Have ye Received the Holy Ghost Since ye Believed?

There is a long-running debate among Christians about when a new believer receives the Holy Ghost. By long-running I mean that I first entered the debate about 37 years ago as a young charismatic Christian, trying to convince some older members of our Baptist church. I believe the struggle began long before my story.

(Please let me preface this by saying, if you prefer the modern equivalent terminology “Holy Spirit” please bear with me as I use the traditional phrase, “Holy Ghost.” I am of course referring to the Spirit of God).

One school of thought is that a Christian receives the Holy Ghost when he or she first believes. The other idea is that a Christian receives the Holy Ghost as a separate event. There are reasonable arguments both ways. But I believe there’s a question in Scripture which points to the correct view.

“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”

This question is posed by the Apostle Paul to some disciples he found in the city of Ephesus. (The story can be found in the 19th chapter of Acts.) If every Christian received the Holy Ghost when he or she first believed, there would be no reason for Paul to ask this question. The debate should end right here. But it doesn't.

Ironically, many who say they received the Holy Ghost when the first believed (and have neither sought nor experienced a separate event) quote this part of Ephesians 1:13, “…when you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (New International Version)

“See”, they will declare, “it says I was sealed by the Holy Spirit ‘when’ I believed.” For many, that is enough biblical proof.

But let’s look at the context of that verse.

Paul is writing to the Christians in Ephesians - a few of which were the ones he encountered in Acts 19. Those men had believed in Jesus, but said, “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2) Paul taught them more fully, had them baptized in Jesus name, laid his hands on them and then “the Holy Ghost came on them.” This is the background of the “when you believed” phrase that Paul wrote to them in Ephesians 1:13.

If I may be so bold, let me echo Paul’s question to the Ephesian disciples - “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”

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