The Normal Christian Life

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

The Normal Christian Life

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

The better translation is, "Ye shall be perfect as your Father who is in the heavens is perfect" (Amplified translation). What Jesus said is a promise as well as a command.

The initial Scriptural steps toward perfection as a Christian believer are:

(1) repent (Matthew 3:2)

We must believe that we are sinners in need of salvation. True repentance necessitates the humility to admit and confess our sin.

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:10-12, 23

We are not sinners because of what we have done; we are sinners because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Every person, except Jesus, born into this world is born with the same sin nature of fallen Adam. Just as cats have kittens and dogs have puppies, so likewise fallen man (the first Adam) reproduces his own kind. Every human being born into this world is born with the spiritual DNA of the fallen Adam; that part of our spirit which was designed by God to communicate with Him is dead. That is why Jesus said we must be born again.

(2) believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord 

(Romans 10:9-10)

We must believe the Gospel. The essence of the Gospel is that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, was buried, and then rose again the third day. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) When we turn to Jesus, and sincerely ask Him to forgive our sins and be our Lord and Savior, we are born again. We receive the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is a one-time, instantaneous event when we put our faith in Christ and are regenerated, born again, or brought to life spiritually. 

13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,

14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

Once we are "born again" the Lord instructs us to be baptized in water to confirm what has happened to us spiritually. Baptism in water should be the first thing we do after we are "born again." We don't become part of the body of Christ through water baptism, but through faith in Christ. Water baptism is a beautiful picture of what our Lord has done for us. The word "baptize" means to immerse or to dip. As we are immersed in the water, we symbolize the burial of our old man and his works of death; we are baptized into His death on the cross and are no longer slaves to self or sin. Our sins are then washed away by God for those who, by faith, put their trust in Him. When we are raised out of the water, we are likewise resurrected ... raised to new life in Christ to be with Him forever. All of these truths are clearly brought out in Romans 6.

(3) desire to follow Him and become a disciple of the risen Lord (Matthew 16:24)

(4) and answer God with a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21)

We must be sincere and not simply go through the motions. God knows our heart; whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Then we must begin to die to self and live for Christ. Further all of those steps toward perfection must be carried out by faith. And all is by His grace.


15 And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:15-18

Verse 17: Believe what or whom? Believe, by faith, that they have the power to cast out devils, believe that they can speak with new tongues, etc. Speaking in tongues is available to every Christian believer.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 says they (the Jews) were all baptized into Moses. Moses stands for the law. So being baptized into Moses means being immersed into the law. The law then becomes your way of life. 

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach [disciple] all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:18-20

This means immersing them into the nature, the character, the essence of the Godhead. That includes immersing them into the Name of the Lord, into the Person of the Lord, into His life, into His ways, into grace and truth. The Lord becomes our life. His thoughts are to become our thoughts. His will is to become our will. His words are to become our words. His ways are to become our ways. We are to be completely immersed into HIM! It is by discipling all nations (on our part) and the revelation and power of the Holy Spirit (on His part) that we immerse others into the grace and truth of our Lord.

Let us look at one of the major Old Testament patterns of water baptism ... the ark of Noah.


18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

19 By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 3:18-21

Only eight souls, out of perhaps two million, were saved. Many are called but few are chosen; or many are called but few choose. The ark typifies Christ. Noah and his family passed through the waters after they went into the ark. That speaks of being in Christ and being baptized in water. When they came out of the ark on dry ground, they came out in newness of life. Have you ever considered that in the ark were animals who, by nature, had become enemies? the lion and the lamb, etc. But after entering into the ark all of the animals were at peace with each other ... they too had passed into newness of life.

A second Old Testament pattern of water baptism is described in 1 Corinthians 10.

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

[Baptized in the sea speaks of water baptism; baptism in the cloud speaks of being baptized with the Holy Spirit.]

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat:

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

These things are written as examples for us and for our admonition. Verses 5-10 are examples of the lack of being filled with the Spirit, which is a state of walking in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit after we are born again, baptized in water, and have received the Holy Spirit.

