Indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ - Word and Spirit

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63. The indwelling holy spirit is the indwelling of the Spirit Word of Christ.

See how the Spirit Word and Mind often mean the same thing.

See another Mind Spirit Parallel

THE proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; Proverbs 1:1 this one
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; Proverbs 1:2
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; Proverbs 1:3
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. Proverbs 1:4

There is ONLY ONE God. Our Lord (Jehovah) is the ONLY Elohim (god). Therefore, when God works withing the visible or audible world He "sends" His WORDS projected by His Breath of Spirit. Because NO MAN can stand between God and Man, God send His ARM or RIGHT ARM.

Paul envisions Christ as on HIS throme. He LAYS ASIDE His majesty and glory like garments and lays them down. He then takes on attributes of "a body prepared for me" to make visible His invisible, incomprehensible nature:

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his ARM brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. Is.59:16

THESE words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: Jn.17:1

For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. Isaiah 59:17

According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. Isaiah 59:18

Here is the nature of the "spirit" which would REST on Jesus at His baptism:

So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Isaiah 59:19

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. Isaiah 59:20

As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. Isaiah 59:21

The Bible personifies THOUGHT, Truth and Spirit:

For the WORD of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in TRUTH. Psa 33:4

By the WORD of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the BREATH of his MOUTH. Psa 33:6

Mouth: Peh (h6310) peh; from 6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing)

Breath is SPIRIT: Ruwach (h7307) roo'-akh, roo'-akh; from 7306; wind; by resemblance breath... by resemblance SPIRIT, but only of a rational being (includ. its EXPRESSION and FUNCTIONS)

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:1

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isa 11:2

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isa 11:3 ]

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: Proverbs 1:5

To understand a proverb, and the interpretation;
........... the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. Proverbs 1:6

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:
........... but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

My son, hear the instruction of thy father,

and forsake not the law of thy mother: Proverbs 1:8
For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head,
and chains about thy neck. Proverbs 1:9

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Proverbs 1:11

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: Proverbs 1:12

We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Proverbs 1:13
........... Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: Proverbs 1:14

My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: Proverbs 1:15
........... For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Proverbs 1:16

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. Proverbs 1:17

And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. Proverbs 1:18

So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. Proverbs 1:19

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: Proverbs 1:20

She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, Proverbs 1:21

How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:22

Turn you at my reproof: behold,

I will pour out my spirit unto you,
I will make known my words unto you. Proverbs 1:23

Because I have called, and ye refused;
............ I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; Pr 1:24

But ye have set at nought all my counsel,
............ and would none of my reproof: Pr 1:25

I also will laugh at your calamity;
............ I will mock when your fear cometh; Pr 1:26

And Jesus said without a doubt:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63

"Holy" means "pure." Therefore, as Holy Spirit God is "wholly" Spirit and does not have flesh and bones. As a result, whatever God "speaks" is PURE or HOLY Spirit in nature. Jesus validated "Sonship" by speaking only what he heard from the "Father." The FATHER and SPIRIT were with or within Jesus when He spoke. The Father as "thought" and the Son as "word" and the Spirit as "breath" is a parable because FULL DEITY dwelled in Jesus Christ.

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Jn.16:32

Only as holy (wholly) Spirit could "Jesus of Nazareth" speak to the designated apostles. This is because as "Father, Son and Spirit" they would hear the THOUGHT in their own minds and therefore believe it. They, in turn, would speak as SONS of God:

		I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. John 8:26	-	-
-	-	They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. John 8:27		-
-		Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man,		-
-	-	then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John 8:28		-
		And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do alway those things that please him. Jn.8:29	-	-

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. Jn. 12:49

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Jn 12:50

The gift OF a holy spirit is the "clear conscience' or CO-perception which Peter said that we REQUEST at baptism (1 Peter 3:21).

