By: Brother Craig Moss
(Back Yard Ministries)
Dated 7-30-99
(All scripture reference is from the King James Version of the Holy Bible)
The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit is not as complicated of a doctrine as some so-called scholars would have us believe. There are so many different teachings on this doctrine, because there are too many interpretations of scripture (any more than one is too many). The Bible tells us everything that we need to know, and it confirms itself. Thus, the Bible addressed the so-called scholars that teach other than what the Bible teaches:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.(2 Tim 4:3-4).
Therefore, before we listen to scholars and decide which doctrines are true, and which doctrines are false, let's figure out which scholars are true and which scholars are false. The only way to do that is to 'prove' them:
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.(1 Thes 5:21).
If there are any scriptures that contradict what these teachers are teaching, then they are teaching false doctrine. The object of this paper is to 'prove' the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and to disprove some of the misinterpretations of scripture concerning the Holy Spirit. A good example of false teaching would be:
"... the generally accepted teaching of traditional Christianity is that God is a Trinity - God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which they call a 'Ghost'. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible, nor does the Bible teach this doctrine.......Before anything else came into existence there was God and the Word, composed of spirit, not of matter,but nevertheless very real. Two persons - not three. And verse 3 of John 1, all things (the universe) were made by the Word." (Armstrong, Herbert W., Mystery Of The Ages, 1985, p.34-35,36)
This heretic teaching came from Herbert W. Armstrong, Pastor General of the World Wide Church of God. This statement is not only heresy, but to say that the Holy Spirit(Ghost) is not God, is blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Ghost), and the judgement of such is written in The Gospel According to Mark 3:29.
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:(Mark 3:29)
The Holy Spirit does indeed exist, is definitely God, and is Bible Doctrine. He is seen all throughout the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. A few examples can be seen in:
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. (Judges 14:6)
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1-2)
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (Luke 4:1)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (John 1:32)
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:5)
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 11:16)
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (1 John 5:6-7)
In these passages, and parts of passages of scripture, notice the word "Spirit", it is capitalized close to 150 times in the Bible, it is a proper noun, a name. The word "spirit" appearing close to 350 times not capitalized in the Bible would be a thing. This would definitely signify that the Spirit, usually referred to as "Holy Spirit", also referred to as "Holy Ghost" 90 times in the Bible, is real, is a being, and is part of the Godhead.
Jesus himself recognized the Holy Spirit as a separate being, as seen in Matthew Chapter 28 "The Great Commission":
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Matthew 28:19)
In Acts Chapter 5, Peter accuses Ananias of lying to the Holy Ghost, and in doing so, he tells him that he had lied to God:
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. (Acts 5:3-4)
In Acts Chapter 13, the Holy Ghost says that...
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (Acts 13:2)
...He had 'called' Barnabas and Saul. He has done many other things which only God could do:
He washes, sanctifies and justifies us:
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
He seals us:
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
He inspired the prophesy of the scriptures:
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.(2 Peter 1:21)
He's the giver life:
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. (Job 33:4 )
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)
He is eternal:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14 )
Furthermore, Jesus Christ calls Him another Comforter:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)
,br> But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:8-14)
This indeed establishes the fact that the Holy Spirit is in fact God, for only God could have such traits, and perform such tasks.
The "Pentecostals" (as well as other well-meaning and sincere Christians) base their doctrine on the misinterpretations of "Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Ghost)" and being "Spirit Filled".
A person is "Baptized by the Holy Ghost" the very moment they receive Christ as Lord and Savior:
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.(1 Cor. 12:13).
This is a spiritual baptism:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (Ephesians 4:5)
This baptism places believers into the body of Christ. It is a baptism, performed by the Lord Himself. It is heresy to teach that a person receives the Holy Ghost sometime after they've received Christ as Savior. Romans 8:9 tells us that a person does not even belong to Christ if that person doesn't have the Spirit of God, so "Salvation" and the "Baptism of the Holy Ghost" must occur at the same time.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.(Romans 8:9)
"Spirit Filling", is a Temporary filling that needs to be rejuvenated regularly. We can see this trend clearly in The Book of Acts:
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost...(Acts 2:4)
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost(Acts 4:31)
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.(Acts 9:17)
Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, (Acts 13:9)
Filling of the Spirit comes as a result of full surrender to the Lord. "Spirit Filled" Christians bear certain character traits, primarily a type of zeal, boldness or power: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.(Acts 1:8)
Spirit filling is for spreading the gospel (soul winning), but does not make you speak gibberish babblings. Speaking in tongues was not a gibberish babbling type of prophesy. In fact the Bible instructs us against such things: Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. (1 Cor. 14:6-11).
In Acts 2:4:
...and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Here the word tongues comes from the Greek word "glossa" or "language". The word tongues, in the text of the Bible, sometimes means a literal tongue (the organ in your mouth), one time it was used as "cloven tongues like as of fire" (Acts 2:3), but it usually means "glossa" or "languages" (like Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, etc.- Acts 2:8-11):
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. (Acts 2:8-11)
In fact the three places in the Bible in which people spoke with tongues were at Pentecost (see above), Caesarea, and in Ephesus. In Caesarea:
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, (Acts 10:44-46)
The tongues mentioned here were indeed literal tongues. Take note, in verse 45, Gentiles "also" received the pouring out of the Holy Ghost. The fact that the others were astonished says that there was more than just Gentiles present. Gentiles had different "languages" from origin.
Curtis Hudson writes: "It is a psychological truth that in moments of extreme delight or peril a foreigner will exclaim in his native tongue, rather than the language he has more recently acquired." What moment in life could possibly be more delightful than that moment of Spiritual Baptism (Salvation).
Even if tongues was the type of tongues used today, the Bible states clearly:
...whether there be tongues, they shall cease;...(1 Cor. 13:8)
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Cor. 13:10-11)
The word "perfect" is the same here as the word "complete". The Holy Bible at the time was not complete, there were still books being written and some that hadn't yet been written. But now The Holy Bible is complete (perfect). Therefore, "that which is perfect is come" so now "that which is in part shall be done away", so we see that if "we prophecy in part" that we haven't obeyed scripture. Let's "put away childish things", prophecy has been completed (KJV Bible), we now know everything that God wants us to know (see Gen. 1:1 - Rev. 22:21). It's time we get back to the Book (the King James Version), and stop looking for more than what God wants us to know, that's what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden in the first place.
Another interesting thought is that Pentecost only happened one time. Lets take a look at the surroundings: In Acts 2:1 "They were all with one accord". That in itself is improbable, considering that one accord means means with one purpose or mind. In todays Church, the most people you have with one accord would more than likely be about half. This is because few people come together to worship the Lord God. Some are there to please or impress family members, or friends, and some are there to justify or edify themselves, but rarely is any church more than half-way with one accord. It sure would be nice to have a church that is "all with one accord."; In Acts 2:2, Notice the word "sound" which implies that there was something heard. In Acts 2:3 Notice the word "appeared", which implies that something was seen.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
We have taken note to a couple very important points: all with one accord; something heard; and something seen. These three attributes were present at the Pentecost, and will be present again one day, when we hear that trumpet "sound" (something heard), those that are in "one accord" (all in one accord), will go to "see" King Jesus (something seen), and forever be with the Lord, a.k.a. RAPTURE.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord......AMEN
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