As a child, I thought that was an odd saying… “food for thought.” When I thought of food I thought of my stomach, not my mind. I thought of being hungry, I thought of cheeseburgers. However, as I got older, I realized that my mind needed wholesome nourishment as well as and perhaps more than my body.

The fact is, the body, the mind and most importantly the spirit needs a good steady diet of healthy wholesome nourishment.

But what of this food for thought idea. Does it have a scriptural basis? Does the Bible use the imagery of food to equip the mind?

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Proverbs 25:11 says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.”

Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

There are numerous other scriptural references that support the “food for thought” idea.

I’ve always loved great quotes, first from scripture but then from other great men and women of God, down through history. Quotes from Spurgeon, Chambers, Tozer, Madame Guyon, Calvin and Elizabeth Elliot (to name a few) have often provided just the necessary morsel of “food for thought” to strengthen and sustain me on my journey.

For many years now as I have walked with the Lord and studied His word, I have also greatly benefited from an accompanying devotional such as My Utmost For His Highest (Chambers), Morning and Evening (Spurgeon) and Streams in the Desert (Cowman). As I have gone through these and other devotionals year after year, I have committed numerous quotes to memory. They have often served as spiritual energy bars while “I’m pressing on the upward way.”

This year as I am once again going through Streams in the Desert, I have asked the Lord to prompt within me a daily quote that I may share with a fellow traveler.

At year’s end I hope to have 365 quotes that will be shared as a daily devotional thought online and also compiled in a devotional book tentatively titled: Mile Markers Through the Desert.

The following is a brief sampling of some of these morsels, I pray will be food for thought.

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Be untethered to the remembrance of past attainments. Once they were the unknown future, now they are the unimportant past. “Today is the day of salvation.” Live in the opportunity of today and the hope of tomorrow’s potential.

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Hold your hand far away from you and you can see almost all that is behind your hand. Hold your hand close before your eyes and you will see only your hand. It’s all a matter of perspective. When enemies arise and seem as though they will overwhelm you, hold Jesus close before you and you’ll see only Him.

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In life as in nature, both the showers and the sunshine are necessary for growth. Let God control the seasons.

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Success in prayer, much like success in music or sports, requires practice, repetition and discipline; not so much to develop the manner of prayer but rather to develop the qualities of persistence and perseverance which bolster faith and precede prayer’s answers.

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An evidence of His nearness we may hold in our hand will never compare to the value of the evidence we may hold in our heart, by the truth of His Word.

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How small are our largest needs and pressing concerns, compared to the vast storehouse of God’s limitless, eternal provisions.

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What of those who never seem to experience a break in the storm; whose entire lives seem to languish in tribulation? Greater adversity – greater grace! Greater pain – greater mercy! The more one’s life is darkened, the more one’s eternity is brightened. Perhaps those who suffer life’s trials most will enjoy Heaven’s glories best!

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Every promise of God is true. Every promise He has made He will fulfill. The “when” of His fulfilling is HIs business. Some promises will be fulfilled in this life…some in the next. 

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The front of a tapestry displays a uniform and intricate design. The back of a tapestry reveals tangled, frayed and knotted threads. The tangles, frays and knots of our lives give testimony to the fact that we are being carefully and lovingly woven into God’s beautiful and eternal design.

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In life as well as ministry, the “final stretch” presents the greatest possibilities as well as the greatest perils. In any race, the start is important but the finish is what matters most.

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One of the greatest assaults on our peace is emotional discontent. The surest way to guarantee enduring stability amidst life’s storms is to live by faith, not by feeling.

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Those who suffer in silence in this life shall sing loudest in Heaven’s choir!

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The perfect and whole Body of Christ is comprised of many crippled saints. He’s building a perfect kingdom with imperfect people. Hell’s loss will be Heaven’s gain. He enlists us by grace. He oversees us in mercy. He loves us unconditionally.

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The most beautiful strains of music are born in the most difficult strains of life.

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A bright overhead light on a stage can illuminate an actor in a cone of brilliance. However, one step to the side and the actor is lost in darkness. God has shone His light upon us. Stay in the light. Darkness is always just a step away.

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A man with a still heart and mind possesses great power. A quieted soul is not easily disturbed.

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He is in the sunny days. He is in the cloudy days. He is in the calm and He is in the midst of the tempest. When we learn to discern His presence in every circumstance, fear will flee and faith will flourish.

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God does His best work in our worst times.

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He has gone before. He pioneered the trail and has led many a weary, wounded pilgrim to safety. He knows every twist and turn, even through the valley of the shadow of death. Hold His hand, step in His steps; stay close. He WILL lead you through.

