The New Testament analogy of the Fish Gate and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

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The Tree of Life
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The New Testament analogy of the Fish Gate and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s note some important principles that are related to the Filling of the Holy Spirit.

Remember that we are noting that there are actually seven salvation ministries of God the Holy Spirit performed for the Church-age believer at the moment of salvation.

We have now established the fact that many of these things have been distorted and twisted by believers, such as tongues, healing, miracles, the baptism of the Spirit, etc.

Yet we have something far greater and more challenging than the blasphemy professed by the emotional crowd.

1. Regeneration which means the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life, TIT 3:5, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

2. The baptism of the Spirit which enters us into union with Christ, Acts 1:5; 1CO 12:13. This is also called retroactive and current positional truth.

Acts 1:5“>ACT 1:5, “for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

3. The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit who indwells our body in order to create a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory, 1CO 6:19-20.

4. The sealing of the Spirit which is our security as royal family in time as well as eternity, and a guarantee of the existence of our escrow blessing, 2CO 1:22; EPH 1:13; EPH 4:30.

5. The distribution of at least one spiritual gift, 1CO 12:11.

6. Efficacious grace; EPH 2:8. /Efficacious means to be capable of producing the desired effect. This is when God the Holy Spirit takes the faith alone in Christ alone of the spiritually dead unbeliever and makes it effective for salvation.

Efficacious grace is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to the believer in Christ, or the work of the Holy Spirit which enables the believer to have an effective faith in Christ as Savior. This is why EPH 2:8 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

EPH 2:9, not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

Without going into all the details, when verse 8 says For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, The word that is a key word in this verse because it is the demonstrative pronoun houtos which is in a neuter gender referring to grace, faith and salvation as all being a gift from God. However, we have to be very careful here because when you say “faith” is a gift, then people get involved with hyper-Calvinism and reject the doctrine of the free will, and that it not what this is teaching.

This is teaching the efficacious grace of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to anyone who responds to Gospel information at the moment the Holy Spirit makes it understandable to them. Remember that the unbeliever is totally depraved so he needs to help in all areas to respond to God. The call of God to believe in Christ comes from God the Holy Spirit making the gospel clear to the unbeliever–common grace. When we hear the Gospel we are spiritually dead. When we believe in Jesus Christ, it is the faith of a spiritually dead person. How can a dead man hear anything? Furthermore, what good is the faith of a spiritually dead person?

The origin of our faith is from a spiritually dead person, and therefore it has no ability in itself. Spiritual death means total inability to do anything by which we can enter into an eternal relationship with God. Therefore, we were totally helpless to procure eternal salvation in our spiritually dead state. But, God the Holy Spirit in His matchless grace comes to our rescue.

First, He makes the Gospel clear to us. This is common grace.

TIT 2:11, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

Secondly, He makes our faith in Christ effectual, giving our faith life, as it were. This is efficacious grace. These two functions of the spiritually dead person are noted in EPH 1:13, In whom also, when you heard [common grace] the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation [content of common grace], in whom also, when you believed [efficacious grace], you were sealed by the Holy Spirit with reference to the promise.

The Holy Spirit put His seal on our efficacious grace, guaranteeing that our non-meritorious faith in Christ is effective for salvation. You are saved by grace through faith alone. Therefore, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in common grace may be regarded as the inhale of the Gospel. While the ministry of the Holy Spirit in efficacious grace may be regarded as the exhale of faith in Jesus Christ. For those who reject the Gospel there is no efficacious grace.

MAT 22:14, “For many are called [the entire human race], but few are chosen [elected become believers].”

This means that both hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus Christ are totally non-meritorious and therefore totally compatible with the grace of God. Efficacious grace then is the work of the Holy Spirit in making faith in Jesus Christ effective for eternal salvation. This is an invitation which is called in the New Testament the calling of God.

God never changes his mind.

ROM 11:29, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God does not revoke His call because He knows that some will not respond. God never changes His mind. He always invites everyone to believe in Christ. So in 2CO 6:1, And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain‑‑

What does he mean by that?

The grace of God refers to three categories;

1. Common grace in which the Holy Spirit makes the gospel understandable.

2. The divine call which is the invitation of God the Father to believe in TLJC.

3. Efficacious grace which is the Holy Spirit making faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ effective for salvation.

Then 2CO 6:2 adds…..and by the way it’s quoted from ISA 49:8, so it is an evangelistic concept that goes back to the Old Testament.

2CO 6:2, for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you; behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.”

So, how did He help us? He said in effect, Behold, now is the acceptable time or the time to accept. But we have to be careful here because someone might think that you have to accept Jesus into your heart! But that’s not what it says. It is true there is an acceptance that takes place before salvation but that is accepting the information that God the Holy Spirit has presented. That’s the doctrine of common grace. However, if a person receives the information, he still does not have the faith to believe and therefore God the Holy Spirit takes the faith of the spiritually dead person and makes it effectual. And that’s the acceptance that takes place before salvation.

JOH 1:12, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name,

The spiritual death of mankind makes it necessary for the grace of God to function on our behalf. At the point of hearing the Gospel, the unbeliever is spiritually dead which means he cannot understand the Gospel. He has no ability as a spiritually dead person to comprehend spiritual things and that includes the Gospel. There are two reasons why the unbeliever cannot understand spiritual information.

