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Faith Seeking UnderstandingIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... 2 Cor. 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. –Paul "Baptism (of the Spirit)" verses/notes This is going to be a collection of verses and possibly notes for a discussion/study I am doing with a friend on what the Scriptures have to say about the baptism of the Spirit. I will continue to add to it for the duration of the study: OBSERVATIONS/THOUGHTS from discussions so far: 6-5-09 - Apparently, being filled with the Spirit is not necessarily connected with water baptism or other believers laying hands on a person, etc. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit while still in his mother's womb!! His mother was filled at the greeting of Mary, and his father, Zacharias (a priest), we are told was filled with the Spirit but no mention of anything preceding it. - J the B said that: 'He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' Being baptized with the Spirit is an act of God according to His will and His timing, not because it is requested or prayed for necessarily... nor because of the laying on of hands. - Sometimes being filled with the Spirit is accompanied by tongues or prophesy or speaking boldly, etc. but not always. - Jesus was both baptized in water and filled with the Spirit. Perhaps Jesus, being in human form, needed to be filled with the Spirit in order to carry out his ministry and rescue mission! Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. Joel 2:28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Joel 2:29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. Zechariah 12:10 "I will (A)pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have (B)pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one (C)mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Matthew 3:11 "As for me, (A)I baptize you [a]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; (B)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and (A)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, Matthew 12:18 " BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.
Matthew 28:19 " Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Mark 1:4–12 4John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness [a](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the (F)forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6John was clothed with camel's hair and wore (G)a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. 7And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. 8"I baptized you [b]with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9(H)In those days Jesus (I)came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.10Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11and a voice came out of the heavens: "(J)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased." 12(K)Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. Mark 10:38–39 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to Him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. Luke 1:15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:67 And his father Zacharias (B)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and (C)prophesied, saying: Luke 2:25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Luke 3:32 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, " You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased." Luke 4:1 [ The Temptation of Jesus ] Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness Luke 4:14 [ Jesus' Public Ministry ] And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. Luke 7:29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. What do you say about Islam?Excerpt below from Viewpoint: Dr. Michael S. Horton Pakistan: What do you say about Islam? Michael S. Horton: Islam means "submission."
Allah is one person and he does not enter into relationships with human
beings, much less become human in order to save those whom he loves who
stand under his judgment. Each person must submit to Allah, carefully
fulfilling his law, and hope to merit heaven. By contrast, the source
of Christianity is Good News. There is one God in three persons, so
relationship is at the heart of God's own eternal existence. God the
Son became flesh in history, fulfilled the law in our place, bore our
sentence in his death, and rose again for our justification. His
righteousness is imputed (or credited) to us, even though we are
inherently sinful and undeserving of it, as a free gift that we receive
through faith in him. Then and there, we are no longer condemned but
declared righteous, are adopted as co-heirs with Christ, bearing the
fruit of righteousness as branches of his life-giving vine, and will be
bodily raised when Christ returns. We therefore do not fear the Last
Judgment, since we have already heard the verdict: "There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Pensées 441 - A lost God and a corrupt nature "For myself, I confess that so soon as the Christian religion reveals the principle that human nature is corrupt and fallen from God, that opens my eyes to see everywhere the mark of this truth: for nature is such that she testifies everywhere, both within man and without him, to a lost God and a corrupt nature." –Blaise Pascal Greg Koukl on "Jesus Christ, Plain and Simple"The following is an excerpt taken from Jesus, Plain and Simple: Finally, this idea of "Jesus Christ, Plain and Simple" makes it hard to imagine how such a Jesus could transform the world. I have a quote here from Will Durant. He's the author of The Story of Civilization . In part three, "Caesar and Christ: A History of the Roman Civilization and of Christianity from Beginnings to A.D. 325," Will Durant writes this. Now remember, this guy is a world class historian. He mentions that at first there seem to be contradictions between one Gospel and another and there are dubious statements of history and suspicious resemblance to legends of old pagan gods, etc. All this granted he says, "In the enthusiasm of its discoveries, the higher criticism has applied to the New Testament text tests of authenticity so severe that by them a hundred ancient worthies, Hammurabi, David, Socrates, would fade into legend. Despite the prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, they record many incidents that many inventors would have concealed. No one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them. That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels. After two centuries of higher criticism, the outlines of the life, character and teachings of Christ remain reasonably clear and constitute the most fascinating feature in the history of Western man." Here is a man of world class status that says the higher critics are out in left field and if we follow their methodology nothing would be considered reliable history. Pensées 435- monstrous confusion "Who then can refuse to believe and adore this heavenly light? For is it not clearer than day that we perceive within ourselves ineffaceable marks of excellence? And is it not equally true that we experience every hour the results of our deplorable condition? What does this chaos and monstrous confusion proclaim to us but the truth of these two states, with a voice so powerful that it is impossible to resist it." –Blaise Pascal Pensées 285 "Religion is suited to all kinds of minds. Some pay attention only to its establishment, and this religion [Christianity] is such that its very establishment suffices to prove its truth." –Blaise Pascal Pensées 222 "Atheists.