Hey
I wrote this sister last night and received these replies. It is amazing how folk can read our things and still see “saved” where it is not. Still I have answered her questions. She didn’t join a church. That is something.
damien
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Name: Donna
Web Comment: Praise the Lord! Do you know of any small groups such as yourselves who meet in eastern PA? Also, can you send me any links of yourselves in worship to the Lord via Youtube.com? Thank you, Donna
[My answer: “No.” I sent her links to web sites.]
Thank you for your reply, Damien. I am not surprised; we are in a dry area here but I am ever thankful for the Lord & His Presence & all He’s shown me & done for me! I will check out the other links you shared w me in this email. In Christ, Donna
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Later….
Hi Damien,
I’ve taken a little time to peruse a couple of the links you shared w me & I am enjoying them. I’m an older woman who has been baptized in the Spirit & dealt w re giving up sin & being fully committed to the Lord & I have not been a member of any denomination since I came to the Lord many yrs. ago.
I want to ask you a couple of questions. If you do believe that we are not truly saved unless we are baptized in the Holy Spirit w the evidence of speaking in tongues, please show me the verses in the bible, bc I haven’t seen them so far
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No one is born again until he is “in Christ”. The only question is, “How do we get into him?” The answer is given in the Scriptures that we both love: Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27; ICor. 12:13.
As for the word “saved”, I think you mean “converted”, which is not a synonymn for “saved”, even though for the past century, Christians everywhere have used it that way. For example, the famous (and grossly abused) verses of Romans 10:9-10 are not referring to conversion; the people to whom Paul was speaking were already converted (see Rom. 10:1). Paul was referring to receiving salvation at the end (see also Rom. 13:11). Nor was Jesus referring to conversion when he said, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
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& also what is Paul talking about when he questions in 1 Cor. 12:28-31 are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, …do all speak w tongues? The obvious answer is NO. Is he talking about some people who have not yet experienced this baptism or is he talking about the reality that we are all different in our gifts & abilities?
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That chapter deals with operations of gifts within the body of Christ. It doers not deal with the experience of new birth, the baptism of the Spirit. Those people were far beyond that. I wish the whole body of Christ now was close enough to God to have their problems.
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I love the truth but not to an imbalance & I love the scriptures, word of the Lord & the letters that the apostles wrote & don’t make excuse for that.
Recently I happened upon Derek Prince on youtube & heard a clear teaching re the baptism of the Holy Spirit but nowhere did he express that it is the evidence of being saved & I do respect his clear teaching from the bible. Thank you, Donna
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Our Brother Prince teaches what most of God’s dear children in our time have already been taught, that they were born again before they received the baptism of the Spirit from Jesus, but that is beyond my control. I can only do the work that Jesus has given to me.
May our merciful God continue to bless you, and keep feeding you his word of eternal life. Please feel free to stay in touch.
Pastor John