Baptized with The Holy Spirit and Fire

[Sue J Love]

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12 NASB1995)

John the Baptist, in preparation for Jesus Christ and his ministry, baptized many people with water for repentance. And repentance means a change of mind and heart, resulting in a change of behavior. Throughout Scripture, to repent means to turn away from sin, thus resulting in a heart transformation of the Spirit of God, and then turning to follow Christ in obedience - putting off our old flesh and putting on our new lives in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Ephesians 4:17-24).

Then John the Baptist talked about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. When we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, via repentance, turning from sin and turning to walk by faith in Christ Jesus, to obey him, by the power and working of the Spirit in our lives in new birth (spiritual birth), we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. Jesus, thus, baptizes us with his Spirit in the regeneration of our lives.

Jesus will also baptize us with fire. Fire has to do with judgment, and the New Testament teaches that God judges (disciplines; corrects; punishes; rebukes; chastises) his own for the purpose of purifying them and making them holy, and/or to get his wandering ones to return to their “first love.” He does this because he loves us, and because he wants us to be in a right relationship with him. And so he allows us to go through difficulties to test our faith and to make us into the people he wants us to be for his service.

Yet so much of today’s church is no different from the world. It is barely distinguishable between the church and the world anymore. The church is supposed to be the body of Christ, made up of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, with Jesus Christ as the head. Its meetings are supposed to be for the purpose of mutual edification and encouragement of the body so that we can go out into the world with the gospel of salvation, and so we can stand strong in our faith against all the tricks and traps of the devil in his deceitful scheming against us.

Yet, much of the church has invited the world into their gatherings, and they have acclimated the meetings of the church to the desires of the world in order to attract the world to their assemblies. Thus, many have diluted the gospel of our salvation in order to make it more palatable and acceptable to the sinful world and to the adulterous and idolatrous church. And feel good messages meant to tickle itching ears have mostly, it would seem, replaced Holy Spirit inspired preaching intended to convict human hearts of sin, and to call people to forsake their sinful practices and to obey God’s commands.

So the wayward, idolatrous, and adulterous church of today is under the judgment of God; of Christ. For so many who profess the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior are living so far away from what God requires of us who profess to know him. So many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to please the flesh, and not to please God. And so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of human making which are patterning the gospel and the church after the world. Their hearts are, thus, not surrendered to the Lord to putting sin to death and to obeying him.

So when Jesus baptizes with fire, he will do what is necessary to get all those who profess his name to submit to him as Lord, to obey his commands, and to walk in his ways and in his righteousness. And he will separate those who give him lip service only from those who are walking in obedience to him in holy living, empowered by God. And all who called him, “Lord,” but did not obey his commands, will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Caution: This link may contain ads

Baptized with The Holy Spirit and Fire
An Original Work / November 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

[Gerbolski]

I guess there is a lot of stuff to unpack, in your post, and no doubt a lot of truths via many things such as :

Yet, much of the church has invited the world into their gatherings, and they have acclimated the meetings of the church to the desires of the world in order to attract the world to their assemblies.

So the wayward, idolatrous, and adulterous church of today is under the judgment of God; of Christ. For so many who profess the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior are living so far away from what God requires of us who profess to know him. So many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to please the flesh, and not to please God. And so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of human making which are patterning the gospel and the church after the world. Their hearts are, thus, not surrendered to the Lord to putting sin to death and to obeying him.

And those things said up above, is so true.

I guess I will get to the John the Baptist stuff , later, and stuff via the baptism in fire, though it might take me some time.

For myself, just speaking for myself, and not of others, for others can speak for themselves.

For me, I seek to not go by any conventional, on non conventional way of saying this means that, or this means this, and what I mean by that, is that many times doctrines get established, and no doubt there is established doctrine, but many times because say a denomination said this means this, or in the major Christian circles, they say that means that, that that is the established mindset, and if one looks "outside the box", it gets automatically rejected.

