According to many in the Christian world the state of being “in the Spirit” requires charismatic gifts and experiences, and it’s only available to those who’ve received a second blessing from God at some time after salvation. In this view only the initiated and those higher up the ladder of spirituality can achieve it or enjoy it.
I’ve known Christians and Christian ministers who were almost obsessed with promoting charismatic gifts as the doorway for the work of the Spirit, being convinced that gifts not only come from Him but are the switch which turns on His presence. These people are certain that being in the Spirit must include speaking in tongues or losing control of your body. They think that it has to be a meditative or trance-like state in which the believer loses at least a measure of consciousness or preferably all of it.
BEING IN THE SPIRIT
In contrast, according to Biblical examples, being in the Spirit is a normal worshipful state in which any true believer – anyone who has come to saving faith in Jesus Christ – can engage with God. That’s why Paul told the Ephesians to “pray in the spirit on all occasions” (Ephesians 6:18).
It’s a focusing on God and HIs written word. It’s a prayerful or meditative state of mind and heart. It’s submission to the will of God according to HIs word. It’s a humble, loving and repentant communion at any specific time, and it can and should be a way of life.
THE GOSPEL
The gospel preached by Paul and others around the known world was very simple:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
However, in some Christian circles this gospel isn’t enough. According to some people and ministries f you only believe as Paul outlined above, you’re only half-baked, you have no power to be a witness for Christ, you have no experience with the Holy Spirit of God and your life is likely disordered and incomplete. If anyone tells you this, you should treat their accusation with the attitude it deserves. According to Paul you can’t be a saved child of God and not be living in the Spirit. Here’s what Paul told the Roman church:
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).
Once you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, you have the Spirit of God living in you. No Spirit, no saved believer. The modern obsession with showy and pseudo gifts or experience is a demand to “see” evidence of God’s presence, but Jesus told us that we must live by faith, not by what we see or feel, and Paul says that we are to simply accept our already accomplished position in Christ.
CHRISTIANS LOOKING DOWN THEIR NOSES
I’ve been accused of not having the Holy Spirit and of possibly blaspheming the Spirit because of my position on this, and I’ve seen churches accused of being devoid of the Holy Spirit because they didn’t practice charismatic gifts. A friend of mine openly stated on social media that if you go to a church where people are not speaking in tongues and are not being slain and doing miracles, leave immediately because the Spirit is not there. Here’s the truth of the matter according to Jesus Christ:
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I in the midst of them“ (Matthew 18:20).
There are no conditions here, apart from living and worsiping by the name of Jesus Christ.
Paul told the Colossians not that they needed to speak in tongues and to prophesy before they could hope to become complete, but that they were already complete by simply being in Christ. Once you have Jesus in your heart he says, you’re a Christian believer with the fullest potential to live the Christian life that you can have. In fact, Paul warned them and so us not to be swayed by people who want to tell us we’re only half-way to the spiritual life:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:7-10).
SPIRITUAL PRIDE
If you dismiss a fellowship, church or believer because they aren’t doing the outward, showing things you associate with the Holy Spirit, you’re making a judgment God told you not to make. I’ve seen many times in my decades as a believer that a person can be as Godly and as genuine as they come without falling on the floor. Falling and rolling on the floor or speaking in tongues proves nothing at all. Where the rubber meets the road is in how professing believers live out their lives before God and other people. I’m not talking about works here, but the evidence of our faith.
The truth is that you can’t be a believer in Jesus Christ and not have the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to go searching for the Spirit: if you’re a believer you already have Him. All that remains is for you to be led by Him:
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:9-11).
Therefore life “in the Spirit” is not at all limited to those who claim to have a charismatic gift (even if it is a real gift) but it’s to do with our obedience to His word and being open to His influence.
BE SLAIN OR BE GODLY
“The fruit of the Spirit is self-control”, says Paul (Galatians 5:22-23). Logically, then, if you lose control or get “drunk in the Spirit” you aren’t producing anything of value to God. Not only that, but Jesus told us to love God with all our minds. If then, our minds are not engaged in our worship experience or doctrine, as is often the case in modern charismatic circles, we’re not loving God as we should:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
Echoing Paul, Peter said, “Be self-controlled and alert” (1 Peter 5:8) and Paul counselled order in the church, not a free-for all:
“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
SPEAKING BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
All true believers can speak by the Spirit of God, and those who try to convince you otherwise are robbing you of your confidence as a child of God. If you can say “Jesus is Lord” and mean it, you’re already speaking by the Spirit, says Paul:
Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).
JOHN WAS IN THE SPIRIT
There are Biblical examples of disciples and apostles being “in the Spirit” with no tongues being mentioned, and no indication that they were laying on the floor in a comatose state. John was “in the Spirit” when he received the Revelation (1:10). Even though he was in the Spirit no tongues were spoken by him or Jesus. Note that he fell on the floor after the vision began, not before, and the reason he fell is that the vision of Christ was so overwhelming. Jesus did not “slay” John, instead when he John He told him not be afraid as he clearly was, and as we would: it would be a terrifying sight for any mortal eyes. Fear put John on the floor, not a blissful state of worship or a laughable knock-out blast of the Holy Spirit.
“The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (Revelation 1:14-16).
BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
As we’ve seen, all true believers are living in the Spirit of God. Being filled with the Spirit as in the book of Acts is the condition of being obedient and fully under the influence of the Spirit, or submitted to Him and therefore open to His control and direction. On such occasions in the book of Acts, so fondly quoted in a selective way by charismatics, those filled with the Spirit didn’t fall over or lose control.
In Acts chapter 6 spirit-filled men were chosen not to have apostolic authority and standing, but to wait on tables (Acts 6: 6).
Peter, filled with the Spirit, addressed his audience standing up and in his own language (Acts 2: 14 and 4:8).
Paul, filled with the Spirit, addressed a sorcerer on his feet and in his own language (Acts 13:9,10).
CONCLUSION
Each of us can be “in the Spirit” when by our worshipful, humble and repentant attitude we seek our God in faith.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 