It is important to note that every born-again believer has a measure of the Holy Spirit. In scripture, we see that receiving the Holy Spirit is not the same as the empowering baptism of the Holy Spirit. When someone is born again, new life is born in them and the Holy Spirit dwells in their hearts by faith. The Spirit of Christ, which is the Holy Spirit, dwells in our hearts by faith when we are saved (Ephesians 3:16-17, Romans 8:9, Eph 4:30, Gal 4:6). The fruit of this is the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy and peace and freedom from sin (See Galatians 5:16-25).
In John 20:22, we read that Jesus blew on them to receive the Holy Spirit:
“And then He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
They received the Holy Spirit but there is no evidence of them speaking in tongues at that point. This is when they were “born of Spirit” in their heart- when Christ’s Spirit joined with their Spirit. Romans 8:16 “For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ” The fruit of this joining will be love, joy, peace, holiness and a radical heart change. Many people are “born of Spirit” and filled with God’s love and joy and peace without ever speaking in tongues. They have the Holy Spirit living in them because they walk in holiness and love and are filled with the fruits of righteousness. Jesus has breathed on them and has caused them to receive the Holy Spirit in their hearts and thus they bear the fruit of Christ in their heart and life.
However, we see that even after Jesus breathed on the disciples and said “receive the Holy Spirit,” he STILL told them to stay in Jerusalem until they have the power from on high (the BAPTISM of the Holy Spirit, a mighty outpouring). They had received a measure of the Holy Spirit but they needed to be totally FILLED with the Holy Spirit so that they could be empowered to be His witnesses.
Luke 24:29 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
They obeyed Jesus and sought God diligently together in the upper room. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, they received the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit where they were completely filled with the Holy Spirit. Suddenly they had boldness to be witnesses for Christ and they spoke in tongues!
Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
So even though a believer has the Holy Spirit in them as evidenced by them being “born of Spirit” with the fruits of the Spirit in their life, Jesus STILL commands them to tarry and seek until they are given the POWER from on high- the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We see in scripture that this powerful experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes with an outward sign like speaking in tongues, prophesying, magnifying God etc. (Acts 10:46). This experience can be likened to filling a cup with water. When the water completely fills they glass, it starts to overflow. It is the same with us, when we are completely filled with the Holy Spirit, we start to overflow out of our mouth with tongues, prophecy, or praise.
This moment of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is amazing! A person gets filled with the Holy Spirit and usually speaks in tongues like water flowing out of their belly. It is a distinctly supernatural experience. Then they are empowered to be Jesus’ witness.
Amazingly, in Acts 4, these same believers who had already received the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) and then were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:4), petitioned God again, and God filled the same people with the Holy Spirit once more! So we see these same people being filled with the Holy Spirit multiple times! The result was that they were even more empowered:
Acts 4:31 “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
We see that in THIS infilling, they didn’t speak in tongues as the sign. But the sign was a fresh boldness and signs and wonders. The Bible commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). And as we see in scriptures (John 20:22, Acts 2:4, Acts 4:31) we can be filled with the Holy Spirit more and more in our life. We can become more and more filled with His Spirit the more we yield and surrender to the Lord. An example is Barnabus in Acts 11:24 “For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.”
Even though I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit years ago, I have personally experienced a fresh and powerful baptism of the Holy Spirit even recently! When we spend time with God and yield to Him, the Holy Spirit can fill us more and more. There are times where we may have spent more time in fasting and prayer and suddenly we are empowered more and have an extra boldness and zeal. Why is that? Because we were filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. Even though the Holy Spirit is already in us, we can yield to Him more and He fills us up more. Some people would say “That doesn’t make logical sense because the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, how can someone be filled more and more with a person?” But we need to remember that spiritual things don’t always make logical sense to the natural mind (like Jesus being the Word of God for example). We see clear Biblical evidence of people being filled multiple times with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person but He is also SPIRIT. So he isn’t bound by laws of nature. Just like wind can fill a balloon until it gets more and more inflated, the Holy Spirit can fill us more and more until we are so full of Him that we are walking in absolute perfect love and humility and we flow with incredible sign.
So my question for you is this, are you truly born again? Do you have the inner witness that you are a child of God and do you have the fruits of righteousness in your life? When a person is born again and has God’s Spirit in them, they love righteousness and hate evil, they are freed from sin and have the fruit of holiness (Romans 6:22). If this does not describe you, then today is the day to get born again. You must truly choose to surrender all to Christ and to put your full faith in Him. There can be nothing holding you back, you must completely yield yourself to Him and to His service with no reservations. Make that choice right now to turn away from your sin and to truly give your life to Jesus today and God will come and change your heart. He will make you a new creation. Then, get water baptized (see teaching on water baptism from Romans 6). Water baptism is so important as you must bury your old life with Christ and rise new.
If you are born again, have you been BAPTIZED in the Holy Spirit? If not, I want you to know that today you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit! Peter told us in Acts 2:29 that this promise of the Holy Spirit is for us and for our children. The gift of speaking in tongues is a wonderful and amazing gift that edifies us and builds us up in our inner man. How do you receive this gift? The answer is by faith.
Some people try to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by begging, pleading, and bargaining with God. They won’t get the gift this way. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is simple and easy and it just takes one thing: surrender. You simply yield yourself to God and welcome His Holy Spirit to come fill you and He will. Come like a child, God promises to give the Holy Spirit to all His children who ask. He is so eager to fill you full with this precious gift (Luke 11:13). So come to Him and ask in faith and then tarry until you receive the gift. It is as simple as that. No need to beg and plead, the gift is already yours, so just surrender and yield yourself. Put your focus on loving and adoring Jesus, God will do the rest. As you yield to the Lord and love Him, if you start to feel a bubbling in your belly, just open your mouth and begin to speak whatever words you feel flowing out of you. Hallelujah, you are speaking in tongues! The gift truly is so simple. Continue speaking in tongues every day and you will grow in this gift.
May God bless you all,
Mikayla Kooper