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What are the requirements for being baptized with the Holy Spirit?

 

The main requirement is found in Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, 'Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (or Spirit)'." 

Here we actually have two requirements for receiving the Holy Spirit:  1.) repentance  2.) baptism.  So repentance is just another way of saying that we need to confess our sins to God and then turn away from them as He strengthens and helps us.

We have the example of Christ when it comes to baptism.  Matthew 3:16 describes how the Spirit of God descended upon Him after His baptism in the Jordan River.  Then of course Jesus said in John 3:5 "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God".

The next requirement that we find in the Bible is given to us in John 14:15-18  "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."  Jesus explains that we need to obey Him if we really want the Holy Spirit.  Acts 5:32  says that God will give His Spirit only to those who live by His rules.

The Scriptures indicate that we also have to be willing to serve God and use His Spirit for doing His will.  Jesus was filled with the Spirit so that He could glorify His Father through the miracles He performed and the way He served others.  (Luke 4:18-19) Christ's entire ministry was a testimony to His Father's power.

Another major requirement is that we need to depend fully upon God.  Zechariah 4:6  "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts".  This verse tells us that we can't trust in our own strengths and talents but we need to rely wholly upon the Lord.

If we are seeking the Holy Spirit, we definitely need to be asking for it, as Jesus says in Luke 11:9-10  "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 

And the good news is that God is just waiting to answer this prayer!  Luke 11:11-13  "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"


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