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ЧЗВ за Християнската Вяра

Тема 2: Светият Дух

2-3. Both of my parents insisted that they were born again Christians even before they got married. Additionally, I have led a religious life from birth. I thought that the Holy Spirit had been within me from the time I was born. However, I am so confused because I don’t have the biblical knowledge about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit really come upon a person only if he is born again of water and the Spirit?

Yes, this is true. Everyone needs to have his sins forgiven by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to receive the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that “water” is the antitype of salvation (1 Peter 3:21). Here the water stands for the baptism Jesus received from John (Matthew 3:15). 
First of all, everyone needs to be forgiven for all his sins by knowing the meaning of the baptism of Jesus in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Here “being baptized into Christ” doesn’t indicate our water baptism but means receiving the forgiveness of sins by understanding and believing in the reason for Jesus’ baptism by John. 
Everyone is born in a sinful body. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” All the people in this world are born sinners, inheriting sin from Adam and Eve.
Therefore, in Psalms 51:5 it is written, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” In Isaiah 1:4 it’s written, “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters!” People have the seeds of sin starting from the day they are born. All the people in this world inherit sins from their parents and are born into this world as sinners. In other words, our flesh is bound to bear the fruits of sin during our lifetime. 
That is why thinking that if both of someone’s physical parents are born again Christians, then their children will also receive the Holy Spirit, is merely a credulous and superstitious faith. He who has this kind of faith tries to receive the Holy Spirit through his own thoughts and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit cannot occur with this kind of faith. 
Therefore, everyone should believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus gave us. This is the only way to receive the Holy Spirit, because He is a gift from God. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, took on all the sins of the world by being baptized by John, then was judged on the Cross and thereby made all believers of the truth righteous. This is God’s plan and will toward mankind, and He has given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to those who have faith in it according to His will. 
Everyone in this world is born with his own sin into this world. Therefore, he can receive the Holy Spirit as a gift only if he receives the forgiveness of sins and becomes sanctified by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, everyone should keep it in mind and also believe that the Holy Spirit comes upon him only when he is born again of water and the Spirit. 
He does not come upon us depending on some kind of condition or effort we make, but His indwelling is entirely up to the faithfulness of the One who made the promise. In other words, He doesn’t come to dwell according to any human or spiritual achievement. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit can be received by faith according to God’s will. 
His will was to send Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, into this world in order to save all mankind from the sins of the world by having Him baptized by John and having Him die on the Cross; thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of believers. The righteous who are delivered from all their sins by obeying His will and by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, believing that one has received the Holy Spirit just because he was born of born-again parents is a superstitious and credulous faith. This is just like trying to receive the Holy Spirit according to his own will regardless of God’s will. There is no other way but to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit if one wants to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.