Nothing But the Spirit

I can still hear my original pastor preaching this glorious Gospel of truth saying, “There is no God in this world other than the holy Ghost!” How right he was! Jesus said that after he would leave this world, that the holy Ghost would be sent back in his name (Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:7). What that means is that the holy Ghost was sent back in his stead, meaning to take the place of Jesus. He said the same thing in these words: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also" (Jn. 14:18,19). And again he said the same thing in yet another way: "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jn. 14:23). So the holy Ghost represents not only Jesus, but also the Father. Reason being the Spirit is the very life that indwells both the Father and the Son, and thereby what makes the Father and the Son one (Jn. 5:26; Rom. 8:2; Jn. 17:22). So then there IS no God in this world except for the holy Ghost, because Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, who is also in heaven (Heb. 1:3). Therefore there simply is nothing that pertains to God anywhere except what the holy Ghost is doing or saying (II Cor. 3:6; Gal. 3:5; Col. 3:17; Rev. 2:7). Period. It really is that simple. The Spirit is the power of God, the love of God, the wisdom of God, the peace of God, the joy of the Lord, etc; because there is no other way to experience God or have a relationship with God apart from the holy Ghost. Someone will say, "Well, I got saved and accepted the Lord as my personal savior, but I haven’t received the holy Ghost yet.” Sorry my friend, that teaching is not in the Bible, but being “baptized by one Spirit into one body” sure is (I Cor. 12:13). There is no such thing as receiving Jesus Christ as anything at all without receiving the Spirit, because “the Lord IS that Spirit” (II Cor. 3:17). And also, “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). Neither is there is there any remission of sins apart from receiving the holy Ghost, for “ye are washed, [and] ye are sanctified, [and] ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus… by the Spirit of our God" (I Cor. 6:11).

There are two key things that are needful to understand in light of this scriptural and spiritual reality. One is that there is no such thing as receiving the holy Ghost before being baptized with the holy Ghost with the Spirit’s witness of speaking with other tongues. The Samaritans in Acts 8 had experienced miraculous deliverance and miraculous healing through faith in Jesus by the preaching of Philip, but the scripture plainly states that they still had not received the holy Ghost (Acts 8:15). So how could anyone have known that these people had not received the Spirit? Because the witness of the Spirit had not manifested upon them, and everyone among the early believers knew that people spoke with tongues upon receiving the Spirit (Acts 10:44-46). Everything that can be experienced by faith in Jesus before being baptized with the Spirit, constitutes the state of being spiritually conceived, even as a life is conceived in the womb of a woman before a birth takes place (Rom. 1:20; Jn. 16:21,22). But one must be ‘in Christ’ to be born again, and the only way to get into Christ is to be baptized with the Spirit (II Cor. 5:17; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). The second thing that is integral to this truth is that one must develop a discernment for recognizing the Spirit of God. The scripture says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). The only way someone can recognize and be continually led by God’s Spirit is to stay free from sin, because sin gives place to further influence of the devil (Rom. 8:13; Eph. 4:26,27). And these things leave us with this conclusion: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). The holy Ghost is peace, and it is also holiness; so only if we are led by the Spirit will we fulfill this all important commandment (Rom. 14:17). So then, man and his man-made traditions and doctrines need to get out of the way, and let God lead in all things by means of his Spirit which he has provided for just that purpose (Jn. 16:13). Amen!