A Gift to All Who Believe

from Benefits to Having the Holy Spirit by Jeannie Cunnion

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38 ESV

The Holy Spirit stirred my heart to repentance the night my mom took me to see the Billy Graham movie The Prodigal in 1983. My motivation for going to the movie with my mom wasn’t receiving salvation. It was getting a bag of Twizzlers and a fountain soda. But my heart was so convicted by the Spirit in that theater that when we got home, I crawled into bed, overwhelmed with certainty of my need for Jesus. I remember the moment my mom walked into the bedroom to find me under the covers. When she leaned down to kiss me good-night, I asked her to pray with me. I told her I wanted to put my trust in Jesus and accept Him as my Savior. By grace I was saved through faith. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8‭-‬9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

But something else happens in that moment when we receive eternal life. Something we don’t often talk about. Something that most of us, including me, miss out on. 

And that’s this: When we put our trust in Jesus, God puts His Spirit in us! It’s an extravagant exchange, all to our advantage and all for God’s glory.

‬‬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. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:9‭-‬11‬ ‭ESV

Paul writes,

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:14 NIV

See, salvation is a gift we receive—not earn—when we repent and follow Jesus. 

Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a gift we receive—not earn—when we repent and follow Jesus.

How wild to think that belief in Jesus is the only prerequisite to receiving the powerful Holy Spirit inside us. This should stun us. And yet, I think a lot of us believe that having a Spirit-filled life looks more like a ladder to climb. We might think it looks something like this:

Rung 1—You receive salvation.

Rung 2—Maybe you get some sort of access to His Spirit. 

Rung 3—Maybe you get some measure of His supernatural power.

Rung 4—Maybe you get spiritual gifts, but maybe that’s just for other Christians.

Rung 5—Maybe you get the “higher gifts”.

‬‬But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:31‬ ‭ESV

But the Holy Spirit isn’t earned by the most moral or best behaved. He isn’t reserved for the extreme—either the super-spiritual or the super-strange. Those are lies of the enemy to keep us from enjoying His presence and knowing His power and enjoying sacred intimacy with the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is a priceless treasure deposited inside every believer at salvation. 

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

Acts 2:38 ESV

Peter didn’t say you “might” receive the Spirit.  He didn’t lay out a list of ways to achieve being filled by the Spirit. He said you will receive when you believe. 

The Holy Spirit is a gift. He is in you, He is for you, and He is for now. And this gift is One that God wants us to enjoy, not avoid.