Have You Received the Holy Spirit?

Today, I’m going to continue to write about the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit, and some indicators that you have met this milestone.

If you haven’t read my previous posts about the Holy Spirit, I invite you to catch up on those posts now before continuing. These will help you understand the total picture, as we build on this topic brick by brick.

For quick reference, those posts are:

• The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
  

• The New Birth and the Promise

This post is a bit longer than usual, but bear with me. I believe it will be well worth your time.

So, let me jump in with my first question.  

Have you been born again?

If you have been, congratulations! 🎉🥳🙌

Heaven rejoiced the day that you met the conditions to be born of the Spirit. 

Being born again is the very FIRST milestone on your journey with God. It’s the beginning of the salvation process, not the end point. 

Jesus explained to Nicodemus under the cover of night, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) 

The Greek word for “see” in this text is “Eido”. It means to perceive with the senses, to understand, to examine, and to experience. In other words, unless you have received a new spirit, you CANNOT even conceive of the kingdom of God. 

You can’t understand it. You can’t know it. You can’t experience it.

Then, Jesus stated this truth in a different way in John 3:5, “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

This time He referenced ENTERING the kingdom of God. The Greek word used here is “Eiserchomai” and it means to go out or come in, or an entrance into a condition or state of being. 

Stated another way, one cannot even go into the entrance of the kingdom of God without being born again!

But as followers of Christ, our goal is not simply entering the kingdom of God. It’s INHERITING the Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the downpayment of that inheritance. 

Ephesians 1:13 reads, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory”.

The Greek word for inheritance is “Kleronomia” and it means what is given to one as a possession. It is specifically used in scripture to refer to the heavenly inheritance God has set aside for his children. 

This word’s origin is the Greek word “Kleronomeo” and that means to receive or obtain an inheritance, to become a partaker of an inheritance, or to receive as one’s own possession. 

You can see that word used here in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not INHERIT the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will INHERIT the kingdom of God.

Another closely related word is “Kleronomos” which means heir.

Make no mistake, words matter. Details matter. 

The Bible was penned by anointed men under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit was very particular about each word chosen to convey God’s truth. 

The end point we’re working toward (I plan to write more about this specifically at a later time) is not simply to be born again. The goal is to grow up into the image of Jesus Christ…to become a mature son or daughter of God…to be heirs of God.

See for example:

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall INHERIT the earth.

Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will INHERIT eternal life.

Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, INHERIT the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Mark 10:17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to INHERIT eternal life?”

1 Corinthians 15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot INHERIT the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable INHERIT the imperishable.

There’s more, but hopefully you can see the point I am making by now. You do not just want to enter the Kingdom of God, you want to inherit it!

Now, please pay close attention. 

The only way that anyone can become a mature son or daughter of God is by the sanctifying and revelatory power of the Holy Spirit.

Being born of the Spirit and receiving the Holy Spirit are not the same thing. I’ve dealt with that difference explicitly in the post “The New Birth and the Promise”. 

In that post, I showed clearly that God foreshadowed a two-step process as the solution to our sin problem in Ezekiel 36:25-27. That reads, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

First you get a new spirit (being born again) and then God puts HIS Spirit in you (receiving the Holy Spirit)!

As I mentioned in my other post, the disciples were born again in the upper room on Resurrection Sunday but they did not receive the Holy Spirit until the day of Pentecost.

This point is made explicitly clear by one of my favorite Bible teachers, Derek Prince. God just showed me this a few days ago, and it’s incredible! 

Prince wrote that through his study of the Greek New Testament he came “to the conclusion that the presence or absence of “the” in conjunction with the Holy Spirit marks a vital distinction. When “Holy Spirit” is not preceded by “the,” it denotes something non-personal: life, a power, a force, a presence, an influence. On the other hand, when “Holy Spirit” is preceded by “the,” He is being depicted as a Person.”

Then he gives examples where scripture is referring to an impersonal force, power or influence, followed by where scripture is referring to the Person of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

Here are just a few examples:

Referring to the impersonal power:  John 20:22b “...He [Jesus] breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive Holy Spirit [or holy breath].’”

Referring to Person of the Holy Spirit: 

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit... He will teach you all things.”

Acts 2:38b “...and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

You can read more here: https://www.derekprince.com/teaching/98-3

Now, I want to provide further scriptural proof that one does not receive the Holy Spirit, God’s OWN Spirit, when they are born again. 

Being born again is the PREREQUISITE for receiving the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-17 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Let me point out a couple of important things from this passage.

First, scripture says that the world CANNOT receive the Holy Spirit. 

It cannot see or know him. 

Remember what Jesus said about being born again? How one cannot even SEE or PERCEIVE the Kingdom of God unless they have FIRST been born of the Spirit?

Let me write this again. 

The world CANNOT receive the Holy Spirit. The prerequisite is you must be born of the Spirit FIRST, and ONLY THEN can you receive the Holy Spirit.

One does not receive the Holy Spirit at the point they are born again. 

Anyone in the world can be born again IF they meet the conditions of repentance and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. 

