Spiritual Life & Growth
Biblical teaching on the normal Christian birth into spiritual life and the normal Christian life of ongoing spiritual growth – a resource for discipleship.
The Normal Christian Birth
eBooks
Receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit
In this teaching, we will consider the question: When Do You Receive the Holy Spirit? Specifically, we will be investigating whether believers receive the Holy Spirit WHEN they believe – making receiving synonymous with believing; or whether believers receive the Holy Spirit AFTER they believe – making receiving subsequent to believing. There are basically two views on this matter – the traditional Evangelical view and the traditional Pentecostal view. I’ll present these two views and a third view – which
Meaning of Baptism, The
The purpose of this teaching is to present the essential meanings of Baptism, and specifically the quintessential meaning of Baptism in light of the New Covenant. We will very briefly survey the progression of the concept of Baptism in the Hebrew Bible, the Gospels, and the Epistles – again with a view to the quintessential meaning of Baptism in the New Covenant. Concerning this goal, it may be interesting to note at the outset that the Scripture speaks in terms
Coming to Faith in God
For the believer, the subject of faith contains several aspects which could discussed at length. However, here I am examining the subject of faith and the non-believer. Unless one is purposely preparing for a debate, most people do not spend much time studying something contrary to what they currently believe. We only seek something different when we have become dissatisfied with our current belief system. So, quite likely, non-believers may not be motivated to take time to read a teaching
Drawing of the Holy Spirit, The
The subject matter of this message concerns the influence of the Holy Spirit on the human soul during the conversion-regeneration process. By this term, “conversion-regeneration process”, I mean specifically the process of coming to “repentance” and “faith” in Christ, which would be followed by regeneration. The process being discussed in this message concerns that work of the Holy Spirit upon the human soul prior to someone actually receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.
You MUST be Born Again
Today, most people – including many believers – do not understand what it means to be Born Again. There are denominations that avoid, and even ridicule, this spiritual reality, because some people have abused it. As someone has said: “The answer to abuse is not disuse.” – based on the Latin phrase, “abusus non tollit usum” (abuse does not cancel use, in other words, misuse of something is no argument against its proper use). It may be difficult to understand.
Meaning of Repentance, The
A study on the meaning of “Repentance”: Essentially a change of perception and understanding followed by a godly sorrow, a change of behavior and lifestyle, and a return to dependence on God.