Receiving the Holy Spirit
How does one receive the Holy Spirit? Does it happen only once, or does re-filling with the Spirit need to occur, like re-fueling a car? Is there a difference between receiving Him and being filled? Does receiving the Holy Ghost require the laying on of hands? Does receiving Him mean that the recipient will begin speaking in strange tongues? American churches have split over varying perspectives of the answers to these questions. Entire denominations of the church have developed around this question, so, obviously, many answers exist.
Some of these answers have developed from emphasizing some certain specific Bible passages, and neglecting others. Some answers even come from strange mental gymnastics to justify neglecting or emphasizing those passages. This article does not intend to engage in debate for or against any particular denomination, but to arrive at Biblical answers to some of these questions.
To help answer some of these questions, a grouping tool that one often uses in industrial settings called affinity diagramming has been employed. The tool works by grouping like ideas together. Verses may have more than one thing to say about the Holy Spirit, in these situations, the verse gets divided into its constituent teachings. Similar teachings get grouped together. Each group of similar teachings receives a title consisting of a few words.
Basic Biblical Teachings About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is “God’s Promised Gift” (John 4:10 – 14, 20:22; Luke 11:13b; Acts 1:4, 2:38b, 10:45a; Romans 5:5). Who can receive this gift? Only those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and truly repent (John 7:38 – 39; Acts 2:38; John 7:37 – 39, 20:31). Most every Christian who has listened to preaching on this matter probably knows these basics. Is there more than that?
Certainly, for example, if one combines an understanding of “…just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father” (Romans 6:4, NIV) with “…if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit …” (Romans 8:11, NIV). One can understand that the Holy Spirit manifests God’s glory, and this glory will raise believers to new life, even already has (Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Further, the Holy Spirit is God’s seal upon every believer (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30b). Descriptions of this seal show that it (rather He) preserves believers for a particular time (Ephesians 4:30b), and provides an antithesis to the mark of the beast which so many people show so much concern for trying to make sure that they do not receive (Ephesians 1:13). The only strategy that one can undertake to ensure themselves of not receiving the beast’s mark consists of receiving the Holy Spirit, who is God’s mark (sort of). So, if one has God’s mark, the Holy Spirit, then he or she cannot receive the mark of the beast, otherwise, believers would not be identified as existing in a state of righteousness. He also helps believers (John 16:5 – 14; Romans 8:26).
Receiving the Holy Spirit
So, how does one receive the Holy Spirit? Is the laying on of hands required, as some denominations insist? A few citations in Scripture demonstrate the use of the laying on of hands, such as Acts 8:14 and 19:6a, and 1 Timothy 4:14. However, other passages reveal other ways, such as a believer asking for Him (John 4:10 – 14; Luke 11:13b) and being breathed on by someone who has Him (John 20:22). As with all things, if one asks for the Holy Spirit, he must believe that he has received Him.
Baptism does not, in and of itself, impart the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Acts 19:1 – 7; Luke 3:16). Only in the moment when someone invites the Lord Jesus into his or her heart and believes that He is there does someone receive the Holy Spirit. This indicates that the Holy Spirit should have come to dwell in the believer prior to the conventional water baptism, and that just because someone has undergone conventional water baptism does not equate to proof that the Spirit has regenerated this individual.
Tongues
Does one have to speak in tongues to prove that he or she has God’s Spirit? So many denominations argue over this. Charismatics, Pentecostals, and Assembly of God adherents may demand this, while Southern Baptists, especially those at the International Mission Board (hereafter referred to as IMB), insist that having a private prayer language should disqualify people from serving the Lord. Yes, should be disqualified from serving the Lord, as it has been reported, “The guidelines prohibit the appointment of any candidate who acknowledges using a ‘private prayer language,’ a practice IMB President Jerry Rankin has espoused. They also require candidates to be baptized in a Southern Baptist church, discounting even believer’s baptism by immersion in another evangelical church.” (https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/baptist/8069-imb-supporters-release-statement-opposing-missionary-guidelines, 10/26/14). In other words, the Southern Baptist Convention’s International missions administration refuses to send anyone into the service of the Lord internationally who speaks to God in a private language, that only the believer and God understand. One or the other of these two is rooted in evil, but which one?
