Holy Spirit is given only if you keep Christ’s Word

Many Christians wrongly believe that the Holy Spirit is given just by hearing of faith deceived by Paul’s lies.

Gal 3:2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The above statement by Paul is a fallacy because the options given for the question does not contain the actual answer, but using one wrong answer to make the other wrong answer look like it is right. Holy Spirit will not be given either by doing the works of the law or by hearing of faith.

Acts 19:2 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.”

Many Christians are also deceived that they receive the Holy Spirit when they believe which is not the case. Here in this post we will explore when the Holy Spirit is given. You will be surprised to learn that Holy Spirit is given only to those who keep Christ’s commandments and His word.

Holy Spirit is not for whoever asks

Matt 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

When Jesus is speaking to those who were evil, He said, whoever ask the Heavenly Father will receive. But what do they actually receive? Will they receive good things as the gospel of Matthew says or the Holy Spirit as the gospel of Luke says?

John 14:15-17 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 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Jesus made it clear that if we keep His commandments, He will pray to the Father who will send the Holy Spirit to us which the world cannot receive. Only if we keep His word, the Father and the Son will come to us and make it home.

1 John 2:3-6 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

To know Him and to abide in Him, we must keep His commandments, His word and walk just as He walked, in holiness and righteousness.

John 7:39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Comparing Matt 7:11 vs Luke 11:13, the verse in Matt 7:11 is correct because the Holy Spirit wasn’t given when He spoke that, nor will the Holy Spirit given to any evil person to whom Jesus was addressing to.

In Early Church: Peter

Acts 10:1-2 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. … (30-31) So Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. …. (34-35) Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. …. (44-45) While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the wordAnd those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

If you look into Peter’s account of how Cornelius and his household, a gentile who received the Holy Spirit, Peter was specifically sent by God to Cornelius to preach the good news because He feared God, gave alms and prayed to God always. Peter acknowledges Cornelius by saying everyone who fear God and works righteousness.is accepted by Him. Only then, the Holy Spirit was given. Because of Cornelius with all his household’s fear of God, his alms, and his righteousness, the Holy Spirit was given to him and his household.

Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.

On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples of Jesus Christ, Peter was preaching to those who saw what happened, on how to receive the gift of Holy Spirit. Peter wants them to repent from their wicked ways and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins – then they shall receive the gift of Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Many Christians are deceived that the Holy Spirit is given just by hearing of faith or by believing based on Paul’s lies. Jesus made it clear that if we keep His commandments, He will pray to the Father who will send the Holy Spirit to us which the world cannot receive. Only if we keep His word, the Father and the Son will come to us and make it home. As we see in the early church, it was because of Cornelius with all his household’s fear of God, his alms, and his righteousness, the Holy Spirit was given to him and his household. In contrast to Christ and Peter, Paul deceives many Christians today that they receive the Holy Spirit when they believe.

 

 

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