Sermon Tone Analysis

THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

A NEW SPIRITUAL SPECIES IN CHRIST

 

     At the moment of Salvation, God the Holy Spirit places every Church Age believer into union with Christ.

(Gal 3:1-5; Gal 3:14; Gal 3:26-27; Eph 4:4-5; 2Th 2:13) This instantaneous ministry of God the Holy Spirit is called the baptism of the Spirit, (1Co 12:13) because Christ was glorified, (Heb 10:12-17) and we are in the New Covenant Age; (The Church, Tribulation, and Millennium) /“If any man is in Christ, he is a new [Spiritual] species.”/

(2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15) In this verse the Greek word /kainos /does not mean /“new” /as in recent, current, or new in time, like a new coat that replaces an old one of the same type.

/Kainos /means new in kind, new in species, describing something remarkable that has never existed before — a totally unprecedented relationship with God.

(Eph 1:22-23; Eph 5:22-32)/ /The new Spiritual species is the royal family of God.

By placing the Church Age believer /“in Christ,”/ the baptism of God the Holy Spirit also links the Spiritual life of the hypostatic union (The God-man — Christ) and the New Covenant Spiritual life of the Church Age.

In union with Christ, the believer can utilize the power system designed for the humanity of Christ.

In fact, so great is the Spiritual life, that union with Christ is absolutely a prerequisite for its use.

Jesus Christ prophesied the baptism of God the Holy Spirit during the Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.

(John 14:20; Acts 1:5) The fulfillment of this Prophecy marked the beginning of the New Covenant Church Age.

(Acts 2:1-4; Acts 11:15-17) Throughout the New Covenant Age, the baptism of God the Holy Spirit forms the royal family of God, also called the Body of Christ.

/ For even as the [Human] body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

For by one Spirit [God the Holy Spirit performs the action] we were all baptized into one body, [Of Christ] whether Jews or Greeks, [Gentiles] whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

/(1Co 12:12-13)  

     The baptism of the Holy Spirit sets the Church Age believer apart from unbelievers.

Every Church Age believer is /“sanctified in Christ”/ (1Co 1:2, (1Co 1:30) for the /“glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”/

(2Th 2:13-14) The Greek verb /hagiazo /means /“to set apart, to make holy, to consecrate, to sanctify.”/

(To gain the Spiritual maturity of Christ) When applied to the Church, sanctification means that God has created a new species of Spiritual royalty, set apart for the maximum glorification of Jesus Christ.

CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST 

     The Doctrine of sanctification teaches that God’s purpose is to make each Church Age believer like the humanity of Christ.

Each is /“conformed to the image [Thinking and Virtue] of His Son,”/ the glorified Lord Jesus Christ.

(Rom 8:29) God accomplishes the Church Age believer’s sanctification in three stages: /Positional, Experiential, and Ultimate./

/     Positional sanctification and positional death /is the Church Age believer’s union with Christ, accomplished by the baptism of God the Holy Spirit.

Permanently identified with Christ from the moment of faith in Him, the Christian /retroactively /shares in the victory of our Lord’s Spiritual death on the Cross (Rom 6:3; Col 2:12) and /currently /shares His exalted position in heaven /“crowned with glory and honor.”/

(Psa 110:1; Rom 6:4; Heb 1:13; Heb 2:9-11;  Heb 10:12) The phrase /“in Christ,”/ found throughout the New Testament Epistles, is a technical term for the Church Age believer’s astounding, absolutely unprecedented union with Christ.

(John 14:20) In Christ each Church Age believer is /positionally/ superior to all angels, including the chief fallen angel, Satan.

(Heb 1:4, Heb 1:13-14; Heb 2:9-12)

     /Experiential sanctification and experiential death /(John 12:24-26; (2Co 4:10-12)/ /is residence, function and Spiritual momentum in the Spiritual life during the believer’s life on earth.

/Set your mind on the things [Divine Thoughts] above, not on the things[Human realities] that are on earth.

For you have died [Positional death] and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, [Experientially by the Mind of Christ] is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Therefore consider [Think] the members of your earthly body as dead [Experiential death, to our thoughts, desires, words and will] to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

[Idolatry is putting our thoughts, above God's Thoughts]/ (Isa 55:6-9) /For it is because of these things [Thoughts] that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, [Unbelievers and believers living out of fellowship] and in them [Thoughts] you also once walked, when you were living in them.

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, [And thoughts] and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge [The Thinking of God] according to the image [Thinking] of the One who created him--/ (Col 3:2-10)

    * Living in the Spiritual life, which the Holy Spirit energizes, fulfills the protocol plan of God.* (John 17:17; (2Ti 2:21; Heb 9:13-14) Because we are in union with Christ, we now are able to be sustained, nourished, and empowered by the post-Salvation ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

(John 7:37-39; John 14:15-17; John 16:13-14) Thus we become /“partakers of the Divine nature”/ in experience just as we are in position.

(2Pe 1:4) God the Holy Spirit’s post-Salvation ministry is called the filling of the Spirit, (Eph 5:18) which enables us to /“walk by means of the Spirit”/ (Gal 5:16) in a manner “worthy of our station in life.”

(Spiritual Royalty) (Eph 4:1) United with Christ and granted the same power system in which His humanity constantly lived, we are equipped to be /“imitators of God and to walk/ . . .

/just as Christ walked.”/

(Eph 5:1-2;/ /Gal 5:16;/ /1Jn 2:6) He functioned in the prototype Spiritual life; we can function in the operational-type Spiritual life.

