In 1. Cor 12:3, we read, “Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”
In this one verse, we learn something significant; we learn how to discern spirits.
In Luke 6, Yeshua says, if we call Him Lord, we have to believe what He said and show we believe by obeying His teachings. In 1. Cor 12:3 we learn that those who follow Yeshua’s teachings have the Holy Spirit. So now we know the sign of being a spirit-filled believer is not speaking in tongues, the sign we are to look for is obedience. Speaking in tongues is a by-product of being a spirit-filled believer
This, of course, raises a couple of questions, as we all know mainstream Christianity rejects almost everything Yeshua taught except for the cross. They still claim to have the Holy Spirit and even claim to “feel the presence of God.”
Are we to believe they are wrong?
Every time we see the Holy Spirit fall upon and fill someone in Acts, it is always a Jew who believes in the Messiah or a Gentile who is a God-fearer like Cornelius.
What is a God-fearer?
A God-fearer is a Hebrew idiom for a Gentile who obeys the Torah (the written law of Moses) but has not converted to Judaism. So the similarities between a Jewish believer in the Messiah and someone like Cornelius are that they both obeyed the Torah just as it says in 1. Cor 12:3 and Luke 6.
This shows us how there is a strong connection between the Torah and the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, we have John 6:44 telling us nobody can come to Yeshua unless the Father first draws Him. This shows us there is a difference between rejecting the Torah out of ignorance and rejecting the Torah out of willful disobedience.
If you reject the Torah out of ignorance, it does not mean you do not have the Holy Spirit. If you believe Yeshua died for your sins, but you are not convinced the Torah applies to you, you still have the Holy Spirit, and He is still wowing you and drawing you towards Torah obedience and the Lordship of Yeshua.
He will never force you to accept Yeshua’s Lordship, but He will work on your heart for you to receive the Lordship of Yeshua.
If you choose not to receive, Matt 7:21-23 and James 2, says your faith in the cross is dead and can not save you.
So how do you recognize the Holy Spirit in someone’s life?
By their obedience to the Torah and their desire to learn more about the Torah so they can walk in obedience to Yeshua.
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