HOME | NEWS | THE MAGAZINE | BOOKS | SITEMAP | EMAIL
				The Holy Spirit And the Holy Spirit Gifts By Graham Pearce

PAGE 4

"Some years ago we went carefully over every reference to the word "spirit" in the New Testament. The occasion was an agitation that the spirit was something to be now possessed. We found then as we have since that brethren were following a mirage in talking of possessing the spirit today .... To sum up the matter. The first century believers had an endowment unique in the Christian era. Gifts of the spirit in various forms of manifestation were possessed by the brethren. The fact of the possession was obvious and the gift was under the control of the one who was thus endowed. The gift conferred no moral advantage -- a man had to work out his salvation by faithful obedience to the Lord's command. The message given by the spirit had to be absorbed, understood, and acted upon just as we have to do with the revelation enshrined in the Bible."