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 1 Jn 5:19

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 1 Jn. 5:20

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63

Our initial response to the gospel where BAPTISM is the first obedience to the Spirit's direct command is absolutely necessary because even to trivialize baptism is to trivialize the COUNSEL of a Holy Spirit God:

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; Proverbs 1:24

But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: Proverbs 1:25

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; Proverbs 1:26

Sachaq (h7832) saw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by impl. to play: - deride, have in derision, laugh, make merry, mock (-er), play, rejoice, (laugh to) scorn, be in (make) sport.

This was the Rising Up to Play which was musical idolatry at Mount Sinai. Triumph over was what Judas would try to do to Jesus (Psalm 41)

"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

Leag (h3932) law-ag'; a prim. root; to deride; by impl. (as if imitating a foreigner) to speak unintelligibly: - have in derision, laugh (to scorn), mock (on), stammering.

Those who accept Christ as their Messiah did not debate baptism:

And all the people that heard him (gladly received his Word), and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Luke 7:29

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, being not baptized of him. Luke 7:30

When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Proverbs 1:27

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: Proverbs 1:28

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: Proverbs 1:29

They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Proverbs 1:30

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. Proverbs 1:31

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. Proverbs 1:32

And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Rev 18:14

And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22

But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Proverbs 1:33

The one extreme of seeing the Bible itself as "the only Holy Spirit you will ever get" led to the other extreme of wanting a Calvinistic direct operation of the indwelling holy Spirit upon the mind to give proof when faith no longer works. This led to the extreme formulated by H. Leo Boles as a form of tritheism quite identical to the triad godheads of the ancient Sumerians or Akkadians. His views are reviewed here. One copy-cat writer insisted that the modern doctrine of the Trinity (not supported by the early "fathers.") is correct because all of the pagan religions had a triad of gods!

The more modern views which fell in step with the 19th century liberal view of God, which Paul Tillich identified as heresy, are almost always a rehash of H. Leo Boles published by the Gospel Advocate. These views are also couched in the "sermon outline" approach which determines the outcome of the book or sermon and then fills in the blanks with quite-unrelated partial or fragments of verses.

Please note that I don't write novels. Therefore, the following notes have no "beginning, ending and middle." This is commentary and resource material to be used any way you wish.

---

Walter Scott will be called as our first witness to agree with the almost-universal early view:

Walter Scott, Christian Baptist, Feb 1827, defines Spirit According to the Greek language

"Again--Some will say, What does the expression Holy Spirit mean? Well, in scripture
it stands first for God the Holy Spirit,
and secondly for the holy mind or spirit of a believer--

or illustration, take Peter's words to Ananias,
"Why has Satan tempted you to lie to the Holy Spirit;
you have not lied to men, but to God," (the Holy Spirit.)

And the Saviour says, How much more will your heavenly Father give a holy spirit (as it should be translated) to those that ask him. Again--Praying in a holy spirit. Again--Paul says he approved himself God's servant "by knowledge, by long sufferings, by kindness, by a holy spirit'" by a mind innocent of the love of gain, or commerce, or sensuality.

"How then the expression stands for both God the Holy Spirit, and for a believer's spirit made holy by him.

"I shall now answer, from scripture, the following questions.--When do we know that we are born of the Spirit?
........... I answer, when we know that our spirits are holy.

But it will be asked again, when do we know this?
............ I reply, when we behold our minds
............ producing the fruits of a holy spirit.

But what are the fruits of a holy spirit? Paul says they are joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance, against such there is no (written) law.

This is the nature of the Spirit of the Lord which would rest upon Jesus Christ:

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:1

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isa 11:2

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isa 11:3 ]

These are fruits of Christ

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; Ph 1:9

That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Ph 1:10

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.Ph.1:11

"Now, reader, let us return to God and holiness, for without it no one shall see his face--and believe me that a disputatious mind is not holy mind--an intemperate, unmeek, or unfaithful spirit is not a holy spirit--neither is one that does not practise goodness, and gentleness, end long suffering, and peace--neither the mind that does not love, or does not rejoice in Jesus. Ye cavillers, ye conceited: few, who boast of your scriptural knowledge; but whose spirits, nevertheless, cannot move even the elements of the heavenly oracles, let me whisper to you a secret, that the kingdom of heaven is not so much in an abundant knowledge, as in an abundant spirit of righteousness, peace and holy joy.

