How do I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

[Frank Lee]

I see a group of believers in Acts chapter 19 that meet brother Paul. He asks them if they have received the Holy Spirit since they believed. He didn't ask if they believed since they already had. Is it necessary for someone to lay hands on me for me to receive this baptism? Jesus received the Holy Spirit right after John the Baptist Baptized Him.

Acts 19:2-7 KJVS
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. [3] And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. [4] Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. [5] When they heard this , they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. [7] And all the men were about twelve.

 

[Lamb]

I see a group of believers in Acts chapter 19 that meet brother Paul. He asks them if they have received the Holy Spirit since they believed. He didn't ask if they believed since they already had. Is it necessary for someone to lay hands on me for me to receive this baptism? Jesus received the Holy Spirit right after John the Baptist Baptized Him.

Acts 19:2-7 KJVS
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. [3] And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. [4] Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. [5] When they heard this , they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. [7] And all the men were about twelve.

Welcome, Frank to Christianity Haven!

You have a Christian faith icon so if you have been baptized then you are not lacking the Holy Spirit. There is only one baptism commanded by our Lord and it is by water and in it we receive the blessings from God such as having our sins washed, clothing ourselves in Christ's righteousness and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Josiah]

Welcome, Frank to Christianity Haven!

You have a Christian faith icon so if you have been baptized then you are not lacking the Holy Spirit. There is only one baptism commanded by our Lord and it is by water and in it we receive the blessings from God such as having our sins washed, clothing ourselves in Christ's righteousness and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I'd agree with that....


Welcome, Frank, to the community!! And thanks for starting this thread!

 

[Frank Lee]

So these gifts God did away with?

 

[MoreCoffee]

So these gifts God did away with?

God's gifts and calling continue today. They are given by God without regret to the body of Christ which is the church.

 

[NewCreation435]

The Holy Spirit is spoken on in Ephesians 1:13-14 as a seal or a pledge of our inheritance. When someone sets their seal on something it is stating ownership. The presence of the Holy Spirit is God's way of saying that you are his now. See Ephesians 1:13-14.
Some churches teach that the baptism of the Spirit is related to tongues, but I don't agree with that at all. It becomes an issue of pride where some believers act like they are better than others because they have spoken in tongues. That type of division is contrary to Scripture.

 

[Tigger]

Welcome to CH Frank!

I believe God is alive and well but most of the displays of spiritual gifts Ive seen seemed to glorify the person more than they did God. Sometimes I've seen Him move dramatically and other times it was very subtle.

 

[Frank Lee]

Welcome to CH Frank!

I believe God is alive and well but most of the displays of spiritual gifts Ive seen seemed to glorify the person more than they did God. Sometimes I've seen Him move dramatically and other times it was very subtle.

But He being the one who gave the gifts why wouldd they glorify the recipient more than Him? I have many friends who speak in tongues and none of them have tried to push their beliefs on me. One friend was saved and afterwards received the gift of tongues. He was speaking in tongues and was given the interpretation which was that his wife was pregnant. They had been married 14 years and could not have children but God had told them He was sending them a son. After he got this interpretation they went to a lab and she was pregnant and had a son about 9 months later. So they must have heard from God.

When I read "Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever I can't see Him changing any scriptures.

Ecclesiastes 3:14, or Ecclesiastes PI I like to call it since it typifies the constant of God's word.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 KJVS
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it , that men should fear before him.


I want everything God has to give me and to make certain I'm not a "skinny cow" as per Genesis chapter 41. The skinny cows ate the fat ones and were no better off. The new testament parallel scripture being;

2 Timothy 3:7 KJVS
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Ever learning if done based on religious traditions not taught by the Bible, will not lead me to what God has for me. I cannot accept any position just because of some denominational tradition that is contrary to what is written in the pages of the Bible.

Isaiah 8:20 KJVS
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Everyone that I have approached on this subject tells me that certain things, verses, are not for today. But this is either adding to or taking away from God's words.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Some Christians want gifts because they desire fame, adulation, greatness in the name of God but in the end it is the desire for fame and adulation that drives the desire. Saint Paul had to combat the desire in Corinth where it was evident that nearly everybody wanted some spectacular gift (to be the eyes, ears, or mouth of the body rather than feet, or unsightly and private parts of the body). Wanting tongues, prophecy, and knowledge as gifts from God - it was reasoned - would both benefit the church and the individuals possessing the gifts but in reality tongues, prophecy, and knowledge cannot be given to everybody because if they are then nobody will fulfil the other needs of the body. Thus hospitality, mercy, organisation, humble works, are necessary despite so few desiring those gifts.

 

[faramir.pete]

Frank, welcome to CH, there is passage written by Paul which speaks of spiritual gifts and the diversity of them. He says to some is given one gift to another is given a different gift. It is often used to teach us that we all need one another since nobody has a monopoly of all of the spiritual gifts, we each manifest a different part of the whole.

So if that is true, and it is part of scripture so I believe it, then it is likely that you already have the Spirit within you and He is developing your gift. You simply have not yet arrived at the point on your journey where you recognise what it is.

As for baptism of the Spirit which again is spoken of in Acts, it seems to me that this has something to do with how the believer came to his faith, the passage you refer to in the OP tells a story of the group of believers coming to a faith without a proper understanding of what they believe, sort of an incomplete faith. Then Paul lays hands upon them and they are given complete understanding by the power of the Spirit. As alluded to earlier, this passage is mis-used extensively by many churches to create schisms, but I see it as one way that our God brings true faith to His children, there are many more, as many as there are believers, the only constant is that God will not leave any if us ignorant of what we need to believe and will find a way to complete our training, however long it may take, and a final word to the wise, remember God is not in a hurry!


