The Good News Series: The Holy Spirit (part two)
The Gospel without the Holy Spirit?
I used to believe the Holy Spirit was a ‘nice to have’, gift for only some special believers; and then I read this verse from Romans 8
“...And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9[b]
When I read this I was shocked. So many ‘Christians’ today live without having received the Holy Spirit. If you go further into Romans 8, the bible actually says that it is only those people that are led by the Spirit of God that are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).
So I leave the question with you: is it possible to experience the gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God without the Holy Spirit?
How can we receive the Holy Spirit?
In my last post, I shared many things about who the Holy Spirit and how much He is intertwined with the good news. I hope I have been able to show that it is basically impossible to live as part of God’s kingdom without receiving His spirit.
If any of you out there are reading this and asking - so how can a person actually receive the Holy Spirit? The good news (pun intended) is that this - if we will allow it - is the simplest part.
1.Just ask
The bible makes it clear that anyone that asks God - will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13
When Peter boldly proclaims the gospel at pentecost; he says categorically:
“...And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38[b] - 39
God has - quite scandalously- promised to give his Spirit to anyone that seeks and asks Him.
2.With or without someone praying for you
Practically, we see this happen in two ways in the bible:
(a) The Holy Spirit ‘baptises’ people without anyone praying for them to receive
Example: Cornelious and his Household
While Peter was still speaking this message, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. The Jews who believed, all who had come with Peter, were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out also on the Gentiles. Acts 10:44-45
(b) The Holy Spirit fills people up when other (Spirit-filled) believers lay hands on them
Example: The believers at Ephesus
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Acts 19:6-7
4.Before or after baptism
The bible also shows us that people receive the Holy Spirit before (Cornelius and his household in Acts 10) or after being baptised (The believers in Ephesus in Acts 19).
How do you know you have received?
There is a lot of debate on this point. I won’t go to deep into it - but I will say this. The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance to come.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
If you’ve ever tried to take a loan from a bank - and been asked for a deposit, you will understand what this means. No bank is going to give you a substantial loan - without a tangible way of knowing that you will be able to pay back what you’ve borrowed. That may be a mortgage on your home, or a restriction on your bank accounts. No bank will be happy to simply ‘believe’ you will pay back.
In the same way, God is so good to us, He knows that in this life we are bombarded with physical things - things that we can see with our natural eyes. Contrary to what people think - God doesn’t just leave us to struggle to intangibly ‘believe’ what we cannot see. God gives us a deposit. A guarantee. A tangible way of knowing that He will come back for us and take us home.
Many times in the new testament, when people received the Holy Spirit - that tangible evidence was receiving a new language of tongues (Acts 2:4 / Acts 10:46 / Acts 19:6) and also the ability to prophesy (speak from God) (Acts 19:6). If you are out there debating furiously that you do not have to speak in tongues to have received the Holy Spirit - I want you to ask yourself - why? why are you arguing against what is (in my opinion) - one of the most beautiful gifts of the Spirit - a heavenly language by which the Holy Spirit bypasses the murky desires of our deceitful hearts and speaks directly to God on our behalf - knowing our hearts and God’s will (1 Corinthians 14:2 / Romans 8:26,27).
My hope is that we can be like children and accept the tangible evidence that God desires to give us that we have received His Spirit.
What can stop me from receiving?
The Holy Spirit is a free and beautiful gift from a Father (God) to His children (see Luke 11:11-13 above). However, God gives us all free will - and so we can choose to reject the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can reject the Holy Spirit in many ways; and I have found that the root of this rejection is often that we believe in doctrines that contradict the word of God. I will list a few of the contradicting beliefs I have come accross below:
Other ways we can be hindered from receiving the Holy Spirit include:
Being filled with fear
Being filled with doubts
Being filled with demons
All that being said, please know that the Holy Spirit is able to set you free from wrong doctrine, fear, doubts and demons. Remember when Jesus said this:
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.” - Luke 11:21-22
Jesus was speaking about the holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the stronger man - able to step into the house (us), clean us up and drive out anything that has kept us bound. Taking up full and permanent residency in the house (us).
Receiving the Holy Spirit: a practical example
I found this short clip that really mirrors my experience of both receiving and ministering the holy Spirit to others. I think it shows beautifully the step by step of receiving the Holy Spirit:
✂️ How to receive the Holy Spirit
In this video: (1) the person receiving the Holy Spirit made a confession of faith (this can also be a prayer to repent of sin and really to just tell God that you put all your faith in him) (2) the recipient asked God herself to receive the Holy Spirit (3) the person ministering prayed in tongues for the recipient (4) the person ministering cast out what ever was hindering the recipient from receiving (5) the person ministering asked the recipient to speak in the new language in faith (6) the recipient spoke in tongues.
What about you?
We’ve come to the end of the Good News Series.
Through this series, I hope I have shown you that while we are all born in sin - separated from God - God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. Now, because of Jesus we can repent (change our minds), and decide to stop living to please our selves and live to please God. We can have our sins washed away, and bury our old, dead spiritual natural - being born again by God’s Spirit in the water of baptism. We can also receive God’s very own spirit, to be with us always, lead us, direct us, empower us to boldly proclaim the truth, and help us live a life pleasing to God.
Now that’s what I call good news.
If you want any part of this good news - please please please reach out to me here.
Resources
Understanding the trinity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAvYmE2YYIU
Understanding the Holy Spirit:
