Ways in Which the Spirit Is Received
God’s Spirit of life comes to the believing child of God in various ways—ways perhaps of which poor humans know nothing. Of these we are not speculating. We wish to note the most common ways in which God bestows His Spirit. 1. God must impart directly to the new-born child in Christ Jesus the constant life of the Spirit which gave it birth. He bestows that Spirit upon him, not as a segment cut off from the life of God, but as a constant life current connecting the human with the “Fountain of Life.” “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Rom. 8:9. 2. He imparts that Spirit through His living Word; for as Jesus declares, “The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. “For the Word of God is quick [living], and powerful.” Heb. 4:12. “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath [Spirit] of His mouth.” This scripture shows how clearly impossible it is to separate the two. He who feeds upon God’s Word feeds upon His life. 3. By angelic ministry God bestows His Spirit. Upon His shining messengers God places His Spirit, fills them with its power, and sends them forth to impart that Spirit to those fitted and willing to receive it. But Spirit-filled and Spirit-panoplied though they come, the angels are not the Spirit of God. For even so God sends forth His earthly messengers Spirit-clothed and Spirit-filled to minister of His power and His goodness to others. But the Spirit of God is before the messenger and above the messenger. The messengers are but channels through which God’s life flows to the thirsty and needy.