WHEN AN APOSTLE IS CONCERNED

     "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)

Devotion 21 of  29

ANOTHER SPIRIT, #1
" . . . or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received . . . "

Other versions read, "receive a different Spirit which you have not received" (NKJV), "a different Spirit from the one  you received" (NIV), "or ye get a different Spirit, which ye have not got" (DARBY), "a different spirit  than the Holy Spirit you received" (LIVING), "a different kind of spirit that you did not receive" (IE), and "a  Spirit other than you once received" (MONTGOMERY). 

Not only has Satan sent out his emissaries declaring "another Jesus," they also bring the  message of "another Spirit." It is the proclamation of a Spirit that is not received by the children of God. It  is not the Spirit that Jesus sends, or that God gives (Gal 4:6).

Although some neglect to affirm that those in Christ receive the Holy Spirit, this is a point  that is repeatedly declared in God's word.
 
1. "Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus  Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38, NKJV).
 
2. "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given  to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32, NKJV).
 
3. "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by  the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom 5:5, NKJV).
 
4. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).
 
5. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we  might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Cor 2:12).
 
6. "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor 1:22).
 
7. "Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the  earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor 5:5).
 
8. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,  Abba, Father" (Gal 4:6).
 
9. "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us His holy  Spirit" (1 Thess 4:8).
 
10. "And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we  know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us" (1 John 3:24).
 
11. "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit"  (1 John 4:13).

There can, therefore, be no question about the fact that everyone that is in Christ Jesus  receives the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey the Gospel (Acts  2:38). It is affirmed that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). Because we are sons,  God sends the Spirit into our hearts (Gal 4:6). The Holy Spirit is, in fact, the earnest, down-payment,  or pledge of the inheritance that is to come (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5). This is such a foundational  proclamation that it is also written, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell  in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom 8:9).

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

-- Tomorrow: ANOTHER SPIRIT, #2  --