.jpeg)
The Difference Between True Christians And False Prophets
- Nov 9
- 30 min read
Updated: Nov 23
The Manifestation of the Spirit
Makes the Difference Between the True and the False Christian
The True Christian Has the Baptism into the Holy Spirit
The Baptism into the Holy Spirit is called the Anointing
Salvation (Jn. 3:1-8/ Ti. 3:4-7/ Eze. 36:25-27)
Tongues & prophecy (Acts 1:1-5; 2:1-21; 19:1-7)
Teaching (1 Jn. 2:20-27)
Spiritual power over the devil or, spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:1-11/ Lk. 10:18-20)
A new heart and a new spirit with new and holy desires that please God (Eze. 36:25-27/ Jer. 31:31-34)
With this post, I will refute, with the Lord, the doctrine of the false prophets to show you that their teachings on neglect of the body and will worship are not the path of life (Col. 2:20-23). I will use my own born-again nature to prove with scripture and the Holy Ghost that one of the new and holy desires that the Holy Ghost births from heaven inside our hearts, is "to please God" instead of indulge in the flesh.
Colossians 2:20-23
Modern English Version
The New Life in Christ
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you subject yourself to legalistic rules?
21 “Do not touch! Do not taste! Do not handle!”
22 These all are to perish with use and are aligned with the commandments and doctrines of men. 23 These things have indeed a show of wisdom in self-imposed worship and humility and neglecting of the body, but are worthless against the indulgence of the flesh.
See also this passage in the Living Bible Version to understand what indulging in the flesh is; it is evil thoughts and desires which we have no power to conquer. Only the Holy Spirit conquers those evil things when He makes us born-again.
Colossians 2:20-23
Living Bible
20 Since you died, as it were, with Christ and this has set you free from following the world’s ideas of how to be saved—by doing good and obeying various rules—why do you keep right on following them anyway, still bound by such rules as
21 not eating, tasting, or even touching certain foods?
22 Such rules are mere human teachings, for food was made to be eaten and used up.
23 These rules may seem good, for rules of this kind require strong devotion and are humiliating and hard on the body, but they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires. They only make him proud.
1 Thessalonians 4:1
Modern English Version
A Life Pleasing to God
1 Finally, brothers, we urge and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have learned from us how you ought to walk and to please God, you should excel more and more.
1 Thessalonians 2:4-15
Modern English Version
4 But as we were allowed by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not to please men, but God, who examines our hearts.
5 For neither at any time did we come with flattering words, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is our witness.
6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you, or from others, even though we might have made demands as the apostles of Christ.
7 But we were gentle among you, like a nurse caring for her own children.
8 So having great love toward you, we were willing to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you were dear to us.
9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil. Laboring night and day so as not to be an expense to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
10 You and God are witnesses of how pure, upright, and blameless we ourselves behaved among you who believe.
11 As you know, we exhorted, comforted, and commanded every one of you, as a father does his own children,
12 that you would walk in a manner worthy of God, who has called you to His kingdom and glory.
13 For this reason we thank God without ceasing because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which effectively works also in you who believe.
14 For you, brothers, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. You also have suffered the same things from your own countrymen, as they have from the Jews,
15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us. They do not please God and are contrary to all men,
Romans 8:5-8
Modern English Version
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,
7 for the carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be,
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Galatians 1:10
Modern English Version
10 For am I now seeking the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? For if I were still trying to please men, I would not be the servant of Christ.
Hebrews 11:5-6
Modern English Version
5 By faith Enoch was taken to heaven so that he would not see death. He was not found, because God took him away. For before he was taken, he had this commendation, that he pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 13:1-16
Modern English Version
Service That Pleases God
1 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unknowingly. 3 Remember those who are in chains, as if imprisoned with them, and those who are ill treated, since you are also in the body.
4 Marriage is to be honored among everyone, and the bed undefiled. But God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
5 Let your lives be without love of money, and be content with the things you have. For He has said:
“I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
6 So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have proclaimed to you the word of God. Follow their faith, considering the results it has produced in their lives.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
9 Do not be carried away with diverse and strange doctrines. It is a good thing that the heart be strengthened with grace, not with foods, which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest on account of sin, are burned outside the camp.