Walter Scott agrees with almost all early church fathers who always repudiated the notion of cutting God into three people. And David grasped the fact:

Turn Thy face from my sins. Blot out mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew A right spirit in my inward parts.
........... Cast me not away from Thy face,

and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation,
and establish me with Thy princely spirit." [Ps. 51 7-12.]

Jesus connected Spirit and Truth through His Word:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:
and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Psa 51:6

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psa 51: 7

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Psa 51: 8

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Psa 51: 9

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psa 51: 10

Cast me not away from thy presence;
............ and take not thy holy spirit from me. Psa 51: 11

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
............ and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psa 51: 12

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
............ and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Psa 51: 13

The Book of Jubilees, Chapter One reads:

And the Lord said unto Moses: 'I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess

23 their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul,

and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed,

and I will create in them A holy spirit,

and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.

24 And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My

25 commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall be My children.

And they all shall be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know, yea, they shall know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that

26 I love them. And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell

27 with them throughout eternity.'

Obedience to the Will of God is both the test of SONSHIP and of A holy spirit.

---

Alexander Campbell

Contrary to the false charges, Alexander Campbell did not say that "the Holy Spirit as a personal being separated from the one God works only through the Word." He knew, along with most protestants, that the holy Spirit is, as both Hebrew and Greek demands, the holy Mind or mental disposition of God Who is the One Spirit (1 Cor 2.)

"And with respect to the Holy Spirit, they believe that he is the 'Spirit of God,' the 'Comforter,' the 'Spirit of Christ,' who spoke by the prophets and apostles, filling them with divine wisdom and power; and that he is 'the gift of God,' by whose presence they are rendered 'temples of the living God,' and 'sanctified,' 'renewed,' and saved." (Alexander Campbell, Mill Harb, 1854)

"The Spirit is present in his Word, and we hear him in our hearts when his Word is in us and moves us.

Only in and through (by the means of) his Word does the Spirit dwell in us, speak to us, impel and control us." (Ibid p 510)

Campbell knew that it would be impossible for the personal God Spirit to live within the carnal human body (an incarnation) and still give the body freedom to sin.

---

The following views are a companion article to the new birth Jesus described to Nicocemus. First we will briefly review this event and then look at how the "gift of the Holy Spirit" or indwelling of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled by acquiring the mind of Christ which Paul insisted is the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2).

Clement of Alexandria noted that:

For the image of God is His Word, the genuine Son of Mind,
the Divine Word, the archetypal light of light; and the image of the Word is the true man,

the mind which is in man, who is therefore said to have been made "in the image and likeness of God," assimilated to the Divine Word in the affections of the soul, and therefore rational;

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Gen 1:26

In His triumphal entry, Jesus said that He was on the way to abrogate the Old Law. This was because Israel refused to learn and follow God's Covenant, the Law was added because of transgression, and it was time to free the Jews from the bondage of sacrificial clergy. Only those who "accepted the will of God for their lives" would be regenerated in a Spiritual sense by letting the "I can do it myself" spirit die and becoming regenerated in mind by the Mind of Christ. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be forn again:

Nicodemus saith unto him,
........... How can a man be born when he is old?
........... can he enter the second time into his mothers womb,
........... and be born? John 3:4

One who is born is generated and then brought forth: one who is born again is regenerated and brought forth again. This uniquely happens when we die in connection with Christ's death and are resurrected to a new life dedicated to the mind or spirit. In Romans 6, Paul called this a "form of doctrine." That is, it is a visible imitation of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Nicodemus understood that he had been born physically and that Jesus seemed to be saying that he needed to be born in a physical sense a second time.

No, Jesus said, a man (already born) must be (future tense) born in a different way. One, like Nicdemus, who had been born of amniotic fluid must be born again of water and of spirit. Look at the sequence:

First, in anticipation of the power that should come when Christ had paid the price, died, ascended and returned as "another comforter" on the day of Pentecost, the Jews must be baptized to express repentance for their sins:

And all the people that heard him (gladly received his Word), and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Luke 7:29

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, being not baptized of him. Luke 7:30

The baptized Jews had to repent and be baptized. This would remit their sins but they would not be in the kingdom because the kingdom had not yet come with power: the least in the kingdom would be more privileged than even John the Baptist.

