This Samaritan lady did not understand what he meant by living water: "The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?" (John 4:11). So Jesus explained what he meant to her. I can picture him pointing to the well beside them: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again...But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14).
The woman still did not understand what Jesus was talking about; because Jesus was not talking about earthly water. Jesus was talking about "everlasting life", and the "water" was God's Spirit. Jesus told his disciples in another place, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7:37-39).
Notice that Jesus calls the Holy Ghost living water, the same thing that he told the woman at the well. This Spirit, this living water, that Jesus is talking about is a gift. Jesus said to the woman at the well, "If thou knewest the gift of God" (John 4:10). Jesus is saying that the gift of God is his Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which "they that believe on him should receive".
The word for gift here in the original Greek New Testament is δωρεά (dorea). Interestingly, the word δωρεά is used multiple times in the Bible to talk about people being filled with God's Spirit. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says that δωρεά is used "with an epexegetical gen[itive] of the thing given, viz. τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος [the Holy Ghost]" (p. 161). To put this in every-day terms, the word "of" explains what the gift is. So when the Bible talks about the "gift of the Holy Ghost", the gift IS the Holy Ghost living inside of us. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says, "In [the book of Acts] the Spirit is called the δωρεά of God" (vol. 2, p. 167). When the scriptures refer to "the gift of the Holy Ghost", it means "the gift that is the Holy Ghost".
The very first time Christians received this gift--the Holy Ghost--was on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. They were gathered together in an upper room when they heard a sound like a rushing wind, they saw little flames of fire sitting on each other's heads, and "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (See Acts 2:1-4). When people heard these Christians speaking in other languages, a crowd gathered and Peter preached Jesus to them. When they asked how to be saved he told them "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift (δωρεά) of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). The word for gift here is the same word that Jesus used when he talked to the woman at the well. Peter said the same thing as John 7:37-39: that converts would receive the "δωρεά of the Holy Ghost" as part of the salvation experience.
The Bible tells us that after the church was established at Jerusalem, Philip began to preach in Samaria and the people believed his preaching (Acts 8:4-6). Not only did they believe, but "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (8:16, see v. 12). So far this matches exactly what Peter told the people at Jerusalem; but the Samaritan converts had not received the Holy Ghost yet. So Peter and John came and "prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them" (8:15-16).
When they laid their hands on the people they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. And there was obviously some outward sign that they had received God's Spirit, because a Samaritan sorcerer named Simon offered the apostles money and said "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost" (8:19). Peter rebuked him: "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift (δωρεά) of God may be purchased with money". The Samaritans had received the same δωρεά gift that Peter had preached about in Acts 2.
I submit that the initial outward sign that the Samaritans had received the gift of the Holy Ghost was speaking in other languages. When the Apostles received the Holy Ghost in Acts 2, the Bible says "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (2:4).
In Acts 10 Peter was preaching to the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household. "While Peter yet spake...the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word" (10:44). The other Christians who came with Peter "were astonished...because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift (δωρεά) of the Holy Ghost" (10:45). And how did Peter's associates know that they had received the δωρεά gift? It says "they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:46). When Paul laid his hands on some new converts the Bible says "the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues" (Acts 19:6). When Peter was questioned later, he said that God gave the gentiles "the like gift (δωρεά) as he did unto us" (Acts 11:17). When the apostles received the Holy Ghost they spoke in other languages; and the gentiles received the same gift in the same way.
So we see from the scriptures that God's Spirit in us is a gift. Hebrews 6:4 calls it "the heavenly gift (δωρεά)"; Jesus and Peter both called it the "the gift (δωρεά) of God". It is living water and eternal life in us. This gift is necessary for salvation; Romans 8:9 says "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his". In other words, if you do not have God's Spirit (and remember, the gift IS his Spirit), then you are not God's; you have not been saved.
When the Bible talks about people receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Bible says multiple times that they spoke with other tongues as the initial evidence. This lets us know that a Christian will speak in another language when he first receives God's Spirit. So let me encourage you; if you have never spoken in tongues then you have never received the δωρεά gift of God's Spirit. Pray and ask God to fill you with his Spirit and earnestly seek for it; speaking in tongues will occur when God gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost.
God's Spirit is a wonderful gift, it is necessary for salvation, and if God has it for me I want it! The first time Christians received the Holy Ghost was Acts 2; and it was then that Peter said, "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). We modern-day believers are certainly "afar off"; but the promise of the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues is still for us today! I hope that "the Lord our God shall call" you to experience this wonderful gift!
The Bible tells us that after the church was established at Jerusalem, Philip began to preach in Samaria and the people believed his preaching (Acts 8:4-6). Not only did they believe, but "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (8:16, see v. 12). So far this matches exactly what Peter told the people at Jerusalem; but the Samaritan converts had not received the Holy Ghost yet. So Peter and John came and "prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them" (8:15-16).
When they laid their hands on the people they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. And there was obviously some outward sign that they had received God's Spirit, because a Samaritan sorcerer named Simon offered the apostles money and said "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost" (8:19). Peter rebuked him: "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift (δωρεά) of God may be purchased with money". The Samaritans had received the same δωρεά gift that Peter had preached about in Acts 2.
I submit that the initial outward sign that the Samaritans had received the gift of the Holy Ghost was speaking in other languages. When the Apostles received the Holy Ghost in Acts 2, the Bible says "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (2:4).
In Acts 10 Peter was preaching to the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household. "While Peter yet spake...the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word" (10:44). The other Christians who came with Peter "were astonished...because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift (δωρεά) of the Holy Ghost" (10:45). And how did Peter's associates know that they had received the δωρεά gift? It says "they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:46). When Paul laid his hands on some new converts the Bible says "the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues" (Acts 19:6). When Peter was questioned later, he said that God gave the gentiles "the like gift (δωρεά) as he did unto us" (Acts 11:17). When the apostles received the Holy Ghost they spoke in other languages; and the gentiles received the same gift in the same way.
So we see from the scriptures that God's Spirit in us is a gift. Hebrews 6:4 calls it "the heavenly gift (δωρεά)"; Jesus and Peter both called it the "the gift (δωρεά) of God". It is living water and eternal life in us. This gift is necessary for salvation; Romans 8:9 says "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his". In other words, if you do not have God's Spirit (and remember, the gift IS his Spirit), then you are not God's; you have not been saved.
When the Bible talks about people receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Bible says multiple times that they spoke with other tongues as the initial evidence. This lets us know that a Christian will speak in another language when he first receives God's Spirit. So let me encourage you; if you have never spoken in tongues then you have never received the δωρεά gift of God's Spirit. Pray and ask God to fill you with his Spirit and earnestly seek for it; speaking in tongues will occur when God gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost.
God's Spirit is a wonderful gift, it is necessary for salvation, and if God has it for me I want it! The first time Christians received the Holy Ghost was Acts 2; and it was then that Peter said, "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). We modern-day believers are certainly "afar off"; but the promise of the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues is still for us today! I hope that "the Lord our God shall call" you to experience this wonderful gift!
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