I Have Been Wondering About Spiritual Gifts And The Holy Spirit
Anonymous writes,
Lately I’ve been wondering about spiritual gifts and the holy spirit. In church the pastor has been talking about being baptized with the holy spirit and with my understanding being baptized with the holy spirit is when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. So does everyone receive a spiritual gift when they have been baptized with the holy spirit? Im confuse regarding this topic. I’ve received the Lord but im guessing I need to activate the holy spirit within me.
Thanks and Happy Holidays
Trophy of Grace replies…
What you believe is correct. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” When we received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we were baptized into the body of Christ. However the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate encounter with the Holy Spirit.
In John 20:21-23 tells about Jesus appearing to His disciples after His resurrection. It says, “Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The disciples received the Holy Spirit here, but it was not until Pentecost that they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which Jesus told them would fill them with power from heaven. In fact he actually commanded them to stay in the city until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. See Luke 24:49 & Acts 1:4-5
This infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit is a different experience than receiving the Holy Spirit upon salvation. When we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit we will receive power and boldness to be Christ witnesses, to tell people about Him everywhere. With this experience comes a desire to draw closer to God seeking His will in our lives, to be used by Him to help others come to Christ for salvation, and to edify and build up the church. (Acts 1:8, 4:31)
Regarding your question about spiritual gifts, yes each of us has a spiritual gift given to us by the Holy Spirit so that we can help one another. Here is what 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 says, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
Then there is also Romans 12:6-8
“6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Ask God to help you see what your spiritual gifts are. Then start using them to help others and build up the Kingdom of God. You can fan in to flames your spiritual gift God gave you by using them often. The more you walk in your calling it seems to me the stronger the anointing and power. Jesus needs true servants who want to be used by Him and when those people step up He empowers them for their calling.
I hope this helped you sister.
Sincerely,
Trophy of Grace
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That would be fine with us Deborah. Go ahead and cross post whatever you’d like. Just link back to weused2bu.com . If they want to know about me you can include a link to my testimony it has everything there, including a link to my own site.
http://www.weusedtobeyou.com/2008/05/06/trophy-of-graces-testimony/
Hey Lisa:
I love this article and would like to put it on my Remnant Women blog at http://www.theremnantwomen.blogspot.com. I’d like to use the question and answer at the end, too. If you would agree, send me a photo to post and I’ll put it up - along with a link to We Used to Be You or to your personal blog or both.
Awesome!
Deborah Ross
I have heard different stories from people about their experience with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some are amazing stories where the person was reading the Word alone in their room and they read a verse that the Lord led them to and then they immediately felt the presence of God, they began to tremble, they fall out in the presence of God and next thing they know they are speaking words they never heard before.
I have been in services where the pastor or teacher asks for those who want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit to come forward so that they could pray for them. The people go forward and some fall down shaking, praying in tongues and crying tears of joy. While others stood with their hands in the air praising God in their known language and then in unknown tongues.
As for me..I went to a service and there was a call to the altar for those who wanted to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I went up and lifted my hands in worship and began to praise God as I waited for the woman of God who was praying for the other woman to get to me. She came and laid her hands on me and prayed over me. She then said begin to speak in your new heavenly language and I did. I began to speak words that I had never heard before. At first I was a little unsure so I stopped..but then it was after that expereince that I would wake up in the middle of the night with my hands up in the air and I would hear myself speaking in this new language. I knew that something had happened. I knew that the Holy Spirit had filled me with His presence and power.
Just a side note that I want to share.. This experience came to me at a time when I was really seeking God’s face like I had never before. I was desiring a closer relationship and a divine encounter with Him. I had been reading alot about the Penecost events. I was surrendered to Him in a way that I never been before then. I was asking Him to show Himself real to me in a new and powerful way. I wanted to experience the same power that the first believers did and I believed with all my heart that this same power was available to me. I knew that God was no respector of persons that what He did with them He would do for me too.
It was after this experience in the chape that day that I began to have a better understanding of the bible. My spiritual gifts became more accute. I was bolder in my faith and my conviction to serve God and to be used by Him. I was changed and I wanted to walk in my calling. I wanted to really be used by Him to help others get set free from sin’s power. I wanted others to know Jesus too. I began to have the same desire that our Lord has..that none would perish but that all would repent and be saved. I was on fire for Christ Jesus. Others around me could feel the peace and knew that I was different.(2 Peter 3:9)
When does it happen? For some it happens when they first believe in Jesus Christ. (Acts 10:44-46, 11:15-16) For others it happens later on. (Acts 8:12-17)
I would suggest that you really start reading and meditating on the book of Acts. Take some time out of your life to just pray, fast, and seek God about this. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you more about this expereince and to reveal Himself to you. Ask God the Father to fill you with the with boldness and power to preach His Word and to heal the broken hearted and the sick. (Acts 4:27-31) Surrender yourself completely to God and ask Him to give you the power of the Holy Spirit, to fill you to over flowing with Him, and He will. You just need to believe!
Luke 11:11-13 says, “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
I will be praying for you too sister.
Sincerely,
Trophy of Grace
I’m so glad to have read this because I’ve been wondering the same thing about the Holy Spirit. But I’ve been wondering what the actual baptism of the Holy Spirit is like and when does it happen.