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| PentecostalTheology.com
IMPORTANCE OF THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ray E Horton
It is available for the asking to all Born-Again Christians
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a major key to a fulfilling, fruitful, supernatural Christian walk. It was the norm in the New Testament church, and, while never lost completely, it was minimized through unbelief down through the ages until the Pentecostal/Charismatic revival of the last century.
Knowing Jesus, not just about Him
Many Christians know their Bible and all about Jesus. But it is in coming to know Him experientially by the Holy Spirit that great transformation comes
It helps us to know Him, and not just about Him. Many Christians know their Bible and all about Jesus. But it is in coming to know Him experientially by the Holy Spirit that great transformation comes.
Many don’t like to hear this because they don’t understand the idea of a second experience of the Holy Spirit. Yes, anyone who is saved receives the Holy Spirit. Yet, for me and millions of others who have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as well, we aren’t any better than other believers, it’s just that it has made all the difference, activating us in our new life with the power of Jesus to live through us in ways that were not possible before.
Here is one of several instances we find in the Bible of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit being a second experience subsequent to salvation: In Ephesus, Paul “found some disciples and said to them, ‘Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?’ They said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’” (Acts 19:1-2). “When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:6).
Activating our new Life
For some it happens all at once, the New Birth and the Holy Spirit Baptism, but usually the Baptism in the Holy Spirit follows later, when we are hungry for it and ready to accept it in our lives. It is a filling up of the Holy Spirit accompanied by wonderful spiritual gifts to build us up and for service to the Kingdom. And it is available for the asking to all Born-Again Christians, being received by faith.