But what I endeavor to be, is a Biblicist, and someone had said that to me, when I use to be on the Worthy Christian forum, but in a positive way, and it has stuck with me pretty much ever since.

We need to be continuously open to what the word says, and get ready to change a position, when proven wrong.

Now of course, there are things that are what they are, such as salvation by grace through faith, the cross, the resurrection, the trinity and so on.

Right now I just want to focus on the words, being "born again".

Joh 3:3
(3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Among the people who were alive, in the time of Jesus, and even in the time of the Apostle Paul as an apostle, who were the first ones to become born again ?

 

[Sue J Love]

I guess there is a lot of stuff to unpack, in your post, and no doubt a lot of truths via many things such as :




And those things said up above, is so true.

I guess I will get to the John the Baptist stuff , later, and stuff via the baptism in fire, though it might take me some time.

For myself, just speaking for myself, and not of others, for others can speak for themselves.

For me, I seek to not go by any conventional, on non conventional way of saying this means that, or this means this, and what I mean by that, is that many times doctrines get established, and no doubt there is established doctrine, but many times because say a denomination said this means this, or in the major Christian circles, they say that means that, that that is the established mindset, and if one looks "outside the box", it gets automatically rejected.

But what I endeavor to be, is a Biblicist, and someone had said that to me, when I use to be on the Worthy Christian forum, but in a positive way, and it has stuck with me pretty much ever since.

We need to be continuously open to what the word says, and get ready to change a position, when proven wrong.

Now of course, there are things that are what they are, such as salvation by grace through faith, the cross, the resurrection, the trinity and so on.

Right now I just want to focus on the words, being "born again".

Joh 3:3
(3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Among the people who were alive, in the time of Jesus, and even in the time of the Apostle Paul as an apostle, who were the first ones to become born again ?

When I was much younger I just believed whatever I was taught. But then I became a student of the Scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and I began to see that some of the things I was taught early on did not agree with what the Scriptures teach. And then the Lord opened up my mind and heart to see so many things I was taught wrongly and I had to relearn. I do not adhere to any theology or church denominational beliefs. But I trust the Lord to lead me to all truth. Doesn't mean I have everything right, but I am diligent to make it my goal to remain true to the Scriptures taught in their appropriate context under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Gerbolski]

No problem there sister.

I know of John the Baptist, it says this:

Luk 1:15
(15) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

I do not know what all people say about this, but it says that John was filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Now does that constitute being born again ?

Well no not really, for according to scripture, the bible says this:

1Pe 1:3
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

The resurrection of Christ from the dead had to happen in order for someone to become born again.

And the resurrection took place only some time after that John the Baptist was off the scene.

And one thing concerning this, we have to remember, is that, at the time of John the Baptist, they were in a time of transition, going from the old covenant, to the New covenant, Jesus still had to fulfil the law through perfectly obeying it, and eventually dying on the cross, and being raised from the dead.

And in old testament times, there were some type of pouring out of the Spirit, but in a more limited fashion, but the Spirit did not live in them or indwell them, as he does now, as being born again.

And many times it was certain individuals who had the Spirit poured upon them for certain tasks and so forth.

So in what way did the Holy Ghost fill John the Baptist ? Well it was not in the sense that he had a new heart and spirit thus being born again, but it was in some type of way which God fully knows.

And not only was the resurrection needed, but the sending back of the Holy Ghost was needed, so that the Holy Ghost can come into man, and make them born again, to were they have a new heart and spirit.

Joh 3:7-8 (7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (8) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Act 2:2 (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Eze 36:26
(26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Even though this Ezekiel verse speaks of when Israel shall come back to him as a nation, and become born again, this is indeed what happens to us, when we become born again.

 

[Bill]

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12 NASB1995)

John the Baptist, in preparation for Jesus Christ and his ministry, baptized many people with water for repentance. And repentance means a change of mind and heart, resulting in a change of behavior. Throughout Scripture, to repent means to turn away from sin, thus resulting in a heart transformation of the Spirit of God, and then turning to follow Christ in obedience - putting off our old flesh and putting on our new lives in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Ephesians 4:17-24).

