From receiving the Spirit to being born again

The first step is to receive the Word of God somehow as to the early disciples, they had the old covenant and the prophets to lead them to believe in Christ, and once that Christ came he spoke to them directly even though of course they could not understand everything without the Holy Spirit. For us we have the Bible, in which is the old covenant, as well as the words that Jesus taught to the first disciples, ie the Gospels.

Although we may not understand the gospels right away, we realize the first time we read that the little we understand is the Truth, because God has already put it in our hearts (the little we understand) before. that we read it. For all that we cannot yet understand, the Lord has to give us his Holy Spirit, and that is why there is one thing that we directly understand by reading the gospels, and that is that we need of the Holy Spirit and we must ask it by faith in order to receive it, because Jesus clearly says that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks him:

Luke 11:13 If therefore you who are wicked know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Ghost to those who ask him?

Jesus knowing that his disciples understood very little of his Word, just as we do when we read it, tells them that when he can give them the Holy Spirit (after his resurrection), he will teach them throughout. Truth (little by little), and to do this he will remind them of everything he said to them and reveal to them the meaning:

John 14:25 These things I have told you, remaining with you. 26 But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and he will remind you of all the things that I have spoken to you.

We see that the disciples received this Spirit on the very day of Jesus' resurrection:

John 20:22 After these words he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

For us, we do not need to wait as they had to, because Jesus having already risen from the dead we have the direct power to receive the Holy Spirit by faith after having received the Word of God, as I do. say above, asking for it and therefore expecting it in prayer with faith. For all the promises of God are obtained by faith and perseverance:

Hebrews 6:12 So that you will not be slackened, but imitate those who by faith and endurance inherit what has been promised to them.

After receiving the Holy Spirit by faith, the Lord taught them for 40 days by showing himself to them openly, telling them things (mysteries) that concern the Kingdom of God:

Acts 1: 3 To whom also, after suffering, he presented himself alive, with many sure proofs, being seen by them for forty days, and speaking to them of things concerning the Kingdom of God.

This 40-day moment also represents the desert that Jesus crossed after receiving the Spirit in the form of a dove, and also the desert that the Hebrews had to cross for 40 years after leaving the land of Egypt. The desert where we all have to go in order to be tested. During this wilderness we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, in order to be sanctified by the Lord. And just like for the Hebrew people, many perish in this desert and permanently lose the Holy Spirit:

Jude 1: 5 Now I want to remind you of one thing which you already know, [that is] the Lord having delivered the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards he destroyed those who disbelieved;

After having been taught for 40 days in this spiritual wilderness and having overcome everything, the disciples remained all together in one place while awaiting the promise of the Father, that is to say the new birth which also represents the accomplishment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in us (when our baptism is complete):

Acts 1:12 So they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called [the mountain] of Olives, which is a Sabbath way by Jerusalem. 13 And when they had entered [into the city], they went up into an upper room; where lived Pierre and Jacques, Jean and André, Philippe and Thomas, Barthélemy and Matthieu, Jacques [son] of Alphée, and Simon Zelotes, and Jude brother of Jacques. 14 All these persevered unanimously in prayers and prayers with the women, and with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with her Brothers.

And so it is all together, in the unity of faith and consecration, and awaiting the promise that the first disciples were born of God:

Acts 2: 1 And as the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there was a sound from heaven, as [is the sound] of a fiercely blowing wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues divided as of fire, and they rested upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit caused them to speak.

The Church and the Spirit then spread by the preaching of the Gospel and by the laying on of the hands of the apostles as you can read in the bible.

The Church having been dead (asleep) for generations must live again (wake up), and to do this the Lord must restore the Church and its members in the same way that the early Church was established, and let us not forget that everything that is written about it has been written for our generation.

The first step after receiving the Word of God (the Gospel) is to give up everything to follow Jesus:

Luke 18:28 And Peter said, Behold, we have left all things, and have followed you.

And this is what we must do in order to consecrate ourselves out of Love for Christ (his person) who gave himself for us as a ransom and for the Truth, in order to live in true consecration. For we know that whoever loves his life and who wishes to live in this world will lose his soul, but whoever loses his life for Christ and for the Gospel will find it for eternity:

Mark 8:34 And having called the troops and his disciples, he said to them, Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and let him load his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for the sake of me and the Gospel, he will save it. 36 For what profit would a man profit if he gained all the world, if he lost his soul?

The Lord then gives us his Holy Spirit to enable us to cross the desert and be sanctified there by baptism. In this wilderness we are buried with Christ, which means our old man has to die in this wilderness (the cross) in order for us to be crucified with Christ. And for those who achieve it by faith and perseverance, we must then wait for the promise by abiding in sanctification and fellowship, in order to be born from on high, that is, to be resurrected with Christ by faith in the Power. of God and the resurrection:

Colossians 2:11 In whom also you are circumcised by a circumcision made without a hand, which consists in stripping the body of the sins of the flesh, which [is] the Circumcision of Christ; 12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also were raised in him and with him, by faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Romans 6: 4 We are therefore buried with him in his death by baptism; so that as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also walk in newness of life.

Luke 24 :: 49 You therefore dwell in the city of Jerusalem, until you are invested with power from on high. 50 After that he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands on high, he blessed them. 51 And it came to pass that by blessing them, he parted with them, and was exalted into heaven. 52 And they having worshiped him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they were still in the Temple praising and blessing God. Amen!

To confirm the Doctrine:

Ephesians 4:21 if however you have heard him and have been instructed by him, in accordance with the truth which is in Jesus: 22 to strip you of your previous conduct, of the old man who corrupts himself according to the wishes of seduction, 23 to let yourself be renewed by the Spirit in your mind, 24 and to put on the new man, created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.
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