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Re: Numerical Growth Is Not A Sign Of Revival...
In the Great Commission, we are called to do these three things:
- Teach all nations
- Immerse the taught
- Teach them to observe everything Christ taught the Apostles
It is evident therefore that some amount of the time spent evangelizing a person includes teaching, prior to baptism. I would not want to baptize anyone if after explaining to them the Gospel and the commitment to it one needs to make, if all I got was a blank stare. I wouldn't baptize such a person until I knew they had processed the info. If they don't comprehend, you haven't taught.
Lastly, receiving the Holy Spirit is the Scriptural seal of repentance. Many get immersed and don't receive the Holy Spirit. I don't judge, but there is a possibility that their repentance wasn't accepted by the Lord (i.e. He wasn't the One granting it, they just mustered it up for whatever reason).
Therefore, only when one receives the Holy Spirit can we truly say that God has accepted their repentance and sealed them as proof.
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