HOLY SPIRIT

RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is a part of the Godhead or, the Holy Trinity as some call itMatthew 28:19], and has always been around, long before there were any plants, animals or humans upon the earth [Genesis 1:2]. The Holy Spirit, or Ghost, is mentioned, and working, for the children of Israel at least as far back as the timeline of Exodus 23:20-23. The warning to not provoke Him coincides with the New Testament, where we are warned to not grieve Him [Ephesians 4:30-32], a few ways being cited as to how not to grieve Him.

During the Old Testament times, the Holy Ghost did not indwell very many people, no matter how devout they were, though He indwelt a few [John 7:39, Luke 1:13-15,67, Ezekiel 2:2, Exodus 31:1-6, Nehemiah 9:20]. Others, He helped them fulfill certain purposes without necessarily indwelling them [Judges 3:9,10, 11:29]. The passage in John 7:39 means that the Holy Ghost was not yet freely given, or available to all who believe, in other words.

The Holy Ghost often empowered Samson, to provide him with might against the Philistines, in order to fulfill not a political, but a prophetical purpose [Judges 14:5,6,19]. The fulfilling of many prophecies results in political agendas, but that is man's doings primarily. God is only interested in politics as far as it has to do with His agenda.

What does the Holy Ghost mean to the believer today, during this New Testament age, besides what has already been mentioned? It means a lot. While Jesus Christ was on earth, He taught the people, guided them into the right way and healed them, physically, mentally and spiritually [Luke 6:19, John 14:1, Luke 8:26-35], by the power of the Holy Ghost [John 3:34,35].

After Jesus was crucified and risen, He had to ascend back into heaven [John 20:17, 8:58, Colossians 1:14-18, Hebrews 1:2, John 16:7], in order to send the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to earth to indwell all who will believe.

This is important because the Holy Ghost comforts us, teaches us, guides us and brings all things that we have heard or read of God to our remembrance [John 14:16-18,26, 15:26, 16:7-14], as well as letting us know when we have done wrong and assuring us that we are His [I John 3:19-21, 24].

One thing to note is that once God forgives us of a sin, he no longer remembers that sin [Psalm 103:12]. We remember them, other people may remember them, and the devil knows about them, but God forgets them.

Without the Holy Spirit we have nothing. We have to have the Holy Spirit dwelling within our bodies, which is the temple of God, in order to belong to Jesus Christ [Romans 8:9. I Corinthians 6:19]. It is possible to be cleansed from sins and truly believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Savior, but sooner or later, the Holy Ghost must dwell within in order to be a sealed child of God [Ephesians 1:13].

All throughout the Gospels, the apostles had power to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out evil spirits and raise the dead [Matthew 10:1,7,8], but they were not yet indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and one of them, Judas, fell away before he even received the indwelling [I Corinthians 9:27, Matthew 7:21-23, Ezekiel 36:22,23]. It wasn't until the day of Pentecost that the apostles received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:4,5,8, 2:1-4].

John the Baptist, being the last Old Testament prophet, was born to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and baptized people unto, or towards, repentance [Matthew 3:1,6,11]. They truly repented, being convicted by the Holy Ghost, and at that particular time, until Jesus started His ministry, they were still waiting for the Messiah to appear, which He did a short while after John started his ministry.

There are some acute misunderstandings of scripture, which leads to a lot of confusion. Some say that the Holy Ghost cannot be received until a believer is baptized. Others say that the Holy Ghost enters and indwells the believer at the time of baptism. Neither of these is true in all cases. Let's look at scripture, rather than man-made doctrine.

We do not read where the original apostles were baptized, though it's safe to assume that they were at some point, because Jesus said that it should be done, being baptized Himself, in order to fulfil all righteousness [Matthew 28:13-17,19].

Some might claim that since the apostles had a particularly special mission, that God worked with them differently. However, God requires the same things out of everyone who hopes to enter the kingdom of God and of heaven [Colossians 3:25, Proverbs 24:23, Deuteronomy 32:25].

The apostles did baptize many people on the day of Pentecost, and it surely would have been mentioned had the apostles been baptized that day as well [Acts 2:41]. We know that God is no respecter of persons, and that all who hope to enter the kingdom of heaven after death must enter the same way.

