An Open Letter to Kirk Cameron
[An Open
Letter to Kirk Cameron Proclaiming
the Gospel Ministries] "Kirk
Cameron's recent interviews with a
Roman Catholic priest
and Glenn Beck,
a devout Mormon, prompted Michael
Beasley to write an open letter of
concern and caution to him. Read the
letter
here."
Pro-Gospel.org
Response to comment [from a
Catholic]: "Well, sure, 'cause the
Christian faith apparently began in
the 16th century...
"
The church
began on The Day of Pentecost (Ac
2:1-47).
"Ac 2:4 — And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
To demonstrate to the disciples and
to the unbelieving world that the
Spirit had come in power on the
church in a new way, every believer
in the Upper Room began to speak in
languages he had never learned...
When and how am I filled with the
Holy Spirit?
ACTS 2:4
What does the New Testament have to
say about the believer’s
relationship with the Holy Spirit?
First, it is a curious fact that
after the Book of Acts, the whole
concept of being “filled with the
Spirit” drops out of sight, except
for one mention in Ephesians 5:18.
In that passage, the grammar and
word order indicate that Paul is
talking about surrendering to the
influence of the Spirit, not to the
indwelling ministry of the Holy
Spirit. While much confusion has
stemmed from the refusal to deal
with the implications of this simple
biblical fact, there is no real
cause for confusion.
The Holy Spirit arrived on the day
of Pentecost, accompanied by
extraordinary manifestations of His
presence. These manifestations were
sign oriented, not character
oriented. In other words, the Bible
doesn’t say that after being filled
with the Holy Spirit, those in the
Upper Room went out with great
patience, kindness, gentleness, and
so on. Rather, it says they
immediately began speaking in other
tongues. That is how the unbelievers
who heard them knew that something
supernatural had taken place.
Initially, it appeared that the
Spirit came to indwell only those
gathered in the Upper Room (Acts
2:3, 4). Soon, however, other
believers also were filled with the
Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31; 9:17). Not
everyone was filled at the same
time; it took place in stages. But
within a few years following the day
of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had
swept through the world, filling all
those who had put their faith in
Christ. In fact, after Acts 13, we
have no record of individuals being
filled with or receiving the Holy
Spirit, apart from salvation.
Today, the Holy Spirit indwells all
believers in Christ. Paul wrote,
“For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body—whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or
free—and have all been made to drink
into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). The
apostle John wrote, “By this we know
that we abide in Him and He in us,
because He has given us of His
Spirit” (1 John 4:13). Christian
believers everywhere are filled with
the Spirit.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is a
source of great assurance. In fact,
“if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His” (Rom.
8:9). We know we belong to Christ
because His Spirit dwells in us.
See the Life Principles Index for
further study:
24. To live the Christian life is to
allow Jesus to live His life in and
through us.
4. The awareness of God’s presence
energizes us for our work." Stanley,
C. F. (2005). The Charles F. Stanley
life principles Bible: New King
James Version (Ac 2:4). Nashville,
TN: Nelson Bibles.