12 Therefore Jesus also, so that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13 Therefore let us go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that He bore.
14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15 Through Him, then, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
16 But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
When a person who is not born-again learns about how to please God, they do it in self-imposed worship of God. A false devotion. They perform it in the flesh like the Pharisee (Mk. 7/ Mt. 23). It is not the born-again desire to please God that comes from the Presence of the Holy Spirit when get you born again and Spirit filled that is doing it (Eze. 36:25-27/ Ti. 3:4-7/ 2 Thes. 2:13). That's the difference between the false who are thrown into eternal fire, and those whom God says to, "Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord Jesus" (Mt. 25).
When you hear God telling you to do this or, doing it out of religious tenet to please God, doesn't make you a Christian. The desire to please God is the work of the Holy Spirit. He has to put that desire in you to be a true Christian because most people in the world think that to listen to God, to please Him and make it to heaven, is done by their efforts (Rom. 8:8). It looks and sounds real, but God says that He doesn't know them. This means that there is no Holy Spirit inside them doing the works (Jn. 14:10).
Colossians 2:16-23
Modern English Version
16 Therefore let no one judge you regarding food, or drink, or in respect of a holy day or new moon or sabbath days.
17 These are shadows of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Do not let anyone cheat you of your reward by delighting in false humility and the worship of angels, dwelling on those things which he has not seen, vainly arrogant due to his unspiritual mind,
19 and not supporting the head, from which the entire body, nourished and knit together by joints and sinews, grows as God gives the increase.
The New Life in Christ
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you subject yourself to legalistic rules?
21 “Do not touch! Do not taste! Do not handle!”
22 These all are to perish with use and are aligned with the commandments and doctrines of men. 23 These things have indeed a show of wisdom in self-imposed worship and humility and neglecting of the body, but are worthless against the indulgence of the flesh.
Only those who have been born again and anointed by God know what it's like to have the spiritual desire to please God, and that obeying God is done through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit (2 Thes. 2:13).
Verse 23 gives evidence of true Christianity; the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer evil desires, or indulgences of the flesh. False religions worship willpower because they use it to neglect the body and control bad habits (Col. 2:23). But they got no power to conquer it; the indulgences of the flesh. Those evil desires (v. 23). They simply control the body through neglect, but it is willpower, not the power of God the Holy Spirit.
Thus, false religion ceremonies and false prophets have no power to change their sinful natures, revealed in Romans 7:15-25 as "the good {obedience to God's law} that we want to do, but cannot do". Only the Holy Spirit can change the evil desires in the human nature with the born-again experience (Eze. 36:25-27/ Ti. 4:3-7/ 2 Cor. 5:17). No amount of neglect of the body and willpower over the body can do this ... this is why so many are going to hell on the broad road (Mt. 7:13, 14).
It's different when you have the presence & power of God residing in you with a spiritual need to please God and the ability to do it. The rest of the world doesn't know anything about what it's like to be baptized into the Holy Spirit, and what it's like to feel God living in your body. The need to please God comes from those; baptism into the Holy Spirit and to feel God living in your body. Not from a religious mental conditioning to please God in your mind or flesh (Rom. 8:5-8).
The Bible gives instructions on how to obey God (Rom. 7). People in church give witness about how to do it. The unborn again person believes in God and hears these things and does them to quench a mysticism in their flesh. It's not God sanctifying them. They don't know that they don't know God.
They believe that they're God's child and that they're on their way to heaven because they think they conquered something in them about obeying God. But it's mysticism at work in their flesh and minds. These are not real Christians.
This is why when they get to heaven, they're going to tell Jesus all the good things they did in His Name, and He will profess to them that He doesn't know them because they haven't been born again and God the Spirit does not abide in their flesh to sanctify it with His word and power (Mt. 7:13-21).
The main way to know that you're a child of God, is to understand Romans 8:9, that if you do not have the Holy Spirit living in your body, that you are not a real child of God, though you obey Him. It's not about obeying God apart from the Spirit (Rom. 8:1-16). It's about knowing God through the Spirit (Phil. 3:7-14), and this happens when His Spirit abides in your flesh (Eze. 36:25-27/ Rom. 8/ 2 Thes. 2:13).
