Bible Question: Is the phrase, "born again christian" and "Spirit filled christian" mean the same thing? |
Bible Answer: They have to - the Holy Spirit does not reside in the temple of Baal. He resides in temples that have been prepared for Him - us. To be born again is to be "spirit-filled." The term "spirit-filled" comes out of alot of crappy interpretation. (I originally used theology for interpretation, but had to replace it with the latter. The whole "spirit-filled" movement is the result of a lack of knowledge of God, not a Theo-ology, or knowledge of God. The ideas presented are that you can "leak" needing refilling. How absurd - can God wane in power? Is He waiting on us to get cleaned-up enough before He saves us? But, mainly, "spirit-filled" is in reference to the Apostolic confirmation of a believer. Spirit-filled, in the Bible anyway, refers to the gifts of ministry given by the Holy Spirit - everybody who is born again is equipped for whatever task God has called them to. If He sends you to hoe, you get a hoe. If He sends you to plant, He gives you a sack of seed. The ability to speak in foreign languages is the "filling" of the Spirit(Acts 2:4), then Peter's boldness before Sanhedrin to speak the truth (go read it, I doubt any man "in the natural" could speak those things. Acts 4:31-"And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." But Colossians 1:9 sums it up nicely - "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" This filling is for equipping - being filled with knowledge equips you to resist temptation, do good works, proclaim the truth in hostile scenarios, remain steadfast and sure, et. al. |