How Do We Receive the Spirit?

Introduction

How does a person become a doctor? While not all paths are exactly the same, the path to one getting to practice medicine has to look very similar from one place to another. A person goes to college majoring in something doing with biology, pre-med, or exercise science is quite common. Usually in the junior year of college a person will take the MCAT or Medical College Admission Test. Successful completion of this test is required in order to get into medical school. Once a person passes the MCAT, their scores and applications for medical school are sent to a centralized organization, the American Medical College Application Service. Students fill out one application and submit their top three choices for medical school. The organization distributes the application to the student’s choices and then a “match” is made. Medical school lasts four years and then students must pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), a three-part examination taken during and after medical school. Medical students must pass the first part of the examination, which covers basic medical principles, before entering their third year of studies. During their fourth year, students must pass the second part of the exam, which covers clinical diagnosis and disease development.

During their final year of medical school, students start narrowing down their medical specialty options (e.g. pediatrics, anesthesiology). They submit an application for residency and are matched to open residency programs throughout the country. Residency programs last for three years. Toward the end of residency, a student will take the third part of the USMLE. Upon successful completion of the third part of the USMLE, then doctors must apply for a license to practice medicine in the state of residence (and each state has its own requirements) and doctors must also apply for certification in their area of speciality which requires more testing. After all of this, the doctor must apply for a job and secure employment. Here’s the point—I am grateful for the years it takes and the national oversight given to make sure that doctors “jump through all the hoops” to practice. So when we go to our doctor, we know that every doctor has had to go a through a rigorous process to practice medicine.

What does the Bible teach about receiving the Holy Spirit? Can one be a Christian and not have the Spirit? Does the Spirit come to all who ask? What must I do to receive the Spirit? What do I do if I don’t have the Spirit? Is receiving the Spirit the same for everyone? Is there a way that we can know for sure that we have the Spirit?

Who Belongs to Christ?

Look at Romans 8:9—“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” The “Spirit of Christ” does not mean the attitude of Christ. It parallels “Spirit of God” in the prior phrase. It is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Paul affirms that one is controlled by the Spirit if the Spirit lives in you. The opposite is also stated. If one does not have the Spirit of Christ, then he does not belong to Christ. Paul’s point is that one who does not have the Spirit does not belong to Christ. Those in whom the Spirit lives belong to Christ. If you are a Christian, the Spirit of God lives in you, not because you have done something special, but because you are a Christian. If the Spirit does not dwell in you, then you are not a Christian. To be a Christian means to have the Spirit of Christ or the Holy Spirit living in you.

In Psalm 51:11 after David’s sin with Bathsheba, David pleads for God not to leave him. Paralleled with God’s leaving David is that the Holy Spirit would be taken away as well. David was concerned that his sin would cause God to discard David and to take his Spirit away. For David God’s presence and the Holy Spirit are the same thing. To say that the Spirit lives in us is to confess that we are in fellowship with God. It simply means that we are Christians.

Receiving the Spirit (Galatians 3:1-5)

So how do we receive the Spirit? Look at Galatians 3. Because of Romans 8, having the Spirit and being a Christian is the same thing. Thus, we should be concerned with how we receive the Spirit. Paul concerns himself with such a question in Galatians 3. Paul was concerned that the Galatians were leaving behind the true gospel for some non-gospel. He proposes that someone may have put a spell on them to make them think in such unchristlike ways. So Paul asks one question to clarify. “Did they receive the Spirit by works of law or by hearing of faith?”

Some in the religious world would have us believe that there is no uniformity in the giving of the Spirit. The Spirit comes to different ones in different ways and times. Paul dispenses with that idea. There are only two ways to receive the Spirit—heroic deeds or faith. One receives the Spirit by his/her own strength or by believing the gospel. For Paul “hearing” means to hear, believe, and live differently because of that belief. “Did you receive the Spirit by working for him or by hearing the gospel and believing it?” Notice verse 3. The Galatians began with the Spirit. When did this beginning start?

Paul has in mind when they become Christians. The Spirit comes at the beginning of the Christian life. He isn’t given before one becomes a Christian. One doesn’t become a Christian and then begin asking for the Spirit to come. One doesn’t as a Christian ask for the Spirit to come more fully. According to Paul the Spirit comes at the beginning of one’s Christian life. We need the Spirit to help us from the beginning not after we have everything together. Receiving the Spirit then is really very simple. This gift requires nothing heroic on our part. The gift does not require us to purge ourselves of all that is evil and then to plead for the Spirit to come upon us. According to Paul, God freely gives his Spirit to all who become Christians.

So the question is “how does one become a Christian?” According to Acts 2:38 all who in faith believe that Jesus is the answer to the sin that is in their life and who express that faith in repentance and baptism are assured that God will do two things. First, he will forgive all sins. Whatever we have done in the past and whatever we will do in the future is completely and totally forgiven. Second, God gives us his Spirit to live within us. The Spirit is received at our baptism. The Spirit is not given when we admit sin. The Spirit is not given when we repent. The Spirit is not given when we ask for him to come. The Spirit is given when we repent and are baptized as a demonstration of our faith in what Jesus has done at the cross. Baptism is faith in Christ. Baptism is a confession of faith in Christ. It is not something other than faith. The Spirit comes by faith and his coming is precisely at the point of baptism.

1 Corinthians 12:13 speaks that there is no difference in the giving of the Spirit to each Christian. The church is one body composed of many members. When did we become members of the body? When we, by one Spirit were baptized into the one body. And at our baptism we all drank of the one Spirit. Notice the number of ones or singulars in this verse. Just as there is one body there is one Spirit. And just as there is one Spirit we all drink from that one Spirit. There is no distinction.

Finally, look at Titus 3:4-7. According to this text there are two elements in the new birth—water and the Spirit. This salvation came about at the “bath” of regeneration and at the renewal by the Spirit. The washing and the renewal occur simultaneously. Our salvation was given at our spiritual birth and with that birth the Spirit was generously poured out on us.

Application

So what does all this mean? First, as Christians we should not doubt the Spirit’s presence in our lives. God has generously given us of his Spirit to assist us in living for him. We are empowered with the Spirit of God.

Second, there are no distinctions between us. While there are levels of maturity among Christians, the presence of the Spirit brings us together. There is no room for boastfulness that one is more spiritual than another. Such a claim certainly is not from the Spirit. We are a body. Each of us have freely drunk from the same Spirit.

Third, there is only one way to have the Spirit. At baptism the Spirit is given. Notice Acts 19. In the New Testament faith and baptism are so closely tied together that a category “unbaptized believer” is unknown. Paul’s question in Acts 19 is not “have you been baptized?” but “what kind of baptism did you receive?” Believers in Jesus were baptized at once. These believers received a baptism which pointed forward but did not announce faith in the Son of God. Paul’s words convinced them that they needed to be baptized because of faith in Christ and it was then that they received the Holy Spirit. Invitation.

Follow Jesus

If you’d like to respond to this message or learn more about following Jesus, please reach out.