In the Gospel of Mark Jesus said that “whosoever believes and is baptized shall be saved; but whosoever believes not shall be damned”. It does not say that whosoever is not baptized shall be damned, only anyone who doesn't believe [Mark 16:16]. The thief on the cross certainly was not baptized, but he believed in Christ, and Christ promised him that he would go to paradise, though that thief also initially reviled Jesus [Mark 15:32, Luke 23:39-43], apparently having been convicted by the Holy Ghost, or at least his conscience, shortly after deriding him.

Now the thief on the cross was an uncommon example, because he obviously could not be baptized. That would fit in with circumstances in which a person repents of their sins and accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, but dies before being baptized. The passage mentioned in Mark 16:16 would relieve people in such circumstances of having to be baptized in order to go to heaven.

I believe that we should be baptized, but to make it a requirement for receiving the Holy Ghost is not scriptural, and reduces the Gospel message to an act of works rather than of grace. It is one step towards turning the Gospel into the same thing that the Pharisees turned Judaism into, culminating around the time of Christ. Let's see what else the scripture has to say about this issue.

One time when the Apostle Paul was in Ephasus, he found some disciples who had been baptized unto John the Baptist's baptism, the baptims of repentance. Now granted, this was a little different than being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, which is why they were then baptized in the name of Jesus. Those two acts made them believers, but they still lacked being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which they had never even heard of. After baptizing them, Paul laid hands on them and they then received the Holy Ghost [Acts 19:1-6].

These details are important, because believing in the name of Jesus Christ, upon repenting of sins, and being baptized, in not a surety that the believer will receive the Holy Ghost at that point in time. Sometimes it is necessary to perform the laying on of hands in order for the believer to receive the Holy Spirit.

By the same token, Apollos had only the baptism of John, but was a mighty preacher in the Lord. Priscilla and Aquila simply showed him more perfectly the way of God. He was already fervent in the spirit, and we read of no further baptism or the laying on of hands [Acts 18:24-28].

That doesn't mean that those two things didn't occur, but fervent in the spirit we can take to mean fervent in the Holy Spirit. Though the word spirit is not capitalized, a reference to the Holy Spirit is not always capitalized. Had Apollos not been endued with the Holy Spirit, a similar fate would have likely befallen him as the sons of Sceva who, though not believers, were trying to use Jesus' name, and were attacked by an evil spirit [Acts 19:13-17, compare Luke 4:1, Mark 1:12, Matthew 4:1]. Or Apollos would not have been successful in his ministry, as the apostles were not always, before receiving the Holy Ghost [Mark 9:16-29].

Well after the day of Pentecost, there were a good number of people in Samaria who believed and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, but had not received the Holy Ghost. So Peter and John went there from Jerusalem, prayed for them, and laid hands on them, and then they received the Holy Ghost [Acts 8:5-7,12-17].

In another place, Philip testified to a eunuch of Candace the Queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch then believed in Jesus Christ, was baptized, and instantly received the Holy Ghost, no further action needed by Philip [Acts 8:26-39].

Some denominations have a discipleship program which teaches that a person cannot become a true believer in Jesus Christ until the elders or other teachers proclaim that the person is ready. In some cases the person may not truly repent and receive the Holy Ghost until baptism, because they are taught that they can't. That is a danger, because it could cause someone to quench the Holy Spirit, and maybe not receive it until a much later time, if at all.

A person may have had a guilty conscience and decided to start being discipled, knowing they need Christ. Partway through the program, the Holy Ghost may have convicted them and they truly repented, accepted Christ, and received the Holy Ghost. But when they are told that they can't receive the Holy Ghost until being baptized, much confusion is caused, and possible quenching of the Holy Ghost, maybe leading to blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, an unforgiveable sin [I John 5:16, Matthew 12:31,32].

It is quite possible that an entire congregation, or most of it, thinks that they have the Holy Spirit, but has some other spirit and has quenched away the Holy Spirit, and may have blasphemed it. It is wise for all of us believers to "llo at ourselves in the mirror" from time to time, to make sure just where we are at with the Lord [II Corinthians 13:5].

We can not get converted anytime we want. We can only truly come to God when He bids us to, which is why it is important to repent when we are convicted [ Proverbs 1:23,24, II Corinthians 6:2, Isaiah 49:8]. A person can begin to follow Jesus anytime they want, so discipleship programs are certainly good, provided they follow scripture closely.