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NASB | Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:39 "For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far away [including the Gentiles], as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself." [Is 57:19; Joel 2:32] |
Subject: Holy Spirit / Tongues for Today? |
Bible Note: Hi, Huron! I think that the distinction of water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit is only a matter of later generations of Christians... if we follow closely the early Church we must see that whenever there was one the other soon followed... it was indispensable for Christians to simply do without either! I think the root concern is to identify the reason for Pentecost and the mini/semi Pentecosts that would follow... it wasn't a mandate that Christians would speak in strange tongues! The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in signs such as the rumblings and the tongues of fire and the demonstration of an enhanced ability (speaking in tongues) is simply that... a demonstration; a tool to gather both Believers and non-believers about the Apostles and disciples... Notice that there is a difference between Pentecost's revelations and Paul's admonishions: Peter and the others spoke or seemed to be speaking in the various languages of those present during the actual incident... while Paul is speaking about strange tongues or languages not discernable to the human mind--languages that have their originins and their afinity in God! What I have tried to clarify is that when the Believers are baptizedthe, the Holy Spirit will not always be manifested by the signs of strange languages or multilingual ability of those baptized; yet, Christians are baptized in the Holy Spirit and receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, this includes the ability to speak in tongues--this will not cease till the end of times because the Holy Spirit was given to the Church to teach Her and guide Her to the fullness of truth and God's Gifts are perpetual (they will accomplish God's Will by assisting man's limitations throughout the ends of time)... Recap: Manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a manner similar to Pentecost--not necessary once Christians are aware of Hi presence... The ability of Christians to speak in tongues--it is part of the Holy Spirit's Gifts and He will detemine who, what, where, when, and how often and to what degree Christians are to become cognizant of them and practitioners of them. Again I refer you to Paul's words... his concern was not so much that Christians spoke in strange languages... his concern was that Christians aspired for those Gifts that would serve to edify the Church... We get so caught up in this issue that we miss the whole exercise completely: speaking in tongues is only of benefit to the person who is speaking (unless there is an interpreter and the matter must deal directly with the edification of the Body of Christ, not some personal revelation about a particular individual/s)... God Bless! Angel |