#30 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (2)

     This post is going to take a more personal turn because we’re going to discuss a controversial topic–what I call a  “prayer language” and others call “speaking in tongues.”  I can only write from my own understanding and experience, but I think what I’m going to share is reasonable. So, without any more ado, let’s dig in and consider this “gift” that the Holy Spirit may bring to believers. 

     To understand the possible reasons that God would want His children to use a prayer language, let’s take a close look at our native languages. No matter what language an individual speaks, he or she has been taught that language. Or, in other words, we could say that our native languages come from the contact that we have with the societies we are born into. Since most of us have not created many words, the meanings of our languages are dependent upon what others have decreed. And, especially in the English language, individual words can have multiple pronunciations and meanings that can cause a lot of confusion in communication. Most of us are okay when we speak within our local communities, but put us in a culturally different community–like when someone moves from the deep South to the New England area–and we could find ourselves struggling  with meanings of words and idioms. Going a step further, if we should move into a society that speaks a different language, we have the ability to learn it as it is taught to us by other people. So, all in all, the languages we speak in our world are strictly human endeavors.

     The new birth is not a human endeavor. Even though many of us come to understand what Christ did for us through the words of other people, the actual birthing “process” originates with God (James 1:18) and establishes the Father/child relationship on an individual basis. Not only that, but Colossians 1:13 also tells us that, at the point of the new birth, God delivers us from the kingdom of darkness and moves us into the kingdom of His dear Son. So, when we are born again, we gain a new identity and move into a new kingdom. Doesn’t it make sense that a new language might also be included in that package deal? Could what the New Testament writers called “speaking in tongues” simply be that new language?

     In my last post, we talked about the Holy Spirit abiding within us to help us know God as our Father. But, another part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to help us acclimate to our new home in the kingdom of God’s dear Son and to help us learn to function as God’s sons in our world. However, we present challenges to the Holy Spirit in both of these undertakings because, up until our new birth, everything we have known has been taught to us by other human beings. And, as “good’” as some of those teachings have been, they have not been the truth that sets us free (otherwise, we would have not needed to be born again). One way that the Holy Spirit may get around this human influence is to give each of us a language that has not been taught to us by other humans. Think about the power of a language that is not taught, but is given to us by the Holy Spirit. 

     As I look back at through the years since I officially received my prayer language (also known as praying in the spirit)  in 1974,* I can describe how it has affected my life by using three analogies. First and foremost, my prayer language is the love language between my Papa Father and myself. Just knowing that God and I share a language that is just ours fills my heart with love towards Him. Our relationship is unique–every believer has the opportunity to have a one-of-a-kind relationship with God–and our relationship is secret (Psalm 91:1, Matthew 6:6).

     Second, my prayer language is the tool that the Holy Spirit uses  (much like a hammer) to tear down the evil in my life and build up the good. II Corinthians 14:2 says when a person speaks in the spirit, he or she is speaking mysteries. I don’t know about you, but there have been multitudes of times when I have had no idea about what was going on in my life. As I have prayed in the spirit, the Holy Spirit has and continues to work with me to show me where my problems originate and how to overcome the loss, destruction, and death that the force of evil wants to bring into my life.

     Finally, all of our prayer languages are the secret codes or encryptions God uses to help us defeat the kingdom of evil. (We will be discussing a lot more about this warfare later on–and we are at war with the kingdom of evil.) Since my prayer language is not understood by Satan, he cannot manipulate it against me like he does to all of us with our native languages. After all, how many times has someone said something to you that has caused you to feel bad and to stress you out? Our prayer languages are always postitive and productive in our lives. We are the sons of God and we have been moved into the kingdom of His dear Son.

    So, there you have it–my understanding of prayer languages. As I see it, they have nothing to do with going to heaven when we die, but they may have everything to do with the return of Christ and immortality. I know Jude 20 (NASB) says this, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” As I communicate with God by using my prayer language, I am building myself up on my faith that what I am saying is not just a bunch of gobblygook. I believe my prayer language has meaning and will bring God’s absolute love to fruitition in my life and in the lives of others.