Then John the Baptist talked about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. When we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, via repentance, turning from sin and turning to walk by faith in Christ Jesus, to obey him, by the power and working of the Spirit in our lives in new birth (spiritual birth), we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. Jesus, thus, baptizes us with his Spirit in the regeneration of our lives.

Jesus will also baptize us with fire. Fire has to do with judgment, and the New Testament teaches that God judges (disciplines; corrects; punishes; rebukes; chastises) his own for the purpose of purifying them and making them holy, and/or to get his wandering ones to return to their “first love.” He does this because he loves us, and because he wants us to be in a right relationship with him. And so he allows us to go through difficulties to test our faith and to make us into the people he wants us to be for his service.

Yet so much of today’s church is no different from the world. It is barely distinguishable between the church and the world anymore. The church is supposed to be the body of Christ, made up of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, with Jesus Christ as the head. Its meetings are supposed to be for the purpose of mutual edification and encouragement of the body so that we can go out into the world with the gospel of salvation, and so we can stand strong in our faith against all the tricks and traps of the devil in his deceitful scheming against us.

Yet, much of the church has invited the world into their gatherings, and they have acclimated the meetings of the church to the desires of the world in order to attract the world to their assemblies. Thus, many have diluted the gospel of our salvation in order to make it more palatable and acceptable to the sinful world and to the adulterous and idolatrous church. And feel good messages meant to tickle itching ears have mostly, it would seem, replaced Holy Spirit inspired preaching intended to convict human hearts of sin, and to call people to forsake their sinful practices and to obey God’s commands.

So the wayward, idolatrous, and adulterous church of today is under the judgment of God; of Christ. For so many who profess the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior are living so far away from what God requires of us who profess to know him. So many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to please the flesh, and not to please God. And so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of human making which are patterning the gospel and the church after the world. Their hearts are, thus, not surrendered to the Lord to putting sin to death and to obeying him.

So when Jesus baptizes with fire, he will do what is necessary to get all those who profess his name to submit to him as Lord, to obey his commands, and to walk in his ways and in his righteousness. And he will separate those who give him lip service only from those who are walking in obedience to him in holy living, empowered by God. And all who called him, “Lord,” but did not obey his commands, will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Caution: This link may contain ads

Baptized with The Holy Spirit and Fire
An Original Work / November 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

May Jesus fill us with his love and wisdom

Dear Sue, over the years I have discovered a few truths on the subject of being baptized in the Spirit. One of those has to do with how fertile your heart is to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There is no doubt, that many are not fully ready to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. But that does not mean that they do not receive the Holy Spirit, it's just that they don't receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If we look at the parable of the sower. Jesus talks about some of the seed falls on Rocky ground some of the seed Falls on ground where the seed sort of grows but not at its full potential, and then there's some seed that falls on very fertile ground. And this is very true with those who received the gifts of the Spirit. If your heart isn't nurtured, if your heart isn't filled with love, then you cannot fully grasp the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is essentially the love between God the Father and God the Son. And to receive a Being that is Love itself, requires us to be tender with love in our hearts.

Those people who do not have compassionate love within them receive the Holy Spirit at a certain level. And it won't be until those people can grow in their love to actually get the Fuller completion of the Holy Spirit. Although they can do things but at a diminished capacity.

A good example of this is how strong a person's discernment is. If a person's discernment is very weak, yet they have received the Baptism of the Spirit, it should show us that that person still needs to work on depth and understanding and compassion beyond what they are at that moment.

Another thing about the Gifts of the Spirit is that they themselves cannot be comprehended by us in a moment. That we have to learn to understand them. Of course this isn't true with everyone, there are some blessed Souls out there that have the full understanding of the Spirit from the very beginning. But those people are few and far between.

Two things, for those who read my words don't jump to the conclusion that you are one of those few and far people, because if you think that way then you're not.

