The Father will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask!
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The Holy Spirit lives within every believer. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
Romans 8:9 also teaches that every Christian has the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit causes us to be convicted of sin such that we give ourselves to Christ as our Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit also fills and baptizes us again and again so that we can do the works of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a free gift, given to God’s children.
The Holy Spirit is a person
The Holy Spirit is not just a doctrine or an influence. The Holy Spirit is God, a member of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the personal characteristics of God.
The Holy Spirit in a believer’s life and baptism of the Holy Spirit
- The divine person of the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in someone when he or she gives their life to Jesus. In John 20:22, the disciples received the Holy Spirit. This was their experience of being born again. Having the Holy Spirit is part of being born again (See Acts 1:4-5, 8).
- Even though the disciples had received the Holy Spirit, they were told in Luke 24:49 to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized by the Holy Spirit, something different happens. We receive power.
Note: We do not need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to be able to go to heaven.
Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit
The Father will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask! (See Luke 11:11-13; God gives good gifts to His children). Our part is to pray with them and believe that they will receive by faith. They may pray in tongues.
In Acts 2:1-4, we see Peter standing up in Jerusalem to boldly speak the word of God. Just a few weeks earlier, he was afraid. He did not display courage! But now, he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 8:5-8 and 14, the disciples were filled and immersed. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 9:5-17 records a separate experience. Saul, whose name was later changed to Paul, submitted himself to the Lord. He obeyed God’s instructions. He was baptized with the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 10:43-46, the Holy Spirit was poured out first. We see that God can change the order any way He wants to!
Seven steps to be filled with the Holy Spirit
- We must realize that every believer has the Holy Spirit living in them (Rom. 8:9, 1 Cor. 3:16).
- We need to recognize the difference between having the Holy Spirit living in us and being filled with the Holy Spirit (John 20:22, Acts 2:1-4).
- The baptism in the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual power (Acts 1:8). The most common scriptural manifestations of the initial evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit are prophesying (proclaiming the truth) and speaking in tongues (speaking in a heavenly language) (Acts chapters 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 19 & 1 Cor. 14:14-15).
- Ask! God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Gal. 3:14). If earthly fathers give good gifts to their children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:11-13).
- Many times, people in the Bible received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 9:17, 19:1-7).
- When we receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we receive this gift with the understanding that nine spiritual gifts are contained within this one gift (1 Cor. 12:7-10). God will teach us how to use each of these individual gifts.
- We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again (Acts 4:31, Eph. 5:18). We have a tendency to leak!
Scriptures to understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit
- Acts 19:1-2, 6-7
- 1 Corinthians 14:2
- Jude 20
- 1 Corinthians 14:5, 18
- 1 Corinthians 14:14 -15
- Ephesians 5:18
- Acts 4:31
Learn more about the Holy Spirit
This is one book in a series of 12 that covers basic doctrine every Christian should know. Practical illustrations accompany the interactive, easy-to-understand format. Each book can be used for personal study, daily devotional, mentoring and small group study biblical foundation course. Available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese
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