One of Satan’s main attack - the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

[JemimaJade]

You say the gifts ceased because they had served their purpose, yet none of the passages you cited actually says that.
In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will cease, but he places that when "the perfect" comes and when we see "face to face" and know fully as we are known (1 Cor. 13:10-12).
The passage itself does not say this happened when the apostles died, when the church became established, or when the New Testament was completed.

Thank you for your response….can we examine the contrast that Paul states there in 1Cor 13:10?
He speaks of the “perfect” in contrast to the “partial”…so what does “perfect” mean in this context?

The Greek for “perfect” is “teleios” which Strongs defines as….

1. “brought to its end, finished
2. wanting nothing necessary to completeness
3. perfect
4. that which is perfect”

So….what was coming, was going to complete something not yet brought to its finish.

The contrast is “meros” (partial) which means…

1. “a part
   
   1. a part due or assigned to one
   2. lot, destiny
2. one of the constituent parts of a whole”.

So what is the contrast when we look at the big picture?
What was to be brought to a finish?
What did they know then, compared to what they knew once the Holy Spirit informed their spirit that they had been adopted as God’s “sons” (Rom 8:15-17) God’s revelations to his servants was always progressive, one increment at a time, which was also demonstrated in his original creation….one “day” at a time, in logical sequence. He revealed what they needed to know, when they needed to know it. (Matt 24:45)

What is this “adoption”?…and what did it mean for “the chosen ones” (the elect)? What were they “chosen for? (Mark 13:24-27)
Rev 20:6 answers that question. They were chosen to be “kings and priests” with Jesus in heaven, forming the “government” (Isaiah 9:6) that would rule redeemed mankind on earth. (Rev 21:2-4)

What the majority of Christians miss, (IMO) is why God put us here on this earth in the first place. It was not designed to be a training ground for heaven, but as a permanent home for human kind.

God instructed his human children to “fill the earth” with their own children and to “subdue” the land outside of the garden. (That word means to bring something under control.) But the first humans never got an opportunity to do that, because they were evicted from their paradise home to eke out a meager existence on cursed ground, outside of it….never to return to paradise again. (Gen 3:22-24) Angelic Guards were posted to make sure they never did.

What an extreme contrast that was to their awesome beginnings. But was it all lost? No! But how God would take us back to paradise involved a period of testing with satan being given opportunity to tempt Adam’s children, being given rulership of this world to prove his claim that he could be the better ruler of mankind and receive their worship. (1 John 5:19; Luke 4:5-7)

Isaiah also informs us that what God starts, he finishes. (Isa 55:11) So what did God start in Eden? What future did he plan for the human race? Certainly not the one that resulted from the fall, which was started by a rebel spirit, not just the first humans. He deceived the woman so as to gain control of the man….the one whom the Bible identifies as “the one man through whom sin came into the world”. (Rom 5:12) There is no mention of the woman.

In the big picture, what the first humans lost for their children, (who were born in sin through no fault on their part) God immediately introduced his means of salvation for them. (Gen 3:15) A “Savior” who would give his life in exchange for theirs.

The sin of the first humans was their choice, but it was not given as a choice for their offspring….God would send that Savior for them, a Redeemer who would pay the exact price for their redemption….a sinless life given for a sinless life lost.

This is why Jesus had to be born as a sinless human…and the reason why he had to be completely mortal, otherwise the ransom payment was not made, and we are all still condemned.
The application of Christ’s ransom wasn’t without terms and conditions however. Humans had to prove faithful to their death in order to qualify for everlasting life….so God provided an instruction manual for them….one that he has preserved to this day.

Jesus is called “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45) because he paid for what the first Adam did with his own mortal life. He could not have been immortal, because immortals cannot die.

This is the basis for what I believe….a much bigger picture than most Christians entertain.
If we go back to the beginning and see what we lost….we can then follow what the Bible says about how it all took place….and how, in the end, God gives us back what we lost in the beginning. (Isa 55:11)

 

[JemimaJade]

Not the point. There’s point is that Jesus was a sacrifice for our sins, but through Him brought the Holy Spirit to all believers. The baptism of the Holy Spirit didn’t die with the disciples. Dear Lord.

I never said that the Holy Spirit died with the disciples….I said that the anointing was no longer accompanied by the gifts….it still takes place, but not the way it did in the first century.
Jesus foretold a falling away from the true faith by the devil creating counterfeit churches….they now number into the thousands.

How do you create confusion? You give people too many choices, and they give up trying to find that diamond in a pile of broken glass. Can you blame them?

 

[JemimaJade]

I do not think any Church would deny receiving the Spirit but they would differ to the extent the Spirit works in our life and focus on repenting and confessing Christ.

I believe that we need to evaluate what Scripture as a whole teaches, and harmonizes within itself. It is after all “inspired of God” (2 Tim 3:16-17) and is to be taken as a whole, not Cherry picked and often then, contradictory.
Being “led” by God’s spirit and being “anointed” with it, are two different things IMO. Only the elect (chosen) are anointed for life in heaven as ‘kings and priests’ to rule with Christ in his Kingdom. (Rev 20:6)

Revelation 7:9-10; 13-14 identifies two different groups of saved Christians…one numbered and one unnumbered…a finite group chosen for rulership (Rev 14:1-5) over an infinite number of those saved for everlasting life on earth, returning a redeemed human race back into reconciliation with their Creator.
A resurrection is planned for all those in their graves, “sleeping”. (John 5:28-29) This is where Jesus calls them from, just as he did Lazarus. (John 11:11-14)

After a thousand years of Christ’s rulership, all will return to the way it was meant to be…God’s Universal Sovereignty is vindicated, sin is eradicated forever, and only those who have passed the final test will be granted everlasting life in the paradise home we were given in the beginning….returned now and never to be lost again.

God’s purpose for this earth and mankind upon it, never went away. (Isa 55:11)

 

[JemimaJade]

Careful here, tongues can take multiple forms.

1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels...
Paul identifies two types of tongues above.
Are there other forms of tongues?
1 Corinthians 12:10
And to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another
various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

Can tongues manifested in the Spirit be understood by others?

1 Corinthians 14:1-2
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For the one who speaks in a tongue
does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.

It would be unwise to think that a manifestation of tongues can only be a foreign language.

Define a “foreign language”…..isn’t it simply one we have never learned?
I believe what is practiced today is a far cry from what was manifest in the first century….in discussions with many Pentecostals, they often confessed to faking the gibberish so as not to be looked down upon by fellow congregants.

In 1 Cor 14:8-19, Paul outlines the difficulties….