– What reason have they for saying that we cannot rise from the dead? What is more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that what has never been should be, or that what has been should be again? Is it more difficult to come into existence than to return to it? Habit makes the one appear easy to us; want of habit makes the other impossible..." -Blaise Pascal Pensées 198 "The sensibility of man to trifles, and his insensibility to great things, indicates a strange inversion." –Blaise Pascal Pensées 195 "For it is not to be doubted that the duration of this life is but a moment; that the state of death is eternal, whatever may be its nature; and that thus all our actions and thoughts must take such different directions according to the state of that eternity, that it is impossible to take one step with sense and judgment, unless we regulate our course by the truth of that point which ought to be our ultimate end." –Blaise Pascal Pensées 194 - reasonable people "Finally, let them recognize that there are two kinds of people one can call reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not know Him." –Blaise Pascal Even more Pensées 194 "Nothing is so important to man as his own state, nothing is so formidable to him as eternity; and thus it is not natural that there should be men indifferent to the loss of their existence, and to the perils of everlasting suffering. They are quite different with regard to all other things. They are afraid of mere trifles; they foresee them; they feel them. And this same man who spends so many days and nights in rage and despair for the loss of office, or for some imaginary insult to his honour, is the very one who knows without anxiety and without emotion that he will lose all by death. It is a monstrous thing to see in the same heart and at the same time this sensibility to trifles and this strange insensibility to the greatest objects. It is an incomprehensible enchantment, and a supernatural slumber, which indicates as its cause an all-powerful force." –Blaise Pascal More Pensées 194"And how can it happen that the following argument occurs to a reasonable man? "I know not who put me into the world, nor what the world is, nor what I myself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everthing. I know not what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of me which thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and knows itself no more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of the universe which surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am put in this place rather than in another, nor why the short time which is given me to live is assigned to me at this point rather than at another of the whole eternity which was before me or which shall come after me. I see nothing but infities on all sides, which surround me as an atom, and as a shadow that endures only for an instant and endures no more. All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very death which I cannot escape. "As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go. I know only that, in leaving this world, I fall for ever either into annihilation or into the hands of an angry God, without knowing to which of these two states I shall be for ever assigned. Such is my state, full of weakness and uncertainty. And from all this I conclude that I ought to spend all the days of my life without caring to inquire into what must happen to me. Perhaps I might find some solution to my doubts, but I will not take the trouble, nor take a step to seek it; and after treating with scorn those who are concerned with this care, I will go without foresight and without fear to try the great event, and let myself be led carelessly to death, uncertian of the eternity of my future state."" –Blaise Pascal Penseés 194"The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us, and which touches us so profoundly, that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is. All our actions and thoughts must take such different courses, according as there are or are not eternal joys to hope for, that it is impossible to take one step with sense and judgment, unless we regulate our course by our view of this point which ought to be our ultimate end." –Blaise Pascal Penseés 185"The conduct of God, who disposes all things kindly, is to put religion into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to will to put it into the mind and heart by force and threats is not to put religion there, but terror, terrorem potius quam religionem." –Blaise Pascal Christless Christianity by Michael Horton "Christians have always had their differences, but never in church history have there been so many statistics indicating that many Christians today are practicing what can only be described as "Christless Christianity." Christless Christianity guides the reader to a greater understanding of a big problem within the American religious setting, namely the creeping fog of countless sermons in churches across the country that focus on moralistic concerns and personal transformation rather than the theology of the cross. Michael Horton's analysis of the contemporary church points believers back to the power of a gospel that should never be assumed." Washington Post Discussion with Dr. Horton >
CloserToTruth.comI just learned about this series as I was reading an email newsletter from Christian apologist/philosopher, William Lane Craig. He was interviewed for the show and should appear in several episodes. I haven't watched any episodes yet, but I wanted to make a note of it for myself and anyone else who might happen to pass through here. Description from the site: "Closer To Truth is the definitive series on Cosmos, Consciousness and God, a global journey in search of the vital ideas of existence. It is the most complete, compelling, and accessible series on Cosmos, Consciousness and God ever produced for television. Closer To Truth explores fundamental issues of universe, brain/mind, religion, meaning and purpose through intimate, candid conversations with leading scientists, philosophers, scholars, theologians and creative thinkers of all kinds. The shows are a rich visual experience, shot entirely on location in high definition with multiple cameras generating rich production values. The visual lushness of the high definition, on-location productions, combined with the intriguing titles of the shows, builds audiences already interested in mankind's greatest questions." READ MORE |
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