Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments and baptism in the Spirit is the basic Pentecostal experience. How do these relate?
Chantelle surprised us when she started praying in tongues. She had come to the Community House seeking help and when we prayed for her, she began to speak out strongly in tongues.
She was a new person so we did not think she had been baptised in the Spirit and we asked her if she had prayed in tongues before. She replied that she had; it was the day of her confirmation. The bishop had explained before the ceremony that he was confirming people in order for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
She took this seriously and prayed for the Holy Spirit; she carried on after the ceremony and even into the night. At around
Chantelle was baptised in the Spirit, with the evidence of praying in tongues, following the reception of the sacrament of confirmation. Just imagine!
Whether this was from the power of the sacrament, or from her earnestness in seeking the Holy Spirit, is hard to tell; perhaps it was a bit of both.
So what is the difference between the sacrament of confirmation and prayer for baptism in the Spirit? People are afraid of that question. They know that one is the official ceremony that only bishops or designated priests perform, so they do not like to question it. The other is God coming in unofficially, using anyone who is ready, and generally using him or her effectively. Both, however, have the same objective, that people receive the Holy Spirit.
The sacraments work on the ‘ex opere operato’ principle. This means that the effectiveness of the sacrament comes wholly from the performance of the sacramental rite, and not from the worthiness of the minister, or from what the minister preaches on the occasion, etc. This is very convenient. You just have to believe there is a change in the person. If you cannot see it now, you will see it in the next life.
In a Life in the Spirit Seminar, you have to work hard to prepare people for baptism in the Spirit. A Seminar can sometimes be more effective and sometimes less; it can even fail altogether. It very much helps if the persons giving the Seminar are living a good life and are operating in the Spirit.
We see the results from the phenomena that can be there when the Spirit comes upon a person, including tongues, and more importantly, from the change for the better in a person’s life. If there is no change, we presume that nothing has happened.
We have heard since that the ministry we did for Chantelle is bringing her a big blessing. If the Holy Spirit is at work, something wonderful will happen. Would something wonderful happen, if we approached the administration of the sacrament of confirmation in the same way as we approach a Seminar?
No comments:
Post a Comment