part of God’s temporary dispensational dealings with Israelites. Even if one claimed that all of these “accompaniments” were part of God’s order for today, there is nothing in the passage upon which to base a second blessing idea.

The apostle makes it very plain that “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9), which fact once and for all settles the question of the possibility of a man being saved but not having the Holy Spirit. The Corinthian letter is another great body of evidence that the Holy Spirit does His work of baptism into the Body of Christ upon ALL believers (1 Corinthians 12:13), and that the reception of the Holy Spirit is not dependent upon our state of perfection. These Corinthian saints were living in sin, but the Apostle Paul did not say, “Get rid of sin in order that ye may receive the Holy Spirit”; but he said, “Because you did receive the Holy Spirit when you believed, and because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore get rid of sin.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Many confuse baptism in the Spirit with being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). We may be and should be filled with the Spirit many times, but we can be baptized but once, and that upon believing. We cannot receive part of the Spirit at one time and more later. The Spirit is a person and we either have Him or do not have Him. It is an altogether different question as to how much of us He has. If He has possession of our whole being, we are filled with the Spirit.

Every one, who is a Christian, is a “Christ’s one,” anointed, The anointing abides. 1 John 2:27. The sealing is received when the sinner believes unto salvation. The Holy Spirit is in the believer. 2 Cor. 1:22. The anointing, the sealing, and the baptism with the Spirit is always a past experience with one who has become a Christian. He needs no second blessing, because when he believes he is blessed with ALL Spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1:3.

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

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