How Do I Receive The Baptism In The Holy Spirit?

.....Peter says in Acts 2:38-39, "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.

.....Peter calls upon all to change their opinion of and attitude toward Christ and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ as public acknowledgment that they have accepted Jesus as Messiah and Lord. "Name" suggests nature and character; therefore, to be baptized "in the name of Jesus" is to confess Him to be all that His name denotes. Baptism in and of itself is not a means of forgiveness and salvation. But for the early Church, however, there was no separation between ritual, and reality. Coming to Christ and being baptized were mutually inclusive. One thing to note is that the gift of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the gifts of the Spirit. The former is the Holy Spirit Himself, while the latter are the special abilities granted by the Spirit to equip believers for service, (1Cor 12:1-31).

.....The promise of the Holy Spirit, is a gift for every believer in every generation. All who are afar off includes the Gentiles as well. Every believer in every era and everywhere, have the surety to expect the same resource and experience that was afforded the first believers who received the Holy Spirit at the birth of the Church.

So, How do I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

.....You need to do a number of things in order to receive this blessing. First, you need to be born again. The person who is going to be filled with the Spirit must have the indwelling Spirit and must belong to Jesus, (Romans 8:9).

.....The second you have to do is ask. The Bible says, if we ask for the Holy Spirit, that prayer will be answered, (Luke 11:8).

.....The third thing you have to do is surrender. The Apostle Paul made this need very clear in the Book of Romans when he said, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, (Romans 12:1).

.....Fourth, you must be willing to obey the Spirit. God does not give this power to someone and then say, "You can take the parts you like in all this and leave the parts you do not like." If you want to be immersed in the Holy Spirit, you need to be prepared to obey the Spirit, (Acts 5:32).

.....Fifth, you need to believe. The Apostle Paul said, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2). The answer, obviously, is faith. You have to believe that if you ask, you will receive.

.....Finally, you have to exercise what God has given you. Having asked, having received, having been willing to obey, you need to respond in a biblical fashion.

.....The Bible says that those baptized with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," (Acts 2:4). This means they spoke the words that the Spirit gave them. The Holy Spirit gave the words, but the Apostles and the Disciples voluntarily responded. There was action based on faith, not merely passive acceptance of the blessing. That is the way it is with God, yesterday, today, and forever. God is offering the baptism in the Holy Spirit to people who need only to reach out and take it, and then enjoy the blessing.
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