When Does a Believer Receive the Holy Spirit? A KJV Bible Study
Shortly after I became a believer at age 15, I was confronted by friends and strangers alike with the need to receive the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, that emphasis never came up at my church—for a reason.
After I got my bearings on the topic, a thought struck me that remains to this day. It is doubtful that anyone who accepts Christ escapes a misinformed plea from someone to receive the Holy Spirit… leaving every single believer in the balance on this topic until they come down on one of two sides:
1. Either you try to build a laying-on-of-hands Holy Spirit doctrine from the book of Acts,
2. Or you grasp Paul’s teaching on the topic. The two teachings are vastly different.
Acts
Let’s start with the book of Acts, more accurately titled The Acts of the Apostles. That title matters because Acts is a transitional book showing how God worked through the apostles’ ministry as the gospel moved from Jerusalem to Judaea, to Samaria to the Gentile world beyond as Jesus outlined in Acts 1:8. He used that now-ended apostolic ministry to confirm His work, empowering this special class of men with signs, tongues, visions, healings, and other public works that testified to what God was doing.
You will notice that Acts does not present one settled pattern for receiving the Holy Ghost. In Acts 2:2-4, He came directly from heaven. In Acts 8:17 and Acts 19:6, He came through the apostles’ laying on of hands. In Acts 9:17, Saul received the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands by Ananias, a disciple at Damascus. In Acts 10:44, He came while the apostle Peter preached. In those major passages, God made the reception of the Holy Ghost visible enough that no one could deny His work, especially as the gospel moved from Jews to Samaritans to Gentiles.
I can’t emphasize enough the transitional nature of Acts as a reason why we don’t get our settled church-age doctrine from there.
Paul’s Church Age Epistles
We don’t live in the transitional phase anymore. Paul’s epistles give the salvation doctrine for the church: a sinner hears the gospel, believes, receives the Lord and is sealed by the Holy Spirit by God Himself. Here are the clear, definitive verses:
· In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) Notice that no outside individual bestows the Holy Spirit. God does it Himself at salvation.
· And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30) Again, the believer is sealed, and that sealing lasts unto the day of redemption.
· For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13) The Holy Spirit places the believer into the body of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:15
Here’s a way to solve confusing Bible conundrums. Memorize and practice 2 Timothy 2:15: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. To rightly divide, you consider: Who was this passage written TO/ABOUT? (Jews? Gentiles? The church?) What is the doctrinal setting? (Transition time like Acts? The Old Testament Law? The Church age, which is us?)
We get instruction, examples, warnings and spiritual profit from all Scripture, but we do not apply every command and example as though it were written directly to the church.
With all this in mind, take a deep breath before you start applying and teaching the methods and practices in Acts, which was a time of transition. When you grasp this, please pass it on to others. Everyone needs to know this.
R&J Shee