Have You had an Encounter with God That You Can't Stop Talking About?
To understand Romans 8:9 means that you've had an encounter with God that you can't stop talking about. Think about your life and past ... can you recall an event when you met the Holy Spirit and He came to live in you with the gifts of the Spirit as signs that He's at home in you?
A holy joy and gladness that is not yours ... you have no reason to feel that way, but you feel it ... have you ever seen a white light the size of a human stomach shoot from a spiritually baptized Christian to you? Have you been baptized into the Holy Spirit? Do you know what it means and feels like to be baptized into the Holy Spirit? It means that the Holy Spirit manifests through you in spiritual gifts.
Tongues? Interpretation of tongues in your spirit? Those who have these gifts know that it means to hear God and His angels, as well as the devil, saints in heaven and ghosts, talking to you ... when they talk it is another language, but you hear the Holy Spirit talking to you in your native language telling you what they said ...
Balls of spiraling heat; healing energy, or healing virtue, on both your hands about the size of a volleyball? Prophecy, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, which means to receive from one word to a book from the Lord, like an address, a phone number, a name or names ... your secret sins, faults and hang-ups ... private things that no one knows but you, and now you know that not only you know these secrets about you. But so does God and His minister calling it out in front of you ... discerning of spirits, which those who have it know that this is the power of exorcism ... faith so small that it moves mountains, stops tornados and hurricanes ... those with the gifts of faith and miracles know that the power comes from the Holy Spirit through prophetic intercession when He activates your fellowship with Him through forgiveness and loving your enemies ... even the Holy Spirit makes you love and forgive those who hate you ... it is His love not ours ...
The small faith to move mountains means that you simply ask God for something, because to ask God means you believe He'll do it. But it isn't that small faith that moves the Hand of God, it's the Holy Spirit through our forgiveness and having no problems with God over unforgiveness of people ... a right relationship with God and active fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Have you met the Holy Spirit? Do you know God? Do you have Him living inside your body fellowshipping with Him? That righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit inside you ... have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed in Jesus?
Do you know what that righteousness is? It is when everything goes right for you. God works everything together for your good (Rom. 8:28) and that righteousness gives you joy and peace. The righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19:1-6
Modern English Version
Ephesians Receive the Holy Spirit
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples
2 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.”
3 He said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
How to Know You've Been Baptized into the Holy Spirit
The Manifestation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
A Chance from the Holy Spirit to Get Ready to Meet Jesus on His Time
Jesus Will Not Leave You Behind if You Follow the Instructions Below
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Contemporary English Version
1 We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God's gift of undeserved grace.
2 In the Scriptures God says,
“When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you.”
That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.
There are people out there reading this post that want to repent and be ready to meet Jesus when He comes back. Not everyone who reads this will be left by Jesus just because they're looking at their watches, instead of at Jesus in the word. Jesus has not returned yet, and there is still time to repent to be ready for Jesus on His time.
Do You Believe in Jesus?
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Modern English Version
{Paraphrased}
The Resurrection of Christ
1 Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you have received, and in which you stand.
2 Through it you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and was seen by Cephas {the apostle Peter}, and then by the twelve {all 12 apostles}.
6 Then He was seen by over five hundred {Christian} brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present time, though some have passed away.
7 Then He was seen by James and then by all the apostles.
8 Last of all, He was seen by me also {the 13th apostle of Christ, the apostle Paul}, as by one born at the wrong time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Do you believe in Jesus? According to 1 Cor. 15:1-11, do you believe that Jesus died for your sins according to the scriptures - v. 3? ... do you believe that Jesus was buried and rose from the dead the third day according to the scriptures - v. 4? ... do you believe that Jesus was seen alive by the first church and all of its apostles - vv. 5-8? ... that's the gospel ... now that you've heard the gospel, I'm taking you to a page from my website for prayers for salvation and baptism into the Holy Spirit ... read and may the Holy Spirit come upon you today and give you Christ's victory over the flesh to obey God and go to heaven for it ...
