Question about the Holy Ghost?

Question

My wife has a friend who is a member of the Jesus Christ Church of Apostlistic Faith. She came to our house for dinner the other night. Throughout the visit, she seemed very depressed and not herself. When my wife asked her what was wrong, she said that a friend at her church passed away and elders told her that her friend had not found the Holy Ghost, so she was most likely going to hell. My question is: What does it mean to find the Holy Ghost? Is this something specific to the Church of Apostlistic Faith or is this something that all Christians believe? I thought Christians just believed that one had to “accept Jesus as their savior” in order to go to heaven.

I think it is all a crock of ****. I was just curious as to whether my wife’s friend might be into some kind of cult or if it was a typical Christian church.

Answer 1

wow, the elders can make that judgement?

When someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, the holy Spirit comes to reside within us... our hearts and spirit change and it is reflected in our lives. You don't have to search for the Holy Spirit... Jesus said he would SEND another counselor (the Holy Spirit) and it isnt something you can find.

I would comfort your friend by asking her about her friend.... did she have the fruits of the Spirit? (love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control ) If she was bearing these fruits, she had the Holy Spirit....

being Baptized in the Holy Spirit is a whole different experience, but not a prerequisite for heaven... nor is it evident by the gift of tongues. Nowhere in the bible does it say that everyone will have that gift, therefore it is not biblical to believe that if one doesnt speak in tongues they are not saved.

I do not know anything about this specific denomination, so can't help you on what they 'believe' about it all.... but i don't think they could make the judgement about hellbound people because only God knows that

Answer 2

I am a Christian, I have never heard such a thing. If you would read any bible it would tell you that "jesus is the only way to heaven". The holy ghost is part of the trinity, so once you except jesus you already have excepted the holy ghost. Tell your wife that her friend IS in the lords safe hands. She doesn't need to "find the holy ghost". I would also tell your wife to go to another church, it sound like the elders of that church are off their holy rockers.

Answer 3

Your right, this sound very fishy. How can elders spread such rubbish? This will make matters worse. All people who accept Jesus in his/her life is saved. You receive the Holy Spirit once you accept Christ and surrender to the Lord. With your new life in Christ, you can then ask the Holy Spirit for guidence any time you want.

Your wife's friend is either suffering from depression (mental disease that every one can get) or is just going through a bad time in her life. This feeling of loneliness does not mean that the Holy Spirit has left her!! The Lord is definetly still caring for her and might be putting her through a life test to help her to gain spiritual growth.

I think you should go to the elder who told her that and debate it with him! Talk to a pastor and report it to him. See what is his opinion, because I definetly do not agree with that elder!

Answer 4

Some Pentecostal Churches teach that one must be Baptized in the Spirit with tongues as evidence of being Born Again but most do not.
Most Pentecostals(Apostolic Faith Churches is a subset of Pentecostal) see receiving Jesus as receiving the Father and the Spirit. Most Pentecostals do not demand tongue-speaking and exercise of the other "Corinthian Gifts' but evidence of conversion to Christ as a necessity for salvation

Answer 5

No, (as far as i know) I have seen the Holy Ghost named that and Holy Spirit. Different versions of the bible will reference this as either. But as with any religious topic, it is open to interpretation.

Answer 6

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" is what the Scripture says. That simple, nothing else - no works, no other actions to take. It is by faith that we are saved and by the grace of God, we do nothing to earn or deserve it. All that "Holy Ghost" stuff is emotionalism and specific to that "religion" and many others like it ( which are pentecostal in nature and are NOT what true Christianity is all about. The person who passed away IS saved if she believed in Christ and she does have everlasting life.

Here is some principles that might help your wife and to help comfort her friend. "Most people carry great sadness in their soul for friends and loved ones who have died. Though memories are filled with sorrow and compassion, we learn from the Bible that life must go on; God still has a plan and purpose for you, and that includes growing in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You are not abandoning the life of a loved one if you continure to live your life. The first lesson to be learned during this time of loss is to never let your grief turn into resentfulness. True sorrow should remind you of the grace of God and of all the wonderfull provisions He has lavished upon us. Use these provisions to grow and use them to comfort others who are also grieving. It is a time to come to understand and rejoice in the fact that your loved one is face to face with God, in a place of no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain. The old things have passed away and all things are new. They are in a place of perect happiness and contentment. Their journey is complete, they are home with the Lord and have the best of everything. Jesus Christ said in John 14: 1-3 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Here is a Web site with free, accurate Bible teaching with an extensive library of subject matters that may also help. http://www.gbible.org/php_mp3/latest_video_message.php

Will say a prayer for her and her friend and your families that to help get through the grief.