Second, To get into a new kingdom it is not just enough to want to be a citizen. One must die to their old country, do what the new citizenship demands such as swearing allegiance and then be inducted or added to the new country. Before Pentecost, Nicodemus wanted to know how he could be born again of water and the spirit.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man (existing even in the physical realm)
............ be born of water and
............ of the Spirit,
............ he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5

Jesus didn't ask Nicodemus to be baptized to enter that new kingdom because it had not come with power.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Eph 5:25

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Ep.5:26

Third, Jesus told the people that the kingdom would come while they still lived:

AND he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Mark 9:1

Fourth, The power came on the day of Pentecost when Peter used the "keys of the kingdom" to tell people how to be transformed and inducted into that kingdom by Christ the Spirit. First, however, he delivered to them the word of life:

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you

in the name of Jesus Christ (Now as pure or Holy Spirit John 14:16-18)
............for the remission of sins, and
............ ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
............ (the gift which Christ the Spirit gives.)

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day
there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41

Of course, those who rejected his word were not baptized.

The following Table shows some parallels:

Fifth, people "far away" in the literal sense in Ephesus had received the baptism of John but there still was no sign of Apostolic power. People were still following John and hand not heard that the kingdom had come:

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism (in water) of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Acts 19:4

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts 19:5

They still needed this new faith verified and:

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Acts 19:6

This was a supernatural sign of the validity of the gospel and of Paul as the primary prophet. A prophet repeats exactly what he has heard from God. A secondary prophet or one who prophesies repeats exactly what the Apostle has revealed to him. By repeating this message in a language which they had not learned they becaue the sign but not of their own power.

No man eve spoke in tongues outside of the arm's reach of an apostle.

No woman ever spoke in true tongues in an apostle's presence or outside of their presence.

This eleminates tongues as a sign of the power of the tongue speaker.

These men didn't speak gibberish: they spoke in languages of the province and "to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office: - prophesy." We know that Paul's work was not to the "city" but to the whole province.

The act was reveal inspired information.
The method was in various languages.

Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue for three months persuading the people concerning the kingdom of God.

But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them (the synagogue), and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. Acts 19:9

And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Acts 19:10

So, the theme of speaking in tongues is complete: God speaks to men in strange languages which, if they understood Isaiah, meant that their own kingdom was tumbling down and a new kingdom was coming to power.

The kingdom and its message was taken away from the Jews and given to another. This was the sign of speaking in tongues. From Scripture we don't know of any other tongue speaking event. Therefore, it was a sign to the unbelievers that their kingdom had ended and a sign to the Godfearers that the new kingdom had come with power. Speaking in tongues had nothing to do with salvation.

True Spirit Power Through the Word of God

Now, back up again to understand that the good news is also bad news to some.

Mark begins the gospel of Jesus Christ by explaining the baptism administered by John the Baptist and Jesus through His disciples. While God's "kingdom" exists wherever God is, in its earthly or empowered sense John is now in the kingdom as the church as He exists in the hearts of individual believers.

Again, looking backward and recording history, Luke wrote:

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Luke 7:28

And all the people that heard him (gladly received his Word), and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Luke 7:29

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, being not baptized of him. Luke 7:30

Therefore, baptism explained by Luke in Acts means the same thing as his explanation of baptism in the book of Luke. The difference, is that John's baptism looked forward to and accepted the name or authority of Christ; the baptism after Christ's resurrection, ascension and returned as pure or Holy Spirit accepted His authority as proven and the indwelling holy Spirit power now available.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16

If rejecting baptism is the cause of being damned then understand that it is not rejecting the dip in water which judges: it is "rejecting the counsel of God for their lives."

Does Jesus never judge nor condemn? Yes, indeed, He does. Those who refuse to get in the "path" God has predestinated for the saved to walk in, are not elected by God and He condemns as Paul asks:

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth. Romans 8:33

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Romans 8:34

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 8:12

And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. Matthew 8:13

Here, faith accomplishes nothing until Jesus accepts it.