The other thing is this, be humble. Be humble and understand that it takes time to learn how to receive the Holy Spirit, takes time to learn how to use the Gifts

 

[Gerbolski]

More verses on John the Baptist

Hi there sister.

Here are more verses on John the Baptist, but this time speaking of his baptism.

Mar 1:2-5
(2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
(3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
(4) John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
(5) And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

Here is a comment on this:

(John Gill)

(...and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins; that is, as many of them as were brought to a sight and sense of their sins, and made a confession of them, these he baptized, or immersed, in the river Jordan;...)
A key phrase, I find, is this, how they were confessing their sins, so this baptism was accompanied by actual repentance, and thus them getting baptized.

But here John the Baptist was getting people's hearts ready to meet the Lord, and of course what did John preach ?

Mat 3:1-2
(1) In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
(2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So that was his message, which prepared the hearts of people, to be ready to meet the Lord, and it lead them to confess their sins and be baptized in water.

It was a baptism of repentance, which was accompanied by real repentance.

The water never did anything for them in and of itself, but it was commanded, and when we obey him, there is a blessing, and this baptism was pointing to what was going to happen in men when they would become born again, which when you go under the water, it represents dying with Christ, which I am sure you already know, and when coming out of the water, it represents being raised up with him in newness of life.

Back then John's baptism was not done in the name of the Father , Son and Holy Ghost, but rather it was to prepare people's hearts to receive the Messiah, and recognize him when he comes, and of course when John had to baptize Jesus, he showed people who the messiah was.

And of course since Pentecost, water baptism was now done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Here is what the commandment was:

Mat 28:19
(19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

I am sure you already know all this, but if in some cases it refines some thoughts, then praise God as well, but it is good to have a refresher, I know I like refreshers.

 

[Gerbolski]

Baptism of the Holy Ghost

Of course everything in Christ, has to be received by faith, even the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

I know that some believe that it is received right away at salvation, and others do not.

I will get to that in a bit, maybe in another post.

Now what does the bible say the baptism in the Holy Ghost does ?

Mat 3:11
(11) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Act 1:8
(8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 2:3-4
(3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
(4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The fire and power, point to the same thing, and it associates these things with being a witness, but being a witness in power, or as Paul said in demonstration of the Spirit and with power.

It points to the anointing, but to the point of being fully immersed in the Holy Spirit.

And cloven tongues itself is not referring directly to other tongues here.

Cloven means the partitioning, that is the partitioning to each one, tongues that are as of fire.

A tongue that gets spoken with fire, or with power.

And on the day of Pentecost, it just happened to be in other tongues they spoke, but afterwards Peter said a message with fiery tongues, in his own language that led many to get saved.

God uses all his children no matter were they are at, whether fully immersed in the Spirit or not.

And whether someone has receive or not , has absolutely nothing to do with maturity, for just look at the Corinthians for that matter.

And I have heard some Pentecostals say that the fruit of the Spirit starts at the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that is a bunch of baloney, for it associates the Baptism with power to witness and not with the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit starts at salvation, for it comes as a result of salvation, which we can always grow more into this.

I will just say for myself, more of Jesus, less of me.

So I guess , in my next post I may get into verses that say more details of when the baptism of the Holy Ghost gets received.

 

[Gerbolski]

So just before I get to my next post, I just want to say that love and faith, work hand in hand together.

Of course that is another subject.

 

[Sue J Love]

No problem there sister.

I know of John the Baptist, it says this:

Luk 1:15
(15) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

I do not know what all people say about this, but it says that John was filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Now does that constitute being born again ?

Well no not really, for according to scripture, the bible says this:

1Pe 1:3
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

The resurrection of Christ from the dead had to happen in order for someone to become born again.

And the resurrection took place only some time after that John the Baptist was off the scene.

And one thing concerning this, we have to remember, is that, at the time of John the Baptist, they were in a time of transition, going from the old covenant, to the New covenant, Jesus still had to fulfil the law through perfectly obeying it, and eventually dying on the cross, and being raised from the dead.