The world CAN be born again. The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit.

Only after someone has been born again can they then receive the Holy Spirit. 

These are two separate and distinct milestones on the journey with God. 

These two milestones can happen on the heels of each other within minutes, but they are separate events.

In the early church, it was very common that these two events happened on the same day, moments after each other! 

However, that does not always happen, especially in these modern times. 

It didn’t happen on the same day for me. In fact, these two events were separated by a very long period of time in my life! 

The second point is this: the Holy Spirit can be WITH you but not IN you.

So, how do you know if you have the Holy Spirit?

There are a few ways to tell. 

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in someone’s body, there will be indications or manifestations of the Spirit. 

One of the first manifestations of the Holy Spirit is often the gift of tongues, the personal heavenly prayer language. 

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

There are different types of tongues, but I won’t attempt to cover that here today. 

However, it is possible to receive the Holy Spirit and NOT speak in tongues. 

But, that is not the ideal scenario. Tongues have a VERY important function for the Spirit-filled life and every believer should keep petitioning the Father until they receive it!  (Luke 11:9-13)

Other spiritual gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Romans 12:4-8 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence He comes bearing gifts! He never shows up empty handed.

Every person who is truly IN Christ has received one or more of these gifts. Now, many of the gifts have to be mastered and developed over time. Most believers don’t just come out of the gate walking in their spiritual gift perfectly.

Spiritual gifts are GIVEN by God. 

They cannot be earned. We don’t receive them because we do anything special, perform for God, or by our own self-righteousness. 

Exactly like salvation, spiritual gifts are received by grace through faith.

Spiritual gifts are SUPERNATURAL in nature. 

Do not make the mistake of thinking that because you have a natural talent for something that it means you have a spiritual gift. 

Be wary of taking an inventory to “discover” your gift! Those can measure natural gifts and talents. These are NOT the same thing as the supernatural gifts of God.

The Holy Spirit is the one who will give, reveal, and teach you how to walk in your spiritual gift.

The other indication that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you is the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Gifts are GIVEN, but fruit is GROWN. 

If the Holy Spirit resides in you, you will see ever increasing evidence of these characteristics, which are the very character and nature of God himself.

Again, fruit is grown over a period of time. 

If fruit is detached from the vine it stops growing and decays. But, as long as it remains attached to the source of life, it will continue to grow until it is ripe, or mature! (See John 15:1-8).

So the gifts and the fruit. That’s how you know you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Lastly, let me share my personal experience with receiving the Holy Spirit. 

Remember, God promised to CAUSE us to walk in His statutes and be careful to obey His rules in Ezekiel.

This is what happened to me. After I got baptized with the Spirit, something supernatural happened to me. 

I didn’t cause it, and I wasn’t the driver behind it.

My desires changed. Almost overnight.

Worldly activities I used to enjoy doing I suddenly lost total interest in. The appetite I used to have for many things just fell away miraculously.

Don’t get me wrong, not everything changed instantly, but many things did.

I became zealous for God. Literally on fire, as if someone had poured oil on me, struck a match, and threw it at me. 

I knew something was happening to me from the inside. 

I wanted to live completely set apart from the world! I began to think about God ALL THE TIME. 

And some things that I once struggled with became effortless to overcome without my input.

Here’s an analogy the Holy Spirit gave me to drive the point home of the benefits of His indwelling presence and the importance of His function in the Christian’s life.

One day I was cleaning out our Berkey filter. As per usual, I was way behind schedule and because of the hard water where we live, there was a TON of calcium buildup in the bottom of the stainless steel canister. 

I started trying to scrub it off. And I was going at it. 

For hours. 

I was really giving it my all, but I barely made a dent. That stuff just would not come off.

After I’d exhausted myself and almost threw in the towel, I had the idea to put some Bronner’s soap in there. 

Within seconds, those calcium deposits just melted off. Easy peasy.

I was astonished! 

Right then, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me, “See how easy that was? When you were scrubbing the canister and barely making any progress, that’s exactly like you trying to live the Christian life apart from Me. It’s hard, and it doesn’t work. You might make some progress by an act of your will and determination, but you’ll never be able to sustain those efforts on your own. I, on the other hand, am just like Bronner's soap! When you allow me to do my work in you, your striving ceases. I do the heavy lifting, you cooperate with me, and you reap all the benefits!” 

This is what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer, and this is why you NEED to receive the Holy Spirit. 

If you’ve been wearing yourself out trying to live the victorious Christian life, you just might be trying to live as Christ in the flesh. 

It’s just not possible, my friends. 

That’s the mistake I made. 

I thought because I was a moral person and very knowledgeable of scriptures that I was IN Christ. 

But, I was dead wrong (spiritually)!

That’s why my life was marked more by defeat than victory, more by struggling than overcoming. I had a form of godliness, but denied the power of God (2 Tim 3:5). It was all self-righteousness, and it just wasn’t sustainable.

All that’s changed for me now. It can change for you, too!

As the Apostle Paul urged in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

So, I’ll ask one more time.

Have you received the Holy Spirit?