David Diga Hernandez - How to Receive the Holy Spirit

How do you receive the Holy Spirit? The answer is that you receive the Holy Spirit by being born again. From the very moment you are saved, you are Spirit-filled. Romans 8:9 says, «You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.» The Bible makes it perfectly clear that one cannot belong to God as His child unless that person has the Spirit of God. Salvation and the Spirit go hand in hand. If you are saved, you have the Spirit; if you have the Spirit, you are saved. The infilling of the Holy Spirit and the born-again experience occur simultaneously.

So then, what of this second experience? What does it mean for a believer to receive or be baptized with the Holy Spirit? Acts 19:2 says, «Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?» He asked them. «No,» they replied, «we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.» That’s a very interesting portion of Scripture. The believers mentioned had never even heard of the Holy Spirit; they had already believed the gospel and were already born again, yet they had never heard of the Holy Spirit. So how can this be? How is it that the Holy Spirit can be received at salvation and then received again?

To understand this, you must realize that you are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, «Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.» Body, soul, spirit. At Salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your spirit; at baptism, He flows from deep within your spirit to affect the outer aspects of your nature. Jesus Himself confirmed this truth in John 7:38 when He said, «He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.»

At salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit; at baptism, we release the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit is not rain from heaven; it’s a river from within. The baptism of the Spirit isn’t about you getting more of His Spirit; it’s about His Spirit getting more of you. So you receive the Holy Spirit into your spirit by putting your faith in Jesus and being born again. It is then that you become one with Him, receiving the Holy Spirit into your soul and body, impacting your daily life in every moment through obedience and surrender.

I’m David Diga Hernandez, and that is your moment of truth. For more free content like this, sign up for my email list by visiting DavidHernandezMinistries.com/email. Thank you for watching Encounter TV. Don’t forget to subscribe and click the notification bell. Also, help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.