‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ (Acts 19:1-7).
The resultant coming of the Holy Spirit was a seal upon what the Ephesian believers had just done in committing themselves to Jesus Christ. First they believed, then they were baptised and then the Spirit came upon them, authenticating their experience.
We might ask the same question today. ‘Did you receive the Spirit when you believed?’
It is an important issue. Many of us are trying to live in the image of God without the power of the Spirit. I have the greatest admiration for those who succeed.
But the truth is that God has given us his Spirit to enable us to live confident lives.
In this sense, the coming of the Spirit is not just a seal–it is also a dynamic, empowering experience, as indicated by other New Testament analogies such as power (Acts 1:8), effusion (Acts 2:17), fire (Matthew 3:11-12) and execution (Romans 8:13).
In talking about self-mastery, Paul wrote, ‘God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline’ (2 Timothy 1:7).
This powerful, loving Spirit is the One we all need all the time.
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.