The church system is known for their myriad of “Statements of Faith.” However, the Holy Spirit prompted me this week with the question, “Do they have EVIDENCE OF BELIEF?” When Holy Spirit asks you a question like that, you know there’s a gem to be mined!
A statement of faith is a theological list of mental facts that congregations purport to all BELIEVE in and if you dare differ, you must move along to another place that is in the exact same part of your spiritual journey or else keep your mouth shut to avoid being rejected for not receiving the approval of man, which brings its own consequences!
The reality is faith manifests in the spirit, not in the brain. Faith comes by hearing (in your spirit) and hearing by the rhema word (spoken voice of God, not the scriptures) of God. Powerless theological statements created in the soul realm are created by a spirit of religion to induce divisiveness and grounds for argumentation, resulting in 40,000+ denominations because they can’t agree 100% on everything and then operate in the flesh by creating factions and divisions because pride demands THEY be right and everyone else be damned. How many people have heard of denominations who believe they have the cat’s meow on the “TRUE” gospel, and every other denomination/group is going to burn in hell? Notice they are usually the ones who DON’T have any power and have evidence of curses listed in Deuteronomy 28?
The Kingdom of Heaven is not in mere words but in power. (1 Cor 4:20) Jesus said we would know people by their FRUIT, not by their theological statements, which are often a big cover to rationalize away their unbelief.
Fruit of the carnal flesh that has not been crucified:
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT – 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, HOSTILITY, QUARRELING, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, DISSENSION, DIVISION, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Fruit of the Holy Spirit that flows through those who walk in and by the Holy Spirit so that they have no condemnation. (Rom 8:1KJV):
Galatians 5:22-26 – 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 THOSE WHO BELONG TO CHRIST JESUS have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are LIVING BY THE SPIRIT, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Rather, it is better to analyze, is there any evidence of BELIEF in your life? Does your faith produce WORKS?
Matt 3:11 – “I [John the Baptist] baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He [Jesus Christ] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John 6:35 – And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 7:38-39 – 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Acts 16:30-32 -30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Mark 16:15-20 – 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THATBELIEVE; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
2 Timothy 3:1-7 – This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF: FROM SUCH TURN AWAY. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Romans 8:5-9 NLT – 5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
So, do you have the evidence of belief in Jesus Christ in your life and not merely belief in the baptism of repentance?
- Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is evidenced in speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 2:14; Acts 8 and 19)
- Casting out devils
- Speak (and/or sing) with new tongues
- Lay hands on the sick and observe them improve, whether instantly or over accelerated time. (**However, Jesus could do no miracles in Nazareth because of THEIR unbelief, not his inability to release power, so other people’s unbelief can inhibit the manifestation of miracles which is the most common case for North America. Revivalists with no evidence HERE can hop on a plane and raise people from the dead in Africa or Asia because they don’t have such a strong religious spirit that causes unbelief. Those regions have other issues as their primary challenge.)
- Obedience to His commandments that demonstrates the Spirit lives within them (Rom 8:5-9), love Him (Jn 14:15), Know Him (1 Jn 2:3-4), abide with Him (Ps 91 and Jn 14:21-24), the truth is in me (1 Jn 2:3-4) and have access to the tree of life (Rev 22:14) among others.
- Spiritual evidence of fruit in every season and leaves that do not fade when others are dying of thirst because they don’t have someone else to give them a drink from someone else’s cistern or well. (Rev 22:2 & Ps 1:2-3)
- Fruit of the Holy Spirit manifesting, even if it’s flowering or “green” raspberries instead of completely sweet & juicy and fully mature.
Now the question for you is, where is the evidence of YOUR belief in Jesus? Or are you part of the group without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who have a form of godliness without power that God commands us to turn away from?
If you find yourself in the wrong group, the solution to course correct is SIMPLE! Repent of your form of godliness without power, ASK and you SHALL receive and BELIEVE He will give you what He promised! If God said something, enough said! Stop arguing and stand in faith, receiving His promise! Acts 8 and 19 both show that the baptism of repentance is not enough. It must be followed up with the baptism of the Holy Spirit – the baptism of JESUS!
The good news is that you don’t need a Peter or John or Paul to chase after you (which is nice when it DOES happen) to finish up the job. You don’t need someone else to impart the baptism of the Holy Spirit to you. You can be like Cornelius in Acts 10 where God hit him, interrupting Peter’s sermon notes and trashing his paradigm.
I repented of rejecting Holy Spirit and believing the ungodly lie that current spiritual gifts were demonic because the true died with the apostolic age (which is religious pride/Leviathan whose scales are so tight that not even the breath of life can enter spirit of religion, & fear). I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit driving down the highway. It bubbled up out of my spirit, and I chose to release it out of my mouth and fluent tongues, both spoken and song manifesting with power following as time went on. God is not a respecter of persons. What He did for me, He is willing and able to do for you, too! Don’t delay!
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