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Virtues are taught by adversity. As wind smooths the mountains and waves dull sharp stones; so tribulation molds our lives.

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“I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.” (Isaiah 45:6-7) The sooner we accept the fact that God is in absolute control of everything, the sooner we shall find, “The peace that surpasses our comprehension.”

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Be encouraged… God is in absolute control of absolutely everything. He hears every prayer. His deliverance is sure and He will never leave you nor forsake you.

I pray these brief and simple thoughts and words have given you some Food For Thought.

I have watched the storm clouds gather on the horizon
I have listened to the distant thunder roll
I have felt a stronger current in the ocean
I have felt a stronger current in my soul
I have felt the earth tremble beneath my feet
I have heard the breakers crash upon the shore
I have seen a stronger wind begin to gather
I have heard the raindrops pounding on my door
Be my shelter, be my sanctuary
Spread your mighty loving wings and cover me
Be my Savior from the adversary
Be my ever present help in time of need
All the earth is groaning
Waiting for The Day
Find me to be faithful
Lead me in the Way
(Be My Shelter/Through The Flame 1990 Words and Music by Dallas Holm)

Although the lyrics to this song were penned over twenty years ago, the sense of an impending “storm” and need for shelter seems more urgent and real now than ever before. 2020 seemed to be a “perfect storm” of sorts that has left many if not all of us with a sense that things may never be quite the same.

Covid-19 has done great damage to the physical health of many, to the economic health of our nation and due to the political leveraging of this pandemic, on both sides of the aisle and even within the scientific community, it has affected the very integrity of this “One Nation Under God” constitutional republic.

Free and fair elections now take place in a fog of suspicion and beneath a cloud of cynicism. Violence, in ways that would have once been denounced, is now applauded by some as heroic. Censorship, once thought to be only relegated to communist regimes and third world countries, has now reared its ugly head from “sea to shining sea” and in our own backyard.

I could go on and list all the challenges and changes that have occurred in just recent months but I’m sure you’re fully aware and have yourselves been personally impacted by our present plight.

My greatest concern herein is the church, the body of Christ, every true believer and how we discern, prepare and respond.

I believe every true born again follower of Christ discerns that “The Times They are a Changin” as Dylan so poignantly penned decades ago. It is essential that we understand what we are dealing with amidst these present tensions and assaults.

I believe the Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, clearly instructed the church at Ephesus and clearly instructs us today as to what (or who) we’re up against. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12 NASB)

If this is true, and it most certainly is, then our discerning, preparation and response must be rooted in the spiritual.

I love what Chuck Colson said some years ago: “The kingdom of God will never arrive on Air Force One!” This does not suggest that we shouldn’t exercise our constitutional rights to seek, by vote and involvement in our political structure, to establish men and women in significant places of leadership who will uphold the very rights and freedoms that have been clearly put forth in our nation’s founding documents.

However, if we put our hope and trust in even the best ideas of men and most noble attainments of their offerings, we will still miss the mark if we don’t discern, prepare and respond in light of the spiritual realities that represent the true issues in all of this.

I have, in this letter, referred to discerning, preparing and responding. I really don’t think much needs to be said about discerning, because I believe every true Christian who is filled with the Spirit of God, grounded in the Word and walking close to Jesus, with eyes wide open, sees and senses the situation we find ourselves in.

In the future, perhaps the next Praiseletter, I’ll talk more about how we respond in the midst of this present environment. For now however, I would like to talk about preparation.

I know there are many “preppers”, Christian and otherwise, who are storing up food and water, gasoline and generators, guns and ammo and much more, preparing for the seemingly likely impending storm.

I think wise and reasonable preparation is always a good plan. My Norwegian grandmother used to say, “Live like you’re going to die tomorrow…plan like you’re going to live forever!”

Wise instruction from a woman who came to America as a teenage girl, not knowing the language or what lay ahead. Thankfully, she came to know Jesus and learned the joy of living for His plans and purposes.

I believe you sense, as I do, an increase in persecution towards Christians and the Church in our country. It’s not new, it’s just becoming more obvious and aggressive, as scripture predicted it would.

Billy Graham wrote in 1957: “The Bible says that all who ‘desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution’ (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said that as the time of His return draws nigh, ‘They will lay their hands on you and persecute you’ (Luke 21:12). We have no scriptural foundation for believing that we can forever escape being persecuted for Christ’s sake. The normal condition for Christians is that we should suffer persecution.”

