Every Christian is on a spiritual journey, i.e., a faith journey. The Apostle Paul calls young Christians (in spiritual age not chronological age) as being fed milk. As their faith journey proceeds he says it is time to feed them meat. For some Christians, the journey is not very long. For whatever reason they stop growing. For others, they are content to go half way in their journey but stop at a certain point and absolutely will not go any further. Then, there are those who are fearless and disregard warnings and ridicule. These are the braves ones who are on a search for the truth and do not stop just because someone tells them to. They truly believe that the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth.
Todays blog is targeted to non-charismatic folks. It is directed to the average Christian growing up in a mainline denomination. Mainline denominations consist of the following denominations: United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopal Church, American Baptist Churches in the USA, the Disciples of Christ, and the United Church of Christ. These traditional Protestant denominations are considered to have more liberal theologies. One variable they all share is that they are all shrinking in membership every year.
There are charismatic people in every mainline denomination, but for the most part, average church members in these denominations who are charismatic (believing in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit) generally keep it to themselves for fear of being ridiculed by others. They are literally too afraid to come out of their spiritual closets.
To avoid any confusion, let's be very specific in every instance. Let's take a look at the word "charismatic." It is not being used in the way we would call Muhammed Ali a person with a lot of charisma. That's not what we are talking about here. That's a psychological word. We are talking about a spiritual word. The Greek meaning is that of a gift of grace, a spiritual endowment. It is especially used to designate the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit can be found in I Corinthians 12:4-10. Today, a "charismatic" is a person who has one or more of these gifts functioning in his or her life.
Most mainline denominations as a whole believe that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped after the last Apostle died. This position is referred to as "cessationism." An interesting concept but there is no Biblical foundation for that assessment. Just because a young man who responds to the question of whether the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are still in operation, and says, "No they are not." When asked how they know that, they will generally say, "That's what my minister said." That does not make it true.
In this blog, I'm not interested in what any particular minister said. I'm looking for the truth. There are mainline denominations on record who say plainly that their parishioners must not believe in the Gifts. Again, just because a person, minister, or even a denomination makes pontifical pronouncements does not make it true. There is no Biblical foundation (chapter and verse) where it says they have ceased. I Corinthians 1:7 states, "so you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The 12th chapter of I Corinthians presents the Gifts in full operation.
In the next blog, "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit," I will present in precise detail with total Biblical foundation (chapter and verse where it is found) on everything we have referred to in this blog. It is ironic that most people who claim to be "open minded" are essentially "closed minded" when it comes to Gifts of the Holy Spirit. No one can explore the truth of any situation if your mind is closed before you begin your examination. In a court of law, a jury is considered to be "truth finders," and they are instructed by the judge to "keep an open mind" so that the truth can be discovered. The truth will set you free.
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