Christianity How Do You Know if Youve Quenched the Spirit

One of God'southward greatest gifts is the Holy Spirit, and it provides a lifeline to God past which He gives many of His other wonderful gifts. The Holy Spirit gives a Christian spiritual power and understanding and makes information technology possible for us to become more similar God and eventually inherit eternal life.

(This process of transformation is explained in detail in the articles in our section "Christian Conversion: How Does the Bible Say We Go Christians?")

So it is important to know how to receive the Holy Spirit, how to be assured that we have information technology, how to be led by information technology and how to "stir it up."

How do nosotros receive the Holy Spirit?

The Bible says we receive the Holy Spirit later repenting and being baptized.

Jesus Christ told His disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit after His death. On the Mean solar day of Pentecost, the beginning of the Church of God was announced with powerful miracles, and Peter preached an inspired sermon describing how nosotros can receive the Holy Spirit:

"Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you exist baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts ii:38).

Later Peter pointed out that God gives the Holy Spirit "to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32).

When do nosotros receive the Holy Spirit?

Other passages show that the Holy Spirit is given to the repentant believer subsequently baptism when a minister lays his hands on the person and asks God to requite the Holy Spirit (Acts viii:14-17).

Repentance, conventionalities, baptism and the laying on of hands are the steps God asks us to follow today before He gives His Holy Spirit. If a person has not followed these steps, he or she does not have the Holy Spirit in him or her withal.Repentance, belief, baptism and the laying on of hands are the steps God asks u.s.a. to follow today before He gives His Holy Spirit. If a person has not followed these steps, he or she does not take the Holy Spirit in him or her yet.

Do unbelievers accept the Holy Spirit?

No, the Bible ties together believing God and receiving the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus "spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive" (John vii:39).
• Jesus as well said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16).
• Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus that "having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians ane:xiii).

Belief in God is a prerequisite for receiving God'due south Holy Spirit.

Are babies built-in with the Holy Spirit?

No, the Holy Spirit comes after repentance and baptism, which the Bible shows are adult decisions. (Run into our commodity "Infant Baptism?" for more on this.)

Some take wondered about the fact that John the Baptist was to be "filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his female parent's womb" (Luke 1:15). Just the Bible gives examples of the Holy Spirit working with people earlier their conversion.

Jesus told His disciples before His death that the Holy Spirit "dwells with you and volition be in y'all" (John 14:17). They received the Holy Spirit seven weeks later on on the Solar day of Pentecost.

Even Samson was set up apart from the womb, and the Bible says, "The Spirit of the LORD began to motility upon him" when he was still young (Judges 13:25). Judging by his selfish and sinful way of life, information technology doesn't seem he was converted till the terminate of his life.

What does the Bible say we should do to avert quenching the Spirit?

In David's impassioned prayer of repentance, he pleaded with God, "Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 51:xi). He knew that if he didn't go on repenting and seeking God, he was in danger of an unpardonable sin, for God volition non forgive us if we do non repent.

Paul also gave warnings to Christians not to grieve, neglect or quench the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:thirty; i Timothy four:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).

To avoid these dangers, a Christian must do the opposite. Instead of grieving the Spirit, we should pray daily to be filled with God's Spirit, to "walk in the Spirit" (meaning to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit), and to sow to the Spirit—to abound spiritually (Ephesians 5:eighteen; Galatians 5:16, 25; Galatians 6:7-eight).

Instead of putting out the burn of the Spirit, Paul encourages u.s. to "stir upward the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given u.s.a. a spirit of fearfulness, only of power and of love and of a sound listen" (ii Timothy 1:6-7).

Looking for the church behind Life, Promise & Truth? See our "Who We Are" page.

What are some evidences of the Holy Spirit?

How do you know y'all have the Holy Spirit? In addition to post-obit the biblical process outlined in Acts 2:38, we can examine our lives for the evidence.

The Bible lists many things the Holy Spirit enables the states to do. Paul wrote that God'due south Spirit opens upwards our spiritual understanding of things that seem like foolishness to those without spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 2:ten-xiv).

Through regular prayer and study of the Bible, the Spirit helps united states of america abound in agreement of God'south plan and our role in it. Information technology writes God's laws on our hearts and minds, helping united states internalize God's way of life and think like He does (Hebrews 8:x). Information technology enables the states to transform or change our minds (Romans 12:two).

Jesus said the Spirit volition provide united states of america with assistance and guidance (John 14:16; John 14:26; John xvi:13).

One of the almost important evidences is that "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). Godly dear is described in more detail in i Corinthians xiii:4-8. Though we all fall curt, a Christian should encounter this fruit growing in his or her life.

Paul lists other important fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-command. Against such there is no constabulary." The "fruit of the Spirit" refers to the characteristics we develop as we practice God's Spirit in our lives.

Paul as well told members of the Church in Corinth, "Examine yourselves equally to whether yous are in the faith. Test yourselves. Practise you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? [through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit]—unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:five).

Christians will examine themselves to see how much this fruit of the Spirit is growing and will regularly enquire God to provide His gracious Spirit to help them abound more than. See more almost this in the articles in "The Fruit of the Spirit" section.

God also gives unlike spiritual gifts to different people, but they all are given "for the profit of all" (i Corinthians 12:7; see verses 4-xi). None of these gifts are given for testify or personal celebrity.

Some today mistakenly think that what is called "speaking in tongues" proves whether ane has the Holy Spirit. However, even in New Testament times the gift of speaking in other languages was simply given to some, and Paul warned that it was being misused in Corinth (see i Corinthians 14 and our article "What Is Speaking in Tongues?").

How does the Holy Spirit piece of work?

