A Congregation Without Holy Spirit Lordship Is Not In Christ

[Mr. M]

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

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

2 Corinthians 5:

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, 

yet now we know Him thus no longer. 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Under present circumstances, active congregations must be open to the Holy Spirit

doing something new, to bring even greater glory to Christ.

[debrakay]

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit.  That floored me.  They also do not believe Satan is real.  It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth.

Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us.  I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age.  It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

[Alive]

1 hour ago, debrakay said:

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit.  That floored me.  They also do not believe Satan is real.  It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth.

Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us.  I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age.  It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

For various reasons, it is plain that a great many who call themselves christian are not born from above.

One of these is an unwillingness (due to various family/social pressures), to either say they are atheist or, for instance a muslim.

Many others are simply false conversions where there was no true saving faith and weren't drawn/given to Christ by the Father.

Wheats and Tares.

I agree, that as time goes on--there will be a separation.

These are difficult things to contemplate, but I think it is good counsel, to encourage the brethren to indeed think about these things...always remembering that the most important and vital fruit of the New Life is Love and Loyalty to our Lord. You will know them by their fruit.

Many years ago, there was a saying among us--that was meant as an insult--regarding being a "fruit inspector". And yet, we must.

We must all pray for discernment and to know and express Christ's Love for all in our scope of influence...ya just never know, what heart is being turned. So--as the darkness increases, "be ready to give reason for the Hope that is in us".

[farouk]

59 minutes ago, debrakay said:

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit.  That floored me.  They also do not believe Satan is real.  It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth.

Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us.  I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age.  It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

@debrakay If one reads John's Gospel, John's First Epistle, Romans 8 and many other passages, the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is so strong; hard to see how a Bible reader could supposedly ignore or not notice God in Three Persons.

[FJK]

2 hours ago, debrakay said:

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit. 

That's purely sad, I can't think of any other way t say it.

What have their preachers been preaching and how have they been preaching it?

[Mr. M]

3 hours ago, debrakay said:

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit.  That floored me.  They also do not believe Satan is real.  It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth.

Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us.  I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age.  It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

I have read similar reports, and what I gather is that there is not so much a disbelief of the Holy Spirit, i.e. they may be under a creed that confesses God in three persons, but they do not believe that He manifests anymore in the lives of the faithful as in the 1st century church. When you think it through, this is to confess that the church should not expect any mighty deeds, miracles, or demonstrations of resurrection power at its disposal. The Holy Spirit is the dunamis of the Gospel, if you take away the dunamis...

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

You undermine faith by a lack of belief, and expectation.

[JimmyB]

17 hours ago, debrakay said:

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit.  That floored me.  They also do not believe Satan is real.  It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth.

Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us.  I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age.  It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

It is now "hell on earth"?  Really?  There have always been societal problems, which occasionally flare up into everything from war to riots to mass shootings, but when I step outside into God's glorious creation, it is anything but hell on earth.

[debrakay]

6 minutes ago, JimmyB said:

It is now "hell on earth"?  Really?  There have always been societal problems, which occasionally flare up into everything from war to riots to mass shootings, but when I step outside into God's glorious creation, it is anything but hell on earth.

You are correct that there has always been a lot of "hell on earth" in the past.  The ruler of this world gets to reign for as long as the Father allows him to do it, but in my perception, there is an increase of evilness in these last days.  The beauty and glory of this earth is nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what He has in store for us on the other side or what He had originally planned before He tossed the evil one down here.  We are only getting a small glimpse of the actual beauty of creation.  

I Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV)
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

Romans 8:18 (ESV)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

 

[Mr. M]

17 minutes ago, JimmyB said:

It is now "hell on earth"?  Really?  There have always been societal problems, which occasionally flare up into everything from war to riots to mass shootings, but when I step outside into God's glorious creation, it is anything but hell on earth.

Do you see light or darkness?

Matthew 6:

22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good,

your whole body will be full of light. 

23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

[Mr. M]

@JimmyB, @debrakay,

Based on the topic of the OP,

are you looking at the spirit in the World,

or the Spirit in the Church?

Edited June 6, 2023 by Mr. M
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