And in old testament times, there were some type of pouring out of the Spirit, but in a more limited fashion, but the Spirit did not live in them or indwell them, as he does now, as being born again.

And many times it was certain individuals who had the Spirit poured upon them for certain tasks and so forth.

So in what way did the Holy Ghost fill John the Baptist ? Well it was not in the sense that he had a new heart and spirit thus being born again, but it was in some type of way which God fully knows.

And not only was the resurrection needed, but the sending back of the Holy Ghost was needed, so that the Holy Ghost can come into man, and make them born again, to were they have a new heart and spirit.

Joh 3:7-8 (7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (8) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Act 2:2 (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Eze 36:26
(26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Even though this Ezekiel verse speaks of when Israel shall come back to him as a nation, and become born again, this is indeed what happens to us, when we become born again.

Gerbolski, thank you for reading, for responding, and for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I have no comments to share here.

 

[Sue J Love]

May Jesus fill us with his love and wisdom

Dear Sue, over the years I have discovered a few truths on the subject of being baptized in the Spirit. One of those has to do with how fertile your heart is to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There is no doubt, that many are not fully ready to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. But that does not mean that they do not receive the Holy Spirit, it's just that they don't receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If we look at the parable of the sower. Jesus talks about some of the seed falls on Rocky ground some of the seed Falls on ground where the seed sort of grows but not at its full potential, and then there's some seed that falls on very fertile ground. And this is very true with those who received the gifts of the Spirit. If your heart isn't nurtured, if your heart isn't filled with love, then you cannot fully grasp the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is essentially the love between God the Father and God the Son. And to receive a Being that is Love itself, requires us to be tender with love in our hearts.

Those people who do not have compassionate love within them receive the Holy Spirit at a certain level. And it won't be until those people can grow in their love to actually get the Fuller completion of the Holy Spirit. Although they can do things but at a diminished capacity.

A good example of this is how strong a person's discernment is. If a person's discernment is very weak, yet they have received the Baptism of the Spirit, it should show us that that person still needs to work on depth and understanding and compassion beyond what they are at that moment.

Another thing about the Gifts of the Spirit is that they themselves cannot be comprehended by us in a moment. That we have to learn to understand them. Of course this isn't true with everyone, there are some blessed Souls out there that have the full understanding of the Spirit from the very beginning. But those people are few and far between.

Two things, for those who read my words don't jump to the conclusion that you are one of those few and far people, because if you think that way then you're not.

The other thing is this, be humble. Be humble and understand that it takes time to learn how to receive the Holy Spirit, takes time to learn how to use the Gifts

Bill, thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts on this subject. The Scriptures teach us that all of us who are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus have the Holy Spirit living within us. And they teach us that God (the Holy Spirit) gifts all of us with spiritual gifts, empowered by the Spirit, and not by human flesh. So my understanding on the subject of being filled with the Spirit, based on the Scriptures I have read on this subject, is that the more that our lives are surrendered to the Lord, to obeying his commands, and to doing what he has called us to do, as his disciples, the more we are filled with the Spirit, and the more that we will operate in the gifts of the Spirit which are of the Spirit of God and thus must be led by the Spirit in agreement with the Word of God.

 

[Sue J Love]

More verses on John the Baptist

Hi there sister.

Here are more verses on John the Baptist, but this time speaking of his baptism.

Mar 1:2-5
(2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
(3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
(4) John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
(5) And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

Here is a comment on this:

(John Gill)

(...and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins; that is, as many of them as were brought to a sight and sense of their sins, and made a confession of them, these he baptized, or immersed, in the river Jordan;...)
A key phrase, I find, is this, how they were confessing their sins, so this baptism was accompanied by actual repentance, and thus them getting baptized.

But here John the Baptist was getting people's hearts ready to meet the Lord, and of course what did John preach ?

Mat 3:1-2
(1) In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
(2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So that was his message, which prepared the hearts of people, to be ready to meet the Lord, and it lead them to confess their sins and be baptized in water.