John 11:25-26
Authorized (King James) Version
{Pegram Evangelistic Paraphrase}
25 Jesus {says to you},
"I Am
the resurrection,
and the life:
he that {believes} in Me,
though he were dead,
yet shall he live:
26 and whosoever {is alive} and {believes} in Me shall never die.
{Do you believe} this"?
...
"Lord, I believe ...
You Do the Loving
I Do the Dying ...
(Romans 6)
The Sinner's Prayer
The Confession of the Word of Faith in Christ
Romans 10:6-17
Authorized (King James) Version
{Paraphrased}
God's Saving & Healing Power in the Bible
The Word of Faith & Salvation
6 But the {right standing with God} which {comes from biblically created faith}
speaks {in this way in the Bible about how to get saved through faith in Jesus from sin & death},
"Say not in {your} heart, 'Who shall ascend into heaven'"? {Dt. 30:12}
(that is, to bring Jesus down from above).
7 or, "Who shall descend into the deep?" {Dt. 30:13} (that is, to bring up Jesus again from the dead).
8 But what {does} it {say}?
"The word is {near you}. {It is in your} mouth, and in {your} heart
{from hearing the scriptures - Pr. 4:20-27}.
That is, the word of faith {in Jesus}, which we preach.
9 That if you shall confess with {your} mouth the Lord Jesus
{to confess the Lord Jesus means to say that you believe that Jesus died for your sins}
and shall believe in {your} heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved {from sin & death}.
10 For with the heart man believes {the scriptures about Jesus giving him right standing before God}
and with the mouth confession {of these scriptures about Jesus}
is made giving him God's salvation from sin & death through faith in Jesus}.
11 For the scripture {says},
"Whoever believes on {Jesus the Son of God} shall not be ashamed" {Isa. 28:16}.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek {or any other Gentile nation}.
For the same Lord {Jesus} over all is rich {in faith & salvation} to all that call upon Him
{for salvation through the scriptures}.
13 "For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord {Jesus}
shall be saved {from sin & death - Joel 2:32}.
14 How then shall they call on {Jesus for salvation from sin & death} if {they do not believe in Him}?
And how shall they believe in {Jesus if} they have not {first} heard about Him?
And how shall they hear without a preacher {telling them what the scriptures say about Jesus}?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent {by God to do this}?
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
{with God through faith in His Son Jesus}
and bring glad tidings of good things"! {Isa. 52:7}
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
For {Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:1}, "Lord, who has believed our report
{in the Old Testament prophecies that Your Son Jesus is the Messiah
and the long-awaited Savior from sin & death"?
17 So then faith {in Christ as the Lord & Savior from sin & death}
comes by hearing, and hearing by {what} the word of God {the Bible prophecies say about Him
{To get faith to call upon the Lord Jesus for salvation from sin & death,
listen to what God's preachers tell you about Jesus & read what the Bible says about Him}.
What the Holy Spirit is saying in this passage is that to get saved, you need to do verses 9 and 10 highlighted in bold case above. That is, confess with your mouth the scriptures about Jesus being the Lord of sin and death because you believe them, and you will be saved from sin and death by that faith in Jesus that came from your mouth from what the Bible says about Him dying and rising from the dead for our sins.
The Holy Spirit is telling us in this passage that if you want to believe in Jesus and be saved from sin and death, then read what the Bible says about Him, because faith in Jesus comes, or is created in your heart and mouth, when you read the Bible.
Read what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, and you will be saved when you tell God and this world that you believe what the Bible says about Jesus. To do this is called the Confession of the Word of Faith in Christ, and the Sinner's Prayer. Let me lead you in the Sinner's Prayer.
The Sinner's Prayer
The Confession of the Word of Faith in Christ the Lord
"Lord Jesus. I believe in You. I believe that you died for my sins and rose from the dead
and that you are alive today right here with me now as I tell you that I believe in You.
Please forgive me of my sins through my faith in your shed Blood on the Cross,
and please raise me from the dead by my faith in Your resurrection.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me from sin and death.
In Your Name, Jesus, I pray.
Amen".
