No Spirit

This week got me thinking, "Why is the Spirit quenched in so many of our lives?" I began investigating Scripture, which is inspired by God's Spirit, to find some answers. The first thing I noticed is that some people simply don't have the Spirit of God. This is why it looks like the Spirit is not within them. God is not.

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:30-32 NIV)

I've met a lot of people and talked to many of them about God. In all these conversations, I've not run across many people who are antagonistic about God. They don't hate God or curse His Spirit. They usually don't believe or are staying away from God for a reason. This is good news, because, for them, the chance to return home has not expired. They can still come home to the Father through the Son and receive the Holy Spirit.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (Acts 19:13-16 NIV)

Sometimes people act like they know God. They talk the talk. They might even go to church services and try to draw people away to listen to their teaching. The problem is that they do not have the wisdom or the power of God because they never received the Spirit of God. The result will be, for them, really bad. They, however, can still come home to the Father through the Son and receive the Holy Spirit, too.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:1-6 NIV)

Sometimes people don't have the Holy Spirit or doubt that they have the Spirit because of different teachings even within the Church. This is understandable because Scripture has many different stories about how people received the Holy Spirit, even in the New Testament, new covenant, era. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out on the Apostles while praying in a room. The Gentile believers received the Holy Spirit as a sign that they were accepted by God, then they were baptized. Some people were baptized by John, but did not receive the Holy Spirit until they were baptized again, but in the name of Jesus. Others still did not receive the Holy Spirit because they were baptized in the name of Jesus, but not in the Holy Spirit. This makes it really easy for different preachers and teachers to share different stories and for all of us to get really confused.

Let me try to clear up some of the confusion. In all the new covenant era, you will only find four different components that we are told to do in order to receive God's gifts of grace. When we do these things, we are promised that we have come home to the Father through the Son and received the Holy Spirit.

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 NIV)

The first two go together nicely. We must believe that Jesus is the way back home to God. He claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life. He said no one comes home to the Father except through him. He proved that his words were true when he died and then rose again on the third day. We have many, many reasons to believe that Jesus is our Savior. We have even more reasons to make Jesus our Lord, letting him call the shots for the rest of our lives. So, we confess it out loud.

So, the first two are simply:
1) Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
2) Confess Jesus as Lord.

The next two fit together nicely as well. You will see the pattern throughout the Book of Acts and beyond, starting on the day of Pentecost. When Peter was preaching on that day, people were convicted in their hearts and even asked questions out loud. They had done the first two steps. So, when asked what they should do next, Peter replied:

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)

The next two steps are this:
3) Repent (turn around from your sin) and
4) Be Baptized (immersed in water)

When you do all four of these things, you are promised forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are all called to this step. We are all offered the same promise.

How about you? Do you have the Holy Spirit of God? Have you received God's Spirit?