Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed, and how do you know?

ACTS 19:2 in different versions below

Douay- Rheims - And he said to them: Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost.

ESV - And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit

Interlinear Greek - he said unto them, Believing, did you receive the Holy Spirit? And they said unto them, We did not even hear whether the Holy Spirit is.

KJV - He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

NASB - He said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."

New Jerusalem - When he asked, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' they answered, 'No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.'

NIVUS - and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

RSV 1989 - He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

RWEBSTER - He said to them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed? And they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is any Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' name - larry

One cannot believe unless one HAS the Holy Spirit.I expereince peace and other fruits of the spirit such as love.I also have the ability to percieve spiritualy.I have had the disinct impresion that the spirit has spoken to me on a few ocassions.also gad has worked outside of myself to speak to my spirit.

__________________
Thank you for supporting our sponsors!

Hi nathan79, thanks for the reply. I'm not quite sure what you mean by having it backward since it is only scripture.

My thought and esperience is that we can be saved by believing on the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit does reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. As with the disciples, the Holy Siririt was with them, but was to be in them.

Receiving the Holy Spirit was a separate experience from salvation, and salvation was not dependent upon it.

In Jesus' name - larry

Larry,

Summer greetings in the name of Jesus, the Christ of God.

Per your post, which of these two events (receiving the Holy Ghost, and salvation), is considered the born again experience, spoken of by Jesus in John 3?

because of Him,

Hello Larry,

Jesus said:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6

In Romans we read:

Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

It would seem from those verses Larry, which harmonize with the rest of Scripture that the presence or absence of the Holy Ghost within a person is the difference between spiritual life and spiritual death.

How about Romans 8:9 in the NASB:

"However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Emphasis mine)

There is no word play with "the Spirit of Christ" here. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are one God, and His Spirit within us is absolutely necessary for salvation.

There is a difference between having the Holy Ghost and asking time and again for His empowerment to act within our lives, asking for Him to make us into vessels that He will use for His glorification.

Peace in His name,
Kabar

Hi Kabar and phareztamar, it's great to hear from you both, and thanks for your replies. I can only give you my reasoning from scripture I believe, and from experience having received the Holy Spirit by evidence of speaking in tongues, and please forgive me if I repeat anything I've said before.

Notice below that any not of God, or of the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit. To me this is saying that we must be born of God prior to receiving the Holy Spirit; that happens when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Acts 19:2 He (Paul) said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
Why would Paul ask believers if they had received the Holy Spirit if all believers automatically received Him? Notice next that they were baptized; were they saved yet? Next came laying on of hands and speaking in tongues.

Some years ago I taught in a Baptist Church, and taught that we did receive the Holy Spirit the moment we were saved. One of my students challenged it as it were about speaking in tongues, and I told her I didn't believe in it. Long story short, me and the whole class went to an assembly that believed that and we all, including my wife and two children; fourteen in all if I remember it correctly were filled with the Holy Spirit with the exception of the young women that questioned it. You can make of that what you will. I reckon one great persuasion was the fact that my wife who is Hispanic heard another praying in such perfect Spanish she went to her later and asked about it. The women knew no Spanish. We never experienced that again, but heard of many such instances in testimony.

I believe that if you go through Acts, and read of Paul's writings of the Spirit with an open heart, you will start seeing things concerning this that will give you more insight into it. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not save us, and all Christians have the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:9.

Something I have been thinking of as of late is that I used to teach that when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with concerning knowledge, tongues, and prophesies. Well we still need knowledge, and most of us here in America still retain a tongue of English, some more than one tongue. God confused the language of Babel; will He return us all to one language again when we're with Him?

Just my thoughts in Jesus' name - larry

Larry

Summer greetings in the name of Jesus, the Christ of God.

Thanx for your reply.....but you still haven't answered my question. Let me re-state it. Your post said that there were two events: being saved, and being baptized in the Holy Ghost. I simply wanted to know which of these two, is the born again experience that Jesus spoke of in John 3.

because of Him

Dear phareztamar, the "Born Again Experience" that happens in John 3:3 is when we believe on the Lord Jesus' Christ cumulating with John 3:16.

In Jesus' name - larry

wow,that's amazing

Receiving the Holy Spirit-- same thing as Jesus giving eternal life

happens as soon as you entrust Jesus with your salvation..

unearned, unmerited, unfavoured


being filled with the Holy Spirit-- this is letting God have more of you.. confessing sin.. seeking after Him.. relying on Him..

baptism-- this is not when we receive the Holy Spirit..

we receive the holy spirit when being born again by Jesus..

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are essences and expressions of the one being.. God

they do things together with the Father aswell