before i can reply to ur question i have to clear up something. versions of the bible, i read the KJV and the NKJV, i have read the NIV but do not care for it for these reasons. for a book to be a copywrite so much of it has to be changed form the original or from other versions and the way the NIV came into being, a group of clergy came togeather and voted on what they thought was being talked about . the NIV has changed too much from the original writing. all my post will be taken from either the KJV or NKJV. i have not studied any other version so i can not comment on them. to truly have God there r 2 steps to getting God this can be found in the gospel of John 1:12 it says (KJV- But as many as recieved Hinm, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name) the NKJV says the same thing. notice it says to those that recieve him. what do u have to do to recieve him (repent and believe on Jesus - accept Jesus as ur savior) notice it says to these r given the power or right TO BECOME the sons or a child of God. if we became a child of God when we repent and accept him it would say (when u recieve him u become a child of God) this can also be seen in James 4:8 i will quote the latter part of the verse (cleanse ur hands , ye sinners: and purify your hearts ye double minded) the first step to getting God is to repent of ur sins and accept Jesus as ur savior when u do this there r 3 things that happen 1. ur sins r forgiven and sin is taken out of the way 2. u r spiritually dead to God because of sin when sin is forgiven we become spiritually alive to God (born again) 3. Jesus comes into ur life but God's holy spirit does not come into ur heart which is taught in most churches today. to recieve God's holy spirit into ur heart it is going to come down to HOW MUCH DO U WANT GOD. God must be the most important thing or person in ur life if He is not then something or someone else or u r more important to u than God is. this can be seen in the story of the young rich man ( a young rich man came to Jesus and asked What must i do to get to heaven and Jesus told him to keep the commandments and he said he had kept them from his youth then Jesus told him he lacked one thing to give all he had to the poor and come follow Him, when this man was given a choice between God and what was MOST IMPORTANT to him he chose his money) those that recieve Jesus but who have not recieved God's holy spirit into their hearts r what the bible calls DOUBLE MINDED because they have started with God but have not totally committed to him, there is something or someone or theirself that is more important to them than God is. it goes to why we r here (the angels stood before God every day and yet 1/3 of them rebelled against God because they WANTED what God would not allow and they WANTED it MORE than they WANTED God or they would have never rebelled) we r here top be tested and tried, molded and made ready for heaven , God want people like Job in the old testament Job will never rebel against God. the bible says what it calls the inborn nature is in our hearts and when God's holy spirit comes into our hearts He casts it out of our hearts, it is a part of satan it controls us by raising up emotions , desires, giving us urges, giving us impressions and putting thought in our heads, when God's holy spirit comes into our hearts u will notice that emotions and desires r no longer in control of us we can resist the urges and thoughts, it does not mean we will not sin as long as the inborn nature is in our hearts it will compell us to sin somewhere but when it is cast out sin becomes a choice, the bible says we sin when we r drawn away by our lusts it is something that u want to do if u do not want to commit adultry it would be useless to tempt to with adultry. most people do not get God's holy spirit in their hearts and when they backslide there is little change in them but when a person that has God's holy spirit in their heart backslides there in a huge change, in luke 11:24-26 it tells of what happens to someone who has lost God's holy spirit out of their hearts this happened to me once about a year after i had recieved God's holy spirit into my heart ( i was big time into drugs in my youth) i went to a friends house and he was smoking a joint and i asked for some and he gave me the joint i smoked some and when the joint was gone i realized what i had done and started asking God to forgive me. it is the only time that God has ever spoken to me He said (u r privileged because u know the way , u r privileged because u have stood in the presence of God, i am every thing the universe and everything in it is nothing) then God's holy spirit left and the bible says satan come in like a flood that is exactly how the inborn nature came back in, it destoried any faith i had in God and when i looked at my friend he said welcome back it was as if satan himself was talking to me. i got up went home and called a lady that was in our church that i had great faith in and she and a friend of hers came up and prayed with me and in less than 15 minutes i knew that God had forgiven me but i prayed all that night and almost all the next day before God's holy spirit came back into my heart and during that time i could not believe the control that the thing that came back into my heart had over me. the urges were so strong i could not resist them, where i worked the bosses sister was his secretary and she had already let me know i could have her if i wanted her i just ignored her, that day i went after her and if she had not been busy something would have happened i could not stop myself but God's holy spirir came back into my heart and i will never forget this expierence, i hope this helps u