Though we don’t know exactly what persecution might look like for us here in America, we are beginning to feel its effects and find ourselves wondering more about what lies ahead. I know this has caused concern, angst and yes, even fear in many.

If all we see happening presently and anticipate “down the road” is spiritual in essence, then shouldn’t our preparation be spiritual in essence?

I believe the answer is a resounding YES!

Paul identifies the rulers, powers and forces in his letter to the church in Ephesus. He then goes on to present a strategy or lay out a “game plan” as we might say.

‘Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17)

In that portion of scripture Paul urges us to “take up, resist, stand firm, gird, put on, shod and extinguish”. All these are purposed and disciplined actions of preparation.

We prepare for a sport, we prepare for a vacation, we prepare our taxes, we prepare a meal and on and on it goes. In so many areas of life we understand clearly the importance and necessity of preparation. We wouldn’t expect to excel or succeed at a sport for which we have not systematically and diligently prepared.

We would not be too excited to eat a meal thrown together at the last minute without thoughtful preparation. Failure to keep track, organize and prepare our taxes properly can have severe consequences.

Failure to prepare day by day, moment by moment and step by step for the coming persecution can and will have severe consequences as well.

I am here reminded of a wonderful (and I believe appropriate) quote I read and committed to memory some thirty years ago, which I believe now serves us well.

“We fancy we could be heroic on some great occasion. We could die for Christ, we think, if called upon to lay down our life for Him. It is questionable, however, if we could, unless we have cultivated the martyr spirit hour by hour, for if our strength and desire to please God have failed in the trifles of our life, how can we be sure of them in the great testing? It is far harder to live for Christ moment by moment than it is to die once for Him; and if we wait for great occasions in which to display our fidelity, we shall find that our life has slipped away, and with it the opportunities which each hour has brought of proving our love to our Lord by being faithful in that which is least.”
(J. Gregory Mantle – Beyond Humiliation)

Therein is the key! Step by step, moment by moment and day by day being faithful in the least, thus assuring the strength, desire and ability to stand for Him when it matters most.

I can almost hear the host of Heaven singing
I can almost feel the power around the throne
While I wait to make that final distant journey
And until I finally make that place my home

Prepare!

It has been a most exciting and beneficial season for me as I have in recent months studied, pondered and written about the Holy Spirit and His relationship to our Christian lives. I hope it has been beneficial, encouraging and challenging to you as well.

As I stated at the onset, it has not been my endeavor to present a particular doctrinal position regarding the Holy Spirit and then attempt to persuade you to embrace that view. Rather, it has been my desire to explore, examine and articulate different reasonable doctrinal views and glean from those views some constants and/or similarities that might guide us to a more clear understanding of the Spirit’s role in our lives.

By way of a brief review, we have established that the Holy Spirit is regarded in scripture as a person and that person being a member of the triune Godhead and therefore fully God in essence.

Though He is oft referenced with imagery such as dove, wind, fire, water and oil, He is also titled with agencies related to personhood such as teacher, comforter, interceder and empowerer. He is also the personal agent who searches all things (I Corinthians 2:10), knows the mind of God (I Corinthians 2:11), teaches the gospel to believers (I Corinthians 2:13), dwells among believers (I Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:11; 2 Timothy 1:14), accomplishes all things (I Corinthians 12:11), gives life to those who believe (2 Corinthians 3:6), and many more such designations found throughout the scriptures.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, He is the member of the Godhead who now not only dwells among us, but literally lives within us so that we might be who God intends and has purposed for us to be “in Christ.”

We’ve established that the Holy Spirit is the one who draws us, convicts us, transforms and indwells us fully, not partially. Being fully indwelt by His Spirit we are still instructed to grow and desire more of a constant flow of the Spirit in and through our lives by being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

Especially in the last Praiseletter we examined terminology such as indwelt, filled and baptized in, by or with the Holy Spirit. We concluded that though there are varying opinions on the definition and application of these terms in our lives, we also agree they all have biblical precedent and assure us that the Holy Spirit works in us initially (at conversion), continually (through sanctification), and subsequently (through various giftings and empowering).

I use the word “we” in the sense that we have gone on this journey together and in an agreeable temperament have considered carefully all that has been presented. “We” is not used with a presumption that we all hold the same opinion on these matters. Most likely “we” don’t, however I don’t think it can ever be problematic to explore and discuss all we can about the precious Holy Spirit.

What is problematic and detrimental to spiritual growth and understanding is when we avoid the subject either in large part or altogether. This was my original concern and reason for diving into this topic. I fear the Holy Spirit has been greatly marginalized if not avoided altogether in many of our churches and thus in our personal lives.