Because the gift of the Spirit followed baptism, it cannot mean that baptism is of Spirit rather than of water.

And we know that baptism was in literal water because before Pentecost John baptized where there was "much water" or many springs, and after Pentecost Philip baptized the Eunuch when he said, "See, here is water, what hinders me from being baptized." They both went down into (eis) the water, Philip baptized him and they both came up out of the water.

The Invisible, Inward Kingdom of God

Christ promised that He as (Father-Son-Spirit) would dwell within as people kept His commandments. This "spirit of" is also called the Spirit of Truth. In prophecy this was never the indwelling of a member of the "God family" in a literal sense; it was the indwelling of the spirit as "mental disposition" defined by words such as wisdom and knowledge.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said,

The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Luke 17:20
Neither shall they say, Lo here or, lo there! for,
behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21

No pseudo-apostle can ever say that the kingdom of God has not come into the lives of those to whom the kingdom has been given because he does not have power to see the invisible.

This is why Jesus said that worship doesn't take place in a physical "place" (even in church assembly) but in the spirit or mind or innermost being:

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. John 4:21

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father

in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23

John was in his own Spirit as he worshiped on the Lord's day:

I was in the Spirit on the Lords day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Re.1:10

To ask for a literal Holy Spirit indwelling is almost always accompanied by a rejection of Christ's clear statement that His Spirit or mental disposition is resident in His Words. If God cannot transfer Spirit or Mind through the written word then how can one believe that He does it by some secret antenna in the brain? Indeed, one way to justify God is to believe that the words of Jesus were the words of full Deity.

What is Spirit

It is tempting to pull out certain words of Scripture and make the idea into a "god." Since the nineteenth century, the "Holy Spirit" concept has been made into one third of the Godhead -- the god of this the "dispensation of the Holy Spirit." This may be the result of God sending strong delusions to those who do not love the truth of God. By trying to construct a visible image of God as a "family" we may indeed be guilty of idolatry.

Until the neo-Pentecostal move from the backwoods to uptown in the sixties, the "Spirit" was commonly held to be that part or mental disposition of God Who is pure or Holy Spirit. Furthermore, as God's extension into the human mind, the Spirit was understood to be the Mind of Christ bound up in His words. That is what Jesus said!

Now, let's pretend that you are guilt of capital murder. The testimony and attitude of the witnesses indwells the jury. They go into the jury room and distill the evidence and a "spirit of the jury" develops. They put that "spirit" down on a piece of paper. They return to the court room and the one word is read. Is it "guilty" or "not guilty?"

If the single word on paper is "not guilty," you walk out of the court room empowered by the spirit of the jury.

If the word is "guilty," then after due process they strap you in a chair and shock you until you are dead or put a bullet into your heart.

They kill you and most of society looks on with approval.
Did that single word have any power? Yes, of course.
Now, is God less powerful than a jury of frail humanity? You be the judge.

Take a look at the common meaning of spirit among the Greek classical scholars who used the word spirit to define the mental disposition of the jury:

"And another thing you have to remember: today your fellow citizens as a body have put the city and the constitution into your hands as a solemn trust. Some of them are present, listening to this case; others are absent, busy with their personal affairs. Respect them therefore, and remember the oaths which you have sworn, and the laws; and if I convict Ctesiphon of having made a motion that is illegal, false, and injurious to the state, annul the illegal motion, fellow citizens; confirm the democratic government for our state; punish those whose policies are opposed to the laws and to your interests.

If in this spirit you listen to the words which are about to be spoken, I am sure that your verdict will be just, faithful to your oath, and salutary alike to yourselves and to the commonwealth. (Aeschines Against Ctesiphon, 3.8)

Antiphon described body and flesh exactly as did Paul

"Rest assured that I should never have come to Athens, had such a crime been on my conscience. I am here, as it is, because I have faith in justice, the most precious ally of the man who has no deed of sin upon his conscience and who has committed no transgression against the gods.

