- “Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you ‘You must be born again.'” John 3:5-7
- “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever… and this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:23,25
The new testament, express the Holy Spirit, with many names; the Spirit of God, the Spirit of His Son, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of adoption, but most of the time He is simply referred to as the Spirit. These terms are expressed in such manner according to the purpose the Holy Spirit is working. The basic concept being there is one Spirit; then the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son, is the Holy Spirit. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ” Ephesians 4:4 Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, that person has the Holy Spirit in them, though it might not be the baptism of, which is the endowment of power to work and live [Acts 1:8], nonetheless it is the same Spirit.
Jesus speaking to His disciples says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot not receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows, Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18 Here Jesus does not distinguish His coming to dwell in us, apart from the Holy Spirit He sends to us from the Father. That Jesus comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. When the disciples of Jesus first believed in the resin Christ, He breathed on them as to give them of His Spirit, saying, “receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
And speaking of the Holy Spirit coming to bare witness of Him, the Lord says, “I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” John 15:26 Now the same Spirit who comes to dwell in us and testifying we are of Christ, Paul calls Him the Spirit of Adoption in Romans, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.'” Romans 8:15 And the Spirit of His Son in Galatians “And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6
Peter also speaking of the prophets who prophesied, about the coming of the Christ, he says, “What manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the suffering of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:11 The prophets of old prophesied by the Holy Spirit, “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21 but when giving testimony of the coming Christ he calls the Holy Spirit at work in them the Spirit of Christ.
Now the difference between having the witness of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit has to do with with power, for the accomplishment of the work God has given us to do. [C.B] Jesus speaking to His disciples whom He breathed on to give them the Holy Spirit, also said to them, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witness of Me. Acts 1:8 Then it is the same Spirit who dwells in us to bear witness and the same Spirit also who gives us power for the work. Therefore a believer can be in the Spirit made a new creation, without having the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Acts 8 gives two accounts of those who believed yet without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The first the Samaritans, who believed and were baptised in water and the bible records, “And there was a great joy in the city.” Acts 8:8 after which Peter and John came and prayed for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is also the account of the Ethiopian eunuch, who believed with all his heart and was baptised in water, yet was not baptised in the Holy Spirit and the bible records saying, “he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:39 In both cases significance is given to changes in their disposition of heart yet without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We also have Apollos, who knew the Scriptures, and taught and preached the word, yet he did not know the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “though he only knew the baptism of John.” Acts 18:25 Yet there was not a doubt of him being a new creation, without which no one can be saved.
Paul in his letter to Galatians writes, “the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ [which is justification by faith] so we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 2:14 The point he makes is the justification by faith is so that God may give us of His Spirit. That our salvation is a two-fold salvation consisting of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both of the Word and the Spirit.
- “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
- “But according to His mercy, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7
Our part being, we have believed from the heart the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. Through which we are purified, and made righteous, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 And through which we are also granted the right to be children of God. “He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13 This is our part to continue in the confession of our faith; believing in His word. “If indeed you continue in faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard which was preached.” Colossians 1:23
And God in response to our faith to the word of truth [the gospel of Jesus Christ] gives us the Spirit of His Son, with whom we are united and made alive in Him. “So God who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them, the Holy Spirit just as He did to us and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:8-9
However we take it for granted one step encompasses all; we make a confession of faith, therefore are made righteous and have the Spirit of God dwelling in us all at the same time. However God does not necessarily give the Spirit to all at the same moment of confession. Paul speaking of Hymenaeus and Philetus, who went astray concerning the truth, he says, “The Lord knows those who are His.” 2 Timothy 2:19 That is these men who at one moment confessed Jesus with him, yet have now mis-taught about Christ, these he calls are not His, if not His they do not have the Spirit of Christ.
Peter also speaks, of those who mislead others, by passions of the flesh, with false freedom, while themselves are slaves to sin. “For if, having escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, now again having been entangled in these they are subdued, the last state has become worse to them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20 These he calls springs without water, as ones without the Spirit, though they have known and confessed the Lord.
