What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit?
Acts 19: 1-7 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
Gordon Brownville's Symbols of the Holy Spirit tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"
So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone, but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit's message.
Thomas Lindberg.
I. How did they receive the Holy Spirit?
This is the second very important question that arises out of this narrative. Look at the verses again.
And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
We already asked the question about whether these 12 were Christians already when they met Paul. And the obvious conclusion that we draw is that they were not Christians when they met Paul. They didn’t know about the giving of the Spirit that happened just 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection. Which makes you wonder if they even knew about the resurrection, or even the crucifixion. And they had only been baptized with John’s baptism. John’s baptism was looking forward to Christ. John was beheaded long before the crucifixion and resurrection. So they were missing a significant amount of the gospel story of Jesus.
But, believe it or not, there are some who teach that they were Christians when they met Paul. Charismatic. So why is it important whether they were Christians or not? Because those who teach that they were Christians use this passage to teach about how a Christian receives the Holy Spirit. They teach that since these 12 men in the book of Acts, they say they were Christians, and they say they were Christians, mark this, who didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. So, what is their conclusion? That it is possible for a Christian to not have the indwelling Holy Spirit. And that Christians have to do something to get the Spirit. Or that there is a special sign that you have the Spirit. Like speaking in tongues. And that if you haven’t spoken in tongues, you are don’t have the Holy Spirit.
And by claiming that these 12 men are Christians, they have created two classes of Christians; those who do not have the Spirit, and those who have received the Spirit, the 2nd blessing, manifested by the speaking in tongues.
What does that mean for us? Now I won’t ask for a show of hands, but if I were to ask how many of you have spoken in tongues, I suspect that most of you would say, no you have not, and I would be included in that number. Which means, according to some in old line Pentecostal churches, or charismatic churches, that most of us in this church, including the pastor, don’t have the indwelling Spirit, or at least not the full gift of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s pause for a minute. This is why doctrine and teaching matter. I have grown weary of people who say, “Why do we have all these denominations? Why can’t we just live and let live?” I grow weary of modern churches that avoid teaching any issues where there might be a difference of opinion, because they don’t want to offend anyone.
Now I know that there are doctrines that we can disagree on. There is an old saying, “On the essentials, unity, on the non-essentials, charity.” The disagreement often comes in determining what is essential, and what is non-essential.
Let me give you a guideline for that. In general, I believe, and I believe the Bible teaches that there are two major categories of essential doctrines; God’s nature and our salvation. We can disagree about the structure of the church, even about sprinkling or immersion, but we have to agree on who God is, and how we are saved. If we don’t, we are in danger of our own damnation and the wrath of God.
So, does this teaching about how you receive the Spirit have anything to do with our salvation, or God’s nature? It has to do with both. So, it is imperative that we get this right and agree on it.
So, I think we have already established that these 12 were not Christians when they met Paul, so they were not Christians who didn’t have the Holy Spirit.
But let me take the role of the devil’s advocate here. Let’s say that I’m wrong. Let’s say that they were Christians when they met Paul, and that they received the Spirit after, maybe days weeks or months after they believed on Jesus. The question then becomes, “Does that mean that all Christians will receive the Spirit at a separate time than when they became Christians?”
The answer is no. We’ve talked about this before. I stressed with you a principle of Bible interpretation. The principle can be expressed this way; “Just because it happened in the Bible, doesn’t mean that is the way it is supposed to happen.” There are many things that happen in the historical narratives of the Bible. But that doesn’t mean that is necessarily God’s design for how it is supposed to happen. We’ve talked about how the Bible is composed of different kinds of books. Some of the books of the Bible are poetry, some history, some doctrinal, teaching.
So, if I am looking for doctrine or teaching, where is the first place to look? At books designed to be teaching books. And Acts is not a doctrinal book, it is a narrative or story about what happened in the early church in the first century after Jesus’ death. Acts is a historical transitional book. You can’t take every event that happens in the book of Acts as a teaching about what we are to do. Because the book of Acts tells us the story of how the first Christians, who were Jews, transitioned from the legalism of 1st century Judaism to the liberty of Christianity.
You know, this is a big issue in the charismatic movement. They take many things from the book of Acts as mandates for the Church. They teach that we should be seeing signs and wonders, that we should be speaking in tongues, that there are people today who are “Apostles” with a capital A, who are still receiving new revelation from God, that miracle workers can bless pieces of clothe or paper and send it to you in the mail, and that object can bring healing.
But the problem is that they pick and choose which stories from Acts they consider to be normal for today’s church. You can get into dangerous territory if you take all of Acts to describe what should be happening in the church.
Early in the book, while the disciples waited for the baptism of the Spirit, they cast lots to determine who the replacement for Judas should be. Does that mean that our church should roll dice, or cast lots to determine who to call as pastor? Paul, in Acts, takes a Nazarite vow, not cutting his hair, or eating any product of the grape vine for a period of time. Are we supposed to be taking Jewish vows? Many of the Jews in Acts were still devoted to upholding parts of the Mosaic law like Sabbath days and feasts, is that what the church is to do?
