The Gift of the Holy Spirit

As I shared in previous posts, there are immeasurable benefits of a relationship with God for the believer.  Besides the guarantee of eternal life in heaven with Him and unending love, there are incredible benefits we begin to experience right now here on earth, including the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Given all of that, it’s actually amazing that we can still find it difficult to choose relationship with Him over our coping mechanisms, such as when we use food to calm the anxiety of unresolved emotional pain instead of turning to Him.

“‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’”  Acts 2:38-39 (NIV)

 Being led by the Holy Spirit is actually an affirmation of our relationship with God: 

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”  Romans 8:14 (NIV)

How wonderful it is to have such complete assurance of our adoption into God’s family and our salvation through Jesus Christ!

Besides the unfathomable love of a heavenly Father-child and Bridegroom-bride relationship with God, Jesus promised a “Helper”, the gift of the Holy Spirit:

“‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.’”   John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

ALL true believers have received the gift of the Holy Spirit the moment they were saved!

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”  1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV)

“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  Ephesians 1:13b-14 (NIV)

Jesus taught Nicodemus that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, in fact, necessary to be saved:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’

“Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’

“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”  John 3:3-8 (NKJV) 

There is a difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation and the further command to believers to live continually under the indwelling influence of the Holy Spirit by letting the Word of God control our lives.  More about that in upcoming blog posts. 

Feed on the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God daily to transform your life.

Learn more about the gift of the Holy Spirit in the N.E.W. LIFE books below written to help people who struggle with a poor relationship with food to better health, for individuals in bondage to food and diets to find freedom, and to help those who have settled for a relationship with food to discover the incomparably more satisfying relationship with God and the abundant life that Jesus died to give us.

N.E.W. LIFE Books