Where In The Bible Will
I Find:
The Holy Spirit Given
Before Baptism?
On the birthday of the
church, Peter along with all the apostles, preached on the day of Pentecost, "...Repent
ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission
of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts
2:38). Sinners are to be led into repentance by the Word of God, and not by the
Spirit entering into their hearts to produce it. This passage plainly expresses
that sinners must repent before they had promise of the Holy Spirit.
Paul tells us that the gospel, the Word of God, is
the power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). He said, "EXCEPT YE
REPENT" no "except the Spirit enters your heart to give you
repentance." The Word of God commands the sinner to repent, and dooms him
if he does not. The doctrine that the Spirit must enter the heart of the sinner
to work repentance nullifies the Word of God and causes the sinner to rest his
soul upon the word and promise of men, and not upon the word and promise of
God.
Men that teach sinners to
expect this, virtually steal away the Word out of their hearts, lest they
should repent and be saved. Peter says "And we are witnesses of these
things; and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey
him" (Acts 5:22). This passage forever settles the question that God
gives His Spirit not to sinners to enable them to obey Him, but to those who
have become obedient. When Cornelius and his house received the Spirit before
baptism it was the miraculous power of the Spirit, just such as came upon the
apostles on the day of Pentecost, and that it had nothing to do with their
conversion in any way, but that it was to bear witness to both Jews and
Gentiles that the Gentiles as well as the Jews were to be partakers in the
blessings of the gospel of Christ, and that this once accomplished, the thing
was never repeated. The Holy Spirit works ONLY through the Word of God, NOT
directly on the sinner.
