Why in Acts did people receive the Holy Spirit from the Apostles but we reveive the Holy Spirit at salvation?
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The book of Acts serves as a transition from the Old Covenant to the New.
This transition is seen in several events in Acts.
First, there was a change in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whose primary function in the Old Testament was the external “anointing” of God’s people, among them Moses (Numbers 11:17), Othniel (Judges 3:8–10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), and Saul (1 Samuel 10:6–10).
After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Spirit came to live in the very hearts of believers
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Holy Spirit guides and empowers believers from within. The indwelling Spirit is the gift of God to those who come to Him in faith.
The apostle Paul clearly taught that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe:
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
These three passages make it clear that the Holy Spirit is received at the moment of salvation.
Paul could not say that we all were baptized by one Spirit and all given one Spirit to drink if not all of the Corinthian believers possessed the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:9 is even stronger, stating that if a person does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ.
The possession of the Spirit is an identifying factor of the possession of salvation.
Further, the Holy Spirit could not be the “seal of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13-14) if He is not received at the moment of salvation.
Many scriptures make it abundantly clear that our salvation is secured the moment we receive Christ as Savior.
But, there is a difference between being indwelt by the Spirit and being infilled with the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit fell upon, poured Himself out, infilled, and manifested His presence and power on the very special occasions when Peter and John and Paul visited the new believers.
Christ taught there would be special manifestations or infillings of the Holy Spirit.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
The experience of the apostles and of the church throughout the Book of Acts demonstrates clearly there is more than just one significant experience with the Holy Spirit.
The early believers experienced periodic manifestations or special infillings.
They had need for such experiences, and down through history as the need has arisen, God has given special manifestations or infillings of His Spirit to all obedient believers.
Demon possessed Girl in Acts 16.
17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
1. There was the damsel slave girl possessed by “a spirit of divination” (pneuma puthona), of foretelling the future and fate of people.
The Greek word “puthona” which is our English word python, referring to the large python serpent. In ancient myth, the Greek god Apollo was said to have slain the great serpent or dragon python. As a result Apollo took both his great gift of predictions and his name. Apollo became known as “puthios Apollo” or “Python Apollo.” The young slave girl is said to have the spirit of “python” (putona); that is, the people thought she was the voice, the oracle of the great Greek god Apollo. There were also ventriloquists who were thought to be empowered with the spirit of Apollo.
Note: Scripture says that the young slave girl was possessed by an evil spirit (v. 18) which gave her the power of fortune-telling. As a result people went to her for hope that …
• their desires would be fulfilled
• their futures would be good
• their confidence would be restored
• their fortunes would be at hand
• their lost items would be found
• their past would be unraveled
• their mysteries would be solved
2. The young girl was a slave exploited by men to make money. They used her fortune-telling ability to play upon the needs of people for hope and confidence, self-esteem and direction. Note the words “much gain.” She was apparently the leader among all the soothsayers, the one from whom the upper class sought advice and counsel.
3. What she was saying:
a. The testimony of the evil spirit was a true testimony. Paul and the others were “the servants of the most high God.”
b. The testimony of the evil spirit was also a false testimony. This is seen in the Greek which reads, “a way of salvation,” not “the way.” The word “the” (the definite article) is not in the Greek. The evil spirit is proclaiming that Paul preaches only one of many ways to reach God.
c. The testimony, although partly true, is unacceptable. Such acknowledgement is a false witness. The evil spirit was not confessing from the heart or will that he would follow Jesus. He had not been born again.
2 (16:18) Note four facts.
1. The false witness was a barrage that lasted many days. The slave girl followed Paul and his companions day by day when they went to prayer.
Note: her proclamation was a barrage that would be embarrassing, and it went on for many days. Why Paul did not act sooner is not known. It could be that he feared a reaction from the worldly-minded, sensing from God that it was not yet time to stop the false witness.
2. The day arrived when Paul became “grieved” (diaponetheis). The word means pained, deeply troubled, worked up, annoyed, and angry (a righteous anger).
He was troubled and hurting …
• over the girl being enslaved by sin
• over the girl being so used by greedy and lustful men
• over the false witness to the Lord’s name
• over the mockery and ridicule of his ministry as the servant of Christ
3. The moment came when Paul called upon the strong name of Jesus Christ. He whipped around and healed the girl. Note exactly what Paul did.
a. He addressed the evil spirit within the girl. The power she had was not her own, but of an evil spirit. It was the evil spirit that was the problem, not the girl. Therefore, Paul addressed the evil spirit.
b. Paul called upon “the name of Jesus Christ.” The power to cast out the evil spirit was of Christ, not of Paul.
4. The enslaved girl was immediately and completely delivered. It was the very same hour that the evil spirit came out.