It was a baptism of repentance, which was accompanied by real repentance.

The water never did anything for them in and of itself, but it was commanded, and when we obey him, there is a blessing, and this baptism was pointing to what was going to happen in men when they would become born again, which when you go under the water, it represents dying with Christ, which I am sure you already know, and when coming out of the water, it represents being raised up with him in newness of life.

Back then John's baptism was not done in the name of the Father , Son and Holy Ghost, but rather it was to prepare people's hearts to receive the Messiah, and recognize him when he comes, and of course when John had to baptize Jesus, he showed people who the messiah was.

And of course since Pentecost, water baptism was now done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Here is what the commandment was:

Mat 28:19
(19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

I am sure you already know all this, but if in some cases it refines some thoughts, then praise God as well, but it is good to have a refresher, I know I like refreshers.

Gerbolski, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I read through what you wrote here, and as far as I can tell, we are in agreement on this subject.

 

[Sue J Love]

Baptism of the Holy Ghost

Of course everything in Christ, has to be received by faith, even the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

I know that some believe that it is received right away at salvation, and others do not.

I will get to that in a bit, maybe in another post.

Now what does the bible say the baptism in the Holy Ghost does ?

Mat 3:11
(11) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Act 1:8
(8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 2:3-4
(3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
(4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The fire and power, point to the same thing, and it associates these things with being a witness, but being a witness in power, or as Paul said in demonstration of the Spirit and with power.

It points to the anointing, but to the point of being fully immersed in the Holy Spirit.

And cloven tongues itself is not referring directly to other tongues here.

Cloven means the partitioning, that is the partitioning to each one, tongues that are as of fire.

A tongue that gets spoken with fire, or with power.

And on the day of Pentecost, it just happened to be in other tongues they spoke, but afterwards Peter said a message with fiery tongues, in his own language that led many to get saved.

God uses all his children no matter were they are at, whether fully immersed in the Spirit or not.

And whether someone has receive or not , has absolutely nothing to do with maturity, for just look at the Corinthians for that matter.

And I have heard some Pentecostals say that the fruit of the Spirit starts at the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that is a bunch of baloney, for it associates the Baptism with power to witness and not with the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit starts at salvation, for it comes as a result of salvation, which we can always grow more into this.

I will just say for myself, more of Jesus, less of me.

So I guess , in my next post I may get into verses that say more details of when the baptism of the Holy Ghost gets received.

The Scriptures teach us that all of us who are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus have the Holy Spirit living within us. And they teach us that God (the Holy Spirit) gifts all of us with spiritual gifts, empowered by the Spirit, and not by human flesh. So my understanding on the subject of being filled with the Spirit, based on the Scriptures I have read on this subject, is that the more that our lives are surrendered to the Lord, to obeying his commands, and to doing what he has called us to do, as his disciples, the more we are filled with the Spirit, and the more that we will operate in the gifts of the Spirit which are of the Spirit of God and thus must be led by the Spirit in agreement with the Word of God.

 

[Gerbolski]

On your last statement, yes we all have the Holy Ghost at salvation, and there are general gifts that God gives us, all have that.

And then there is the gift on tongues which only some have.

All potentially can have one or more of the gifts of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9-10, but it is given to who he wills.

In fact God wants the church to manifest in these gifts, so that all in one manner or another can be used in these gifts so to edify the church.

So when we get saved, yes we get empowered to live a godly and holy life, but hat itself is resurrection life, it is no necessarily being baptized in the Holy Ghost.

 

[Gerbolski]

When does the baptism of the Holy Ghost take place ?


Act 1:8
(8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 2:2
(2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Act 2:3-4
(3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
(4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.


If you were just to go with these verses, you would think that the baptism of the Holy Ghost always happens right away at salvation.

And in this case, it would be true, which it was a matter of seconds between them being born again, and being baptized in the Holy Ghost here.

But are there other verses ?

