The holy spirit is God’s invisible power and influence. God alone decides who receives this precious gift.
There are various steps involved for a Christian to receive the holy spirit. James (4:8 English Standard Version) says, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."
Drawing nearer to God means trying to live a life that would be pleasing to God…being teachable, humble, and honest, as well as having faith in the Bible, studying it to learn His will for their lives.
Christians striving to live closer to God may be further drawn by God to learn about Jesus. In the book of John (6:44 English Standard Version), Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
After God draws a person to Jesus, and they accept Jesus as their savior, they MAY receive a higher calling: to “make a consecration” – which means dedicating themselves to doing God’s will instead of their own. They strive to transform their lives, following the example of Jesus in making every decision of life pleasing to God. If God accepts their consecration, they are “spirit begotten,” beginning a new spiritual life guided by the holy spirit. They are assured God will overrule every experience of their faithful consecrated life to work out for their best spiritual interest. (see Romans 8:28).
The Apostle Paul says in Romans (12:1,2 NLT) “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.”
This Scripture is saying that consecrated Christians live a sacrificial life, which means denying the things THEY want to do, in favor of following the things that GOD wants them to do.
God’s holy spirit helps them with many things, like understanding the Bible, knowing God’s will for their lives, and learning how they should treat others. The holy spirit can help a consecrated Christian with difficult character-building commands like when Jesus says in Matthew (5:44 NLV), “But I tell you, love those who hate you…Respect and give thanks for those who say bad things to you. Do good to those who hate you…Pray for those who do bad things to you…”
So, how do Christians receive the holy spirit? It’s not easy – Matthew (7:14 NLT) says, “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” But, those who do, and are faithful unto death, will be blessed beyond their imaginations forever in heaven. Most people will awaken on a perfect earth.
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