"Often at such an hour as this,
............ when the body has given up the struggle,
............ its salvation is the spirit,
............ which is ready to fight on in the conscience that it is innocent.

"On the other hand, he whose conscience is guilty has
............ no worse enemy than that conscience;
............ for his spirit fails him which his body is still unwearie
............ because it feels that what is approaching him
............ is the punishment of his iniquities.
............ But it is with no such guilty conscience that I come before you.
............ (Antiphon On the murder or Herodes 5.93)

Paul used the same imagery to contrast his body and his spirit:

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.	THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;	who walk not after the flesh,
but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:25	but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1

An indwelling holy spirit is contrasted to spirit of or mental disposition of the flesh.

Now, see what the Greek mind thought of a holy spirit by hearing what they said about an unholy spirit:

"But an old Hubris tends to bring forth in evil men, sooner or later, at the fated hour of birth, a young Hubris and that irresistible, unconquerable, unholy spirit, Recklessness, and for the household black Curses, which resemble their parents. (Aeschylus Agamemnon 765)

They also thought of the dead as being present in spirit or, as the KJV, mistranslates a "ghost." They did not think of the spirit as a separate person but of that indestructable part of the same person.

Now, let's look at what Christ the Spirit meant by Spirit.

The primary root for spirit is:

Ruwach (h7306) roo'-akh; a prim. root; prop. to blow, i. e. breathe; only (literally) to smell or (by implication, perceive (Figurative: to anticipate, enjoy): - accept, smell, make of quick understanding.

A craftsman with the Spirit of God had the wisdom and knowledge to build the Tabernacle. And this sets the stage to understand a spiritual person as one who has the knowledge of God in his own spirit or mind. This was also the meaning of the Spirit and upon in Jesus:

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isaiah 11:1

And the spirit (7307) of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isaiah 11:2

And shall make him of quick understanding (7306) in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isaiah 11:3

This would be the seven-fold "spirit" of God; it does not speak of a little member of the God family sitting on top of Jesus or living in our worthless body. While God is pure, holy or uncontaminated with anything not spirit, His Spirit which is poured out upon humanity is His giving the Mind or mental disposition of Himself. Yes, even moving mountains is possible to one who knows how to speak the right words to it.

When the Spirit rested upon Jesus it was not in the image of a man. Rather, it was the image of the dove or rather rock pigeon. This was carrier type pigeons and was used by Noah to bring him a message about dry land. The raven is not a model of a man but of a feeder.

The word "spirit" is often used to describe the invisible nature of God and of the mental qualities of a rational, thinking Being -- Divine or human. The wind (spirit) is the physical force used to describe this power:

Ruwach (h7307) roo'-akh, roo'-akh; from 7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i. e. a sensible (or even violent exhalation; fig. life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extens. a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being including its expression and functions: - air, anger, blast, breath, * cool, courage, mind, * quarter, * side, spirit ([-ual]), tempest, * vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y).

This word is most often the wind as an agent of God's power. However, often the spirit of God means the understanding of God's Word:

And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; Exodus 35:31

Again, Christ laid aside His Glory as fully God and took on the form of a human. He was the Incarnation of God who is invisible and pure or Holy Spirit. However, the Spirit in Christ would not be another person but we repeat:

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:1

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isa 11:2

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isa 11:3 ]

When people use ritual to shut down the mind, God accomodate them:

For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. Isaiah 29:10

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: Isaiah 29:11

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, (Music in Job 21, Amos 5, 6,8; Isaish 5 and Ezekiel 33).

but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

While the Spirit is God's power personified, the Holy Spirit is not envisioned as a "person" but of God Himself exercising His power. For instance, Ezekiel is said to have been one of the first flyers. People have even imagined the Holy Spirit as a magic carpet. However, Ezekiel tells us that this was a vision -- a trip in the mind or spirit:

And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. Ezekiel 8:3

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Ezekiel 8:4

The people in the like the nations temple in Jerusalem, of course, were performing a Babylonian form of worship: the women lamented for Tammuz (always on the flute) and the men bowed to the sun (Shamash) in the east. The women literally believed, in the words of a modern team, that they provided a platform upon which the god, Tammuz, landed.

