What do you tell someone who may or may not have the Holy Spirit?
I can share some verses and then a few links. Let me know if it makes sense.
This is what Jesus told His disciples about the Holy Spirit.
John 14:25-27
25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.
26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
27“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is
given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of
God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Question: "What is the seal of the Holy Spirit?"
Answer: The Holy Spirit is referred to as the “deposit,” “seal,” and “earnest” in the hearts of Christians (
2 Corinthians 1:22;
5:5;
Ephesians 1:13-14;
4:30).
The Holy Spirit is God’s seal on His people, His claim on us as His very own. The Greek word translated “earnest” in these passages is
arrhabōn which means “a pledge,” that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest. The gift of the Spirit to believers is a down payment on our heavenly inheritance, which Christ has promised us and secured for us at the cross.
It is because the Spirit has sealed us that we are assured of our salvation. No one can break the seal of God.
The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a “first installment” to assure us that our full inheritance as children of God will be delivered. The Holy Spirit is given to us to confirm to us that we belong to God who grants to us His Spirit as a gift, just as grace and faith are gifts (
Ephesians 2:8-9). Through the gift of the Spirit, God renews and sanctifies us. He produces in our hearts those feelings, hopes, and desires which are evidence that we are accepted by God, that we are regarded as His adopted children, that our hope is genuine, and that our redemption and salvation are sure in the same way that a seal guarantees a will or an agreement. God grants to us His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that we are His forever and shall be saved in the last day. The proof of the Spirit’s presence is His operations on the heart which produce repentance, the fruit of the Spirit (
Galatians 5:22-23), conformity to God’s commands and will, a passion for prayer and praise, and love for His people. These things are the evidences that the Holy Spirit has renewed the heart and that the Christian is sealed for the day of redemption.
So it is through the Holy Spirit and His teachings and guiding power that we are sealed and confirmed until the day of redemption, complete and free from the corruption of sin and the grave. Because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we can live joyfully, confident of our sure place in a future that holds unimaginable glories.
What is the seal of the Holy Spirit?
Question: "When / How do we receive the Holy Spirit?"
Answer: The apostle Paul clearly taught that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.
First Corinthians 12:13 declares, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Romans 8:9 tells us that if a person does not possess the Holy Spirit, he or she does not belong to Christ: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.”
These three passages make it clear that the Holy Spirit is received at the moment of salvation. Paul could not say that we all were baptized by one Spirit and all given one Spirit to drink if not all of the Corinthian believers possessed the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:9 is even stronger, stating that if a person does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ. Therefore, the possession of the Spirit is an identifying factor of the possession of salvation. Further, the Holy Spirit could not be the “seal of salvation” (
Ephesians 1:13-14) if He is not received at the moment of salvation. Many scriptures make it abundantly clear that our salvation is secured the moment we receive Christ as Savior.
This discussion is controversial because the ministries of the Holy Spirit are often confused. The receiving/indwelling of the Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation. The
filling of the Spirit is an ongoing process in the Christian life. While we hold that the
baptism of the Spirit also occurs at the moment of salvation, some Christians do not. This sometimes results in the baptism of the Spirit being confused with “receiving the Spirit” as an act subsequent to salvation.
In conclusion, how do we receive the Holy Spirit? We receive the Holy Spirit by simply receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior (
John 3:5-16). When do we receive the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit becomes our permanent possession the moment we believe.
How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Question: "What is salvation? "
Answer: Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words
saved or
salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (
Philippians 1:19).
More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. When Paul told the Philippian jailer what he must do to be saved, he was referring to the jailer’s eternal destiny (
Acts 16:30-31). Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God (
Matthew 19:24-25).
What are we saved
from? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin (
Romans 5:9;
1 Thessalonians 5:9). Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death (
Romans 6:23). Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.
Who does the saving? Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty (
2 Timothy 1:9;
Titus 3:5).
How does God save? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, God has rescued us through Christ (
John 3:17). Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation (
Romans 5:10;
Ephesians 1:7). Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God (
Ephesians 2:5,
8) and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ (
Acts 4:12).
How do we receive salvation? We are saved by
faith. First, we must
hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection (
Ephesians 1:13). Then, we must
believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus (
Romans 1:16). This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ (
Acts 3:19), and calling on the name of the Lord (
Romans 10:9-10,
13).
A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin which is granted to those who accept by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone (
John 14:6;
Acts 4:12) and is dependent on God alone for provision, assurance, and security.
What is salvation? What is the Christian doctrine of salvation?
