Jesus spoke in Luke 11:13: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him"? It's not automatically given.
You're correct. But that was under the old covenant when the Spirit of God was given in measure & for specific reasons.
Under the new covenant, the Spirit is received as soon as the new birth occurs for it's the Spirit Himself Who administers the Gift, sealing the believer. If this were not to happen, then we would have a situation where we have a 'Christian' who is one without the Holy Spirit, & that would be impossible.
It is nice to read your posts again. I had not been on here for almost a year and I did miss reading the things you share.
I wanted to say amen to what you just posted here about a Christian without the Holy Spirit would be impossible. Romans 8:9 tells us that if we do not have His Spirit living in us, we would have an invalid claim at being a Christian, a "Christ-follower."
It's impossible to follow Christ without His Spirit because it is His Spirit who persuades us to follow Him. In fact, that's what the word faith in the bible means, persuasion.
Concerning gifts, I've come to understand that the only gift that is actually given to us is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the gift. Everything else is just an expression of His grace.
Hi Jesse. I too was very glad to see you back here, remembering your clear & wise teaching that you've shared with us in the past, often basing it on your proficiency in Greek.
I'm still on vacation, as mentioned earlier to others, but trust to contribute here once again after a few days. And thanks for what you've shared in this thread - to which I fully concur.
Under the new covenant, the Spirit is received as soon as the new birth occurs for it's the Spirit Himself Who administers the Gift, sealing the believer. If this were not to happen, then we would have a situation where we have a 'Christian' who is one without the Holy Spirit, & that would be impossible.
It is nice to read your posts again. I had not been on here for almost a year and I did miss reading the things you share.
I wanted to say amen to what you just posted here about a Christian without the Holy Spirit would be impossible. Romans 8:9 tells us that if we do not have His Spirit living in us, we would have an invalid claim at being a Christian, a "Christ-follower."
It's impossible to follow Christ without His Spirit because it is His Spirit who persuades us to follow Him. In fact, that's what the word faith in the bible means, persuasion.
Concerning gifts, I've come to understand that the only gift that is actually given to us is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the gift. Everything else is just an expression of His grace.
I'm still on vacation, as mentioned earlier to others, but trust to contribute here once again after a few days. And thanks for what you've shared in this thread - to which I fully concur.
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