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NASB | Acts 19:2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 19:2 He asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [in Jesus as the Christ]?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." |
Subject: How do you know you have the Holy Ghost? |
Bible Note: You say; 1) Neither "a close relationship with Him (God)" nor our obedience can save us. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Rom 3:28; Eph 2:8-9; John 5:24). (Answer) Scripture tells us that Abraham was declared righteous because he believed, and obeyed God. Abraham certainly had a close relationship with God, because God spoke to him, and Abraham obeyed him. (Romans 4:9) Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. God chose us, because he loved us. If this is not a close relationship that God desires from those he chooses, then I do not know what would be? Before we knew God or Jesus, God had already chosen those who would receive the grace to become sons of God. 1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Grace is the working of the Holy Spirit in ones life You say; 2) Salvation is conditioned solely on faith in Jesus Christ. Nearly 200 times faith, or belief, is stated as THE SINGLE CONDITION in the NT (John 1:12; Acts 16:31). (Answer) The faith needed, to believe in grace to save, was also given by God to those whom he chose to become sons. It is not our measure of faith that brings grace, for it to be so it would cause us to be able to boast in our own achievement of attaining grace through our own self actions. Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. So to believe that my self willed faith in Jesus Christ will save me is not enough. If God has not given the measure of faith to believe, then your faith is not acceptable You say; 3) A close relationship with God and obedience are the RESULT, not the CAUSE of salvation. (Answer) Are you then saying that through some endeavour of our own we can have a close relationship with God which results in salvation. There is nothing we can do to bring about a result of being saved. Shall we say then that the rich young man, who was obedient to the keeping of all the commandments, and so believed he had a close relationship with God, resulted in him being saved? No it didn’t, because the cause for salvation is following the sacrifice for salvation, Jesus Christ. Then there was the ones who believed they were prophesying, casting out demons, and doing many wonderful works, in Jesus name. The result of all their works was not salvation, but condemnation. However, according to your premise, that a close relationship and obedience should have resulted in these people attaining salvation, did not happen. To look for the result rather than the cause, is putting the cart before the horse. Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. The cause for being saved has already been implemented by God, and so no result of man’s endeavour can bring it to fruition. The result of being saved, is righteousness being seen, by the fruits of the Spirit shining forth from the individual. You say; 4) The phrase "living in sin" occurs nowhere in either the KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB, or NKJV. (Answer) Living in sin was not my expression. I was just making the point that if one has been saved, it is saved from sin by Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:21) To carry on declaring I am a sinner, but I’m saved, is a contradictory statement. If I am saved, what am I saved from if I do not believe my old life of sin has disappeared. Bartay |