If Jesus was still on earth even in His glorious body, the omnipresent Spirit would not have come to dwell in us. (Jn 7:39; 16:7). Christ, the anointed One (Ps 2:6), baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. (Jn 1:33). When He prayed to the Father, the Holy Spirit was sent and given in the Lord's name to abide with us for ever. (Jn 14:16, 26). This baptism is essential which was promised to us by the Father. (Luke 24:49) so that we can have access to Him (Eph 2:18). God our Savior shed the Holy Ghost on us abundantly in our hearts through the man Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Tit 3:6).

Receiving or having the Holy Spirit is different from being full of the Holy Spirit. (Jn 20:22; Acts 8:15-17). When we receive the Holy Spirit, we believe, confess and receive Jesus as our Saviour; the Spirit comes in to revive our spirit. When we offer ourselves to God completely and submit ourselves wilfully for the Saviour to become our Lord, Ruler, and King, we are filled with the Holy Spirit; He takes over our whole being – spirit, soul and body. In most of us, receiving would happen first and the filling later (and as a continuous experience from then on). (Eph 5:18). The fullness of the Holy Spirit will result in the Spirit immediately manifesting in us His lordship, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, might and fear of the Lord. (Eph 1:17-19). The Holy Spirit washes, sanctifies and justifies every believer in the name of the Lord Jesus. (1 Cor 6:11).

Some might take a while longer than the others to grasp the truth of Jesus being our Lord, not just our Saviour. (Believers are said to remain carnal, not spiritual yet, in this state as did many Corinthian believers (1 Cor 3:1); flesh prevails and dominates the spirit, as the believer continues to live in the flesh (Rom 8)). As we keep learning from the scriptures and as the Teacher continues to teach about this baptism, and as soon as the realization dawns, a strong desire or yearning constrains the believer. Eventually, as we ask God and submit ourselves, the fullness of the Holy Spirit can be experienced by anybody, irrespective of caste, language or nationality. (Luke 11:13; John 7:37,38). And, God knows why you are asking, seeking and knocking.

Having the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit having us, both happening simultaneously is not the norm; it is an exception, and the Lord does such a thing to demonstrate a significant fact not in vogue or evident till that time. (Acts 10:46); at the house of Cornelieus, it was to show to Peter and six other Jewish believers that God has opened the Church for the gentiles too. In Acts 19:2-7, it was to demonstrate that just not repentance from a sinful lifestyle but the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (Who alone can forgive sins and impart eternal life) is mandatory for the receiving of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The spirit of a believer can bind himself, not always the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:22).i.e., the believer can come out of the control of the Holy Spirit if he so desires (and disobey His word or ignore His warning); this leads to the loss of fullness and ultimately to the quenching of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 5:19). Repeated offence will lead to the Spirit departing from the believer. (2 Tim 4:10). (Even in Old testament times, king David, as soon as he realised that he had fallen into sin, returned to God with a repentant heart. His earnest request was , “Do not take away your Holy Spirit from me”. Oh, the need for the instant confessing of sins!

There is an ongoing conflict in a believer: for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. Gal 5:17; All the while, those who walk in the Spirit will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Gal 5:16). He that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Gal 6:8).

A believer should walk after the Spirit (Rom 8:1, 4); such people mind the things of the Spirit, not of the flesh. Being spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom 8:5, 6).The Holy Spirit also strengthens the inner man with might (Eph 3:16) while our external self keeps depleting and weakens by the day.