The point that I am trying to make is, that if we are going to correctly handle the Word of God, we will look at doctrinal books for doctrine. Acts is not a doctrinal book. There is doctrine in Acts. Peter, Paul, James, Stephen, all deliver sermons in the book of Acts. We can look at those sermons for doctrine.
So, that leads us back to the question, how does a person receive the Holy Spirit? The doctrinal books of the Bible teach us that a Christian receives the Spirit, the moment they become a Christian. They teach us that there is no such thing as a Christian who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit. There is no necessity for a Christian to seek a second blessing of the Spirit, or some fuller expression of the Spirit.
In other words, if you are a Christian, you already have all that you need. Now, we can quench the power of the Spirit in our lives by being disobedient. And, God may choose to use the Spirit in us in a fuller way, on some occasion. But we have the full gift. Let me show you some verses that say that.
Romans 8:9. “You’re not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.” That’s a definition of a Christian. Not in the flesh, in the Spirit.
It doesn’t say there is a third option. It’s either/or. But Paul goes on.
“If so be it that the Spirit of God dwell in you.”
So it’s either/or. Either you are in the flesh, or you are in the Spirit. And how do you know if you are in the Spirit? “If the Spirit dwells in you.” Again, there are only two possibilities given; the Spirit is either in you, or He is not. Well what if He’s not? Is it possible that a Christian not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him? Look at what Paul says,
Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he’s none of His. If you don’t have the Spirit, you don’t even belong to Christ.
I told you earlier that his is an essential doctrine, one we must agree on because it has to do with how we are saved, and the nature of God.
My friends, this is how we are saved. If you don’t have the Spirit of God in you, you are not saved. If those verses aren’t enough consider,
1 Corinthian 6:19. He says, “What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?”
Who is Paul saying this to? The Christians in the church in Corinth. He is saying to all of them, “Don’t you know that you have the Spirit of God in you?” He doesn’t say, “some of you have the Spirit, and others of you need to seek the 2nd blessing. No, all of you have the Spirit of God in you. Well you might think that the Christians in the church of Corinth were just a bunch of super Christians, they all had the Spirit, they were all super spiritual. But if you read 1st Corinthians you’ll find that the people of the church there were not super Christians. They were involved in all kinds of sin. In fact, in this very verse, he reminds them that they are temples of the Holy Spirit, in order to shame them for being involved in sexual immorality. Some of them were involved in fornication.
But get this, even to those who were involved in this kind of sin he says, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?”
What does that tell you? That all Christians have the Holy Spirit.
This is an essential doctrine. It instructs us about our salvation. We are not saved if we don’t have the Holy Spirit. But it is also essential because it deals with the nature and character of God. Hear me out. If there is such a thing as a Christian without the Holy Spirit, then God is a liar. Look at what it says in
Ezekiel 36:26. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Verse 27, “And I will put my Spirit within you.”
This, among other passages of Old Testament Scripture, are promises from God about the New Covenant that He is bringing. And He says through the prophets that the very nature of the New Covenant will be different than the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was composed of laws and rules written on tablets, attached to walls, and hands, and hung around heads. But the New Covenant He says, will be in the believer, in their hearts. It will be His Spirit in them.
He doesn’t say, “If you follow certain steps, I’ll put my Spirit in you.” Look at what Jesus said to His disciples;
John 14, verse 16. Jesus said, “I’ll pray to the Father, He shall give you another Comforter.” “Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, it sees Him not, neither knows Him, but you know Him. He dwells with you and shall be in you.”
Here Jesus was telling them that God’s promise of the Spirit in you, would be fulfilled. And that promise wasn’t just to the disciples as some super Spiritual leaders.
John 7:37. “In the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, ‘if any man thirsts, let him come into Me and drink.’” Now listen. Jesus said, “Let him come into Me and drink. He that believeth on Me.” What was that again? He that does what? “Believeth on Me as the Scripture has said out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. And this spoke He of the Spirit whom they that believe on Him should receive.”
Now what did that last verse say that you have to do to receive the Holy Spirit? Believe
Let’s go back to Paul and the church at Corinth again
1 Corinthians 12:13. “By one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.” How many were baptized? How many have had the baptism of Spirit? All. “Whether Jews, Greeks, bond, free.”
So, the doctrinal books teach that every believer has the Holy Spirit. And they don’t teach that we must do anything to get more of that Spirit, or that there is some sign that we have to seek that indicates that we have the Spirit. Let me say this. Some will teach you that you have to speak in tongues, and that is the sign that you have the Holy Spirit. They arrive at that conclusion by reading about all the tongues that followed the conversions in the book of Acts. We’ll get further into that, but ask yourself this question. If tongues is the sign that you have the Holy Spirit, and every believer should seek it as that evidence, then why does Paul, John, Peter or James never say that in their letters? Everyone of the epistles are written to people or churches with problems and spiritual problems and sin. But never once does anyone of the apostles who wrote those letters say, “You guys are messed up. Some of you don’t have the Holy Spirit. You need to seek the second blessing.”