And, when Jesus was led out to be tempted by the Spirit we are not to suppose that a person, perhaps "brother" or "son," walked along and led him. Real temptation only happens in the mind or spirit.

Another associated word is:

Ruwach (h7308) roo'-akh; corresp. to 7306: - mind, spirit, wind.

There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father

light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father,

made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Daniel 5:11

In the New Testament, the word is still the mental disposition and not a member of the "god family":

Pneuma (g4151) pnyoo'-mah; from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by anal. or fig. a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by impl.) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, doemon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind. Comp. 5590.

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers Romans 1:9

God is pure, undiluted or holy Spirit or Mind. However, our spirit is made into a holy spirit by conforming to the Will of Christ:

HAVING therefore these promises, dearly beloved,
............let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
............perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

This would result in "a holy body" and "a holy spirit."

Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. 2 Corinthians 7:13

Here an indwelling holy spirit would be a holy mental disposition which was not controlled by sensual appetites.

We clearly understand that this was the feelings or mental disposition of Titus and not his spirit as a third person of his total being of body, soul and spirit.

The Holy Spirit - Mind of Christ Connection

Paul makes it clear that, to the human mind, the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit is the Mind of Christ.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect (mental and moral character): yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 1 Corinthians 2:6

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 1 Corinthians 2:7

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:8

Paul then defines God's Spirit by comparing it to the mind or spirit of a man. Unless Paul has been led astray by the Spirit, his comparison proves that

our spirit is to us what God's Spirit is to His total nature.

Our spirit is not a triplet brother; God's Spirit is not a third people of the Godhead:

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11

God's Spirit is that quality of God which makes Him know and be aware; our spirit is that quality which makes us know things of the human realm. Because our spirit is a quality of our being and not another person, God's Spirit is operative as the Mind of Christ.

The Holy Spirit as a "person" does not move into the literal body to make understanding the Word of Christ possible. The Spirit is that power which God put into all humans (saved or not) to make us able to listen to His Spirit which He gives through teaching. By hearing those words "we might know" what He has given to us:

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12

Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but (words) which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13

Because of the danger of demon worship in 1 Corinthians 10:20, the uncovered "prophesying" in 11:5, the women speaking in tongues in chapter 14, Paul's insistance that "the truth did not originate with them," his charge that the Corinthians were carnal, and because of our understanding of pagan "prophesying," we can understand that they were involved in pagan rituals where wine, women and song was sold as a way to get a revelation from the gods through purely legalistic body religion.

However, Paul insists that some people live only as natural brutes which cannot understand that given only to the spirit in mankind:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
............ for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
............ because they are spiritually (figuratively) discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14

When John received spiritual truth "he was in the spirit on the Lord's day." John could not have understood his vision unless he had been "worshipping in spirit" which means to "worship in the mind." Because John was not one of those to whom God spoke face-to-face like Moses, he understood God's will in his mind in the form of visions or mind-pictures.

Paul puts the final conclusion to his insistance that "Holy Spirit" was not a person who invaded their body while they were drunk or engaged in sex or charismatic "worship." Contrary to being able to "instruct" God or "speak to the gods" in a charismatic fit, only Paul had the Spirit which he defined as the Mind of Christ:

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

By speaking or singing in 1 Corinthians 14 the people were reversing the direction of information flow: they were trying to speak to God rather than listen. As long as the "body" gets in the way of the "spirit" in all humans, it is not possible for the spirit to come alive and dominate. This is why Paul defines Baptism as the time and place where the believer submits their body to death to get rid of the natural "man" and come alive in the spirit to be able to cease drinking "milk" and begin to eat "meat" or learn the deep things of God:

The natural person is buried with Christ so that

They are resurrected as a spiritual person.

As a result of that process, the gift of the Holy Spirit is the Mind of Christ which comes through further teaching now that the eyes are opened.

The gift as the power to speak in tongues was given only to certain people to serve as signs that the apostles were speaking for God Himself and a sign against the Jews.