Yes, and in truth, is it God's will that all receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost ? Yes.

So let us go to these other verses.

Act 19:2-7
(2) He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
(3) And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
(4) Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
(5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
(6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
(7) And all the men were about twelve.

These people were already believers, Paul acknowledge them as such.

Then he asks them unto what were ye baptized, since they have believed.

And they mentioned John's baptism.

So then in verse 5, they got water baptized finally in the name of Jesus, that is what this baptism was called, but the formula was to be done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and it is only after this that they received a further baptism, which was to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that is why Paul says a statement to these people who were already believers, already born again, did you receive the Holy Ghost since you believe.

The context is, did you believers receive the Holy Ghost since you believed, then they said they had not heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, then Paul ask them unto what were you baptized .

So you see a connection between the Holy Ghost, and the word baptism here, Paul was indeed talking about the baptism of the Holy Ghost for he knew believers had the Holy Ghost, but not all in the sense of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which the 2 main topics is the Holy Ghost and baptism, you cannot get away from this.

So the context is baptism and the Holy Ghost, then after they get water baptized in the name of Jesus, it is only after that they receive the Holy Ghost (baptism), and not before hand, which tells us that just because you are saved, does not necessarily mean that you have receive the Holy Ghost, in the sense of being fully immerse into the Holy Ghost, and there is no merits to this, no pride, if it is so, it is, in someone's life, and if it is not so, it is not so, in someone's life, but it is God's will.

And when they did receive the Holy Ghost in baptism form, they began to speaks in tongues.

Now let us go to another verse:

Act 2:38
(38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The usual pattern is this, that people repent, thus become born again, then get water baptized, and then get baptized with the Holy Ghost.

But the bible is not totally systematic about this, so if the bible is not totally systematic about this, neither should we.

When we ignore these parts, then it is easy to become systematic about these issues.

Some receive the Holy Ghost baptism at about the time of salvation, others may receive it a few months later without getting water baptized, then still others receive it after getting water baptized, there is no systematic way.

 

[Gerbolski]

Gifts of the Spirit

First of all, is it God's will that everybody receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost ?

Act 2:38-39
(38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(39) For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

And what is this gift, that is as an initial result when receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost ?

Act 10:45-46
(45) And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(46) For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

It associates the gift of the Holy Ghost with tongues here.

And yes it is God's will for all his children to receive the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost, but whether you have or not, does not mean you are not saved.

And it says that it is for all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

God can use your talents, if submitted to God, but only if submitted to God.

Some are gifted in music, some have a special gift of hospitality, some special gifts of how to minister to others and so on.

But concerning the gifts of the Spirit, via Corinthians, what does it say ?

1Co 12:7-11
(7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
(8) For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
(9) To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
(10) To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
(11) But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

These are spiritual gifts, they are not say natural gifts such as a musical talent (which are still spiritual in some fashion), which can be used spiritually of course, but these gifts are special manifestations of the Spirit.

And it is God's will that all get baptized in the Holy Ghost, and as a result, it is also God's will that all the body be used in at least one of these gifts, but in order to walk in these gifts, it first has to be received, and gets divided as the Spirit wills.

Example:

Act 19:2-7
(2) He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
(3) And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
(4) Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
(5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
(6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
(7) And all the men were about twelve.

At salvation they did not speak in tongues, but once receiving the baptism in the Holy Ghost, they were able to, which tells us that even though God wants to give at least one of the gifts of the Corinthian gifts to all believers so they can edify the body with, you have to first receive these things in order to walk in these things.

It is just the way it is.

And the bible says this:

1Co 12:31
(31) But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

And it is evident concerning faith that all have faith within them in Christ, but then there is the gift of faith mentioned in Corinthians.

 

[Gerbolski]

Power of God

The word power is mentioned in all kinds of ways in the bible.

God empowers us in all kinds of ways, he empowers us to live a godly life, and empowers us to walk in our gifts, and so on and so on.

We basically walk in resurrection life.

