The Holy Spirit can be defined in a simplest
way as the “Spirit of God.” I have recently defined the Holy Spirit as: “The Supreme
Force which prevents us from evil.” The basis of this definition is that in
order to save others, you should be saved first. The Holy Spirit is the Third
Person of the Holy Trinity[1]. Christian Faith is
incomplete without the acceptance of Holy Spirit; even the Muslims accept the
presence of Holy Spirit. The Holy Bible mentions the presence and works of the
Holy Spirit on numerous occasions. No one can ignore the essentiality of the
Holy Spirit.
However,
one should keep in mind that the phenomenon of Holy Spirit does not start with
the earthly arrival of Jesus Christ; this holds true from the very beginning;
however, He was introduced and promised by Jesus Christ for all who believe in
Him. The Holy Bible speaks of this promise in John 16:5-16 as: “But now I am
going to Him who sent Me… But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage
that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but
if I go, I will send Him to you…. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He
will guide you into all the truth…” This promise was fulfilled at the Day of
Pentecost: “And when the Day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in
one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared
to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and Began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4).
Ever
since the fulfillment of this promise, the Holy Spirit works among the people
of God. However, on many occasions, He is misunderstood by the prayer leader as
well as the public. The preachers and leaders of most of the churches claim to
have the Blessing of Holy Spirit. They also preach that if some one wants to
receive the Holy Spirit, he should first be Baptized with Water by them. They
strongly say that the Baptism of Holy Spirit is impossible with out the Baptism
of Water. They present the following passage in their support: “Truly, truly I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God
Before
going any further, let me explain the true meaning of this passage as it has
been wrongly interpreted by many theologians. Jesus Christ says in verse 5: “Truly,
truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom
of God
The
Holy Spirit needs no bounds of things like water. By preaching the baptism of
water, they show that the Holy Spirit is conditional—they apply the condition
of baptism of water. Moreover, they say that Christ was also baptized by John
the Baptist, and at the same time Holy Spirit came to Him; therefore, every
person should take the baptism of water. However, they don’t understand the
true meaning of Christ’s baptism; they again mix it with H2O. John
1:29-34 clarifies the purpose of Christ’s baptism as: “… And I did not
recognize Him, but in order that He might be manifested to Israel
In
addition to this, the Book of Acts clearly reveals how people received the Holy
Spirit and then they were baptized by water. The claim for baptism of water holds
true only for the people who, previously, don’t believe in Jesus Christ and are
newly Christened—this baptism means assuring their entry into Christian Faith. Acts
10:44-48 clears my view: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy
Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. And all the
circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of
the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon Gentiles also. For they were hearing
them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Surely no one
can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit
just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ….” Now these people received the baptism of Holy Spirit even before the
baptism of water—so where goes the condition of water first and Holy Spirit
afterwards?
This
does not happen just once, there are many references in The Holy Bible, but I
will not discuss them now; as I have made my point clear that the Holy Spirit
is not confined to things like water—our first misunderstanding is clear.
Now
the second misunderstanding is a worst one. It is about the miracles that the
Holy Spirit performs. I believe in the powers of the Holy Spirit and the
miracles performed by Him; however, one should keep in mind that all the
miracles performed worldwide are not backed by the Holy Spirit—Satan[2] works very craftily. The
Holy Bible witnesses this many times: “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent
deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds would be led astray from the
simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ…. For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder,
for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not
surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians
11:3-15). The Holy Bible further warns us in the following words: “Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1).
Now
you will say that we have seen miracles in front of our eyes; how can Satan
perform such miracles? The Holy Bible answers you in Revelation 13:11-17 as: “…And
he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of the heaven
to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the
earth because of the signs which it was going to perform… And there was given
to him to give breath to the image of the beast…” This clearly shows the powers
of Satan. So, there remains no doubt that Satan disguises as Holy Spirit and beguiles
people.
Today,
a trend has been set for crusades and healing ministries. Many of them heal the
public, perform wonderful miracles, but either their theology is incorrect[3] or, from any other end,
they are possessed by Satan. They perform miracles and after the meeting or
crusade is over, the persons go back to their previous condition. Is this the
work of Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit comes and goes away? No, this was not
done by the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Holy Spirit comes into a person, He
completely changes his life—a change is what God desires; but these so-called Holy
Spirit Bearers neither have a change in their own lives nor do they take any
interest in this. Their motto is eat, drink and be happy. Then where is the
Holy Spirit? He is no where near them. For
a moment, it seems as if there was a general hospital where every disease is
cured. And can you answer me, of these cured people, how many received the
Baptism of Actual Holy Spirit? I today ask these preachers, how many souls have
they truly won for Jesus Christ?
They
have fruitless lives for God. Curing people is not all what God desires; He
wants people to come towards Him with pure hearts. They speak in tongues,
perform miracles, yet their souls are under the possession of evil spirits. They
don’t respect God, Son and the Holy Spirit in a truer sense their women wear
shorts[4] and claim: “Halleluiah,
the Holy Spirit has arrived.” The Holy Bible rightly says: “For even though
they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became
futile in their speculations, and their heart was darkened. Professing to be
wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1: 21-22). Some of them start joking in
churches just to create public interest. So where is the respect that God
expects? And where is that solemnity that God desires: “Guard your steps as you
go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the
sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty
in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God.
For god is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many
words.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3)
In
addition to this, Paul gives us an excellent criterion for judging these people
in Galatians 5:16-25 as: “… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against
such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also
walk by the Spirit.” I will not take this discussion any further as you can
judge this by yourselves—however, any difficulty, offense or misunderstanding arising
out of this discussion can be dealt separately. I am hopeful
that this explanation will serve your purpose and will surely force you to
think it otherwise. May God Bless you all. (Amen).
Brother in Christ,
Jamshed Gill
[1] For
further inquiry see The Inner Vision,
Issue No. 02: Holy Trinity: The Most Controversial Issue.
[2] More
detail is available from The Inner
Vision, Issue No. 10: Who Is Satan?
[3] A
detailed study of this topic is available from Kingdom or Rebeldom: Rejecting Christ.
[4] For more
details, consult The Inner Vision,
Issue No. 17:
CAN WOMEN TEACH OR PREACH THE HOLY GOSPEL?
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