~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: I am a Christian, and I believe with all my heart that God has called me into the ministry. My question to you is how can so many people believe in "slain in the Spirit" when it is not once mentioned in the Bible. I admit that Paul was knocked off his donkey, but not by any man. So I would like to know where in the Bible can they find being slain in the spirit?Answer: First of all, let me say that there are many terms that we use which were not used in the Bible, but designate scriptural facts or principles. Take the word "rapture," for example. Where is it found in the Bible? It isn't. What about the word "Bible" itself? It isn't found in the "Holy Bible" either, but was coined to describe the collection of divinely inspired books which we now claim as the supreme authority of our confession and our faith. So... just because being "slain in the Spirit" is not precisely mentioned does not mean that it is not a scriptural practice.
Secondly, let me say that there are many practices in the modern church for which we can find no corresponding practice in the early church. Take the "mourner's bench" or "altar" for example. The Bible shows us several occasions on which saints built altars and prayed to God, perhaps offering sacrifices of thanksgiving or praise. But where in the scriptures do we see a specific structure built (or even a specific place designated) as a place for sinners to pray a repentant prayer, and receive the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord? We don't. The "mourner's bench" took its place in the heritage of the church around the time of that greatly successful evangelist Charles G. Finney. Yet today many of us (and with good reason) decry the churches that have removed those wooden structures that we call "altars."
Thirdly, it seems to me that you may have a misconception of being "slain in the Spirit." There are many men today who blow on people, hit people, shove people, and break peoples' necks (an exaggeration). Being knocked down on the floor by a blow from a man's hand or his mouth is not being "slain in the Spirit." That is being "knocked over by a man" and has no spiritual connotations at all.
Notice with me, though, the reactions of some of the greatest men in the Bible when they came into the Presence of the Lord. Take Daniel, that man in whom even his enemies could find no fault except in his unswerving service to the Lord. What happened to Daniel when he came into the Presence of God's Spirit? "And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright" (Daniel 8:16 - 18).
We may even conclude that Daniel here was only in the presence of an angel. And whether it was the "man's voice" (Christ's voice) or the presence of the angel that thus affected Daniel, are we to expect that our response to such an awesome and holy Presence will be any more "dignified" than his? Now let us look at John's response...
"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man . . . And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. (Revelation 1:13, 17) And this is that disciple whom "Jesus loved" and who laid his head on Jesus' breast at the "Last Supper." And in saying that he fell at the Savior's feet "as dead," John even lends credibility to our use of the word "slain" in the term "slain in the Spirit."
In conclusion, let us say that being "slain in the Spirit" should be the result of an overwhelming sense of unworthiness and awe in the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. It should not be imitated by using physical force or deceitful practices. Finally, though it is not named specifically in the Word of God as being "slain in the Spirit," there are several examples of happenings in the Bible that coincide closely with what true Pentecostals call being "slain in the Spirit."
More on this topic
More on this topic
More on this topic