Pete from Peterborough UK

 

[Imalive]

I see a group of believers in Acts chapter 19 that meet brother Paul. He asks them if they have received the Holy Spirit since they believed. He didn't ask if they believed since they already had. Is it necessary for someone to lay hands on me for me to receive this baptism? Jesus received the Holy Spirit right after John the Baptist Baptized Him.

Acts 19:2-7 KJVS
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. [3] And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. [4] Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. [5] When they heard this , they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. [7] And all the men were about twelve.

I don't think it's necessary to lay hands on, but it's how people mostly receive it as I've seen it happen.

 

[Frank Lee]

Friends and brethren I was hesitant to let you know that I have actually had this experience already. Due to very negative experiences in the past with believers that do not accept these things I wanted to see what your views were. Very harsh things have often been directed when revealing my beliefs.

I was not going to any church when the Lord Jesus came and convicted me of my sins and brought me to His salvation. It took me awhile to learn that I had been born again, saved and made a new creation in Christ. He then baptized me with His Holy Spirit and gave the gift of tongues. I do not attempt to force my beliefs on anyone nor do I believe myself to be special in any way.

I was perishing when Jesus came to me and I never heard of the love that He had for me. The church people that came to ask me to their churches never ever told me about God's love and sacrifice for me only to come and join their church. I feel as if He saved me outside of a denomination so that I would be forced to look into the Bible and see what it said to me without benefit of denominational leanings.

We have been blessed by the Lord in many ways and He has brought us through many hard things. I appreciate the things that you have said here and feel that we have the love of God in common. I was a long way from God when He came to me and i am continually grateful and worshipful of Him for what He has done in my life. I did not feel comfortable in not being completely honest with you and if you feel slighted or offended in any way I beg your forgiveness.

My wife and I are in our mid seventies and have not had a good church to attend in quite some time. Online forums such as this one are one of the few places I get any Christian input at all.

 

[Josiah]

IMO, it's very hard to objectively discuss personal EXPERIENCE..... or even objectively evaluate such.

There were (seemingly sincere) girls who insisted they had a vision and conservation with Mary.... None can prove they didn't, none can prove they did; it doesn't seem impossible but..... Whether "it" happened or not, perhaps some good has resulted?

I knew a woman who insisted that a certain angel visits her from time to time, giving words of comfort. I can't prove one did, I can't prove one didn't; it does seem possible however (and it does seem to be a blessing for her)

I had a friend when I was a teen whose mother was a self-proclaimed Apostle and Prophet. She announced direct revelations she had from the Holy Spirit (she sent these out by email - I was on her mailing list for years). I can't prove any of this wrong or false, God certainly CAN do this (and has), and none of her "prophecies" seemed to contradict Scripture (mostly stuff like love one another).

I have much the same view of "Tongues." No one can even definitively define what "tongues" is/was, so the very topic itself is highly subjective and experiential. Someone claims "this is 'tongues' and I'm doing it and because I'm ___________" and none can show that's true and none can show that's false.


My OWN polity is to hesitate to denounce personal religious experience (and claims associated with them) but also to not place importance on such, and to evaluate the result. IF such seems to strengthen the church (the entire corpus of all believers) rather than just self..... if any teachings associated with such confirm what God has said in His Holy Scriptures (or at a minimum, isn't problematic with such)... I tend to regard such as benign and perhaps good. But that doesn't mean the actual experience is genuine or divine.

My view is that Jesus is the Savior and thus Jesus saves. ANYTIME people credit themselves or anything THEY did/felt/experienced as the cause of their justification (thus making self the Savior and Jesus an irrelevant, impotent JOKE because self is ultimatly the reason self is saved), then I object. This destroys the Christian faith and denounces the heart of our faith: that JESUS is the Savior (not self, not any experience of self, not anything from self). If one is saved - JESUS is the one, sole, exclusive, singular reason and cause; Jesus GAVE it to them, Jesus BLESSED them with it, 100% of it being JESUS. Otherwise, Jesus isn't the Savior. He may be an inspiration..... He may be the possibility-maker..... He may be a helper..... but He's not THE Savior. No experience can be valid or divine (indeed, it is very likely satanic) if it in any way detracts from Jesus as THE one and only, all-sufficient Savior. No experience CAN be valid or divine if it suggests that it is why they are saved or why they are "more saved" (if such were possible).



My half cent....


Pax Christi....


- Josiah

 

[Imalive]

Friends and brethren I was hesitant to let you know that I have actually had this experience already. Due to very negative experiences in the past with believers that do not accept these things I wanted to see what your views were. Very harsh things have often been directed when revealing my beliefs.

I was not going to any church when the Lord Jesus came and convicted me of my sins and brought me to His salvation. It took me awhile to learn that I had been born again, saved and made a new creation in Christ. He then baptized me with His Holy Spirit and gave the gift of tongues. I do not attempt to force my beliefs on anyone nor do I believe myself to be special in any way.

I was perishing when Jesus came to me and I never heard of the love that He had for me. The church people that came to ask me to their churches never ever told me about God's love and sacrifice for me only to come and join their church. I feel as if He saved me outside of a denomination so that I would be forced to look into the Bible and see what it said to me without benefit of denominational leanings.

We have been blessed by the Lord in many ways and He has brought us through many hard things. I appreciate the things that you have said here and feel that we have the love of God in common. I was a long way from God when He came to me and i am continually grateful and worshipful of Him for what He has done in my life. I did not feel comfortable in not being completely honest with you and if you feel slighted or offended in any way I beg your forgiveness.

My wife and I are in our mid seventies and have not had a good church to attend in quite some time. Online forums such as this one are one of the few places I get any Christian input at all.

That's a pity. I haven't been to church either for quite a while. There are some real good churches in America. We flew all the way from Holland to go to one.