Matthew 7:11 NLT
[11] “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Luke 11:13 NLT
[13] “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Why is there a difference between these two records of Jesus’ teaching? Are they a contradiction or are they saying the same thing in slightly different words?
The key, I think, is in one small word, not in the original text in Luke 11:13, but added by translators to expand on the “good things” in Matthew’s text.
The Holy Spirit’s title, in the Greek text, is ” ‘o pneuma hagios’, translated “the Holy Spirit”. The word ” ‘o” is the Greek definite article translated “the”. Wherever the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Scripture, He is given His full title. This little one-letter word signifies that the person addressed is one-and-only “Holy Spirit”. Nowhere in the New Testament is ” ‘o” omitted when referring to the Holy Spirit.
In Luke’s record of Jesus` words, “… how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”, there is no
” ‘o” in the original text which means that it cannot be translated as “the Holy Spirit”.
How does this mistranslatiion fit with the teaching of Scripture?
Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to ask the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was poured out on “all flesh” on the day of Pentecost as God promised and has never or will never been poured out again or withdrawn.
Two incidents in Acts show us how the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on specific non-Jewish believers as part of the “all flesh”, ie, on Samaritan believers…
Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17 NLT
[14] “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. [15] As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. [16] The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [17] Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
… on Cornelius, a Roman Centurion and his household….
Acts of the Apostles 10:44-45 NLT
[44] “Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. [45] The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too.”
…and on twelve Ephesian believers who had not yet been baptised into Jesus…
Acts of the Apostles 19:1-2, 5-6 NLT
[1]”While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. [2] “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
[5] As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.”
The Holy Spirit takes up residence in every person who receives God’s promise of salvation through faith in Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 2:38 NLT
[38] “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV
[13] “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Would Jesus, then, instruct His disciples to ask for the Holy Spirit?
This pernicious teaching in some parts of the church has led to the idea that to be a “spirit-filled“ believer, i.e., one who has received “the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues”, is in a class higher than ordinary believers.
Jesus would have none of that since all of His followers have been immersed in the Holy Spirit through faith in Him. The onus is on the believer to ba “filled” with the Spirit by obeying His leading and by nou quenching or grieving Him.
What did Jesus imply by His teaching in Luke 11?
Let’s go back to the Greek text and look again at the context. Since the Father is greater than earthly fathers, He gives “good gifts” to those who ask Him, good meaning “functional”. The Greek words imply that God will give a holy disposition, mental attitude (words derives from “pneuma” meaning wind or breath). to those who ask for (desire) it.
Is this promise, then, of “good gifts”, the “much more” that the heavenly Father will give, more than basic human needs that earthly fathers provide, to those who ask for ( earnestly desire)
a holy disposition?
This interpretation perfectly fits the whole drift of Scripture. There are so many verses that urge us to seek the Lord, draw near to Him, acknowledge Him, that we cannot ignore Jesus’ assurance that the Father will surely give and do much more that we can ask, think, or even imagine if we ask Him for “holy desires”!
Ephesians 3:20 NLT
[20] “*Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”