@djeggnog wrote:
The expression "spirit anointed Christians" is another often misunderstood phrase. "Spirit anointed" has to do with one's heavenly calling, with God's spirit having borne witness with the spirit of those who have been called and chosen by God and adopted by him as sons. (Romans 8:16) However, I myself am filled with holy spirit the same as are many other Jehovah's Witnesses (else it would not be possible for a Christian to grieve it!), but this expression -- being "filled with holy spirit" -- that some fail to comprehend doesn't imply nor does it mean that I have or anyone else has been zapped with a portion of God's holy spirit.
This expression simply means that I have been "empowered" by God's word, or energized by the same "power" that was given to Jesus' early disciples back in 33 AD, except that "power" was received supernaturally whereas this same "power" today is received through the things we read in the Bible.
@The Quiet One wrote:
So basically you are saying that true Christians today do not receive the holy spirit, they can only be directed by it through the words in the Bible?
No, what I have said here is that the true Christians today do receive God's holy spirit through their reading and studying of the Bible in applying the scriptural requirements that are applicable to Christians. I have also said:
Because Jehovah's Witnesses are led by holy spirit, only qualified men are appointed to serve as overseers based on the [standards] provided in God's word, so in this way they are appointed by holy spirit according to the scriptural requirements set forth at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, and by the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses through the recommendations made by spiritually "certified men ... full of spirit and wisdom." (Acts 6:3)
Many seem to be oblivious to the fact that Acts 15:28 doesn't just refer to what the holy spirit itself says, but also to what "we ourselves," as scripturally-qualified men appointed by holy spirit, "certified men ... full of spirit and wisdom," empowered to preside and "take care of God's congregation," might determine to be necessary safeguards for protecting the flock of God that has been entrusted to their care.
In the first century AD, holy spirit manifested itself in God's congregation by the gifts of the spirit, for we can read at 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 about the various operations of the spirit, such as speech of knowledge, so that those in the various congregations with this gift could miraculous quote from the Scriptures without there being any need on his part to have the appropriate Hebrew scroll containing the scripture in front of them, thus making it unnecessary to appoint someone as "a scroll servant" -- a toter of the scrolls, as it were -- for in the absence of this spiritual gift, someone would have had to carry the scrolls about from meeting to meeting.
There was the gift of faith, which was a gift that went beyond that which one needed to become a Christian, for those having this gift had the conviction that made his faith unshakeable, which served to energize the congregations of God. To the various congregations, there was given many other gifts as well (speech of wisdom, healings, powerful works, prophesying, discernment of inspired utterances, the ability to speak in different tongues and the ability to interpret these tongues).
Eventually though, the need for these gifts waned, for Paul himself wrote 14 letters under the inspiration of holy spirit "with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work," for the upbuilding of the congregations (Ephesians 4:12), and these same letters, which became a part of the Bible, are among the 66 books that make up the Bible canon on which Jehovah's Witnesses rely in order to accomplish our ministry today. What's important to note here is that in the first century AD, the congregations didn't carry Bibles with them in their ministry, so instead of saying, "the Bible says" as we do today, they would say, "the holy spirit said."
As was mentioned in my previous message, when Paul quoted from Jeremiah 31:33, 34, he didn't introduce this Bible passage at Hebrews 10:15-18 by saying, "the Bible said," but what he said was "the holy spirit ... has said: "'This is the covenant that I shall covenant toward them after those days...."'" Note that Paul points out that it is in this way that "the holy spirit bears witness to us," and so it is in this way when we read the Bible that the holy spirit speaks to us today.
As another example, we read at Hebrews 3:7-11, where Paul quotes from Psalm 95:7-11, his saying, not "For this reason, the Bible says at Psalm 95:7-11, 'Today if you people listen to his own voice...," but instead Paul says "For this reason, just as the holy spirit says: "Today if you people listen to his own voice...." Again, we can see how it is when we quote something from the Bible that it is in this way that "the holy spirit says" this or that, and so it is in this way that the holy spirit speaks to us today whenever we read the Bible or whenever we hear a passage from the Bible being read by someone else.
Now I mentioned earlier how Acts 15:28 doesn't just refer to what the holy spirit itself says, but also to what "we ourselves" say as scripturally-qualified men appointed by holy spirit, since the central body of elders and the local body of elders are the ones empowered by God's spirit to preside over God's congregation. This means that the elders must also make decisions based on their understanding of what the holy spirit says to the congregations through their reading of the Bible, which is why in the congregations of God you will find certain things are not approved for Christians in certain congregations that may be approved in other congregations, such as sporting a beard.
Smoking is disapproved in all of the congregations of God today and playing the state lottery or buying lottery tickets is also frowned upon, just as having social contact with disfellowshipped persons is someone not approved in the congregations of God today. While these things are not laws, per se, that are specifically commanded in God's word -- IOW, while you cannot point to a single scripture that explicitly says, "Christians should not smoke" -- "we ourselves" may discern in the Bible that when the holy spirit says to Christians at 2 Corinthians 7:1, that in order to perfect holiness in God's fear we must "cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit," that what this means is that "Christians should not smoke."
There is single scripture that explicitly says, "Christians should not play the state lottery" -- "we ourselves" may discern in the Bible that where the holy spirit says at Isaiah 65:11, that those "leaving Jehovah" are those that are "forgetting my holy mountain" (how?) by "setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck," that playing the lottery would be gambling in its appeal to greed (why?) because winning becomes an idol. There when the holy spirit says to Christians at 1 Corinthians 10:14 to "flee from idolatry," "we ourselves" discern from the principle established at Isaiah 65:11 that "Christians should not gamble," for playing the lottery would be tantamount to apostasy.
And that being ''filled with the spirit'' actually means to be 'moved to action through what the spirit has said' ?
Yes.
@djeggnog
