How do Christians receive the Holy Spirit?
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is so important to Christians that Paul commands us to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Paul declares even more emphatically, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit’s presence is not an optional part of the Christian life. If we are not filled and directed by the Holy Spirit, we will be filled and directed by an unholy spirit.
The Holy Spirit is communicating God’s invitation to every person, drawing them to Christ. But to be filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructs that we must ask:
“‘If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!’” Luke 11:13
God will not force you to submit to His will, so we must choose to receive what we have asked for“that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14). Ask in faith, believing that God keeps His promise. Asking in faith means that we are willing to obey what God asks through the Holy Spirit. Remember, we can’t receive the Holy Spirit unless we are willing to follow His prompting by faith:
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25
Jesus lived His life as an example for us to follow. He chose to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit from childhood to adulthood.
– From the very start, Jesus was “begotten” through the Holy Spirit. “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35).
– Throughout His childhood, Jesus demonstrated obedience to the Holy Spirit. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52).
– Jesus, who was sinless, was baptized as an example of what we should do to signify our repentance and new life in Christ. In response to His prayer, the Father demonstrated that He had filled Jesus with the Holy Spirit. “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’”(Luke 3:21–22).
– Jesus followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry” (Luke 4:1–2).
– Jesus preached by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region” (Luke 4:14).
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit in a special way after He ascended to Heaven. The disciples did not wait idly for the Holy Spirit to come. After He ascended, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God” (Luke 24:52–53).
The condition of receiving the Holy Spirit was asking in prayer (Acts 1:4–5, 14). The start of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise occurred on the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus’ followers exhibited the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–4). The evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit was that they began to do the same works that Jesus had done, preaching the gospel to convict hearts.
The filling of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the people who were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. People received the Holy Spirit when they responded to hearing the gospel message (Acts 10:44–46, 11:15–17). Others received the Holy Spirit in an orderly way through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14–17, 9:17, 19:1–6). They became acquainted with the biblical teachings; then they submitted to God and participated in requesting the Holy Spirit through prayer.
The laying on of hands does not have power in itself. It is the believing prayer of a repentant Christian (symbolized by baptism) that invites the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift from God, not something we can control through orthodox prayers or prescribed actions. The Spirit prompts us through our thoughts and through the Word of God; so to be filled with the Spirit, we must be willing to listen carefully and submit to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Because the Holy Spirit directed the inspiration of Scripture (2 Peter 1:21), we must compare every thought we have with God’s Word, “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Obedience to the Holy Spirit will always be obedience to God’s Law, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). The choice to be filled with the Spirit is ours, because we retain control over our decision to obey or disobey.
The Spirit can only continue to fill us when we do what He can participate in. By living in a way that disregards His instructions, we push the Holy Spirit out of our life.
We are not filled just once with the Holy Spirit. We must renew His infilling daily by continually asking and submitting.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
“… I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31