HOLY SPIRIT: OUR COVENANT RIGHT

INTRODUCTION

The word ‘pentecost’ means 50. Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after Passover. Approximately 50 days the first Passover lamb was slain by the Israelites in Egypt, God descended upon Mt. Sinai accompanied by the sound of thunder, and the presence of fire and smoke. Unfortunately, this day resulted in 3000 Israelites losing their life as punishment for their idolatry.

Fast forward several hundred years to when our Passover Lamb was sacrificed. 50 days after this, the disciples were in the upper room and the Lord descended upon them, also with a great sound and the presence of fire! Only this time, the result was not the killing of 3000 souls, but the filling of 3000 souls with the Holy Ghost!

Acts 2:1-4

This is just one of several times the book of Acts mentions believers receiving the Holy Spirit. Today the question is often asked, “Do we receive the Holy Spirit at regeneration (salvation), or do we seek for it as a separate experience?”

SEPARATE FROM THE NEW BIRTH

The baptism of the Holy Ghost is an experience we receive AFTER the new birth.

Acts 8:12, 14-16

This passage is proof that people don’t automatically receive the Holy Spirit when they are born again. There is a doctrine out there that states we receive the Holy Spirit at regeneration. If you’re saved (born again), then you have the Spirit.

This is a false doctrine, one that is causing believers everywhere to stop seeking for the infilling of the Spirit, or refusing it when i is offered. If the apostles had believed this, they never would have sent Peter and John to Samaria. If Peter and John would have never went to Samaria, the Samaritans would have never received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:22, 23, 44-47

As Peter preached the word of God to Cornelius, he and his household was saved and simultaneously filled with the Holy Ghost. This came as a surprise to Peter and his companions. In fact, they wouldn’t have believed it EXCEPT they heard these Gentiles speak with ‘tongues,’ just as they spoke with tongues when they were filled on the Day of Pentecost.

Clearly, this was the reason why God sent Peter to the house of Cornelius—that He might give the Gentiles salvation and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 11:1, 2, 15-16

Peter explained to the Church in Jerusalem that God was clearly granting the Gentiles salvation and the same gift (Spirit) He had given to them.

Acts 11:17

This verse should read “God gave them the same gift as he also gave us AFTER believing in the Lord Jesus Christ” (NET, NASB)

When did they first believe? The fact is, Peter and the rest of the apostles had been believers a while before receiving the Spirit. Again, it’s possible to be a believer and not have the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:1-3

Notice what Paul wanted to know from these disciples—have you recieved the Holy Ghost, AND have you been water baptized? But these disciples, like the vast majority of Christians today, were ignorant concerning the Holy Ghost.

Again, this ignorance is rooted in the fact that most Christians are not taught the truth concerning the Holy Spirit. One of the main things that’s not being taught concerning the Spirit is that it is one of our covenant rights.

People who are not baptized in water and filled with the Spirit are missing out on their covenant rights as a Christian.

OUR COVENANT RIGHT

We don’t often associate receiving the Holy Spirit as a covenant right, but it is.

Luke 11:11-13

Most read this passage and miss the point that the Holy Spirit is being associated with basic necessities, like bread, meat, fish, etc. Just like it is the right of every child to be provided for (fed) by his earthly father, it is the right of every believer to be provided for (filled) by his Heavenly Father. In fact, if we look closer we will see a connection between this passage and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 15, the ‘son’ asks his ‘father’ for his ‘portion’ (birthright) of his inheritance. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is our portion (birthright) of our inheritance.

Ephesians 1:13, 14

Here the Holy Spirit is called the ‘earnest of our inheritance’. Meaning, the Spirit is the DOWNPAYMENT or FIRST INSTALLMENT of our redemption or inheritance. God has PROMISED the Spirit to EVERY one of His children. In fact, read that the Spirit is called the ‘Spirit of promise’ (verse 13). This speaks to God’s covenant.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Ezekiel is speaking here of God’s Covenant. Notice that part of God’s covenant includes receiving His Spirit that we might walk in His commandments. This is the reason every Christian MUST be filled—because the Christian life can only be lived out through the Spirit!

Romans 8:3, 4

The righteousness of God cannot be fulfilled (performed) in us as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit! It is not enough for us to have a ‘new’ (born again) spirit. We must receive (and walk according to) God’s Spirit.

Romans 8:9

Paul is speaking here of our born again (new) spirit that is in the image of Christ. Everyone who is born again receives the ‘spirit of Christ.’ This is the job of the Holy Spirit—to recreate Christ in you, first spirit, then soul and ultimately body.

“Beloved, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we shall be like Him.”

Romans 8:10

We see here that, although we receive Christ (His ‘life’ or righteousness) in our spirit, our body is still ‘dead’. Meaning, we are still unable to perform or fulfill righteousness in our physical body. For this we need the Spirit of God.