This brings me to the final topic of consideration in this series of letters on the Holy Spirit. This last consideration is possibly the most complex, highly debated and doctrinally dividing issue. It is the issue of whether or not those spiritual gifts referenced, evidenced and experienced in the New Testament church are still available to the church today.

I’ll give you my simple answer up front; which is yes. Then I’ll give you my simplest explanation as to why I believe that, knowing at the same time I have greatly loved and respected brothers and sisters in Christ who hold a differing view and opinion.

If you’re not familiar with the term Cessationist, it refers to those who hold to a view that either some or all of the miraculous (sometimes called manifestation) gifts referenced most often in the Pauline epistles, have ceased. Thus, the word cessationist. Of course, there are varying opinions that have led to a cessationist viewpoint, but for our purposes here we’ll look at just the more prominent one.

Paul seems to almost interrupt his discussion of spiritual gifts with chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. In short, he intends to illustrate the superiority of love in relation to the power and practice of the gifts.

“Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

The particular and I believe most popular cessationist view hinges on the term, “the perfect.” In short, they define the term, “the perfect” as referring to scripture or more specifically the completion of the canon of scripture. Thus, now that we have the complete and “perfect” revelation through the canon of scripture, there is therefore no more need for the imperfect gifts.

Personally, I see (as do many others) some problems with this view that I will attempt to highlight in as simple a way as possible.

First of all, Paul addressed his letter to the church at Corinth around 55 or 56 A.D. The Apostle John wrote Revelation somewhere between 90-95 A.D.

Therefore, one must conclude that the miraculous giftings of the Holy Spirit, introduced by arguably one of the most significant steps taken by God in the history of mankind as He now literally dwells within a human temple, are to be utilized for a period of only 35-40 years.

In the context of 1 Corinthians 13 it would be like saying, “We can be sure that love will never end for we know that it will last for more than thirty-five or forty years.”

The real context is to contrast this age with the age to come: the return of Christ.

Secondly, I’m not aware of any place in scripture where the term, “the perfect” refers to parchments, manuscripts or written texts. Scripture however repeatedly points to Christ as perfect. (see Hebrews 2:10, 5:9, 7:28)

The perfection of Christ is a principle in Christology which asserts that Christ’s human attributes exemplified perfection in every possible sense.

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Sinless = Perfection!!

I believe more sound biblical scholarship supports the idea that “the perfect” referenced in 1 Corinthians 13 refers to Christ, the Perfect One.

I believe there are numerous reasons to believe that 1 Corinthians 13 is referencing Christ and His return but for simplicity sake let’s take a look at just one more.

Thirdly, I would like to quote Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones to best articulate this position. He observes that the view that makes “when the perfect comes” equal the time of completion of the New Testament encounters another difficulty:

“It means you and I, who have the Scriptures open before us, know much more than the Apostle Paul of God’s truth…It means that we are altogether superior…even to the apostles themselves, including the Apostle Paul! It means that we are now in a position in which…’we know, even as also we are known’ by God…indeed, there is only one word to describe such a view, it is nonsense.”

I would recommend not using the word nonsense to address your cessationist brothers and sisters. Dr. Jones was a feisty soul! It seemed to fit him well, but it might not as much, you and me.

He does make a sound point however.

The “then” in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians refers to “when” in verse 10. If “when the perfect comes” is referring to the completion of scripture, we must now be realizing the “then” of verse 12 and therefore now are “face to face” and “know fully”, etc…

The verse in it’s simplest form would read, “When scripture is completed, then we will be face to face and know as we are known.” I don’t know about you but I don’t think I’m there yet, but I will be when Christ returns.

John Calvin said, referring to 1 Corinthians 13:8-13:

“It is stupid of people to make the whole of this discussion apply to the intervening time.”

I think Calvin here encourages us to not get caught up in the choosing of sides but to step back and see the larger context of God’s enduring eternal love contrasted against the temporal and imperfect.

Dr. Gordon Fee so wonderfully points out that Paul certainly did not see the gifts as neatly framed categories of ministerial, motivational or miraculous gifts as we sometimes observe in our “spiritual gifts” workshops.

Paul addressed certain gifts to the church at Rome because those were needed by them. He addressed certain gifts to the church at Ephesus because those particular gifts were pertinent to their situation. The church at Corinth was struggling with misuse if not abuse of certain gifts so Paul addressed that situation with instruction on gifts pertaining to their dilemma.

