Do you believe Paul got saved when, as Acts 9:17 says, Ananias was put his hands on him so that Paul ‘mightest…be filled with the Holy Ghost, which is who we receive at the moment of salvation?
I need to clarify my beliefs from scripture because I do not see things as you wrote here.
Acts 9:17
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, 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.
In Acts 9:17, being filled with the Holy Ghost does not mean that the Holy Ghost came into Paul because the Holy Ghost came into Paul already, at the moment he trusted Christ in Acts 9:6, the moment that Paul trusted Christ as His Lord!
Acts 9:6a
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do...
Here we see that in Acts 9:6, Paul trusts Jesus of Nazareth as his Lord, the exact thing that a Jew in that day had to do to be saved.
Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So we see that Paul did exactly what was required of a Jew to be saved.
But how do we know for sure that the Holy Ghost came to live in Paul at that moment and not when Ananias spoke with him? Well, Paul tells us in his epistles that the moment that we trust Christ the Spirit of God both comes into us and seals us!
Ephesians 1:13-14
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, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Notice here that at the moment we trust Christ, God the Holy Ghost comes and seals us, that is, he comes to reside with us in the same way that when we purchase a house we give the sellers a non-refundable earnest deposit as proof of our desire to buy the house. He says it again later in chapter 4, and also in 2 Corinthians 1...
Ephesians 4:30
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
2 Corinthians 1:220
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Paul says it again in the book of Romans...how that the Holy Ghost came when we trusted Christ!
Romans 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
As you study the context of this verse, you see that Paul is talking about our justification, or the moment we trust Christ's shed blood for our sins and are declared righteous by God.
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
So we see that the moment we trust Christ, we receive the Holy Ghost.
But if that is true, then what is going on in Acts 9:17, when Ananias tells Paul to be filled with the Holy Ghost?
Again when studying scripture, context is everything! So let's look at the context of the verse by looking at the verses around it.
Acts 9:17-22
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, 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. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
Notice here in the context, after receiving the Holy Ghost, Paul was able to speak God's word with power! So much so that it says that he confounded the Jews with his preaching. So now we get a glimpse of what the bible means when it say to be "filled with the Holy Ghost."
In the bible, being filled with the Holy Ghost is associated with speaking the words that the spirit of God wants you to speak!!!
Look at other examples...
Luke 1:41-42, 67
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the holy ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
On the day of Pentecost the same thing happened to the 12 Apostles of Israel...but notice how it is associated with God's word!
Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
When these men were filled, they spoke God's Word...
Acts 2:5-11
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 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.
Notice again, these Jewish apostles were speaking God's words to the other Jews who were in Jerusalem for the feast day.
Acts 2:22a; 4:8, 31; 13:9-10
Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together ; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Then Saul, [who also is called Paul] filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Lastly, even though these references were all written to Israel by their writer, Luke, in the books of Luke and Acts, even Paul, our apostle says the same thing to us in his epistles...
Ephesians 5:18-19
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Hear we see that our Apostle Paul is speaking to believers, people who were already saved, who already had the Holy Spirit as we saw earlier in the book in chapter 1:13! So Paul is telling believers who already have the Holy Spirit living in them to be "filled" with him as well, that is, speaking (v. 19)!
So we see that whether it was concerning the Jews, or even with us gentiles today, being filled with the Holy Ghost does not mean receiving the Holy Ghost, but the ability to speak the Words that the Holy Ghost wants you to speak!
Hopefully this helps !
†††
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do you have a question
for Pastor Ron?
No comments:
Post a Comment