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Don Stewart :: Should Our Experience with the Holy Spirit Be the Same as Jesus?

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Don Stewart

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When did Jesus receive the Holy Spirit? Should we look to His life as a pattern for our own? Is His experience to be the same as ours?

The Bible tells us that Jesus was indwelt with the Holy Spirit since His birth. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and lived His entire life as the sinless Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. However when He began His public ministry He had an experience with the Holy Spirit that some say should be a pattern for all believers. It occurred when He was baptized.

And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22).

Jesus received the Holy Spirit at birth, yet at His baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Does this indicate that the anointing He received for His baptism is something that each believer must receive after the initial salvation experience?

Not The Same
No. The Holy Spirit came down upon Jesus for the purpose of designating Him to be the Messiah. The Bible does not say that Jesus received the Holy Spirit at that time or that it came upon His life in any special way at that time. It was for the purpose of identification.

He Was Sinless
Furthermore, His life cannot serve as an exact pattern for ours. Jesus was the sinless Son of God who was conceived and led throughout His life by the Holy Spirit of God. The rest of us are all born as sinners and need a Savior. We receive the Holy Spirit only when we believe in Jesus as Savior. Thus we cannot pattern our experience exactly after His.

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