Though I am not quoting directly, I am confident and comfortable with the fact that I am properly representing Dr. Fee’s thoughts on this subject when I say that Paul would not have seen these neat little categories of gifts as we so often do.

He would, it would seem throughout his epistles, deem all these gifts and more as not only beneficial but essential to the growth, life and spiritual health of the church until Jesus returned.

There is so much more to explore and say regarding this present topic as well as all that we have discussed over the previous months. I hope and pray you will dig deep in the Word, read good books on the subject, “study to show yourself approved” so that you might know what you believe, why you believe it and be able to defend it soundly and fairly.

I feel I must say a deep and sincere thank you to Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Dr. Wayne Grudem and Dr. Gordon Fee. Their writings have greatly helped, influenced and enriched my understanding of the Holy Spirit and things related. When I have quoted them directly I have endeavored to always emphasize and indicate that by reference and quotation marks.

I must say however that many of the things I wrote from my own heart and mind (hopefully with the Spirit’s help) still resonated the voices of these great men and others from within my own being. All of this has been a quest to explore, understand, grow and experience the reality, power and presence of The Spirit Within.

The mere title of this letter conjures up doctrinal differences, emotional reactions and dogmatic opinions. Some people and/or denominations are so anxious to jump into the fray to support their definition of this particular area of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, that other equally, if not more important doctrinal considerations are largely overlooked or perhaps neglected altogether.

On the other hand there are those, who out of a fear often fostered by observing the misrepresentations and excesses of some in the “spirit filled” camp, have decided to maintain a somewhat safe distance from the “mysterious” Holy Spirit. This, coupled with a lack of sincere effort to diligently study scripture for a biblically based view of the Holy Spirit and all things related, has left many with little or no desire to explore the depths of true biblical spirit filled living.

In either of these two “camps” (and there are others) the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not properly understood or appreciated. Hence, the Spirit is grieved if not quenched, the Christian is ill equipped and the devil is all smiles!

I will not attempt to answer all questions related to Spirit baptism, nor even necessarily offer and support a particular doctrinal stance, encouraging you to do the same. What I will do is present a couple different opinions regarding Holy Spirit baptism from two slightly different doctrinal positions. In the end, I think we’ll find that in spite of slight differences we will draw a single important conclusion.

I will be oft referencing Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, (deceased) reformed, protestant minister at Westminster Chapel in London for almost thirty years. I will also refer to the writings of Dr. Wayne Grudem (Grudem’s Systematic Theology) who is presently serving as Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona.

I chose these two godly men because of the tremendous influence they have had in shaping sound theological and doctrinal thought through their writings, their lectures and most importantly their lives.Though they are just two men, they represent an extremely broad audience in the realm of theology and doctrine.

So, let’s get started. We have previously established in the last two Praiseletters that every Christian is spirit filled.

“But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” (Romans 8:9)

We’ve established that the Holy Spirit is fully God. (see: God the Holy Spirit, last PL)

The Holy Spirit is the regenerating force which draws us, convicts us, transforms us and indwells us.

Dr. Grudem states in his preface to systematic theology that: “I hold that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a phrase best applied to conversion and subsequent experiences are better called “being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Dr. Lloyd Jones, in his book “Joy Unspeakable” presents just the opposite. He believes at conversion we are filled with the Holy Spirit, but the Baptism in (by or with) the Holy Spirit is a subsequent work. Though it may on occasion occur at the time of our salvation it is still to be distinguished from being filled or indwelt initially by the Holy Spirit.

You may wonder why I am attempting to put a fine point on these issues. It is because there has been such debate and differing opinions in this area that disunity has often prevailed, dysfunction has sometimes arisen and even divisiveness has crept in and wounded some in the flock.

How can two godly, brilliant bible scholars differ on this issue? It’s a matter of interpretation on each other’s part, but keep in mind, I think we will all draw a similar and encouraging conclusion even amidst differing opinions.

Dr. Grudem points out that, “there are only seven passages in the New Testament where we read of someone being baptized in (or with) the Holy Spirit.” They are as follows: Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 1:5, Acts 11:16, and 1 Corinthians 12:13. (I encourage you to look up and read each of these.)

The 1 Corinthians 12:13 verse, which reads: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” is one area where differing opinions come into play. Does this verse carry the same meaning of Spirit baptism as the other six?

Without getting “too deep in the weeds” let me just say it depends largely on whether you accept the phrase “by one Spirit” or “in one Spirit.” Some English translations use “by one Spirit” suggesting that this verse differs from the other six.