Answer 7

When you "get" or "recieve" the Holy Ghost, according to scripture, you are being what Jesus had said, "Born of the Spirit" (John 3:3-7)

While it is not "specific to" the Apostolic Pentecostal faith, it is certainly a "core tenet" of it. It is bible, whether you are Apostolic, Presbyterian, or whatever. There are many denominations aside from Apostolics that believe in recieving the Holy Ghost. It is part of a "baptism into the body" and being "resurrected" or "quickened" from being "dead in our sins and tresspasses". (Ephesians 2)

Here is a quote, "The birth of the Spirit is the operation of the Holy Spirit in man's salvation. This is the literal reading of John 3:5-8, and no one seriously disputes this. While there is agreement that the birth of the Spirit means receiving the Spirit of God to dwell in one's life, there is some difference of opinion as to whether this is identical to the baptism of the Spirit. Most Protestants equate receiving the Holy Spirit with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, although they usually reject the sign of speaking in tongues. Thus Bloesch stated, "We insist that the baptism of the Spirit must not be distinguished from the new birth." [35] Likewise, Adam Clarke equated the birth of the Spirit with the baptism of the Spirit. [36] In the New Testament church, the birth of the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit, receiving the Spirit, and the baptism of the Spirit are all one and the same, as we explain below."

The other main thing, is that Apsostolics believe that when you in fact "ecieve this "promise" (Acts 1:8), that the evidence is an external language, referred to as "speaking in tongues." This is found in many scriptures, especially throughout the book of Acts. (i.e. Acts 2:38,39, Acts 2:1-4, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 15-17, Acts 19:1-6)

To receive the infilling, baptism, promise, etc. of the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit), one must first surrendor their will and life to Him. All it takes is repentence, surrendor and faith to receive the Holy Ghost.

One account of a foreign soul who know only two words in English, "January, February", was touched by an American preacher coming through her region. She was so full of hunger, thirst and faith to receive the Holy Ghost, that after the revival, she kept "tarrying" or "waiting" [praying and believing] for the Holy Ghost, and she just kept repeating "January, February. January, February." She was filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as God gave the ability. =)

http://www.housefellowship.org
http://www.splashdesignworks.com

Answer 8

Christians view things differently. It actually depends on the individual person. If you want to generalize by group, though:

Protestants: Salvation = accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord and striving to live as He lived and wants us to live

Catholics: I'm not Catholic, but I went to a Catholic high school, and it seemed to me that they think salvation comes through being baptized as an infant to rid oneself of Original Sin and then performing good works of service (based off of Matthew 25). I could be wrong, however.

As for the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can come on a person through the laying of hands (Acts 8:18). I realize this is contextual of the apostles, but the Holy Ghost is a mysterious matter that is somewhat anomalous.

Answer 9

Once you accept Jesus Christ as your savior, the Holy Ghost moves into your heart and resides there. Receiving the Holy Ghost is a by product of being saved. The Holy Ghost is the part of God that speaks to us through many ways. One way is through scripture. Before a person is saved, the scripture is just words, they can't understand it, but when we get saved the scripture comes alive because of the Holy Ghost inside us helps us to understand it.

Answer 10

"Christianity" is not the unified front you seem to think it is. It's broken down into several branches, the main two being Catholocism and Protestant. Protestant is further subdivided into various Denominations, each of which have a slightly different take on things.

The "holy ghost" comes from the idea of a Holy Trinity, consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Holy Ghost by Catholics, is that spark of divine influence that exists in the hearts of believers. I've never heard of the Apostilic Faith branch before, but this claim that without the Holy Ghost you go to hell is not part of mainstream Christianity. I'm sure 95% of other Christians would heartily disagree with that stance.

Answer 11

This is my opinion: Years ago I taught fifth and sixth grade Sunday school. So, I had to become familiar with the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In addition, our church talks a lot about "Father (God), Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Ghost (the spirit of God that lives inside us). Thus, it became really clear to me that Christ came to us to help us understand what God was all about. Until then, we just didn't "get it." We continually wanted to ascribe to God our own guidelines and be able to explain God in terms of our own finite, scientifically based beliefs. (And, many still try to do this today.) But, God is supernatural and can't be boxed in that way. So, Christ came and emphasized a number of very interesting, important things. The first, and I believe the most important one to me, is that we should have FAITH. (In other words, we should believe in God's power and love for us, no matter how tough things get, no matter what other people say or tell us what to believe.) We should have faith....Christ says it over and over again. So, if your friend believed in God and in Jesus Christ, you don't need to worry, because God and Jesus will take care of everything else between them. I know this because the Bible says God knows what is in our hearts. It is really that simple.

One other thing: The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost, as some churches call it) is the spirit of God that lives within all of our hearts. It's the spirit that connects us all together. It lives there all the time, we just have to be able to "see and feel" it. I've often said that the Holy Spirit knows everything and will tell you...if you just listen. This connection grows over the years, from the first time we "sense" it is there to the time when we actually "know" it is there to love, support and guide us. "Knowing" the HS deeply is a gift that comes in time with faith and prayer. Your friend was just beginning this journey apparently. But, the important part is that your friend wanted to "know," that is a form of faith in itself. Now, you can rejoice, because your friend knows all the answers he or she so ardently sought and has found God's peace that passes all understanding.

(Again, this is my own opinion, formed by my own life's journey.)