I have a few notes tonight on why we must be baptized with the holy Ghost

I have a few notes tonight on why we must be baptized with the holy Ghost. A lot of God's people over the past century or so have been progressively realizing that the baptism of the holy Ghost with the sign of speaking in tongues that accompanies it, is a must have for believers. That's good, but there is a major missing element about why we need the Spirit baptism, that is stifling and preventing "the unity of the Spirit" in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:3). The modern tradition among almost everyone who has the Spirit baptism and allows for the Spirit baptism, is that it is needed for empowerment of ministry. We should really look at that mindset and see what it is actually saying. Here's what I mean: What do we actually have if we do NOT have empowerment for ministry? Well, considering that the scripture tells us that "the kingdom of God is not in word [only], but in power," it tells me we have a ministry and a Gospel that is apart from the true kingdom of God. Now that's not me reading anything into anything, it's just me comparing modern Pentecostal/Charismatic tradition with the truth of the scriptures. It would be wise also to note that Jesus said, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). Jesus just so happened to make that statement immediately after instructing his followers to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the holy Ghost that he was going to send back to them after he went back to heaven (Acts 1:4,5). What that tells us is that there is no such thing as 'receiving' the holy Ghost apart from or before being 'baptized' with the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. But to be doubly certain, Jesus made it clearly known that nobody could receive the Spirit in any way, shape, or form until after he went back to heaven (Jn. 7:38,39; Jn. 16:7). Now let's get back to this thing about the kingdom of God, and about how there is no Gospel apart from the kingdom of God and the power, or empowerment thereof. Jesus gave the believing Pharisee Nicodemus some real straight talk when he came to find out what Jesus was up to: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3:5). Now please don't read water baptism into that statement like so many are prone to do. That is another modern tradition that has absolutely no element of truth to it. Water baptism never came up in that discussion, but being born of a woman's womb did; so let's not put two and two together and somehow come up with fifteen.

But to the point, Jesus plainly equated 'receiving' the Spirit of God with 'being born again' into the kingdom of God. That is what's there. That also goes to a very emphatic statement made by the apostle Paul: "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). Once again allow me to say, there is absolutely nothing in the scriptures that even implies that someone can 'receive' the holy Ghost before being 'baptized' with the holy Ghost. Neither is there anything in the Bible about any two or three step process of receiving God's Spirit. Jesus made it abundantly clear that faith in him results in being filled with or baptized with his Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39). In saying that I should probably note also that there is nothing even remotely scriptural about the notion that being 'filled' with the Spirit is something other that being 'baptized' with the Spirit, as some hold to. That is simply not in the scriptures anywhere. In fact Jesus told his followers before he ascended to heaven, to wait to be BAPTIZED with the holy Ghost, and several days later when he sent the Spirit back to them the scripture plainly says that they "were all FILLED with the holy Ghost..." (Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4). The idea that we "get saved" by our initial faith in Christ, and sometime afterward we can be baptized with the holy Ghost, simply cannot be found in the Bible because it is not in the Bible. The one forerunner who was sent to introduce Jesus to Israel and to tell the purpose of his coming, never said a word about anything that is upheld by modern tradition in the body of Christ, but he did say this: "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mk. 1:7,8). "Getting saved" is not the biblical new birth, but being baptized by Jesus with the life, and love, and power of his Spirit IS! Not convinced yet? Well how about this? "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13). As one dear brother said many years ago, "No wonder Bro. Lary calls his ministry 'By One Spirit!'" That's right, and the reason my ministry is called 'By One Spirit' is simply because Jesus Christ came from heaven to ultimately be nailed to a tree to die a slow, agonizing death; so that he could take our sins away by means of baptizing and washing our inner man with the living waters of his holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:11).

If we can't be in the one body of Christ unless and until we are baptized with the Spirit, and that IS what the quoted scripture says; then where the heck ARE we if we're 'saved' BEFORE being baptized with the holy Ghost? Gets kind of confusing doesn't it? That's because the doctrines and traditions of men always get confusing when compared to the plain truth of the scriptures. Friends, we simply are not 'in Christ' until Jesus baptizes us into him, and him into us, by means of his Spirit: "For as many of you as have been baptized INTO Christ have put on Christ... Now the Lord IS that Spirit" (Gal. 3:27; II Cor. 3:17). That's really pretty plain, don't you think? Knowing we are not 'in Christ' until he baptizes us into him, the following scripture takes us a step further: "Therefore if any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Cor. 5:17). All we have to do to see the truth of what I'm saying here, is to flip that scripture around backward, and it says this: "If any man is NOT in Christ, he is NOT a new creature: old things are still there, and behold, NOTHING becomes new." Now we know that's not much fun, so we should just leave it at what the Bible clearly shows us, and it clearly shows us that we are not in Christ unless we are baptized with the holy Ghost. Yeah, I know it means letting go of "getting saved," and I know it eliminates water baptism from the equation; and I know it just wrecks a whole bunch of modern Christian tradition. And of course I know that it makes me stand out like a sore thumb among God's people, which I'm quite accustomed to needless to say. But I ALSO know that eliminating man and his religious inventions from this Gospel makes Jesus and the suffering he accomplished for us, ALL IN ALL! I'm certain in fact that not only do the scriptures bear witness to this truth from every angle, but also that Jesus is worthy to be the only man responsible to baptize anyone into himself, and himself into them. So the evident scriptural conclusion of the matter is that we must indeed have the baptism of the holy Ghost with its accompanying sign of speaking in tongues, simply because we are not born again UNTIL we have it; which means our sins are not taken away without it. That is what the multitude of scriptures quoted and referenced in this article altogether show us. Amen.