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Posted by Theophilus “The gift of the Holy Spirit,” is the blessed presence and power of God and Christ that He promised to pour out upon all flesh, thus anointing each believer for works of service within His Church, and filling and empowering them to be effective witnesses for Christ in the World. And this wonderful gift is His pledge to us concerning our inheritance with Christ - until our full redemption at the resurrection of the dead. And, this promise is to you, your children and to everyone the Lord our God shall call, even those who are far off. In traditional Christianity the bishop anoints those being received into the Church with Chrism, (i.e. anointing oil) and imparts to them the gift of the Spirit by the laying on of hands together with the presbyters. In the NT times different groups of people received the Holy Spirit in different ways for different reason. Some received the Promise of the Spirit 1) the moment they believed, 2) others were blessed with the Spirit when they were baptized, 3) still others were baptized in the Spirit after seeking God through prayer. 4) And the Holy Spirit was also imparted by the laying on of hands by the apostles and presbyters of the church. I believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit is imparted to each Christian according to the will of God, not by the rules of men. Therefore I pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church; that He would bless and fill and equip every Christian with His power and gifts, so that we can all worship, pray, witness, serve and buildup one another in the faith as we should. I believe that the manifestations of the Spirit, (i.e. the evidences that we have received the Spirit) are many. Speaking in tongues and prophetic utterances, dreams and visions, are just some of the things mentioned directly in Scripture. Boldness to speak the Word of God and the fruits of the Spirit are also evidences of the blessings of the Spirit. However, I find it impossible to believe the Pentecostal doctrine - that speaking in tongues is the only sign someone has received the Holy Spirit. Even so, I am not against speaking in tongues in the least. ~ Sid
on 5/1/2006, 10:48 pm, in reply to "So let me pin you down to what you DO believe!"
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I believe that Jesus Christ received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit when He ascended to heaven, and thereby fulfilled the great prophetic promise of the Word by imparting the Holy Spirit to His disciples on the day of Pentecost, (The Harvest Festival).
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