Last week I spoke about repentance which leads to conversion, to real change in our thinking and in our character. And that this is not only for when we first became believers in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some of us have had sudden and dramatic experiences and can give a definite testimony of being born-again, or of being filled with a life-changing revelation from the Word of God by the Spirit of God. Others, especially those who have grown up in believing families and who have “always believed in God and Jesus” from a very early age, may not be able to pinpoint the day or situation where they knew something had ‘happened’ to them. Yet without the Holy Spirit working in our life by the grace of God, we cannot do it or know it. The good fruit of holiness and righteousness in our lives will prove our baptism in the Holy Spirit by the will of God. So, how we can know if we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and born-again?
We believe that spiritual gifts do not guarantee spiritual maturity, or even salvation. A tree or person is known by his fruit; ultimately the fruit of the Holy Spirit is what pleases our Father in Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to bring some Scriptures to help us know we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, that is, that we are saved – whether we speak with other tongues or not. It is important that we know with humble confidence and thanksgiving, and should anyone have any doubt, let him/her ask the Father in Jesus’ name to give His Spirit. (2Cor 13:5; 2Pt 1:10; Lk 11:13) John the Baptizer came to baptize in water, but he said that Yeshua comes to baptize in the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Jn 16:14-15 He will glorify Me, for He will receive of Mine and will announce it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and will announce it to you.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
1Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come/is coming in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come/is coming in the flesh is not of God. And this is the antichrist you heard is coming, and even now is already in the world.
1Cor 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is a curse, and that no one can say that Jesus is LORD (YHVH), but by the Holy Spirit.
Phlp 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD (YHVH), to the glory of God the Father.
1Jn 2:12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
Rom 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.
1Thes 4:3-8 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
1Jn 4:10-13 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
1Jn 5:9-13 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which He has testified about His Son. He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he does not believe the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God has given to us everlasting life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Rom 10:9-10 . . .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.
Our positive response and attitude to these evidences will do much to strengthen the believer in his/her faith, and to rest in the knowledge of our Savior God. Why is this important? Because the righteous will live by [his] faith, and by faith. If we are not certain whether we are born-again – baptized in the Holy Spirit – we will live accordingly, whether with doubt, or with pride of not needing to be. But if we humbly but confidently know that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, then the righteous in Christ will live in the truth of the name of the Lord Jesus, and be faithful witnesses of God.
