DID YOU RECEIVE YOUR GIFT?

Everyone likes to receive gifts. When birthdays, holidays, Father and Mother’s Days come around the gifts we receive from those who are closest to us bring us great pleasure. One of the best gifts that we can ever receive does not come wrapped in pretty paper nor does it come from our immediate family. It is a gift which can be given only by God – the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter preached to those gathered in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, "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" (Acts 2:38 NKJV). Luke in recording Peter’s sermon tells us when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit but he does tell us what it is.

Some say the gift of the Holy Spirit is the miraculous gifts as recorded in First Corinthians 12. However, there are some problems with this view. When we read Acts 1 and 2, it is evident the context concerns the apostles. We only need to follow the pronouns back to the noun they modify – "the apostles" (Acts 1:2) to conclude that it was only onto the apostles that the Holy Spirit descended as is recorded in Acts 2. In fact, it was not until Acts 6, after the apostles laid their hands upon the seven men chosen for a special work, that we read of a miracle being performed by other than apostle. This agrees with the statement made by Luke in Acts 8:18, "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money." The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit was passed to others only through the laying on of the apostle’s hands. It is evident that, although Simon was baptized (Acts 8:13), he had not received the miraculous gifts for he was amazed to see the miracles others were doing. It is also evident from reading the New Testament that other Christians did not have these miraculous gifts. Paul wrote to the church in Rome that he wanted to visit them so that he could impart spiritual gifts to them that they might be established (Romans 1:11). Yet we read in Acts 5:32, which records Peter’s affirmation of the resurrection of Christ before the Jewish priests, "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32 NKJV). If the Holy Spirit is given to all who obey God, but not all Christians had the ability to perform miracles, then it is obvious that the gift of the Holy Spirit was not the miraculous gifts.

What then is the gift of the Holy Spirit? It is the personal, non-miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Many passages such as Romans 8:8-11 confirm the personal indwelling of the Spirit. Paul wrote, "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Gal. 4:6; Jude 19). There are those who argue that the Deity cannot indwell man but yet we read of John and Philip who were both full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15; Acts 6:15). Others attest that the indwelling Holy Spirit necessitates the performing of miracles, yet John performed no miracles though he was full of the Holy Spirit (John 10:41).

The indwelling Holy Spirit is given to all who obey God (Acts 5:32). It is given when one repents of sin and is baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). If we do not have the indwelling Spirit then we are not God’s (Romans 8:8-11). How about you? Have you received your gift?