Before getting into that, one may find it useful to understand what the Bible says about tongues. Acts 2, which so many believers on the Charismatic end of the spectrum hold in such high regard as proof that speaking in tongues shows that someone has the Holy Spirit filling him or her, sheds some light on this matter. Those who hold to this view usually, not always, stop reading at verse four. After this point, they often start speaking gibberish that even they may not understand. When this happens, one could argue that the occurrence, when in public settings, could be thought of as not in accordance with the teachings of Scripture. Paul said, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two – or at most three – should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quite in the church and speak to himself and God” (2 Corinthians 14:27 – 28, NIV, emphasis added). So, all of the churches on television that show the entire congregation “speaking in tongues” should have people who can interpret what all of those people have to say, and should limit it to only a few speakers.
Some may try to argue, saying something like, “Yeah, but Paul said that about a gift of the Spirit that enables someone to speak in tongues on a permanent basis.” So, speaking in tongues, in the Charismatic sense is permanent? Then why do they insist on the laying on of hands so often, and speaking in tongues as proof of reception of the Holy Spirit? If this is permanent, it should happen only once at each believer’s baptism. Saying anything else means that this gift does not remain on a permanent basis, or that the Charismatic definition of the gift contains some kernel of a lie.
Additionally, what is the idea of speaking in tongues of which you speak? Honestly, whether a permanent gift or a temporary sign of the Spirit’s presence, He has shown His presence and allowed the recipient the ability to do something that he could not have done otherwise, so, this would qualify as a gift of the Spirit. Paul does not specify, or distinguish between, temporary and permanent gifts. Therefore, the 2 Corinthians 14: 27 – 28 passage applies. This is all pretty straight forward, mental gymnastics not required.
Acts chapter two verses five through twelve show something much more astounding than the ability to speak to God in a language that only He and the believer can understand. God actually allowed these individuals to speak in such a manner as to be understood by people from other parts of the world where people speak languages other than Greek, Latin, or Hebrew. As the entire group of people was speaking, individuals from other places heard the group speaking and understood the group as speaking the language spoken in the place from which the individual had come. This also brought together a crowd! How could the group speak so many languages simultaneously, and in an understandable manner at that? The crowd then heard Peter’s sermon, which pointed the visitors to Christ. So, the Spirit enabled the group to speak in foreign languages, fluently, for the sake of spreading the Gospel. That is one of the Spirit’s roles (Mark 16:17 – 18; John 14:26, 16:8; Acts 1:8, 5:32, 19:6b; 1 Corinthians 12:4 – 11).
Back to the question asked earlier: which is evil, the IMB’s stance or the idea of a private prayer language. The irony here involves IMB president, Jerry Rankin, who says that he has a private prayer language, and likes to use terms used by masons, like “circumspect” (http://www.txbc.org/2002Journals/April2002/Apr02JerryRankinsLetter.htm, 11/1/14). While that does not mean that he is a Freemason, it may provide a hint. Another deciding factor, as stated in Jerry Rankin’s letter cited above, remains the fact that missionaries could lose their jobs for having a private prayer language, but Jerry Rankin gets to keep his. That certainly seems very unlike Christ. Sorry, that rabbit has required chase for a while. To settle the issue definitively, one should look in 1 Corinthians 14:16 – 19, where Paul essentially tells his readers that he himself has a private prayer language. What makes this language private is that he does not speak it in public because, as verse 19 tells the reader, Paul would rather edify than mystify. So, the IMB (and therefore the Southern Baptist Convention) has coerced bad doctrine upon its missionaries, and evil constitutes that position.
Gifts of the Spirit
He does not only impart the ability to speak other languages, whether for privately praising God or for evangelizing people from (or living in) other countries, both constitute Biblically accurate ideas. He also gives the ability to evangelize, prophesy, preach, teach, administer, trust God, and so forth. Every believer has most of these abilities (except maybe prophesy) inherently, at least to some degree, by virtue of just being human, but the gifting of the Holy Spirit in one or more of these specific areas has a more supernatural quality. For example, the gift of faith involves trusting God for anything and through anything, even going through the most difficult situation that one could ever face, a person with the gift of faith only looks to God, and even praises Him, even when others may have given up, someone with the gift of faith hangs in there, expectantly waiting on God to do something. Someone with the gift of evangelism can share the Gospel with a street sign and make a hundred converts. Yes, that may seem ridiculous and like hyperbole, however, stating the gift in that way proves a point about the nature of the gift and the Spirit who gives it (not that I expect anyone to try such a crazy thing). Similar things could be said about the other gifts, but hopefully, you see the point.
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons in the Trinity. Some denominations hold Him in higher regard than other denominations. Regardless of denominational affiliation, or lack thereof, one cannot deny that the coming of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of an awesome promise from God, and that He does amazing things. What a privilege to have Him living inside, and to see His work. Until the Lord Jesus returns, may God bless you.
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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© Bema Sheep
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