In Exodus 13 and 14 the Israelites first killed a lamb and put the blood on the two side posts and on the lintel, above the door. That foreshadowed the blood of the Lamb which was shed at Calvary. When we trust in that precious blood, we experience being born-again ... the first step in our salvation. But the blood of Jesus, as important and necessary as it is for us, was not (and is not) the final separation from the forces of darkness. Before the departing Israelites reached the Red Sea,

21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Exodus 13:21-22

The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud. The pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire typify being baptized with the Holy Spirit. 

I [John the Baptist] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matthew 3:11). 

But neither was it the baptism with the Holy Spirit that caused the final separation of the Israelites from bondage and captivity. 

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. Exodus 14:19-20

When the Egyptians, with their 600 chariots, were about to catch up with the Israelites, the pillar of cloud moved from before the Israelites to behind them. Thus the Israelites passed under the cloud prior to passing through the sea. The Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to divide and the Israelites passed through the Sea on dry ground. The fact that the riverbed became dry ground is itself a miracle. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea by faith.

By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. Hebrews 11:29

The Egyptians drowned because they did not pass through the sea by faith.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Hebrews 11:6

He that cometh to God must believe that He is (that He has risen from the dead). But note the third "that" is in italics, which means it does not appear in the Greek texts. The latter part of the Verse should say, "and He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Therefore we do NOT have to believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. In reality if I am motivated by the fact that He will reward me, then I have missed the mark.

Scripture plainly states that all born again believers have received the Holy Spirit, but there is a difference between the Holy Spirit dwelling with us, being in us, and the Spirit filling us. Jesus said, concerning the Spirit of truth: "for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:17). The filling of the Spirit is an ongoing process in the Christian life.

The Greek word for "be filled" is pleroo, which means "keep on being filled" or "stay filled" with the Spirit. This is something that should be ongoing in the lives of believers, not a one-time experience. The filling of the Spirit is not some emotional experience, but a steady leading of our life by obedience to the truth of God's Word. That means we must always make decisions as to whether we will obey God or men. We can't have more or less of the Holy Spirit, but we can have more or less of His influence over us. How are we filled with, or influenced by, the Spirit? yield to Him, obey Him. Being filled with the Spirit is a day-to-day, moment-by-moment surrendering of our lives to Christ. Being filled with the Spirit does not refer to speaking in tongues. In Luke 1, three different people were filled with the Spirit but none of them spoke in tongues.

Scripture charges us to be filled with the Spirit. 

Ephesians 5:18-21: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

In these verses, being filled with the Spirit is contrasted with being filled or drunk with wine. Just as wine has the potential to influence our behavior, so does the Holy Spirit. People driving drunk are "driving under the influence." The idea is being led by God's Spirit rather than by other forces. When we are filled with the Spirit, we see a resultant attitude of thanksgiving, evidence of humility toward God, and of submission to one another. Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The goal of the Christian life is to remain Spirit-filled. That should be the normal Christian life. That is NOT what the Israelites did after passing through the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:5-10). With many (or most) of them, God was not well pleased. Why? because they reverted in numerous ways back to works of the flesh. They did not die daily to self. In effect, they no longer trusted the Lord. As a result only two adults, Joshua and Caleb, actually entered the Promised Land (the Kingdom of God). Likewise, that is NOT what the Church at Corinth did, as recorded in 1 Corinthians.

Believers have all of the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit may not have all of them. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of our salvation but we are filled by Him when we submit to Him. We can never have more or less of the Holy Spirit than we have at the moment of conversion. When we're saved the Holy Spirit indwells us and we receive all of Him: 

1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" 

We either have the Holy Spirit or we don't. The real issue is the release of the already present Spirit to have free rein in our hearts. It isn't about us having more of Him but of Him having more of us. "He must increase but I must decrease" (John 3).

The filling of the Holy Spirit can vary in the life of each believer. A believer in Christ can "quench" or "grieve" the Holy Spirit through sinful actions. In contrast, when a believer in Christ lives in obedience to God's will and commands, he or she should expect to see the fruit of God's Spirit, not the works of the flesh, manifested through them. Being filled with the Spirit also means we use only godly speech. What comes out of our mouth is an indication of what is in our heart.

The end of the matter is by our daily dying to self and our daily obedience to the Lord, by the power of the Holy Ghost, we must allow the Spirit of God continuously to make us perfect until He appears the second time without sin unto salvation.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!