Romans 8:11-13

Those who reject or do not receive the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) have no hope of fulfilling righteousness or coming into the full image of Christ. As a result, they will continue to live after the flesh and must eventually die (verse 12).

This doesn’t mean they will not enter the kingdom. It means they will never truly ‘overcome’ and enter the kingdom with the great honor (‘cum laude’). The greatest of honor in the kingdom (cum, magna, summa) is reserved for the overcomers.

NECESSARY FOR POWER

Acts 1:8

They weren’t just giving a witness of Christ, their life was a witness of Christ. Moreover, it takes power from the Holy Spirit to manifest Jesus Christ.

John 14:15-17

To whom is Jesus offering the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is only offered to believers. In fact, the Holy Spirit is ‘with’ our spirit when we are saved (witnessing that we are the ‘children’ of God—Romans 8:16) and ‘in’ our spirit when we are filled (giving us power to be the sons of God—Romans 8:9-14). The Spirit of Christ is not the same as the Spirit of God. When you are born again you receive the Spirit of Christ (born again spirit). This is the Holy Spirit’s job—to recreate Christ in you, first spirit, then soul and ultimately body. “Beloved it does not yet appear what we shall be but we shall be like Him (spirit, soul and body).” What about those who rejects the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit? They have no hope to come into the image of Christ. You will never be an overcomer. You will remain a baby Christian. You will only get so far. Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit cannot walk ‘in the Spirit.’ In fact, they are at the mercy of their mind (Romans 8:5).

Acts 2:38

You must repent and be baptized to receive the Holy Ghost. A lost person cannot receive the Holy Ghost. Only a saved person can receive Him. Moreover, people today want us to believe this all passed away with the apostles, but Peter says that this gift of the Holy Ghost is to every believer in every generation (verse 39).

SPEAKING WITH TONGUES IS A LEGITIMATE SIGN

The overwhelming majority of the body of Christ is speaking against Christians being filled or baptized in the Spirit or speaking with other tongues.

Acts 2:18

Notice how the Holy Spirit is offered to the SERVANTS of God. In other words, you cannot serve God or serve in the kingdom of God without the Holy Ghost (Acts 6:3). Notice how the apostles wouldn’t even appoint men to the business of distributing food who did not have the Holy Ghost! If even an administrative position as this requires that one receive the Holy Spirit, then every position within the Church requirest that one receives the Holy Spirit (1Peter 4:10, 11). We haven’t made this a high enough priority, but maybe we should. Maybe this is one of the reasons God shut us down—to get us all in compliance with His word.

It’s a lot more difficult to backslide with the Holy Spirit than without it (Hebrews 6:4-9).

Tongues

Should we expect to speak with tongues? Well, there’s nothing unscriptural about speaking with other tongues when you are healed. They spoke with tongues throughout the book of acts. In fact, you can’t even prove that everyone who received the Spirit in the book of Acts DID NOT speak with tongues. Furthermore, Jesus said that if we believe on Him we should expect to speak with other tongues, just like we should expect to lay hands on the sick and they recover (Mark 16:17).

People speak these things about the Holy Spirit as if they are Scripture, when they are not. Speaking in tongues is a gift from God and God does not give bad gifts (Luke 11:13).

The Holy Spirit helps our infirmity because He sees the need when we do not (Romans 8:26). Here we see that the Holy Spirit prays through our spirit, and not through our mind (1Corinthians 14:15). Therefore, you can’t experience or have this intercession from the Holy Spirit without exercising tongues!

Praying in tongues builds up your faith (Jude 20). Why would Jude say this if they all could not do it? He didn’t just say, “Those who have the gift of tongues, should pray in the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:6

The word “language” is really the word tongue. Therefore, when you speak with tongues you are speaking a language. In fact, some have said that because the tongues we hear today are not a Scriptural use of tongues. First, nowhere else in the book of Acts where individuals speak with other tongues are speaking a language others understand! In other words, tongues aren’t just given so that we can speak to people in different dialects. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul required those that ‘spake with tongues’ also give an interpretation. However, when you go through the book of Acts noting the times when individuals spoke with tongues, other than the initial outpouring in chapter 2, no one ever required people who spoke with tongues to give an interpretation. Why is that? The reason is obvious, the tongues people are given when they are filled with Spirit are not the same gift of tongues Paul speaks about in 1Corinthians 12. We’re placing these two gifts in the same category and we shouldn’t. The fact of the matter is, tongues can be spoken to God OR to men (1Corinthians 14:2). When tongues are spoken to men, they require an interpretation. When they are spoken to God they require no interpretation.

Experience tells us that those churches that do not endorse speaking with other tongues, you will not see the other gifts in manifestation. Tongues, in other words, is the entry gift, not only for a person, but also for a congregation. The Corinthians, who came behind in no gift, was known as a congregation that spoke in tongues regularly!