The closest you come to anything like that is
Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
But all Paul is saying here is that their sin is stifling the work of the Spirit in their lives. He never says that they don’t have the Spirit, they are just grieving the Spirit that they have.
How do we receive the Holy Spirit? At our conversion. So, you might ask,
Did anybody else wait between being saved and receiving the Spirit? Were there ever Christians who did not have the indwelling Spirit? Anyone who had to wait for the indwelling Spirit? yes
Remember that Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared over 40 days to the disciples, and before He ascended, told them to wait for the indwelling Spirit. Were those 12 disciples Christians? Yes. They believed in Jesus as the Lamb of God, dead, buried and resurrected. But they didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit. They had to wait for days.
But here’s the key. This was God’s transition from the Old Covenant to the New. And the disciples didn’t get the Spirit because they did something. They got the Spirit because they were Christians.
Was there anyone else who had to wait for the Spirit? Yes
Acts 8: 14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
So, they were Christians without the Holy Spirit. Now listen. “Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
Hold on, you mean that they didn’t get the indwelling Spirit until the apostles laid hands on them. Correct. Why?
First remember, that we don’t get our doctrine from Acts, but from the doctrinal books. But second, remember that Acts is a transitional book. God is moving people from the Old to the New Covenant. So why do these Samaritans need to wait for the Spirit? Someone wrote,
“These are Samaritans. In all the world, it is unlikely that Jews hated anybody as much as they hated Samaritans.”
“Now, the Jews had received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, right? The Gospel had been preached in Samaria. And they had for 500 years had separate temples at Mt. Gerizim and Jerusalem. They had not spoken to each other. The woman at the well was shocked when Jesus even talked to her because she was a Samaritan. Just didn’t happen. And so what happened in the founding of the church in Samaria was very important because as those Samaritan believers came to Christ, if they had received the Holy Spirit right then on the spot and no Jews had seen it, there would have existed the same dichotomy.
And so God, in His marvelous wisdom, withheld the Holy Spirit from them until Jewish apostles arrived. And the Jewish apostles saw them receive the Holy Spirit with the same manifestation that they had received on Pentecost. And they could go back and say to the Jews in Jerusalem, “You won’t believe this, but God has made the Samaritans one with us.” Do you see why that was important? Because the church was supposed to be one body, wasn’t it? And so God withheld the giving of the Spirit in the case of the Samaritans until the apostles were present.
“Notice Paul didn’t say this to these 12. He didn’t say did you receive the Holy Spirit when you prayed? Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you tarried? Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you emptied yourself? Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you obeyed, when you were yielded and when you surrendered? No, no, no. He doesn’t say that. He said, “Did you receive the Spirit when you believed?”
No, Paul doesn’t say now I must give you the 16 principles to a deeper commitment. Well, he just – he just gives them the gospel. He just says, hey, he says, “John was baptizing you to repent to get ready for the Messiah, but he was telling you that you had to believe on the one who came after. And that one is here and He is Christ Jesus.” And they heard that and said, great. And when they heard it they were baptized in His name. And bang. in verse 6, “the Spirit came.” It says they spoke in tongues. So why did that happen? Again, this is transitional. Tongues was the supernatural sign that demonstrated the filling of the Spirit.
This is how God has worked in history. Every time that God initiated something new, He confirms it with supernatural signs. But when that initiating time is over, the signs fade and they are replaced with His Word. Think about it. When God initiated the Mosaic law, it was accompanied by miraculous signs, the plagues of Egypt, wilderness miracles, miraculous conquest of the Promised land. But after Joshua, Moses protégé died, the signs ceased. When God brought the prophets, exemplified by Elijah to Israel, He confirmed their Word with signs; fulfilled prophecy, even healing. But then those miracles ceased. When Jesus came, the New covenant was confirmed with signs, miracles. And the apostles performed the same signs. Part of those signs that validated the message that the Holy Spirit had come to indwell all believers was the speaking in languages that the individual did not know. And then the signs faded.
By the way, did you know that from the 1st century, after the death of the 12 apostles, until the 19th century, speaking in tongues of any sort, is virtually unheard of? Nobody was doing it. The early church fathers spoke of it as a 1st century temporary sign gift. And even when tongues speaking did rarely occur in history, it usually did not meet the standards of tongues speaking in Scripture; an actual language that the speaker did not know, confirmed by someone who could interpret that language. Much of the tongues we hear about today is presented as a heavenly language, to all ears, it is gibberish.
So, if tongues is so important as a sign of the receiving of the Spirit, are we to believe that God wasn’t giving the Spirit to most believers for 1700 to 1800 years?
And I want you to notice. This is the last time we ever hear of laying on hands, receiving the Spirit and the sign of tongues. It is not laid down as a statute or procedure in any of the epistles written after this. If it is so important a procedure for receiving the Spirit, the greatest power a Christian can have in this earth, then why is it not spelled out in any of the epistles. This is how you receive the Spirit, or the fulness of the Spirit; step one, pray, step two, tarry, step three, seek the gift of tongues, step four call for elders to lay on hands, etc.
This is an essential doctrine. It addresses how we are saved and the very integrity of God to separate the receiving of the Spirit from salvation
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