As far as we know, none of the baptized believers on the day of Pentecost or in Jerusalem ever spoke in tongues. But, they had a new mind and they were filled with joy in a gloomy, dangerous world.

No man ever spoke in tongues out of arm's reach of an apostle.

No woman is ever recorded to have ever spoken in tongues at all. If Corinth is an exception Paul said: "Stop it."

Therefore, the "Spirit" or Mind of Christ makes us open to His Word. If we have His Spirit or Mind we will be consumed with His Word and not look for little ghostly signs that God is doing something to our body. An indwelling holy spirit does not cause us to do unholy things.

Men like Nicodemus were blind unless they could turn to Jesus as full Deity. Not only is the Mind of Christ the Holy Spirit (mental disposition of God's Mind), but that Spirit is used to fill the human spirit when it is read. He had to be "born" of water and the Spirit. That is, the water overwhelmed his body so that the Spirit or Mind of Christ could fille body: "Body washed with pure water and spirit sprinkled from an evil conscience."

Paul described this to the Jews: the Lord is pure or Holy Spirit and therefore what He spoke or revealed is pure or Holy Spirit because pure Spirit works only on spirit once God as the creative Word brought all things into existence.

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail (covering so you cannot see) is upon their heart. 2 Corinthians 3:15

Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:16 (So you can see the kingdom)

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus

God is pure or Holy Spirt, but even pure Spirit can distribute the Spirit of Himself.

The body of Christ was symbolically the veil ripped to disclose the Most Holy place which is symbolic of our spirit or our mind where God dwells. The removed veil would give the Jews and others the gift to be able to understand the Words of God. The Lord, and not a minor member of the God family, is the Holy Spirit or Mind of God. By looking through His eyes we can comprehend the Word as Spirit and Life.

Peter insisted that this change comes by being awakened to the Word of God and devoting oneself to it. Giving heed really means to "worship" whatever God has said:

But sanctify the Lord God (Who is that Spirit) in your hearts:

and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:15

This does not mean: worship the Lord God and then get ready: it means that if the Lord as Spirit dwells in the heart this has prepared you to respond. If you have to get ready, you don't have the Lord as Word already there. Once the Word with Spirit power lives in the heart, then "worship in spirit" will be inward to permit Jesus to dwell in the heart.

Thereafter, any external effort to force you to worship or to worship for you is a presumptious sin because they can no more do it than they can know your mind which is your exclusive property.

Worship is not "paying a debt" or fulfilling a sacrament to earn merit from God through ceremonial legalism; it is to commune with God (Christ) in a spirit to Spirit communication:

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2 Peter 1:19

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Colossians 3:10

Changed is Metamorphoo (g3339) and it is like a "grub" coming out of the cocoon to become a butterfly. Paul showed how this is done on an ongoing basis by Christ's Spirit which is inherent in His Word:

And be not conformed to this world: but ye transformed

by the renewing of your mind,
that
ye may prove (discern) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

If you can transform a grub into a butterfly then you are at liberty to lead me in worship or worship for me. If you are not able then you had better get out of God's space.

Perfect is the Greek teleios and Paul used it also in First Corinthians:

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 1 Corinthians 13:10

Our holy spirit is our spirit made holy by God purging out the old thoughts and filling our minds with holy thoughts and actions. Our spirit is dead or dying and is unholy if we are so devoted to wine that we lust for a wineskin religion which exhilarates the outward senses.

This same Paul, as he often does, restated the issue to keep us from grabbing verses out of context. He wrote Titus:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
............ but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
............ washing of regeneration,
............ and
............ renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5

Don't lose the connection above:
............ by the renewing of your mind,
............ that
............ ye may prove (discern)

This was the universal bath of regeneration connection.

We cannot know how God deals with the untaught. However, for those with opportunity, it is not possible to be saved without hearing and believing the gospel story. Salvation means more than just having our "ticket to heaven punched." Rather, it means the power to grasp the Word of God and participate as a "new person" living in a hostile world.

Once we are saved, it is Christ's purpose to renew or mind or spirit. Paul continued this r