And then there is being empowered to the point that you are fully immersed in the Spirit.

And I believe that all believers to one degree or another can walk in the anointing, and certain things can factor into that, but as far as to the degree of being fully immersed in the Holy Ghost, that happens when that baptism is received, and even once received, things can be hindered from coming forth.

 

[Gerbolski]

Tongues

Why was tongues given ?

1Co 14:4
(4) He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

Isa 28:11-12
(11) For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
(12) To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Concerning unknown tongues it says it edifies self, but of course if someone is speaking in an unknown tongue not as to oneself and to God, and it gets interpreted, that it can edify others.

But tongues itself, is also associated with a type of rest, and a refreshing.

Now in the case of Isaiah, it was a prophesy which was fulfilled in the book of Acts, and spoke of other tongues, or another tongue, which the believers on the day of Pentecost, did not know, but others knew.

So it would have edified those certain people who knew the language.

But whether in an unknown form, or another tongues form, it is still a type of rest and a refreshing.

If the word promises a type of rest and something that refreshes you, would you not want it, whether in self edification or edifying the other ?

 

[Bill]

Bill, thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts on this subject. The Scriptures teach us that all of us who are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus have the Holy Spirit living within us. And they teach us that God (the Holy Spirit) gifts all of us with spiritual gifts, empowered by the Spirit, and not by human flesh. So my understanding on the subject of being filled with the Spirit, based on the Scriptures I have read on this subject, is that the more that our lives are surrendered to the Lord, to obeying his commands, and to doing what he has called us to do, as his disciples, the more we are filled with the Spirit, and the more that we will operate in the gifts of the Spirit which are of the Spirit of God and thus must be led by the Spirit in agreement with the Word of God.

May Jesus fill us with his love and wisdom

Sounds exactly what I said just in a different way

 

[Bill]

On your last statement, yes we all have the Holy Ghost at salvation, and there are general gifts that God gives us, all have that.

And then there is the gift on tongues which only some have.

All potentially can have one or more of the gifts of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9-10, but it is given to who he wills.

In fact God wants the church to manifest in these gifts, so that all in one manner or another can be used in these gifts so to edify the church.

So when we get saved, yes we get empowered to live a godly and holy life, but hat itself is resurrection life, it is no necessarily being baptized in the Holy Ghost.

""So when we get saved, yes we get empowered to live a godly and holy life, but hat itself is resurrection life, it is no necessarily being baptized in the Holy Ghost.""

I don't think that I would say that we are empowered to live a Godly and Holy life, unless I am confused on what the word empowered means. I might have to look it up but I think empowered means that once you receive Jesus as your lord and savior, you are saying that you WILL live a Holy and Godly life, versus try to live a holy and Godly life. There is a difference you know.

If you think automatically that you will become holy and Godly than those people are sorely mistaken.

Being saved is not a guarantee. Nor is it a guarantee that you will experience salvation. Because it is a daily choice that we make. As an example when it comes time for the mark of the beast, many people that you know that are God-fearing today, and would swear to you on a stack of Bibles that they would never take the mark of the beast. Will fall and take the mark.

There are preachers living today that tell us do not take the mark of the beast, And yet when that time comes they're preaching, their sermons will be the opposite. They will preach that it is okay to take the mark of the beast because you are children of God. Because you're saved. Which is a lie. It is not okay to take the mark of the beast. It is an automatic sentence to hell

 

[Gerbolski]

I don't think that I would say that we are empowered to live a Godly and Holy life, unless I am confused on what the word empowered means. I might have to look it up but I think empowered means that once you receive Jesus as your lord and savior, you are saying that you WILL live a Holy and Godly life, versus try to live a holy and Godly life. There is a difference you know.

If you think automatically that you will become holy and Godly than those people are sorely mistaken.

It is a relationship, and yes because he set us free from the power of sin to reign in our lives, we can live a godly life through him, but it does require surrender, and it says to take up our cross daily and follow him.

In a relationship there are 2, and both have a part in the relationship.