Get out your dusty Bible and read John, Acts and Romans in the New Testament while you listen to the Playlist below...and know that the tears that flood your eyes when you pray the Sinner's Prayer are coming from the Presence of God. That's God the Holy Spirit you're sensing and that's why you're crying as you pray this prayer ... God is love (1 Jn. 4:7, 8) and when you meet Him, you can't but cry around Him. It's called "godly sorrow" (2 Cor. 7:9-11).
Now, I want to use my anointing & authority in Christ to baptize you into the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is Heaven's guarantee. There are believers, and there are born again believers (Acts 19:1-6). Please pray this prayer below and you will meet God the Holy Spirit instantly, and get born-again ...
The Holy Spirit Is Heaven's Guarantee
Ephesians 1:13, 14
Living Bible
13 And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians.
14 His presence within us is God’s guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit’s seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
My Prophetic Intercession for Your Baptism into the Holy Spirit
Since you are reading my Page and hearing Jesus call you to the Rapture here,
I will use my Prophetic Anointing and ask the Holy Spirit to give me a prayer for you
to be baptized into the Holy Spirit NOW.
Read the prayer and receive the Holy Spirit ...
"I am using my anointing and authority with Christ to pronounce you dead in Christ
And renewed to life by the Ever-Living Presence of God."
said the Holy Ghost ...
"NOW RETURN TO ME AND BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST!"
said the Lord Jesus ...
For Clarity
John 14:15-17
Modern English Version
The Promise of the Spirit
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever:
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.
I want to use a statement from a preacher that I had in mind when I made this post. The preacher was preaching in jail. He was into prison ministry. This was so long ago that this preacher may have died by now or may have perished from the coronavirus. If he's alive, no names & no offense.
He was witnessing about Jesus & salvation to us in jail. I was 16 at that time. This was in 1985. He got to a part in his message about the baptism into the Holy Spirit. What he said I have always remembered ... he said, "I know by faith that I'm filled with the Holy Spirit because the Bible promises that all believers will have the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 14:15-17).
And then he began his arguments about the spiritual beliefs in the Bible about the baptism into the Holy Spirit, saying that people don't speak in tongues no more, and that there is no more anointing to heal the sick and raise the dead and to cast out devils because that was God's ministry specifically for Jesus and the apostles. So, he didn't believe in the baptism into the Holy Spirit as taught in the Bible.
He said that the Bible teaches that everyone who believes in Jesus will receive the Holy Spirit. Thus, he believed he had the Holy Spirit because the Bible promises it, but didn't have no evidence other than those promises.
I forget what denomination he was, but he didn't believe in Holy Ghost power and believed in hermeneutics & apologetics, the biblical sciences. He didn't believe in ghosts or in the Holy Ghost.
God's promises and hermeneutics have their place. But when the Holy Ghost enters your life, you'll know that these churches that teach these things about the Holy Ghost are dead churches with no God inside their bodies, though they believe by faith that they are Spirit filled.
When I got baptized into the Holy Spirit, I was alone looking for Christian magazines to read when suddenly I saw a white beam of light shoot from the Chaplain's stomach to mine ... I don't think he knew what happened because he was sitting at his desk on the phone ... I saw Jesus at the altar a few feet away from me after this happened ... I couldn't see Him above His smile, like His nose & eyes. But I saw Him smiling at me ... and I heard Him say something in my mind not through His smile. He said, "Welcome to the Family". Jesus had on a long, white, thick cape, that went all over the altar. It was long and huge (Isa. 6:1) ...
My point is to say that no one prayed for me when this happened, and no one laid hands on me. I hadn't asked for the Spirit baptism that day. I was just standing there in a church by myself looking at magazines.
My point is that when the Holy Spirit fulfills His promise in the Bible to enter into people, He's going to do it unsuspectingly on some people, like me. The Bible teaches that some people receive the Holy Spirit before water baptism (Acts 10:43-48), and others receive the Spirit after water baptism (Acts 2:38, 39).
I'm glad that what happened to me that day in jail, is revealed in Acts 10:43-48 as receiving the baptism into the Spirit through faith in Jesus before water baptism. This would be called the "non-traditional way". Prison style. The traditional style would be the pre-planned way in church called the "water baptism rite".