1. Spiritual death at birth which is total depravity, total separation from God and total helplessness.

2. Because mankind is born dichotomous which means that he has a physical body and a soul but no human spirit.

In fact, the dichotomous status of mankind is described in JUD 1:19, These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly‑minded, devoid of the spirit. Worldly-minded is the word psuchikoi means soulish-persons. The adjectivepsuchikos is used then to describe the dichotomous state of each one of us when we were unbelievers.

1CO 2:14, But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised or because things are only understood in a spiritual manner.

Therefore, the spiritual death of the unbeliever as a dichotomous being with an old sin nature makes perception of the gospel totally impossible. We are totally helpless to understand any phase of the gospel. As Elihu said in JOB 32:8, “But it is a spirit in man [that is a human spirit], And the Spirit of the Almighty [God the Holy Spirit] gives them understanding [perception].”

There we have it, the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. Without a human spirit the individual cannot be led and guided by God.

ROM 8:16, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our [human] spirit that we are children of God,

Now, this means that only the believer in TLJC as Royal family is a trichotomous being.

We are said to be body, soul and spirit, as believers.

1TH 5:23, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, before salvation we have a body and a soul, we are dichotomous. And at the moment we personally believe in TLJC, God the Holy Spirit actually creates a human spirit or a pneuma. And in that pneuma God the Father actually imputed eternal life. We call the creation of the human spirit regeneration or being born-again.

JOH 3:5-7, Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Therefore we are now body, soul and spirit. We have soul life and eternal life. Soul life is human life. Eternal life is God’s life.

1JO 5:12, He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

So we have the principle then that the unbeliever in spiritual death has no human spirit therefore spiritual death demands an act of grace on the part of God the Holy Spirit. And in that act of grace, the Holy Spirit functions as a human spirit when we hear the gospel message. This is common grace.

So, the gracious ministry of God the Holy Spirit actually begins before salvation.

a. Common grace

b. The divine call

c. Efficacious grace

7. The final ministry of the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit is The filling of the Holy Spirit, EPH 5:18. The substance of the New is greater that the shadow of the Old because the New Testament believer is given the filling of the Spirit which is the first “power” option in the Christian life. The reason why we say it is an option is simply because you must make a decision to be filled with the Spirit. It is your choice or option.

The filling of the Spirit is the second problem solving device for the execution of the PPOG. The positive command concerning the filling of the Spirit is found in EPH 5:18.

EPH 5:18, Stop being intoxicated with wine by which is dissipation [a lifestyle of self-absorption to try and solve the problems of life], but keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, the substance of the filling of the Spirit is a positive command and the major difference between the old ministry of God the Holy Spirit and the new ministry of the Spirit for the Church-age.

So, the filling of the Holy Spirit is recovery through rebound adjustment to the justice of God, PRO 1:23; 1JO 1:9. It’s as easy as simply naming and citing your sins to God and the way that you deal with failure, guilt and sin. For the believer who fails it is extremely important that he not only knows how to deal with sin but also the guilt that accompanies sin. As David says in PSA 32:1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

PSA 32:2-5, “How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent {about my sin}, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away {as} with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah.”

Sin has been dealt with once and for all as the shadow of the cross became a reality when TLJC became the substance fulfilled by the phrase in JOH 19:30, it is finished. However, forgiveness of sin has always been the same in the Old Testament as it is in he New Testament, through words (PRO 1:23; JER 3:13; HOS 14:2). It’s as easy as simply naming and citing your sins to God. There is no real and true metabolization of doctrine until there is rebound and the filling of the Spirit. You may learn some principles of truth while you are out of fellowship but it will simply be gnosis and not epignosis or knowledge which puffs up instead of epignosis which edifies.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit relates to the body of the believer, while the filling of the Holy Spirit relates to the soul of the believer. It is the filling of the Holy Spirit that has to do with your spiritual life. The filling of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation by God the Holy Spirit entering us into our very own pre-designed plan from God. The enabling power of the Spirit inside the PPOG is called the filling of the Spirit in EPH 5:18, and walking by means of the Spirit in GAL 5:16. During the dispensation of the hypostatic union, our Lord’s humanity was sustained by the filling of the Holy Spirit. This was prophesied in the old testament.

ISA 11:2, And the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] of the Lord [God the Father] will rest on Him [Jesus Christ], the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and occupation with Jehovah [God the Father].

ISA 42:1, Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one {in whom} My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

The fulfillment of this prophecy is declared in JOH 3:34, For He [God the Holy Spirit] whom God [the Father] has sent speaks the doctrines from God; for He does not give the Spirit by measure.

During the first advent, our Lord’s humanity was filled with the Spirit as a part of the doctrine of impeccability.

Our Lord also prophesied in JOH 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14 that the disciples would have the Holy Spirit to teach them when the Church-age began.

Our love for God the Holy Spirit begins when we begin to learn how the first power option (the filling of the Spirit) that has been given to us is the same power option that sustained our Lord on the Cross.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is the basis for the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, JOH 14:26; JOH 16:12-14; 1CO 2:9-16; 1JO 2:27.

The believer is guided by God only while filled with the Holy Spirit, ROM 8:14-16.

The filling of the Spirit is the only true function of worship for the Royal Family of God (the Church), JOH 4:24, Philippians 3:3.

Another result of the filling of the Holy Spirit is effectiveness in the believer’s production, including witnessing, Acts 1:8, and prayer, EPH 6:18.

The filling of the Holy Spirit also means partnership with the divine nature, 2PE 1:4.

Our partnership with Christ as Royal Family only functions when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, PHI 2:1-2, If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.