You'll Know It!

“How do we know if we’ve been baptized with the Holy Spirit?” I will assume the question is generated because one feels inadequate or lacking power/authority…a powerful lie of satan. Nevertheless, there is fruit that will be evident when one is under the influence of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 is the text I will start with, although it is too long to reprint here. Verse 3 says you will profess Jesus is Lord and not curse Jesus. Verses 4-7 tells us that we will receive a gift…each of us, though mine may be different than the gifts others receive, we will all be gifted to serve. Verse 11 tells us it is the Holy Spirit who decides how the baptism will manifest itself in each person…not us. Acts 1:8 tells us that when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit we will receive power. It will be the power to effectively witness as verse 8 suggests, and it will be the power to fulfill your specific giftedness for the Kingdom. Acts 4:31 suggests to me this power is a boldness in testimony and service. The natural timidity of a person vanishes when he/she is filled with the Holy Spirit. It is with great boldness and liberty, with fearlessness of consequences one presses on for the Kingdom. In fact, being filled with the Holy Spirit causes one to be preoccupied with God and Christ and spiritual things…read thru Acts 2, Acts 4, Acts 9…we see in each of these (and in many other places) that people are fully consumed with the things of God…that is the change that has taken place in these men...not their Sabbath morning routines! Add to these texts Galatians 5:22-25 and you will see not only fruit, but also the absence of some things. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). I guess my answer to the question is, “Oh, you’ll know it!”