My Walk with Christ Guideline
Topic: THE HOLY SPIRIT EXPERIENCE
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
This write-up is a concised information to enlighten you on the place of the Holy Spirit in the life of a born again Christian. It comes to clear doubts and misconceptions in our minds which makes it difficult for us to derive the vital benefit from the promise or the precious gift of God which is the Holy Spirit.
First of all, I would like you to understand that there is no salvation without the Holy Spirit; no kingdom of God without the Holy Spirit. The verse above tells us the things the believer should be experiencing once being born again. In Col.1:13, the Bible tells us that as many as believed in Jesus, they have been translated from one kingdom to another; from darkness into the light even the kingdom of Christ.
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Therefore if you believe in Jesus Christ, you have found your place in the kingdom of Christ. You don't have to know how it happened but it happened anyway. Anytime a man confesses his sin and invites Jesus into his heart, immediately an AIR HEAVEN ✈️comes for that person, this happens in a twinkle of eye. And now the Bible says a sign that shows your citizenship has changed, just like an African man who finds himself in Europe where snow falls incessantly so should every believer be experiencing RIGTHEOUSNESS, PEACE & JOY and all these IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. This suggests to us that there is no righteousness, peace and joy outside the Holy Ghost. You may find it very hard trying to be righteous or go seeking for peace and joy OUTSIDE THE HOLY GHOST.
Having said that, at salvation the life of Christ has been imparted into us; that is to say the virtues of God such as listed in Galatians 5:22. It is this experience that has changed us into new creatures.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When a man gets born again, his nose hasn't changed, not even his height. This points to that the fact that the Christian change or transformation takes place in the spirit of that man first before it goes into the outside life of the person. At new birth seed of love has been imparted or planted into our Spirit.
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
The first level of experiencing the Holy Spirit helps us to keep us in touch with God (our devotion), hence loving the Master Jesus and other people more. With this, we are able to bear the fruit of the Spirit; the very nature of God.
Let's now look at the next level of Holy.
Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 8:15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 8:16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
When I was growing up in the christian walk, the first times I heard people teach on the Holy Spirit, I felt sorry for myself because I was made to understand that what shows one has the Holy Spirit is that he has or is able to speak in tongues. This is true to some extent but not the full truth. As we have established earlier no one can call on God without having received the Holy Spirit (1Cor.12:3).
1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
I repeat, our salvation is possible only by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the nature of God implanted into our spirit at new birth (1Cor.6:17).
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
It is also the seed of righteousness which in the process of time produces what Paul calls the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT as recorded in Galatians 5:22. It is by the Spirit that the believer is led (Rom.8:14). Though the Spirit is one and He is received only once, the believer can have different experiences with the same Holy Spirit so that the way Believer A experiences Him may be different from the way Believer B experiences Him. Our opening verse is talking about young believers who did not receive the Holy Spirit; this is not to say that the Holy Spirit was not dwelling in them. So far as they were genuinely born again they had the Holy Spirit indwelling them. However they had not as at that time experienced or "received" the next level of the Holy Spirit, that is the BAPTISM or the OUTPOURING of the Holy Ghost which is evidenced in TONGUES SPEAKING. This experience of the Holy Spirit: the UPON experiencce was stated clearly in the word of God as God's promise to ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS. We see that by the prophecy of Joel in Joel 2:28,
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
By the words of Jesus in Acts 1: 8,
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
by the words of John the Baptist in Mat.3:11
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
and many more such as in Acts 19:4, etc. Now let's understand that the standard of Christlikeness is CHARACTER & MINISTRY. This is to say that the first experience of the Holy Spirit at new birth is the impartation of God's virtues that enable us to exhibit the character of Christ as we commune with God and the second experiencce which is the outpouring or being filled up of the Holy Spirit comes with the impartation of gifts unto ministry or service. The latter is evidenced in tongues speaking; this is how others can testify that you have the promise of God or you have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Let me quote Jesus' words to you concerning the upon experiencce of the Holy Spirit:
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Jesus was able to do the miracles he did because the Holy Spirit was upon Him. Look at what is said about Him in the book of Acts:
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
The anointing is in action when it comes upon the life of a man. We cannot and we will not be effective to some extent in our service to God if we don't get baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some people also say that this experience is for only some selected people; please it's a big lie and in fact it's the deception of the devil to keep you stagnant and fruitfulness in your christian life. Hear what Peter said: Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call. This is where the disciples received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues and Peter stood in address of the observers that hey!this is a promise to all that God shall CALL including you if only you believe. Are you called of God? If yes, then you qualify. Hear Jesus talk on the matter: Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
The condition to do what is listed in there is BELIEVE, which means every believer can speak with tongues and how can one speak in tongues without having received the experience of Holy Ghost baptism? My dear beloved, believe in the promise of God, desire the Holy Ghost and you shall have Him. The scripture says in Romans 8:32, that by Jesus we can accessed to all other good and perfect things in God which includes the Holy Spirit.
Let me reintegrate however that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not a sign that one has received the Holy Spirit but the fruit of the Spirit instead.
God bless you! Watch out for the next series!
In case you have not yet welcome Jesus into your life, this could be the right time to do that. Christ is a place. Jesus Christ says "abide in me and I will abide in you'. Jesus is the right place to be, welcome Him into your life and your life will never ever be the same.
Cephas Aziabou Godson (visionary)
God bless you for reading!
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