John also speaking of those who went out from among them, these he calls “they were not of us” 1 John 2:19 then if not of us they have not the same Spirit of Christ in them. Since all who are in Christ are of one, “you are all one in Christ” and “into one Spirit we are all baptised into one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 Jude also speaks of men, who have crept in [into the church] unnoticed and later calls them “sensual people, who cause divisions not having the Spirit.” Jude 1:19 All of whom speak of those at one point had confessed the Lord Jesus, and were accepted into the assembly, yet were without the Spirit and their works was made manifest.
- “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Romans 8:9
Now, the witness of God is both external and internal, while signs and wonders and miracles brings us to faith in God, the witness of His Spirit testifies in us we are His Children. John speaking of the witness of God, says, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; 1 John 5:9-10 However when that exact moment is, when the Spirit comes in to bears witness to our hearts is not known to us. Jesus says of the one born of the Spirit, “the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
Notice, Jesus gives an example of what it means to born of the Spirit. But He does not give the same rendition of what it means to be born of water. The one born of water, believes in the word preached, accepts it and in step of faith, by his/her own will is baptised in water, choosing to die to the world and the person he/she was. But the birth in Spirit is according to the will of God and not man.
Paul writing to the Galatians asks, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?” Galatians 3:2 If there was no evidence of the Spirit coming to dwell in them, this question would make no sense. Being in the Spirit has evidence, ether the witness of God in the inner man or the baptism of the Spirit through supernatural manifestation. It is not something we deduce, “I have believed and confessed therefore I have the Spirit.”
- “For the gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5
We can look at the redemption of Israel, when they entered into the promised land to be an illustration of our own salvation. Paul and Jude also saw fit to draw from their experiences, to give a warning to us. [1 Corinthians 10:1-5, Hebrews 3:14-19, Jude 1:4-5] There are two baptism in the redemption of Israel, the first when they applied the blood of the lamb and walked through the Red sea, to escape from Egypt. Which corresponds to us believing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and being baptised in water, through which we die to the world. Jesus speaking of His disciples who believed in Him and were baptised, said of them they are not of the world, before His Spirit being in them. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14
The second baptism, is the baptism into the Jordan [in the Spirit]. The Jordan baptism is different from the Red sea in one aspect, it was opened by the law of God. It is when, “the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped the edge of the water, that the waters which came down from upstream stood still.” Joshua 3:15-16 And this is the testimony of the Lord, in regards to the new covenant, “I will put My laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them. Hebrews 10:16 Ezekiel also speaks saying, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them. Ezekiel 36:27 This is the reason Paul and John and Peter, all insist one who is born of God does not make a practice of sinning. “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9
Israel entered the promised land when they carried the law of God on tablet of stone, and we also must have His laws written on tablet of flesh by His Spirit if we are also to come to our inheritance.
Then the object of our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins is for this one and only purpose, that we might be the dwelling place of God. This is the witness, the seal of the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance, without the presence of whom we can not be heirs of God, we would be a body without spirit. [Therefore] “Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 Now, not all of us receive the Holy Spirit the moment we believe, but we have the promise of God, if we remain faithful to the end. And God is faithful to do His part to all who come to Him in truth. “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” Luke 11:13
The wilderness is were God tests our hearts and minds, where persecutions, ridicule and all manner of obstacles rise up; to test our faithfulness and that we have not taken the grace of our Lord in vain. Peter writes saying, “Though now for a little while, if need be, you are grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
Therefore, let us be careful, lest in the presumption of our soul, we mistake our confession to be the seal, the wilderness for the promise and live in disobedience giving way to the dictates of our flesh [being without the Spirt]. And we, like Israel of old, will also fall short of the promised inheritance.
“And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what was in your hearts, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
Deuteronomy 8:2
We must be born of the Word and of the Spirit.
Bread Bait. 
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