The primary issue here, to repeat, is whether non-Christians have the conviction supplied by a direct act of God in us. I did not expect my reaction. Fruit Of The Holy Spirit. To truly understand the Holy Spirit as a gift, it’s important to understand what the Holy Spirit is. For much of the content of this chapter I am indebted to the excellent study by Bernard Ramm. Many Christians affirm that this testimony is much deeper and stronger. Experience with the Holy Spirit 10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to … I was not able to sleep by the force of this thought. Up until this point, the woman in the video had spoken and prayed in English. But in this state I effectively cut off my recognition of it because of my subtle denial of its rightful place in my life. This, no doubt, might be fairly frequently reported. The power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed. Realizing that rivers of tears had poured down my face as I had experienced God’s love through the Holy Spirit. Another serious query concerns whether theological “liberals,” adherents to non‑Christian religions or cultists might not claim a similar witness to their own salvation. Here it is important to remember several points. 99-105; cf. Ramm carefully points out that the expressions of this witness are as varied as are individuals themselves. Too many Christian apologists and even theologians have virtually ignored the place of the testimony of the Holy Spirit, perhaps because of the difficulties involved both in defining it and identifying its domain. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Yet, this witness varies in its human expression and intensity while Scripture appears to say that the purpose for it is much more uniform. The Holy Spirit in relation to Testimony Corporate and Individual. [8], Should all believers, then, experience the same at this point and all in the same way? 2020 Christian Testimony … Even what otherwise might be considered as the subjective, individually-experienced side of this phenomenon can be said to have its special strengths. So the skeptic ought not conclude that this is presented as an argument for the truthfulness of the Christian faith. To repeat our earlier assertion, the witness of the Holy Spirit is not an emotion at all. Do you remember when THE HOLY SPIRIT led me into the phone booth in Testimony and Miracles? But an additional assertion also needs to be made in this context. However, as soon as she began praying in tongues, I felt like something gripped my heart forcefully, filling me with an overwhelming force. As a result, I did not properly identify what I now believe actually was, all during that time, the Holy Spirit’s witness. But the statement that the testimony of the Holy Spirit cannot be proven as a phenomenon by itself does not render it valueless, even in discussions concerning apologetics. The best explanation is the experience itself, which leaves no need for an explanation. All Rights Reserved |. Presumably, various kinds of assurance are easier to account for in other ways, but such do not necessarily exhibit the same characteristics outlined above. At that moment, I felt a love so strong for her that my heart ached for a few instants. In other words, one’s inability to recognize the nature of the witness in no way denies the reality of it, while apologetics does prove the basis from which it is identified. I took in my surroundings with my face covered in tears. Further, in his treatment of whether this witness is objective or subjective, Ramm interestingly argues that it is both.
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