With God, traditional or non-traditional doesn't matter. God just wants you in heaven with Him. What happens is that the Holy Spirit is received through faith in Jesus in both these ways. Before water baptism and after water baptism. The two Christian rites, or Sacraments, today are
Water baptism (Mt. 28:181-20/ Mk. 16:15-20)
Communion (Mt. 26:26-28/ Mk. 14:22-25/ Lk. 22:17-20/ 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
The traditional style in Acts 2:38, 39 is achieved through faith in Jesus, and the non-traditional style in Acts 10:43-48 is achieved through faith in Jesus. Jesus teaches in John 3:1-21 that people are born again by the Holy Spirit (verses 1-8) through faith in Him, Jesus (verses 9-21).
Today I know that that preacher wasn't a real Christian. He is, unless God dealt with Him before he died as he did with Howard Pittman (see video below), one of the false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 who told Jesus on judgement day that they did many wonderful things in His Name in ministry, and then He professed to them that they broke God's law in life (v. 23) because He didn't know them (v. 23).
Imagine you die today, and you find yourself in front of God's gate and pleading your case. That's what happened to this hard-working Christian man on August 3, 1979, according to his testimony. It is shocking and eye opening.
This Preacher and all preachers like him, have the Holy Spirit living with them because they believe in Jesus as the opening passage for this paragraph declares in John 14:17. They do not have the Holy Spirit living inside them. The Spirit is with them but not inside them.
From what happened to me when I got baptized into the Holy Spirit, I believed the full Gospel. That what Jesus had in the Spirit is for us today. I received the Holy Spirit before I knew what the baptism into the Spirit was. I learned about it from that experience with God. My baptism into the Holy Spirit taught me about the baptism into the Holy Spirit.
My point is to say if thus guy was preaching in jail for as long as he did (over 10 years), and didn't receive the Holy Spirit like I did, i.e. quickly, then it was his beliefs that stopped God from saving him. The Spirit was with him because he believed in Jesus and was an ordained minister. But because he didn't believe in ghosts, this unbelief stopped the Lord from baptizing him into the Spirit.
As I said in the opening passages about the anointing, it isn't just for power over the devil, or for correct teaching in the truth with tongues & prophecy, but the baptism of the Spirit is salvation. Read with me Titus 3:4-7 in the Modern English Version,
Titus 3:4-7
Modern English Version
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
It says that the Father saved us through the rebirth of the Holy Spirit. Verse 5 says "saved". That verse implies that spiritual rebirth is salvation.
Jesus talks about being born again in John 3. Follow with me in verses 1 thru 8 about the baptism into the Holy Spirit, or getting born again and spiritual rebirth. That it is salvation because through it we see and enter heaven.
John 3:1-8
Modern English Version
Jesus and Nicodemus
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus said that we cannot see or enter heaven without the rebirth of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit makes one born again, it is called "born again", "salvation", "the anointing" and "being Spirit filled". Jesus implies in these verses that getting born-again is salvation.
Seeing and entering heaven is called salvation. Getting anointed and Spirit filled as opposed to the Spirit living with you, or outside of your body, IS SALVATION. Thus, this man that was preaching in jail was not saved. He was a false prophet like the Pharisee. He knew the word better than most real Christians, but he didn't have the anointing, or salvation.
I know from this encounter with the Holy Spirit in jail that day in 1991 that the evidence of the Spirit baptism isn't only the Bible promises about His baptism. But the evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism is the manifestation of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The gifts of the Spirit. Tongues, healing, discerning of spirits & exorcism, miracles, prophecy and the rest of the Holy Spirit's gifts revealed in this passage. These gifts are signs & evidence that you have received the baptism into the Holy Spirit from God ...
In Acts chapters 1 & 2 when the Spirit first came down from heaven on Pentecost that day, He has been making people born again through faith in Jesus since then (Jn. 3:1-21/ Ti. 3:4-7), just like the book of Acts shows us. The ministry of the Holy Spirit has not stopped with the death of the last apostle (See the ministry of the Holy Spirit in these passages, John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).
