Extreme Teachings in the Church
There are some extreme teachings in the church today. When I speak of the church, I am not
speaking of any particular group or denomination. I am speaking of the church world as a
whole.
I began my ministry as a denominational preacher, and I know what that particular
denomination teaches. And I have been among Full Gospel people for a great number of years
now, and I know what they teach.
I have found that we have extreme teaching that is
unscriptural, even among Pentecostals.
Does One Receive the Fullness of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth?
The denominational church that I belonged to taught me that if you are born again, then you
have the Holy Ghost — and you have all the Holy Ghost there is to have.
They are partly right,
but mostly wrong in that assertion.
They are right in that if you are born again, you do have the Holy Ghost because there is a
work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 3:5-8; Rom. 8:16).
It is the Holy Spirit who imparts eternal life to the unregenerated spirit of the sinner (Titus 3:5-
7).
It is the Holy Spirit who recreates the sinner's spirit and makes him a new creature in Christ
Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with the spirit of the born-again one
that he is a child of God (Rom. 8:16).
But this is not the same as the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), or the enduement of power
from on High, even though the Holy Spirit is present in the life of the born-again believer.
Jesus illustrated the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation for us very beautifully in the Gospel of
John. In chapter 4, Jesus was talking to the woman of Samaria at the well about salvation.
Salvation: The Well of Water
JOHN 4:13,14
13 ... Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of THE WATER that I shall give him shall never thirst; but
THE WATER that I shall give him shall be in him A WELL OF WATER springing up into
EVERLASTING LIFE.
Here we see that Jesus was speaking of the well of water or the work of the Holy Spirit in
salvation. Jesus referred to salvation as the well of water.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Rivers of Living Waters
In the following verses, Jesus was talking about the rivers of living water which characterize
the work of the Holy Spirit in the infilling or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
JOHN 7:37-39
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS
OF LIVING WATER.
39 (But this spake he of THE SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should receive; for
the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
The water in both John 4:13,14 and John 7:37-39 is a type of the Holy Ghost.
But notice that
two different experiences are mentioned: salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
First, to the woman at the well of Samaria, Jesus said, ". . . the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a WELL OF WATER springing up into EVER-LASTING LIFE" (John 4:14). This is
referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation or the new birth. In John 7:37-39, the
reference is to "rivers of living water." Jesus said, ". . . out of his belly [or innermost being] shall
flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). This is referring to the experience of the infilling of the
Holy Ghost in the life of the born-again child of God.
FFT: WELL OF WATER; signifies the Holy Spirit at salvation. RIVERS OF LIVING WATER; signifies the Holy Spirit in baptismal measure.
ACTION POINT: Press for more of the Holy Spirit!
INTERACTIVE SESSION: Describe the function of the Holy Spirit at salvation and the function of the Holy Spirit in baptismal measure? (in the comment section below)
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