 

     * I had my prayer language in my early teens, but I had no idea what it was–I thought I had made up a language. All I know is that I escaped the destructive rebellion of teens living in the 1960’s, and I credit that to the connection I had with God through my prayer language.

 

     As always, feel free to comment–just be respectful!

 

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, February 14th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD

#28 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: THE NEW BIRTH

     What does it mean to be a Christian? Some believers talk about being “saved” and some about being “born again.” And, some equate being a Christian with joining a church. All of the different terminologies are understandable because we all are different from one another. However, without a clear concept of the change Christ brought to the human race, we could be missing the fullness of what God’s absolute love has done for us.

     Looking back to Christ’s walk on earth, John 3:1-21 relates the conversation Christ had one evening with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. When the religious leader started the conversation out by affirming that God was indeed with Christ, the Son of God immediately focused on a concept that was completely foreign to Nicodemus as he spoke these words, “You must be born again.” Of course, Nicodemus had no clue what Christ was talking about and immediately took issue with him, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Christ assured Nicodemus that the new birth concerned being born of the Spirit. Now, we’ve already discussed how Christ was the Son of God because he had received an inner spirit from God when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary. Could Christ have been talking about the same thing happening to humans?

     In II Corinthians 5:21, Paul made an astounding statement. We’ve already discussed how Christ became sin on the cross, so that when he died, sin died. But, the second part of this verse says that the reason Christ became sin was in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. That righteousness–that inner spirit, that freedom from sin or guilt–is the direct result of Christ becoming sin for us. Could this be the new birth–when the spirit that made Christ the Son of God is “created” within us?

     I think the place to start thinking through this possibility is in Luke 1: 26-38 (the story of Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her that God wanted her to be the mother of His son). If we “stand” above the action and look down, we can see there is a definite sequence of events that happened: (1.) Mary heard the Word of God, (2.) Mary questioned Gabriel until she understood, (3.) Mary “accepted” what God wanted to do, (4.) the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and (5.) Christ was conceived with his physical body coming from Mary and his inner spirit coming from God. That inner spirit of righteousness–the freedom from sin or guilt–was Christ’s connection with God. That righteousness was what made him the Son of God.

      The process of the new birth may be much like what happened when Mary conceived Christ. An individual hears what Christ had done, understands what it all means, “accepts” what God’s absolute love has provided, and is then overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The result is that a new spirit–an inner man–is created within the physical body of the new believer. At that point, the believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ. At that point, the believer has the same inner connection with God that Christ has.

     Now, once a person is born again and is made the righteousness of God in Christ, he or she has everything that is needed to be “saved,” right? Not so fast–Romans 8:10 (NASB) says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit [the inner being] is alive because of righteousness.”  Remember what Christ said in John 10:10 about his purpose in coming to earth–that humans would have life more abundant than the loss, death, and destruction that Satan brings. The new birth “just” makes us the righteousness of God; it doesn’t deal with the death that is working in our physical bodies. You see, there is one huge difference between Christ and his believers. Christ never had death working in his body until he released his spirit on the cross because he was born with the inner man of righteousness. We believers were physically born without the same inner man, so death began working in us immediately (thus the statement, we begin to die the minute we’re born). So, just becoming the righteousness of God is not enough to overcome the death that is working in us. Something more was and is needed.

       Romans 8:11 tells of the second stage of becoming a son of God, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Right there is the life more abundant that Christ promised. In my next two posts, we will discuss just what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is and what it accomplishes in our lives.

     Before I end, I want to comment on the controversies that surround water baptism. First, water baptism does represent what happens in the process of the new birth–we “kill” the power of sin in our life and we re-emerge as the righteousness of God through Christ. Second, we do not have to convince the Holy Spirit to overshadow us by being water-baptised. Third, water baptism could be compared to a sales receipt–a physical representation of a legal reality. Think about all the sales receipts you have accumulated over the last month. Are they all exactly alike? Are they all legal documents? I’m just saying…think about it!

     As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 30th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD