Our Yeshua (Immanuel)

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Jeannette W.A. Koster

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 Jeannette W.A. Koster

Home >> Articles "It is said ..." >> First baptism, then grace and Holy Spirit'? p. 2-10

Question 1: What is a gift?

A gift is a thing given willingly to someone without payment.
The reason for a gift can be several, but the person to whom the gift is given to, doesn’t have to do anything to receive the gift, but to accept it.

Question 2: Is ‘grace’ a gift?

The Hebrew word for ‘grace’ is “chen” [חן] and it is also translated into “favor”.
It is a noun, coming from the verb “lachnon” [לחנון / לחנן] and it means: “ask for mercy”; “make gracious”.
Interesting is, that if you take the 3rd person, present tense of the verb “lachnon” – which will be “chonan” or “choneen” [חונן], and translate it into English, Google translator translates it into: “gifted”. And my dictionary translates it into: “to be gifted (with)”; “to be endowed (with)” (chonan); “to forgive, to pardon”; “take care”; take pity (with) (choneen). And that is exactly what grace; favor, mercy is!

Question 3: Is ‘Holy Spirit’ a gift?

In Hebrew, the word is “Ruach HaKodesh” [רוח הקודש].
Ruach means:

  • Wind
  • Breath (of God)
  • Breeze
  • Air
  • And these four above can also be put as "spirit"

Kodesh means:

  • Holiness
  • Sanctity
  • Halidom
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with/in water, but in a few days you will be baptized with/in the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:4-5 _ NIV
… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; …
Acts 1:8 _ NIV

There are other scriptures that will show us that Holy Spirit isn’t something we earn when we have done something good. Because if that were be the case, then Jesus would not have mentioned about the gift, but about the reward. No, in Acts 1 from NIV we read that Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is a gift from His Father, and that power will be received when this gift will come upon His disciples (and upon us).
Later more about this Gift.
Other Bible translations do not mention about a gift, but about a promise.