Dr. Grudem explains, “Those who support the Pentecostal view of baptism in the Holy Spirit after conversion are quite eager to see this verse as referring to something other than baptism in the Holy Spirit… In all the other six verses, Jesus is the one who baptizes people and the Holy Spirit is the “element” in which or with which Jesus baptizes people. Here in 1 Corinthians 12:13 (so the Pentecostal explanation goes) we have something quite different – here the person doing the baptizing is not Jesus but the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they say, 1 Corinthians 12:13 should not be taken into account when we ask what the New Testament means by “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”

Remember, this is but one opinion and explanation of this point in scripture.

Now, let’s look at another. Dr. Lloyd Jones believed in a subsequent work or baptism in (or with) the Holy Spirit after conversion. Here’s how he handles 1 Corinthians 12:13:

“I want to demonstrate that this verse… (1 Cor. 12:13) does not deal at all with the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” Jones agrees with Grudem that the Greek word en is the word herein used in this verse but goes on to point out that this word is often used in Greek in a casual sense. For example: Matthew 24:52 says, “All they that take the sword shall perish with (or by) the sword.” Jones says, “And there is the little word en and it means, of course, perish by the sword. You could not possibly translate that…perish in the sword.” He goes on to give several other examples of the Greek word en to mean, by as well as, in.

Jones then goes on to use a quote by Dr. Wuest (The Untranslatable Riches from the New Testament Greek) to bring clarity to 1 Corinthians 12:13.

“The personal agent in this case who does the baptizing is the Holy Spirit. He places the believing sinner into the body of which the Lord Jesus is the living Head. We could translate therefore, by means of the personal agency of one Spirit we all were placed in one body.

It is not the baptism with the Spirit, or of the Spirit, in the sense that the Holy Spirit is the element that is applied to us; it is the baptism by the Spirit.”

Confused? It’s ok, I don’t understand all the nuances and applications of a two letter Greek word either. I’m no scholar and don’t claim to be.

What I do begin to see however, and I hope you do as well, is that there is a work that the Holy Spirit does in us at conversion and there is also an ongoing work that He does in sanctification and equipping for power to boldly witness.

Another verse we should look at where Grudem and Jones (as well as others) disagree, though not harshly, is John 20:22, where it reads as follows:

“…He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.”

The question is, did the disciples actually receive the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost? This is significant.

Dr. Grudem writes, “When Jesus breathed on his disciples and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit; it probably was an acted out prophecy of what would happen to them at Pentecost.”

I’ve heard this explanation often through the years and do not reject it, but I also find Dr. Lloyd Jones’ explanation quite enlightening and challenging.

“There is nothing in the text of John 20 that suggests this was a prophetic enactment. Take the words as they are and this is what you find: ‘Jesus said to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and he saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’

Surely if our Lord was merely telling them that this was going to happen to them, he would have done what he is reported as having done in Acts 1 where he tells them ‘Tarry ye in Jerusalem until…’ There he is telling them that something is going to happen and he puts it quite plainly and quite clearly. But there is no suggestion at all of that in John 20. He says, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’

Let me be still more specific. If you consult the learned authorities on the whole question of Greek grammar and the meaning of the words, you will find that they are unanimous in saying that in the Greek the word ‘receive’ in verse 22, is the aorist imperative. And the authorities are also unanimous in saying that the Greek aorist imperative never has a future meaning.

This is a purely technical point, but a very important one. So many of our friends, who hold to the other teaching, do so in terms of the Greek and the original. So let us meet them on their own ground. Here – and again I defy you to find a single exception – the authorities are all agreed in saying that the Greek aorist imperative never has a future meaning – and I would emphasize the word ‘never’. So you see, the very word that is used is a word that wants us to see that what we are told happened then, did happen then; that when our Lord said to them, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost,’ they did receive the Holy Ghost. But there is still more. When we are told that our Lord ‘breathed’ on them and said, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost’, this same word ‘breathed’, here in the Greek, is the word that was used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament in two most important instances. The first is Genesis 2:7 which reads: ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ The other striking example of this is to be found in the book of the prophet Ezekiel in a very well known passage in chapter 37:5-9 – the vision of the ‘valley of dead bones’.

‘Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live…Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’

The Septuagint translation of the Hebrew word breathe used there, is exactly the same word as is used here in our passage, and surely this is a most significant fact.”

Again…disagreement, differing opinions but ultimately not highly problematic. The significance of Jones’ explanation of that verse is if the disciples did in fact receive the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them, then what happened at Pentecost had to be a subsequent work!

