Praying in the Spirit: Better Than I Was, Not Better Than You Are
The baptism in the Spirit is only a beginning. It is like passing through a spiritual gateway, with much now to be done. As Pentecostal Joe Campbell tells us, speaking in tongues is not “the zenith of Christian experience . . . [or] the climax, the pyramid, the apex, . . . [or] the ultimate to be realized. . . . [I]t is only the beginning, the fuller preparation for service” (p. 145).
The baptism in the Spirit is only a beginning. It is like passing through a spiritual gateway, with much now to be done.
The Baptism and Spiritual Power
This blessing does not affect anyone’s status as a Christian. No one Christian is better than any other. All are justified and sanctified by the work of Christ.
If charismatics are being accused of claiming that one without the charismatic experience is an ineffective Christian worker, the charge would be quickly denied. If, however, the complaint asserts that charismatics feel a non-charismatic Christian worker is not as effective as he would be with the charismatic experience, the charge is quickly admitted. After all, power for missions and service is the reason Christ baptizes the believer in the Holy Spirit. It is, to my mind, a telling point that Jesus directed His twelve disciples, supposed “experts’“ who had sat under His teaching for three years, to wait in Jerusalem after His ascension “for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about” (Acts 1:4). Only then would they be fully prepared-anointed-to go out and minister.
Category: Spirit, Winter 2000