So any Christians want to explain this bright shining gem?
2007-06-25 08:30:18 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's right into the heart of the freewill/predestination debate
that's gone back and forth for centuries.
Does God make people unable to repent "vessels of wrath made for destruction" (Romans 9) and "hardening hearts" as he chooses, and if so why all the appeals and exhortations to change and repent?
Some branches of Christianity emphasis one, some the other. Many hold the two must be held at the same time, as a true and continuing mystery.
2007-06-25 08:48:26 · answer #1 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One receives the Holy Spirit without believing first. A baby receives the Holy Spirit beginning at conception so certainly does not believe first - the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. So, for the other part of your question, you have the Holy Spirit before you are ever called upon to believe so you always are able to believe. : )
2007-06-25 16:54:06 · answer #2 · answered by seeking speaker 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christian speaking. :) That's pithy and pretty clever, and I get your point. But you don't have to believe, you just have to want it, and it's wonderful.
Just stick one little toe out there in faith. Go ahead, it won't hurt you. Say what you need to say to God whether you believe or not. Tell God you need Him and you want Him. Tell Him you're not sure you want to give up things of the world to pursue things of the spirit. Talk like you're talking to your best friend. It's a lifelong process.
I challenge you to an experiment. Just start reading the Bible as if it were a book. Before you start reading, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you're reading. Then read. This is my first year to read it completely through, and it's been just amazing. I have a linguistics background, and from that standpoint alone, the words, the metaphor, the poetry of it make it worth reading. It's absolutely beautiful.
Pray, study the Bible earnestly, and ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life. If you have a chip on your shoulder about it, I'd say your chances are nil, and it sounds like you probably aren't really ready for it yet, but if life kicks you in the behind enough times, there may come a time when you are sincerely seeking and in need of it.
It's not like you may think - you don't roll around on the floor and foam at the mouth. It's actually very subtle, the Holy Spirit. It's like your conscience poking at you, or sometimes it comes in the form of guidance, or wisdom that comes to you, but you know you weren't smart enough to think of it. Very gentle, very loving, very quiet. And you can heed it or ignore it, as you wish. I've always been sorry when I've ignored it.
My instincts tell me it has spoken softly to you many times, but if you're not listening, you'll miss it. I'll pray for you that you will someday be able to plug into this very cool thing.
2007-06-25 10:18:32 · answer #3 · answered by stasmi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We receive the Holy Spirit by simply believing in 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. The Holy Spirit comes with a love and belief in Christ. And as you continue in your beliefs, the Holy Spirit lives in you as a sort of renewing, encouraging hope. <3
2007-06-25 08:34:18 · answer #4 · answered by Monica 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think you need the Holy Spirit to believe, just look at the apostles, they hung around with Jesus for 3 years before they received the Holy Spirit.
So I think the order goes: believe, then receive
2007-06-25 08:57:50 · answer #5 · answered by (insert creative name here) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you believe right now?
The Holy Spirit, IMHO, is Inspiration, Knowledge, and resides in all of creation as the Wisdom that makes every living being unique.
So IMHO, you already have the Holy Spirit.
2007-06-25 08:34:26 · answer #6 · answered by aattura 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You can believe without the Holy Spirit, that is where it starts. You reach out to the Spirit and it will be there.
2007-06-25 08:34:31 · answer #7 · answered by Caleb's Mom 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The only Holy Spirit I personally knew of was the sacramental wine we swigged in the sacristy as altar boys!
When Jesus changed water into wine it was Holy Spirit as well.
And during the last supper, they were swigging wine [the Holy Spirit] when JC said that the Holy Spirit would come upoin them...
and teh words vcame true, France has so much of the Holy Spirit that their vineyard owners are contemplating blue murder!
2007-06-25 08:36:42 · answer #8 · answered by krishna 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
What you have polished to a high luster is not a shinning gem, but a bit of fool's gold. The Holy Spirit ascends upon one AFTER a profession of faith, not prior to.
2007-06-25 08:41:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You are making it more difficult than it has to be. When you start to notice yourself wondering things you already have the spirit in you and you already believe. The spirit moves around you even when you dont notice it is there. it is there before you believe working on your heart.
2007-06-25 08:37:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