The Holy Spirit and His Gifts | Page 34

Second, we know Saul was saved because when Ananias entered the house where Saul was staying, Ananias greeted Saul by calling him "Brother Saul." ACTS 9:17 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him [ Saul] said, BROTHER SAUL, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou might est receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Ananias recognized that Saul was already a Christian brother in the faith. Third, we also know Saul was already saved when Ananias came to lay hands on him to receive the Holy Spirit because the Bible says in Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Saul called Jesus, "Lord" in his conversion on the Damascus Road. ACTS 9:3-6 3 And as he [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, LORD? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, LORD, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. However, even though Saul had received Jesus as his Lord, Saul was not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit. As we have seen, Saul was not baptized in the Holy Spirit until Ananias came and laid hands on him to receive the Holy Spirit. ACTS 9:17 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house: and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST. So we see that salvation and the baptism in the Holy Ghost are two separate experiences. The Gentiles of Cornelius' Household: Salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit We also have other scriptural accounts of those who were saved and then immediately following salvation, they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We find one such example in the very next chapter, Acts 10, where the Bible gives us Peter's account of his visit to Cornelius' household. The men of Cornelius' household were all Gentiles, and they were not saved until Peter came and preached the gospel to them. In Acts chapter 11, Peter recounts his visit to Cornelius' household to the brethren in Jerusalem. ACTS 11:13-15 13 And he [Cornelius] shewed us [Peter and the six Jewish brethren] how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;