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steveowen
steveowen
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It is not man that enables a person to be 'filled'. This is God's doing. Through God's elders He gives His spirit in measure - usually through the process of hands, prayer etc.

We see that Jesus is given this power of God to give the spirit to others.

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 2:33

This spirit promised and delivered through Jesus is different from what was with Moses and the others.

John 7:39 He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

It is not man that enables a person to be 'filled'. This is God's doing. Through God's elders He gives His spirit in measure - usually through the process of hands, prayer etc.

We see that Jesus is given this power of God to give the spirit to others.

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 2:33

This spirit promised and delivered through Jesus is different from what was with Moses and the others.

John 7:39 He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

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steveowen
steveowen
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Do all believers receive the Holy Spirit at conversion but only a few are filled with the Holy Spirit post conversion?

Yes and yes.

God says He will give the gift of His spirit to believers. We don't become believers on our own - God calls and draws us toward Him. His spirit interacts with our spirit to begin to see the world and ourselves differently. Once we are aware of what's going on and have accepted Jesus' sacrifice for our sin, with a repentant heart we are baptised and granted the spirit - a gift, a down-payment, a deposit, of what will be ours in full when 'born from above' at our change or resurrection.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, (or again) he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There is no promised to be filled with the spirit - not in this age. God delivers a special 'dose' of His presence for special moments, tasks and lives that need a focus and ability that is beyond the ability or desire of a carnal man.

Exodus 31:3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship.

God chooses the ones that will receive this special indwelling.

Luke 1:15 he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb (John the Baptist)

Then Saul (who is also Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit... Acts 13:9

and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit Acts 6:5

Stephen's willingness to serve in the way he did was made possible by the extra presence of God.

But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues Acts 2:4

The standard gift of God's spirit is intended to increase within us - filling us as the close of the age approaches. Yet we are still flesh and blood - until we follow Jesus, the firstborn from the dead (we all are dead) into spirit life. Eph 3:19 '...that you may be filled in all the fullness of God' is Paul's prayer for those at Ephesus and all that follow.

We can see from these few examples, that God selects some people to serve in a special and pivotal way - sometimes it's their death! It's God's prerogative to 'fill' as suits His purposes - not ours.

Whether it's being an apostle, a martyr, a teacher or preacher it is God's will superseding our will. We have Jonah's vivid tale of trying to avoid God's charge over him, but God had His way in the end. Paul (Saul), persecuting the church with vigour, only to be swiftly transformed by the indwelling of God to become a chief apostle and writer of much of the NT!

God has a plan of salvation which Jesus was the central figure - the logos became flesh. There are others charged by God to contribute to this plan, selected, chosen, enabled, inspired, focussed, tenacious, single-minded men (and women)... Abraham, Moses, David, Joshua, Jesus, Paul, Peter and all the other disciples - it's a long list of people God picked for a special role and sovereignly ensured they succeeded!