There's a lot of confusion virtually the Holy Spirit and what it does in a person's life. Some believe that God takes over, or possesses, and controls the believer by His Holy Spirit, enabling the believer to speak in tongues or do other miraculous deeds.

Bible study lets the Holy Spirit work in our minds as we take in God'south Word and allow it to instruct united states.

While the Holy Spirit does enter us after baptism and the laying on of easily, it does non possess us and dominate us against our volition. The idea of "beingness possessed" by the Holy Spirit is more reminiscent of demon possession than how God actually works.

In the One-time Attestation, the prophet Elijah had a crisis of organized religion. Afterward seeing God work a wonderful miracle, he ran for his life because of Jezebel's threats (ane Kings nineteen:2-3).

After he arrived at a secluded identify (verse ix), God gave Elijah iv demonstrations of His power. There was a potent windstorm that actually smashed the rocks of the mountain, an convulsion, and a fire—nonetheless God'south presence wasn't in whatsoever of these powerful phenomena.

So God spoke with "a withal small-scale vox" (i Kings 19:xi-13). God doesn't e'er, or even oftentimes, work with large, awe-inspiring miracles. Sometimes God'due south Spirit quietly deals with u.s.a. by causing us to reason with more clarity and encounter things with a new sensation.

The Holy Spirit gives u.s.a. a greater ability to run into how we can apply God's wisdom to our daily decisions.

A Spirit of power

The Holy Spirit does non directly control us, merely information technology is however a spirit of great ability. "For God has not given united states of america a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound listen" (ii Timothy one:seven). It gives us strength and insight to make the necessary changes to who we are on the inside.

Only through the help of the Spirit can nosotros exist transformed into beings who are continually growing to more closely resemble the character of God. The Holy Spirit helps us change into new men and women.

The Holy Spirit leads u.s.a. as a guide on the path, just information technology does non drive us. It leads us simply every bit it led Jesus Christ (Matthew four:1). It tin as well give our lives management as it did for Christ (Marker 1:12). Simply the Holy Spirit does not forcefulness us to exercise anything. Nosotros are free moral agents; we make our own choices and decisions.

Following the lead or direction of the Holy Spirit is very important. The Bible plainly states, "For every bit many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). God's people are to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. We must live according to the Spirit—setting our minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:v).

This leads to the vital question: How does the Holy Spirit lead us and help us?

How to be led past the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit works with us in different means, all of them depending on the extent to which nosotros let it to pb us. The Bible reveals a number of means that the Holy Spirit works with our minds to help us.

1. The Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand God's way.

The apostle Paul declared that the Holy Spirit enables us to "comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and acme—to know the love of Christ which passes noesis" (Ephesians 3:16-19).

The Holy Spirit also opens our minds to properly understand what is found in the Bible—"for the Spirit searches all things, yep, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians ii:ten).

2. The Holy Spirit changes our minds to pure minds.

The Holy Spirit helps us to put off the old man and to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man" (Ephesians 4:23-24). The Holy Spirit works to change our minds so that we can have the mind of Christ. We must work to transform our minds instead of conforming our minds to the globe around u.s.a. (Romans 12:2).

3. The Holy Spirit teaches united states of america.

The Holy Spirit teaches us about God'southward way of life, bringing to mind the words of Jesus Christ (John fourteen:26). It is described as "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of noesis" (Isaiah 11:2).

4. The Holy Spirit comforts and encourages us.

One of the primary descriptors that Jesus used for the Holy Spirit was the wordHelper orComforter (John xiv:16; fifteen:26). 1 way Jesus Christ comforts united states of america through the Holy Spirit is by giving usa His unique peace. "My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I requite to you. Let not your middle be troubled, neither allow information technology be afraid" (John 14:27).

5. The Holy Spirit keeps us in bear on with God.

The Holy Spirit is evidence that God is living in us, and that we are living in God (1 John three:24). Information technology is through Jesus Christ that we "have admission by one Spirit to the Male parent" (Ephesians ii:18). The Holy Spirit even helps communicate things we don't know how to say to God (Romans eight:26).

Stirring up the Holy Spirit

We must do more than follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. We are to stir up the Holy Spirit daily in our lives (2 Timothy 1:6).

In that location are 4 primary ways that we tin stir upward the Holy Spirit.

1. Bible written report lets the Holy Spirit piece of work in a greater way in our minds equally we take in God'southward Discussion and allow it to instruct usa.
2. Meditation, or concentrated thinking, on the Bible also stirs upward the Holy Spirit in our minds, helping us to focus more than securely on God's words.
3. Prayer, or talking to God, stirs up the Holy Spirit in our lives equally we talk to God and seek His will.
4. Occasionally, we must too go without food and water in a religious fast to draw closer to God and stir upward the Holy Spirit.

For more than on these, read the articles in our section on "Prayer, Fasting and Meditation: Relating to God."

So, how exercise yous know y'all take the Holy Spirit? God will give the Holy Spirit after repentance, baptism and the laying on of hands. All the same our part is not finished one time nosotros receive the Holy Spirit. We must yield to the Holy Spirit. It is upward to u.s.a. whether we volition follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and stir information technology up on a daily ground. If nosotros follow the Holy Spirit'southward lead, we will walk according to God's way of life (i John two:half-dozen).

The Holy Spirit tin can assistance united states profoundly, just simply if nosotros let it. Will we focus on the things of the Spirit and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit? Will nosotros allow the Holy Spirit to assistance us? For further information, read our article "Christ in Us: How Does He Live in Y'all?"

johnsonpriff1992.blogspot.com

Source: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/christian-conversion/how-do-you-know-you-have-the-holy-spirit/

Share this post