How do we receive the power of the Holy Spirit?

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Do you know the reaction of many Christians when someone talks to them about walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit? They say, “That’s great for others, but I’m not good enough. I don’t qualify. If I were more dedicated and spent more time in Bible reading and prayer, I might eventually be worthy to walk in the Spirit.”

But they’ve got it backward. The Holy Spirit is not given to those who have it all together spiritually; He is given to enable them to get it together spiritually! I’m struck with Paul’s words: “My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness” (Gal. 5:16 MSG). Notice the sequence. Paul does not say that if we stop carrying out the desires of the flesh we will walk in the Spirit; rather, he says that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh!

The order makes an incredible difference. Christians often ignore any thought of walking by the Spirit, because they think they are not good enough. Their life is too filled with fleshly struggles. But that’s like refusing to accept medicine until we get well and feel worthy of it! The whole purpose of medicine is to enable us to get well. It is given to the sick, not the healthy. In the same way, the Spirit is given to enable us to break sin’s power; we don’t have to do that on our own before we receive the Spirit’s power.

Imagine someone saying, “I’m not good enough to be saved; I’m going to wait until I get myself together before I come to Christ.” We would quickly point out that salvation is designed for sinners. None of us is ever good enough to be saved; we are saved because of God’s great generosity in Jesus Christ. People who say they aren’t good enough are missing the point of Jesus’ death.

But the same applies to the Holy Spirit. As Jesus’ death gives us forgiveness, so Jesus’ ascension and glorification give us the Holy Spirit. And the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives is not just a window dressing. He indwells us so that we might allow Him to control us.

I believe that we have often made the requirements for walking in the Spirit too complicated. We’ve stressed dedication, surrender, and discipline as prerequisites to receiving and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. When I read books that give seven steps to the filling of the Spirit or others that condense it to four, I find myself asking, “Can any one of us be sure we have fully carried out all of these requirements?” Is not the Spirit’s power given to sinners to enable them to be yielded and disciplined, rather than expecting all of these characteristics from them first?

Notice Jesus’ words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37 MSG). The only requirement is a thirst that will draw us to come to Him. We don’t have to be supersaints, just thirsty sinners. That’s why Jesus could offer living water to a woman who had had five husbands and was living in a common-law marriage. He promised that from within her would burst forth living water that would quench her emotional and spiritual thirst (John 4:10–14).

Are you thirsty? Do you feel, as I have often felt, like an apple tree trying to grow in a desert? Then you are a candidate for the Spirit’s life and power.

Lutzer, E. (2010). Getting to no: how to break a stubborn habit. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.


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