Sanctification and Rebirth.
Some of us have gotten these things mixed up, depending on our upbringing. I was raised in Lutheranism, and much of the spiritual life was lost on me and on the church, I think. I was raised in the knowledge of God but lacked the spiritual experience which many Pentecostals call "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit." However, the Bible just called it being "filled with the Spirit," which is something that was supposed to accompany our initial commitment to the Lord.
In my own experience, I walked away from what I knew about righteous Christian living until I was so smitten by my conscience that I had to go back to what I thought was boring religious rules. But somehow I came to learn that if I recommit myself to biblical principles and walk in the knowledge of God's righteousness I could be filled with the Spirit, having a more genuine Christian experience. I learned that Christianity is not just living by rules, but more, by living by the rules of God's presence. That means we serve Him and do what pleases Him. Then we can be filled with the Spirit.
This turn to living in righteousness all the time is what I think the Sanctification movement called a "2nd Blessing." And it is also what Pentecostals call a 2nd or "3rd blessing." In reality, they are all the same thing as they were meant to be experienced--not one experience after another, but all part of the same package.
When we convert from our backslidden condition, or from our pagan life, we embrace Christ as a living Deity. He is the human representative of the omnipresent God. We accept his life as the substitute for our failures, and then accept his gracious offer to be filled with both his righteousness and Holy Spirit. It is a choice we make, which obtains, as a result, God's presence in our lives. We can thus live by rules that He leads us by every day, and do so with the intimate sense of whether He is pleased with us or not. This will maintain our spiritual status with Him.
If we wish to walk in God's good pleasure, we must choose to know Him and to obey Him. In this way we can experience Salvation, Sanctification, and the Spirit Baptism all at once!
Some of us have gotten these things mixed up, depending on our upbringing. I was raised in Lutheranism, and much of the spiritual life was lost on me and on the church, I think. I was raised in the knowledge of God but lacked the spiritual experience which many Pentecostals call "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit." However, the Bible just called it being "filled with the Spirit," which is something that was supposed to accompany our initial commitment to the Lord.
In my own experience, I walked away from what I knew about righteous Christian living until I was so smitten by my conscience that I had to go back to what I thought was boring religious rules. But somehow I came to learn that if I recommit myself to biblical principles and walk in the knowledge of God's righteousness I could be filled with the Spirit, having a more genuine Christian experience. I learned that Christianity is not just living by rules, but more, by living by the rules of God's presence. That means we serve Him and do what pleases Him. Then we can be filled with the Spirit.
This turn to living in righteousness all the time is what I think the Sanctification movement called a "2nd Blessing." And it is also what Pentecostals call a 2nd or "3rd blessing." In reality, they are all the same thing as they were meant to be experienced--not one experience after another, but all part of the same package.
When we convert from our backslidden condition, or from our pagan life, we embrace Christ as a living Deity. He is the human representative of the omnipresent God. We accept his life as the substitute for our failures, and then accept his gracious offer to be filled with both his righteousness and Holy Spirit. It is a choice we make, which obtains, as a result, God's presence in our lives. We can thus live by rules that He leads us by every day, and do so with the intimate sense of whether He is pleased with us or not. This will maintain our spiritual status with Him.
If we wish to walk in God's good pleasure, we must choose to know Him and to obey Him. In this way we can experience Salvation, Sanctification, and the Spirit Baptism all at once!