(John 14:11-12) In fellowship we live /“through the Spirit, by faith.”//

[What is believed — and or the Spiritual life]/ (Gal 5:5) *The Mind of Christ in the soul;** is the material the Spirit uses to manufacture the Virtues of Christ in our lives.*

(Rom 13:13-14) In a different comparison, Truth is the nutrient that the Holy Spirit uses to produce the /“fruit of the Spirit”/ (Gal 5:22-23)

     Therefore, Experiential sanctification has both absolute and progressive aspects.

The filling of God the Holy Spirit is an /absolute /status.

At any given time, the believer is either one hundred percent filled with the Spirit or he is not filled with the Spirit at all.

Either he is in fellowship with God, or he is out of fellowship.

If he has confessed his sins to God, the believer is entirely inside the Spiritual life, (1Jn 1:9) but when he sins, and as long as he does not confess (Admit being out of fellowship) (1Co 11:31) to God, he is entirely outside the Spiritual life.

Outside the Spiritual life he /“grieves”/ or /“quenches”/ God the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30; (1Th 5:19) and resides instead in Satan’s cosmic system.

This absolute but invisible status — in or out — has a /building/ effect.

(Mark 4:24) The power of the Spiritual life is essential for Spiritual growth.

Only in the Spiritual life can the believer learn Truth or accurately Think with Truth.

What is the dominant trend of his decisions at any given time?

Has he been consistently obedient to God’s Thoughts that constitute the Spiritual life, or has he neglected these Divine Commands?

Is he more often in or out of fellowship with God? Spiritual growth comes from consistency, and as the believer grows, this consistency in executing God’s protocol plan becomes a stronger and stronger force of motion in his life.

Every day he learns and applies Truth; his inner person is renewed day by day.

(Isa 58:2; (2Co 4:16) Our thinking is renovated according to Truth, the pattern of Divine Thinking!

(Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23) He gradually acquires the Thinking and Virtues of Christ.

As growth continues, the filling of God the Holy Spirit produces more of the fruit of the Spirit whenever the believer is in the Spiritual life.

For example, a novice believer can be just as filled with God the Holy Spirit as the Spiritually mature believer.

But the mature believer understands a great deal more Spiritual Thinking.

When the mature Christian is filled with the Spirit, he manifests the /“newness of life”/ more than the beginner who is equally filled with God the Holy Spirit but understands less of the Mind of Christ.

A greater understanding and application of Truth in the believer’s Thinking causes greater manifestations of the filling of God the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

Add to this the fact that as a Christian grows, he spends a greater proportion of his time filled with God the Holy Spirit.

In other words, both quantity and quality improve: more time is spent in the Spiritual life with a greater depth of Doctrinal resources for God the Holy Spirit to use.

This explains the increasing effect of Divine dynamics within a Christian’s life.

Experiential sanctification is called /“godliness.”/

(1Ti 3:16; (1Ti 4:7-8; (2Pe 1:3; (2Pe 3:11) True godliness (Defined: as God would have it) runs far deeper than shallow legalism.

Genuine godliness is abiding in the sphere of Christ’s love, which He equated with obedience to His Commandments.

(John 15:10; Eph 5:2) The sphere of Christ’s love /is /the bottom circle — the Spiritual life.

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The Commandments of the Christian way of life coalesce as one consistent system, a single complex of interrelated and mutually supporting Spiritual Thoughts, an integrated sphere of Divine power.

This Divine system of love and power is the place of Virtue.

/The Christian way of life is life in harmony with God and His Thoughts./

Here, in Principle, is the answer to the question, “After Salvation, what?” Experiential sanctification is potential for the believer, Commanded but not guaranteed.

God provides the resources, opportunities, instructions, encouragement, and even the Divine discipline, but the believer himself chooses to execute the protocol plan of God or not.

(John 15:4-10) /Volition remains THE central issue in the Church Age, as in every dispensation throughout the angelic conflict./

(Job 1:8-12) But God’s faithfulness is also a consistent theme.

The believer’s failure to live by the Commands of Experiential sanctification never cancels Positional sanctification which is/ /guaranteed by the very essence of God.

(2Ti 2:13)

     After our post-Salvation lives on earth have ended, God will achieve our /Ultimate sanctification// and death /(Of the sin nature) at the resurrection.

In that future moment He will provide the resurrection body, making us physically like Christ.

(1Co 1:8; Eph 1:4; Php 3:21; (1Th 5:23; (1Jn 3:2)

 

MISCONCEPTIONS OF THE BAPTISM OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT 

     The Doctrine of the baptism of God the Holy Spirit is widely distorted today.

We must state what the baptism of the Spirit is /not.

/The baptism of the Spirit is not the same as the filling of the Spirit, as just noted.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit also is not an experience or a “second work of grace” after Salvation.

/It is not, and never was, speaking in tongues./

The idea that Spirit baptism involves speaking in tongues fails to distinguish the Doctrine of the baptism of God the Holy Spirit from the Doctrine of Spiritual gifts.

The baptism of the Spirit occurs at the instant of Salvation for all Church Age believers; the gift of tongues formerly operated only in the post-Salvation experience of a few first-century Christians.

The phenomenon of tongues was a temporary Spiritual gift designed, as Isaiah prophesied, to warn Israel of impending national judgment.

(Isa 28:11; (1Co 14:21-22) Jews were evangelized in gentile languages understood by the listeners, but not the speakers.

This ironic gift exercised by certain early Christians dramatized the Jews’ failure to evangelize the Gentiles.

Because the gift of tongues was a miraculous sign to alert Israel to her decay, no one has legitimately spoken in tongues since A.D. 70, when Jerusalem fell and the purpose for this temporary gift expired.

.../If there are tongues, they will cease.../ (1Co 13:8)/ /