Now I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Well Dallas, what do you think? Dallas, what about speaking in tongues?”

What I think is not all that important, but I will tell you.

But first, what did Jesus say the Pentecost outpouring was about?

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Some of you perhaps want to know my opinion on speaking in tongues and how it relates to this matter.

A traditional “doctrinal distinctive” of many pentecostal believers is, “The initial physical evidence of the baptism of (or in) the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.”

I personally don’t think scripture makes this case in a dogmatic doctrinal sense. I believe in all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I believe they are still available to the church today for the edification of the church.

However, to single out one gift or others and say that if you haven’t experienced that gift or gifts, you have not experienced a Holy Spirit baptism, is not biblically accurate, in my opinion.

We know that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples spoke in other tongues, unlearned languages, so that all in attendance heard the gospel, each in their own language and 3,000 souls were added to the Kingdom. On two subsequent occasions (and a third implied), we know that people were filled with or received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

However, there are numerous other mentions of individuals being filled with the Holy Spirit such as Elizabeth, Zacharias, Stephen and other references that say nothing of speaking in tongues.

I believe some people have in fact received a Holy Spirit baptism attended by speaking in tongues as well as other giftings, but I think to suggest that in the absence of a gift or gifts, a Spirit baptism did not occur, would be unfortunate.

This is the most challenging and difficult Praiseletter I’ve ever written out of the almost 300 I’ve penned.

There’s so much debate and division over this issue of Holy Spirit Baptism that it’s impossible to cover every area, address every idea and please every reader.

In the Spirit, with the Spirit, by the Spirit. Baptized, filled or received all seem to be terms that cause us to choose sides; at least in the way in which they are often used and explained.

So what can we gain from all this? What can we agree upon?

Again, we can look at Dr. Grudem and Dr. Jones and see that they both agree on an initial full entrance of the Holy Spirit into every true believer’s life. In reading their works, I can tell you they both agree on the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in every Christian. They both agree that the Ephesians 5:18 command, “Be filled with the Spirit” refers to a constant and ongoing filling of God’s spirit. They both proclaim clearly that all the gifts of the Spirit are still working today and they both clearly and strongly encourage every believer to seek for more from the Holy Spirit. Call it a baptism, call it an in-filling, or call it as a “coming down” of His Spirit upon us: both would encourage us to seek for all the Spirit has and might delight to do in and through us.

I agree!

I’d like to add one more thing, though I know this has surely been my most lengthy letter to date.

I feel sure that some of this talk of the Holy Spirit Baptism, gifts, tongues, etc… has caused some of you to think I lean a little too far to “that” side of things and I need to embrace a more staunch reformed position in such matters. Actually, I do!

In my studies it’s been enlightening if not surprising that many, and I mean many, of the great old patriarchs of the faith such as Luther, Calvin, Whitfield, Spurgeon, Edwards, the Wesleys, Finney, Moody and many others, testify to a profound experience or experiences in their lives of the Holy Spirit impacting, transforming and flooding them with joy unspeakable, often years into their lives and ministries.

A baptism, an infilling, a fresh receiving of Holy Spirit power, would well define and describe what they experienced!

Let me close with a wonderful quote from that most staunch Calvinist, Reformed Baptist minister:

“O my soul! Thou art ready to burst within me. Oh my heart! Thou art swelled with grief. The hot tide of my emotion would well-nigh overflood the channels of my veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains my tongue. I wish to pray, but the fervency of my feelings curbs my language. There is a groaning within that cannot be uttered. Do you know who can utter that groaning? Who can understand it, and who can put it into heavenly language, and utter it in a celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear it? Oh yes, it is God the Holy Spirit; He advocates our cause with Christ, and then Christ advocates it with His Father. He is the advocate who makes the intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.” Charles Hadden Spurgeon

Kinda sounds like he leans a little to “that side” too!

Friends…there’s more! The Spirit of God is limitless, eternal and present within us. Maybe we should worry less about what He doesn’t do and desire more what He might like to do in and through us.

I don’t know about you, but I have no hesitancy to say, “God, I want and need a Holy Spirit Baptism!”

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”

  Ephesians 5:18

In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, he reminds believers, especially in chapter five, to be imitators of God. He goes on to point out very specifically, areas of immorality, impurity and “deeds of darkness” to avoid at all costs.

He then encourages them to…”Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise.” Then he uses the imagery of wine as that which is poured out and poured into.

