Hi Family,
When do you believe our spirit is created and imparted?
Is their biblical support?
Do you believe the Holy Spirit can enter a man before birth?
If the Holy Spirit enters a man before birth, what does that mean to the man and his salvation? Is it then set in place?
What does that mean for our salvation?
~Natsumi Lam~
This is actually two different questions:
1. Humans consist of spirit, soul and body and the question that has been "kicking around for centuries" is do souls preexist conception? Are there a "set number of souls" God has created, in reserve to "toss" into bodies as they are conceived? The schools of thought seem to arise out of the question of the role of the breath of life.
I don't believe souls and spirits are "prefabricated". I believe they are naturally created as part of the conception process. I.E. as per the example in Genesis; the breath of life makes one a living soul. This is God's component of creating life. The breath of life resides in everything that is alive. (plants and animals included); making them "living souls". So therefore, the breath of life is what brings the "soul" to life. The soul is not an entity separate from conception.
Our "spirit" resides on the same concept. Our spirit is not the Holy Spirit. They are entirely separate entities. The "spirit" of a living soul is like unto the socket God plugs into. The spirit is the vehicle that God communicates to life via.
In the story of the she bears that came forth and destroyed the children that were mocking Elijah, God instructed those bears to do this; and He did so by communicating with their spirits, because God Himself is a spirit.
2. Now directed by the Spirit of God and indwelt by the Spirit of God are two different things.
The Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell anyone until after Pentecost. Prior to that He would come upon the prophets and those He'd send to a task and "plug into them" for that task and then "leave" again. Scripture sometimes calls this "overshadow".
This is likely what we see with John the Baptist. He was "overshadowed" by the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.
And also that is in part what we see in psalm 51:11. "Don't cast me from Your presence or take Your Spirit from me." This psalm though likely has some Messianic component to it; in that Jesus was cast from the presence of the Father and also severed from the Holy Ghost as part of the atonement. (Different theological subject though.)
The post Pentecost "indwelling" of the Holy Ghost is the permanent cleaving of the Spirit of God to the spirit of the believer. This happens now, when it did not happen prior, because Christ is now reigning over the Kingdom and has sent the Spirit to this end.
So can someone be indwelt by the Holy Ghost prior to birth? It's certainly possible, because salvation is predicated upon the sovereign will of God as He awakens those who are to be redeemed and they come to believe. That process starts before they are even aware they are "woke". The result of being "woke" is believing. When does the "indwelling" begin? I don't know if the Scripture clearly delineates that? Yet, if God intends on enacting salvation upon someone from a very young age, yes theoretically, that indwelling can begin prior to their birth. This obviously though, is not the case with everyone. There are people who become believers later in life. That too is all set in God's sovereign decree.
What does the permanent indwelling of the Spirit mean to a person's salvation? It means their salvation is "set in place". Although it has always been "set in place" from the judicial standpoint of God's eternal purpose. The indwelling now sets in motion the practical application "in real time" of that eternal decree.