Acts 2:38-39
New Living Translation
{Paraphrased}
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized {into water} in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit {the baptism into the Spirit; God's living water - Jn. 7:37-39, which water baptism symbolizes. It isn't the water that saves us, but the Living Waters, the Holy Spirit, through spiritual rebirth and regeneration}.
39 This promise {of the Spirit} is to you, to your children, and to the gentiles; to people far in the future—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
NOTE: The baptism into the Holy Spirit with the same signs and wonders as Jesus and the Apostles is for everyone far into the future that believes in Jesus. Not solely for Jesus and the 13 Apostles. And remember, the reason that Jesus said in John 3:5 that unless we are born of water and the Spirit that we cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God, is because the water in the water baptism rite represents the work of the Living Waters, the Holy Spirit in pronouncing us dead in Christ and renewed to life, by the Holy Spirit. You go down under the water, which represents death in Jesus, and you come up out of the water, which represents "the refreshing of the Lord, the Living Waters", resurrection to new life in the Holy Spirit.
This is what the Lord says about Water Baptism,
"Baptism is about a fight against evil, not water. Water Baptism is a ceremony that represents the Baptism into the Holy Ghost. Rites and ceremonies can't posses you like My Spirit does", says the Lord.
John 17:20-23
Modern English Version
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. May they also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
22 I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one:
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
NOTE: The baptism into the Holy Spirit with the same signs and wonders as Jesus and the Apostles is for everyone because Jesus said that the ministry of the Holy Spirit extends to those who believe on Jesus through their word, the word of the apostles. Indicating that the ministry exceeds the life of solely Jesus and the 13 Apostles.
John 14:12
Modern English Version
12 Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I do also. And he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father.
NOTE: The baptism into the Holy Spirit with the same signs and wonders as Jesus and the Apostles is for everyone because Jesus said that he who believes in Him will do greater works than He did because He didn't have the time like we do to do them, through the Holy Spirit. This means that Jesus' ministry extends to and through whoever believes in Him once they receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus.
It doesn't say "whichever apostle believes on Me will do greater things than these". He said, "he who believes in me". This implies, as John 3:16 does, that whoever believes in Jesus will get saved by the Holy Spirit's new birth, will do what He did, and will also do greater things than He did through the Holy Spirit, because they have more time than He did to do them.
This teaches the truth that the ministry exceeds the life of solely Jesus and the 13 Apostles.
To Believe in Jesus is not Enough to Make it to Heaven
You Must be Born-Again by the Holy Spirit
James 2:19
Modern English Version
19 You believe that there is one God; you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.
To believe in Jesus isn't salvation. Spiritual rebirth, or getting born-again, is salvation. The devils believe in Jesus and are going to hell. What Jesus did on the Cross for us brings the Holy Spirit to save us with spiritual rebirth. The Holy Spirit enters the human body through faith in Jesus.
What Jesus did on the Cross was die in our place for sin to appease God's anger against sin. So, because Jesus opened up the road back to God for us by dying in our place for God the Father, the Holy Spirit honors Jesus' sacrifice for us and baptizes us and makes us born again when we believe in Jesus.
You can't receive the salvation of the Holy Spirit without faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit baptizes you and lives inside you through faith in Jesus. This is what John chapter 3 is about. Making it to heaven by getting born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus. Verses 1 thru 8 are about getting born again by the Holy Spirit. Verses 9 thru 21 are about getting born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in what Jesus did on the Cross for us ...
The Holy Spirit honors the death of Jesus on the Cross for humanity and comes to live inside us through the baptism into the Holy Spirit when we believe that Jesus died in our place for sin to give us back to God.
John 3:1-21
Modern English Version
{Paraphrased}
Jesus and Nicodemus
Born Again by the Holy Spirit Through Faith in Jesus
Born Again by the Holy Spirit
(Verses 1 - 8)
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Through Faith in Jesus
(Verses 9-21)
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, but you do not know these things?
11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony.
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 He who believes in Him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 This is the verdict, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that it may be revealed that his deeds have been done in God.”
World without end. Amen.