Many have used this verse to say God is using Paul to teach against wine consumption. This verse cannot be used to promote that idea. This portion of the verse, similar to other verses in the Bible, speaks against drunkenness.  In using this imagery, Paul is actually saying don’t be so filled with wine that you become drunk, but be so filled with the Spirit that you become transformed in essence, even in your behavior.

In the same way that wine can alter your essence and behavior shamefully, the filling of the Spirit can alter and transform richly and wonderfully. 

Paul then immediately goes on to discuss specific behavioral issues such as how to encourage one another, how to be thankful and how to be subject to one another. He continues on instructing in issues of marriage and our understanding of our position to the body of Christ, the Church.

Let me pause here for a moment and respond to some who may be thinking I’m in some way defending wine consumption. Neither my wife nor I consume any manner of alcohol. It’s simply a position we have taken and a personal conviction we hold. Scripture doesn’t speak against wine, but it’s quite clear on drunkenness and strong drink. To get hung up on the wine aspect of this verse is to miss the whole point.

The point is, “Be filled with the Spirit!” 

The actual Greek rendering of this would be, “Be being filled with the Spirit.” In other words it stresses the sense of continuation of filling and refilling.

Many have wrongly used this verse (along with some others) to suggest to a new Christian (or even mature Christians) that they may be lacking in some ongoing, subsequent work of the Spirit.

They would suggest that you are a Christian but perhaps have not yet received or been filled with the Holy Spirit. 

This is the point I want to discuss in this letter. I’ve addressed it previously at times in both my writing and teaching, but I believe it’s so important to get a proper biblical understanding of this that I am once again revisiting the topic.

Recently, on several occasions, I’ve had someone say something like this: “He (or she) is a Spirit filled Christian.” Or someone said, “I had some Christians pray for me but then I asked a Spirit filled Christian to pray.”

This kind of terminology begs the question, can a Christian not be Spirit filled? The answer is a resounding NO!

Sometimes when I’m teaching on this subject I like to ask my audience this question:  “Where is Jesus?” The answers range generally from, “In my heart, Heaven and everywhere” to an occasional finger pointed upward, I’m sure denoting Heaven (or perhaps on the roof).

All of these answers are to some degree or another correct (with the exception of the roof) but not quite specifically accurate. 

Specifically, according to scripture, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. Look up Acts 2:32-33, Acts 7:56 and Hebrews 8:1.

It isn’t altogether incorrect to say we received Christ into our heart, but it is really His Spirit that drew us, convicted us and took up residence within us when we trusted by faith in the finished work of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, believing in the reality of His resurrection and receiving the precious gift of salvation by grace through faith.

You may say, “Well, that’s just another way to say the same thing,” but it’s important to remember that Christ said, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Holy Spirit) shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7

What hope could we possibly have, especially as new Christians, if we did not have His Spirit to help, comfort and guide?

But does scripture clearly indicate that every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit? The answer is a resounding YES!

“But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Romans 8:9

This verse is crystal clear. If you don’t have His Spirit, you don’t belong to Christ. But if you do belong to Christ, you therefore have His Spirit. 

I am especially emphasizing the importance of knowing that as a Christian you are indwelt by His Spirit as we enter this new year. 

2020 is here! We must possess 20/20 spiritual vision as we go forward in life’s journey amidst ever increasing evil, apathy and distraction.

In the future I hope to discuss further aspects of the Holy Spirit such as, are the infilling and baptism of the Holy Spirit the same thing? What are spiritual gifts all about? Can we have a partial infilling of His Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit fully God?

These and other questions are worthy considerations for us to explore, but first and foremost it is absolutely essential that we understand that every true Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of God.

I recently read a quote by A.W. Tozer that challenged my thinking in this area and encouraged and directed me to write to you about these things.

“In most Christian churches the Spirit is quite entirely overlooked. Whether He is present or absent makes no real difference to anyone. Brief reference is made to Him in the doxology and the benediction. Further than that He might as well not exist…

Our neglect of the doctrine of the blessed Third Person has had and is having serious consequences. For doctrine is dynamite. It must have emphasis sufficiently sharp to detonate it before its power is released…

The doctrine of the Spirit is buried dynamite. Its power awaits discovery and use by the Church. The power of the Spirit will not be given to any mincing assent to pneumatological truth. The Holy Spirit cares not at all whether we write Him into our creeds in the back of our hymnals; He awaits our emphasis.”

A.W. Tozer

I believe it can be argued that we as Christians today, live with the greatest privilege in the entire history of God’s people.  Since the day of Pentecost, the only true and living God has chosen to literally take up residence within us completely and continually. We must consider this great privilege fully and heed His specific command diligently. Be Filled With the Spirit!