WHO HAS RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Growing up as young Christians, we had a lot of images of the Holy Spirit; we thought of him as a spirit who took possession of people and caused them to behave beyond their control. These ideas and images of the Holy Spirit were partly due to some cultural beliefs that the spirit of the dead could take control of the living and use them to accomplish their mission; also there is a belief in the spirit of gods (abosom) taking possession of their fetish priests and using them; and lastly, there have been instances during Christian prayer meetings where the pastor touches a person and the person falls down. There were also times when we were told that a person did not have the Spirit of God if they could not speak in tongues. This write-up seeks to examine the work of the Holy Spirit in light of the Scriptures. I seek to answer some questions like Who can receive the Holy Spirit, When does a person receive the Spirit, What shows that a person has the Holy Spirit and Does a person has control if they have the Holy Spirit?

WHO CAN RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Obviously, most Christians will respond to this question correctly, that it is only believers. Jesus explained this fundamental truth to His disciples.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
John 14:15-17, Emphasis mine

The above scripture reveals some wonderful truths that we sometimes ignore. Let’s take a closer look at some of them:

Jesus said the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit because it neither sees Him nor knows Him: meaning not everyone can have the Holy Spirit and that those who cannot receive Him are described as the world. The use of the word ‘the world‘ is to indicate people who do not believe in Jesus. It is quite unfortunate that sometimes some Christians waste their time debating with unbelievers about the personhood of the Holy Spirit, as to whether He is also God or not. As Jesus said, they (unbelievers) neither see (perceive) nor know (understand, or conceptualize) Him. Imagine how fruitless it is to debate with somebody who cannot even understand the scope of the subject under discussion. Jesus says they cannot accept Him indicating that they cannot receive him. The Encarta dictionary defines accept as “to take something that is offered” and receive as “to take or accept something given”. From the above, accept and receive can be used interchangeably. All connotes an idea of a giver offering something and a receiver taking it.

Where can the Holy Spirit be found after the believer receives Him? Jesus answers this in that same verse by saying “…for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17). “Lives with you” means, He’s outside of you but around you, He’s within your closest environment. Why does He need to be around us? He does that to help us in fellowship with one another and protect us from the devil. “Will be in you” means He’s within us, in our inmost being. Why does he need to be within us? There are a lot of reasons for that, but I will just highlight a few:

The first is to help us fellowship with God and recognise Him as our Father. In an actual sense, one can only interact with God through the person’s spirit (human spirit). This is what John 4:23-24 (bold for emphasis), “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”). So the Holy Spirit acts as a teacher to direct the person’s spirit to God.

“…those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Romans 8:14-16, Bold for emphasis.

In the above scripture also, we see two spirits: the Spirit with the capital ‘S’ is the Holy Spirit and the spirit with the small ‘s‘ is our human spirit. This leads us to the second reason the Spirit is within us, that is He emboldens the person and makes the person courageous. From the previous verse, it says “you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again of fear”. Paul also wrote to the young Timothy that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Lastly, the spirit enables the person to bear fruits. This is what Jesus said:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5, bold for emphasis.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-24.

Without the Spirit, the individual cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit, because it’s for Him and only by Him you can produce it.

WHEN DOES A PERSON RECEIVE THE SPIRIT?

The next question is when does the individual receive the Spirit, is it before or after he believes? There is not an easy way to answer this but with the direction of scripture, I will elaborate on it. From the following scriptures and analysis, I will argue that a person receives the Spirit before he believes. This is because it is the Spirit who makes believing possible.

Now the condition of our salvation is written in Romans 10:9-10 (bold for emphasis)

That if you confess 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 confess and are saved.

Now 1 Corinthians 12:3 notes the condition by which a person can profess or confess that “Jesus is Lord”.

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3, bold for emphasis.

Putting the two scriptures together, from the first scripture every who says Jesus is Lord is saved. the second scripture explains that such a person who confesses Jesus is Lord is enabled by the Spirit. As noted, the second scripture says “no one”, which means every individual who comes to faith is by the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 10:8 says “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming”. This means that everyone has the potential to be saved but what makes the difference is the enablement of the Spirit for the person to proclaim “Jesus is Lord”.

WHAT IS THE SIGN THAT SHOWS A PERSON HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The scriptures never tie receiving the Spirit to speaking in tongues but as clearly seen from 1 Corinthian 12:3 above, the sign of receiving the Spirit is by the person confessing that Jesus is Lord. Yes, a person cannot speak in tongues if he does not have the Spirit, the same applies to prophesying, working of miracles, interpretation of tongues and others (1 Cor 12:8-10) but all these are gifts, not conditions. Most people speaking in tongues today cannot interpret, so can we say if you cannot interpret tongues speaking you do not have the Spirit? Or if you cannot prophesy, you do not have the Spirit? All these are gifts of the Spirit and as Corinthians 12:11 (bold for emphasis) says “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit; and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” Every believer has the Holy Spirit regardless of whether he can speak in tongues or not, the sign is that you have confessed that “Jesus is Lord” as indicated. Someone may ask, what if the confession was not genuine? That is for another discussion but every genuine person knows it.

DOES ONE HAVE CONTROL IF HE HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The answer is yes, the person has control: they can still will, decide and behave the way they choose to. The Holy Spirit does not force anyone beyond their will. Now see the scriptures below (scriptures in bold are for emphasis):

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30.

For the spirits of the prophets (the speakers in tongues) are under the speaker’s control [and subject to being silenced as may be necessary]
1 Corinthians 14:32.

The first two scriptures instruct the person to do something (that is, let us keep in step and do not grieve). These actions require the person themselves to act on their own volition. if it was not so, Paul would have written “The Spirit will make you” do this or not do that. We have to choose to follow the leading of the spirit, we have to choose to do things that please God and not grieve his Spirit in us and we are in control of our spirit to keep it in tune with the Holy Spirit. The third scripture explicitly says we are in control even when exercising the gifts of the spirit like speaking in tongues and prophesying. This is the reason why believers should subject every message they receive from respected believers to scrutiny, to determine whether the message is coming from the Holy Spirit or the person.

Most Christians still find themselves in sin because they are waiting for the Holy Spirit to hold them from engaging in sin. They fail to understand that they are to cooperate with the Spirit. The Spirit won’t control you in the literal sense: it is only evil spirits which make people do the things they don’t want to do. What the Holy Spirit does is that He prompts and expects you to obey. The scripture says “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). The work of the Spirit is to lead, and ours is to follow (obey). Obedience comes when we trust the person. Trust in the Holy Spirit comes when we have faith that He is with us always and leading us to do the right things at all times. It is not just the right thing, but things that please God. The popular song says “Trust and Obey”. Paul a lot of the time puts a lot of responsibility on the believer because he knows that the Spirit has done His part and it’s left for the person to obey.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Roman 12:1-2, bold for emphasis.

He says “you present”, not the “Holy Spirit will present.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24, bold for empahasis.

Again it says “let him deny” not the “Holy Spirit will”. Let us do our part as believers, as the Holy Spirit constantly keeps on doing His.

Photo Credit:
https://thevinetroy.com/podcast-post/holy_spirit_part_2/
https://www.godisreal.today/how-to-receive-the-holy-spirit/
https://coactivehealth.uk/articles/nutrition-advice/confused-about-fat/
https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/puppet-control.html