Receiving the Holy Spirit - 1 - Introduction; Who, When, and How

RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT - Introduction

This write-up is neither based on the teachings of any Christian sect or denomination, nor is it to promote the teachings of any sect or denomination, nor is it to preach those teachings for them. The purpose of this write-up is to analyze some common and prevalent wrong teachings about God the Holy Spirit, solely on the basis of the Bible and its teachings, and to thereby bring out what is true and what is false in them.

As you will understand on your own while you read what is stated here, there is a very important role of God the Holy Spirit in the life of every Christian Believer; the Lord Jesus Christ has assigned a very major and a mandatory role for the Holy Spirit in the life of every Christian Believer (John 16:7-13). Without the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit a Christian Believer can neither properly and really understand the teachings of the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:11-14), nor can they be firmly rooted and established in them (John 14:26), nor can they be useful and effective for the Lord (Galatians 5:22-23 – the fruits of the Spirit will only be found where the Holy Spirit actually is present). Since often people do not understand or accept the power and necessity of the Holy Spirit in their lives, therefore their Christian lives are spiritually stagnant and ineffective, and they remain useless for the Lord. Because of continually living this spiritually stagnant and ineffective Christian life, they are also unable to gather any spiritual blessings for themselves for their eternal life.

This is because there are many false concepts that are commonly seen and taught regarding God the Holy Spirit, because of which much confusion prevails amongst the Christian Believers. Unfortunately, because of the misconceptions and wrong teachings very often given in the name of the Holy Spirit, because of inordinately pressurizing people about those wrong teachings, and because of the strange behavior, absolutely inconsistent with the Word of God, of those people, the feeling of antagonism and alienation towards the Holy Spirit continues to increase, and the people remain want to remain aloof from the true teachings and Biblical concepts about the Holy Spirit. Because of these wrong teachings many Christians do not even want to hear, consider, or talk about the importance of the things related to the Holy Spirit, because to them it seems that this is a teaching that belongs to a particular sect or denomination, and for those that are not associated with that sect or denomination, there is no need to get involved in it – but this is also wrong. Just as it is wrong to instruct and believe in the wrong teachings about the Holy Spirit, similarly, it is equally wrong to disregard and not pay any attention to God the Holy Spirit.

This write-up is not about everything related to the Holy Spirit, but only about the fundamental teachings related to the receiving of the Holy Spirit; and we will consider them under the following headings:

Receiving the Holy Spirit: Who, When, and How?

Is doing something special required for receiving the Holy Spirit?

1. Is the Holy Spirit received on asking the Lord for it? – (Luke 11:13); four related things

2. Is the Holy Spirit received with the aid of the Apostles or the Church Elders?

(Part 1 – Three Examples - Acts 8:14-17; chapters 10, 11; 19:1-7)

(Part 2 – Some related teachings to be kept in mind here)

(Part 3 – Understanding the Three Examples)

3. Is the Holy Spirit received by the Laying of Hands by the Apostles or the Church Elders?

4. Is Tarrying required to receive the Holy Spirit?

5. Doing something special to receive the Holy Spirit – Inference

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

What is the filling of the Holy Spirit?

Conclusion

**********************

Receiving the Holy Spirit: Who, When, and How?

It is the clear teaching of God’s Word the Bible that as soon as a person comes to faith in Christ Jesus, i.e. as soon as a person repents of his sins, asks the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus for them, surrenders his life to the Lord Jesus, receives salvation by the grace of God, then from that very moment he becomes a child of God (John 1:12-13), and at that very moment not only does he receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2; Ephesians 1:13-14), but simultaneously he also becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and God the Holy Spirit comes to reside in him for ever (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19) – without any discrimination, in every actually saved Christian Believer. Along with this, on the basis of the teachings of the Bible please also note that ‘speaking in tongues’ is not a proof of having received the Holy Spirit – because ‘speaking in tongues’ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit is a big topic in itself, we will not be discussing it here presently, therefore nothing further is said in this write-up about this. If it is in the Lord’s will, and He leads and guides about it, then we will discuss this at some later time.

From the moment a person is saved, he becomes a possession of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:15, 17). Because no one can factually call Jesus as Lord without the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), therefore according to the Word of God it is impossible for someone to be saved, to have truly become a  Christian Believer, to factually mean and address Jesus as his Lord (Luke 6:46), but yet not have the Holy Spirit in him. Whosoever will truly be in faith in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit too will be in him to guide and safeguard him (Romans 8:1-2, 9). If this does not happen, the Word of God will become false – an impossibility.

The Holy Spirit is God and therefore He can in no way ever be brought under the control of any human ritual, ceremony, device, or activity, and neither can He ever be controlled or directed by any of these. The Holy Spirit cannot be divided into parts, His quantitative availability can never be increased or decreased in any manner, nor can He ever be given out in installments. Hence if He is present – then He is present in His fullness, in His entirety; else He is just not present at all! Therefore He is always the same in every true Christian Believer, He is never less in some and more in others; God never gives the Holy Spirit by measure (John 3:34). But, as we will see ahead, although the Holy Spirit is present within every true Christian Believer, the effective manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the practical Christian life of the Believer is in proportion to the spiritual maturity of that Christian Believer, and therefore He appears to be less or more in one or the other. Actually the Holy Spirit is never less or more in His power or in His quality and quantity, but what is less or more is the practical living and working of the person in the obedience and submission to the Holy Spirit.

To summarize, the Holy Spirit is given by God to each true Christian Believer the moment he is saved, to help him, safeguard him, and empower him in living his life of Christian faith, and remains with him throughout his life.

This is a very important fact that the Holy Spirit is always present in a true Christian Believer; but an even more important fact which we need to very carefully understand, and unhesitatingly apply its implications in the practical Christian life is, stating the above fact conversely – that, if a person is not a true Christian Believer, then the Holy Spirit is not present in him, and never ever will be, not by any means or efforts, whatsoever.

 The more mature the Christian Believer is in obedience to the Word of God, in living by the Christian Faith, and in submission to the Holy Spirit, the more evident will the power, fruits and works of the Holy Spirit be in his life.