What does the Holy Bible say about When and How we receive the Holy Spirit and Salvation?
According to some professing Christian groups, baptism is required for salvation and the Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit) does not come at baptism, but comes by way of the laying on of hands by “one of God’s true ministers” (i.e. a minister of that particular organization). Is that belief and explanation in accordance with what is actually written and revealed within the Holy Bible? The answer is 'No'.
So then HOW do we receive the Holy Spirit? We receive the Holy Spirit (and thus Salvation) by simply receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior (John 3:5-16).
WHEN do we receive the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit becomes our permanent possession the moment we believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. We see a clear example of this in Acts 10. We read that the Apostle Peter is preaching the Gospel to Cornelius, his relatives and close friends. As Peter is preaching to these Gentiles, they believe and then the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. Then they began to speak with tongues and exalt God, just as seen in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost. What is clearly seen in Acts 10 was that the Holy Spirit was given to these Gentiles because they believed the Gospel and received the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and as a result, Peter then had them baptized in the name of Yeshua the Messiah [Jesus Christ].
Notice that God gave these people the Holy Spirit as result of their believing the Gospel, which means they were already saved prior to baptism and/or the laying on of hands. If God gave them the Holy Spirit, that means they are saved. The Holy Spirit does not indwell and fill an unsaved vessel.
Additionally, check out this short video about When and How we receive the Holy Spirit, and be sure to read this biblically-based article by Got Questions entitled, "Laying on of hands - what does the Bible say?"
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