Who is receiving the Spirit?

Of course it would be nowhere in the NT. But the NT specifically tells us that three spiritual gifts will cease. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. (1 Cor 13:8)

Believing in Jesus is more than a mental exercise. It was Jesus who said to those Jews which believed on him, IF ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.? (John 8:31-32) What Jesus was referring to initially became a reality for those at Pentecost. They continued in His word and were made free; they received their spiritual rebirth. Whom the son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)


"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." Acts 2:36-41



"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Gal 4:4-7

You should have kept going. The next two verse tells us when they end:

1 Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

We're not complete yet - but we will be when Jesus comes back to collect us and we're clothed with the imperishable. That means those gifts: prophecies, tongues and knowledge have not ceased. They are still in operation today.


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It is not speaking about our completion, but the completion of the Bible. Each one of those gifts is related to divine revelation, and that is connected to divine inspiration and the completion of the Bible. When the Bible was completed, those gifts ceased. This is confirmed by the Early Church Fathers. Indeed Revelation tells us that any addition to those prophecies would be unacceptable, And Revelation is the final book chronologically and sequentially.

Everybody who is Born again is indwelled by the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22)

And the Holy Spirit ALSO comes UPON people at God's discretion (Acts 2:4)

If the Bible is all we needed, then how come there are still so many factions among believers just from reading the Bible. No, the "completeness" is about us. When WE are complete, we won't need those gifts because we will be all in agreement with each other.


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I did not say that "the Bible is all we needed". I said that the completion of the Bible meant that the spiritual gifts related to divine revelation (and inspiration) would end when the Bible was complete. While Paul did not include the spiritual gift of "apostles" in that, the apostles also ceased at that time. And these mean had received their writings through divine inspiration -- theopneustos -- which means "God-breathed".

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”
‭‭Titus‬ ‭2:11-15‬ ‭KJV‬‬


“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

…. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:21, 23-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭5:2-4‬ ‭KJV‬‬


“and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:11-16‬ ‭

I don't think that's what is meant about completeness. I agree there is no new revelation, but at church, when a word of knowledge (about someone in the church that needs help and the like) or prophecy (that is already in the Bible) is given or tongue and interpretation is given, it is to direct His people to particular parts of the Bible. That's why I don't believe those gifts ended. They are still in operation to to build us up when the Holy Spirit sees we need it, to remind us of things forgotten and should be remembered, to help those who are need but are silent, etc.


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Maybe that's why im still not a christian. Cause it seems so difficult. So many christians argue. They all want to be right. I dunno whats keeping me or holding me. Maybe readin topics in here brings me a bit closer...

You are in my Prayers.

You must remember one thing about these forums. There are people who have lived for and with God many years and people who have only been saved for a few years. And there's a level of understanding between the 2. So it is not arguing but one person having more understanding than another. It's how we learn.

But if you pray that Prayer I gave to you, you will see a difference happen in your life for the better. This is too important, salvation, for me to ever tell you something incorrect.

The Prayer is #30
Just click the #30 it will take you there

Get to know God through prayer and studying the Bible. Ask Him questions of things you don't understand. He loves you and will surely help you!

Christians argue because we're all at different stages of maturity and understanding. Also not all people here are Christians.

It's all confusing right now, but God will sort it out.


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Well, i hope you guys/girls are right. really hope one day i will find Him and can sing for real!

You have nothing to lose by praying that Prayer for salvation.
It's not like you have signed a contract and will be required to do anything for it in return.
That's the best thing about something that is "free" to you, it's free and doesn't cost anything to try it

Salvation itself is very simple. Believing Jesus is God, that He died and rose again, that He can forgive you. That by believing in Him, you have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

This is often expressed through talking to God from the heart. Romans 10:9-10 shows this. Also John 3:16, 5:24.

You receive the Holy Spirit at salvation. Who indwells your soul. That gives you a place in heaven, kept by Him for eternity.

'God have mercy upon my soul, a sinner'

I feel led to tell you something about the journey after you have asked Jesus into your heart and to be your Lord and Savior.

My best friend growing up was a mean sort of person. He got himself into a lot of trouble. Eventually he ended up in prison for many years. When he was released his parole officer was mean and would do things that caused my friend to react and get back into trouble. He had enough. He was thinking about killing his parole officer.

He called me and we got together and spent hours talking about all sorts of things. I asked him, what all have you tried to fix your situation? He told me the many ways he went about trying to be a better person but the "system" kept holding him down. He asked me, what I thought he should do. I asked him if he was saved. He said no. I asked him if he wanted to know Jesus and see if Jesus could change his life. He shrugged his shoulders and made a couple comments so I stopped mentioning it.

A few days later he calls me again. Once again he did something that his parole officer was going to send him back to prison over. I said let's meet up. We did. He said, I have been thinking about Jesus and then I went and violated my parole. I asked if he thought that thinking about Jesus caused him to violate his parole. He said no, but he was frustrated and just did it. I asked, do you want to know Jesus? He said yes. We prayed and next time I saw him was in the court room being sentenced. He got another 6 months but he would be spending his time in the county jail.

As a preacher, I go to that jail and issue Bibles to those who will take one and tell them Jesus loves you. So I knew I would go and visit my friend. As time went by and I would visit I saw that he was reading the Bible more and more (he had plenty of free time). And with about a couple weeks left on his sentence, that had been shortened to half time served, he was jumped and fought back and was in trouble again. He got another month added to his time.

During that extra 4 weeks time, a friend of his ended up being put into his same cell block. Within a couple weeks, that friend of his was reading the Bible and the 3 of us would talk about God when I visited. My friend actually led his friend to accept Jesus.

Eventually both of them were freed and there were times they still made mistakes, like "we all do." And we would talk about it. Pray about it.

Today, my friend is one of my assistant pastors and his friend (now my friend) leads Praise and Worship for the church.

They still make mistakes, like "we all do," but we tell God we're sorry for them and move on.

Thysia81,
Just don't listen to the people that tell you there's a bunch of rules to follow because they are wrong. We will always make mistakes. We will always have problems. God does not condemn us when we do. He loves us. We say sorry for our mistakes because we know how good God is and hate it when we make mistakes.

People always equate Satan's so-called justice with the justice in the Bible.
Satan's justice is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But the justice expressed in the Bible is not like this.

People often confuse the so-called justice in this world with the justice in the Bible.
Justice in this world mostly repeats Satan's justice.an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

God's justice is not like this.

Not sure if I would agree with the early church fathers, regarding everything they said.

In Acts 19:1-6, Paul encounters disciples in Ephesus who were followers of John the Baptist and had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Paul’s question about whether they had received the Holy Spirit "since they believed" (v. 2) and his subsequent actions (baptizing them in the name of Jesus and laying hands on them, after which they received the Holy Spirit) highlight the distinction between initial belief and the reception of the Holy Spirit as a subsequent confirmation and empowerment for service.

The New Testament presents the reception of the Holy Spirit as both an individual and a corporate reality. Individually, receiving the Holy Spirit is tied to conversion and indwelling by the Spirit of Christ. Corporately, the reception of the Holy Spirit signifies empowerment for witness and ministry, as well as the presence of the Spirit in the midst of the believing community. The distinction between individual and corporate reception is crucial for understanding the multifaceted work of the Holy Spirit in both personal salvation and the life of the church.