Precious hearts, the Holy Ghost that people are now receiving or being baptized with—which is being evidenced by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance —is the same living water that Jesus introduced to the folk at the Feast of Tabernacles and to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. It is also what Revelation 22:17 refers to in that final invitation of God’s Holy Writ—”And the Spirit and the bride say, Come . . . And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters (of life, that has that life-giving flow), and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat” (Isaiah 55:1). Oh, thank God!
By B. E. Echols
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This chapter deals with the fourth and last essential unto salvation—the “birth of the Spirit” or the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which Jesus referred to as “the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4-5 and Luke 24:49). The baptism of the Holy Ghost could be called “the crowning act” or “the finishing touch” of our salvation. (See Titus 3:5 and John 3:5 with Acts 19:1-7; Ephesians 1:13-14 and 4:30.) Though many are unaware of their need of the Holy Ghost or their being filled with the Spirit, it is nevertheless an essential thing for every person to have or experience. Paul informed us, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his,” or “does not belong to Him”—Weymouth.
Something Not Intentionally Ignored
The application of the blood of Jesus Christ is taken care of by the Lord, as we scripturally and properly comply with the four essential requirements of the gospel of .Jesus Christ (Acts 2:37-38; 22:16 and I John 5:8). Though we have not written a chapter in this book concerning the essentiality of an application of the blood of Jesus Christ for the cleansing of the soul from all defilement of sin, we do not believe in or teach a bloodless religion. We know that it is a definite fact that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin to be obtained any other way (Hebrews 9:22). A whole book could be written about the blood of Jesus Christ; but we see no need of giving it a lot of space in this book, since the blood is automatically applied by the Lord as we comply with these four essentials of the gospel. Some writers and preachers try to stress the importance of the blood to the point that it is the only essential unto salvation—which is a serious mistake and an unscriptural presentation. (See Hebrews 11:6; Luke 13:5; Mark 16:15-16 with Acts 2:37-38 and John 3:1-7.)
The Essentiality of The Holy Ghost
We just touched on the essentiality of the Holy G host or the “birth of the Spirit” in the introductory paragraph of this chapter. We want to help you by the scriptures to see that the “baptism of the Holy Ghost” is absolutely essential) essential to salvation. How can anyone think or teach that one can be saved without being filled or baptized with the Holy Ghost when Jesus told Nicodemus, that Jew of noble character and excellent reputation, “that unless a man is born of . . . the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (Weymouth’s Translation of John 3:5)?
Some critics want to claim that the birth of the Spirit (John 3:5), the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5), or being filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4) are not all identical experiences. If such were true, when were Peter’s converts, of Acts 2:14-41, born of the Spirit? They were convicted, baptized in water, and filled with the Holy Ghost the same day, or you might say, in the same service. About the same thing is true with Peter’s converts of Acts 10:34-48. There is no reference in the Scripture to either of these groups which show that they were born of the Spirit, either before or after those memorial days when they believed, repented, were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and received the Holy Ghost—which was evidenced by speaking with tongues, as the Spirit gave the utterance.
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