Category: Holy Spirit

In God’s revelation, we are blessed with the most important truths known. They are timely, are worthy of examination – and demand a proper response from each of us.

The New Testament abounds with evidence that Paul was a genuine apostle of Jesus Christ. He possessed the authority of an apostle, and his epistles contain the teachings that we are to follow today.

As a member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit can be sinned against. The Holy Spirit can be resisted, quenched, grieved, insulted, and blasphemed.

No one should deny that the Spirit dwells in the Christian. The Bible teaches that the Spirit dwells in us through our faith and acceptance of His word. The Spirit can be said to dwell within us as we manifest the Spirit’s influence upon our lives. The fact that we dwell in the Godhead, and that the Godhead dwells in us, shows the closeness of the fellowship that we have with the Godhead. However, I believe we are in error to take the position that the Holy Spirit literally dwells within us. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit all dwell in us through our faith, and operate upon our lives through the word of God.

Some people today believe that they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues and to prophecy, to perform miracles, to heal the sick and cast out demons. Regardless of the sincerity of these individuals, these claims do not harmonize with the Bible’s teaching regarding the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were real. They were given to believers through the laying on of the hands of an apostle. These gifts were the means of equipping the church and confirming the word to unbelievers. When the last apostle died, these gifts were no longer available to mankind.

The purpose of this study will be to consider that view in the light of divine scripture; the “sword of the [Holy] Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). In addition, this study does not in any way deny the Holy Spirit’s divinity nor His power. He is God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). He does have the power to work miracles (Acts 2). Thus this study is designed to consider His method of operation as it is laid out in the Bible, and as it pertains to followers of Christ.

Because the purpose of miracles was to confirm the divine origin of God’s word, miracles would only endure as long as it took to accomplish this task, that is, throughout the first century. This is how Paul tried to show the Corinthians that love was a greater gift than miracles, for it would outlast them (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). They were to cease when incomplete knowledge was replaced by a perfect – completed – New Testament revelation. The church would then emerge from infancy to maturity. We now have the faith once for all delivered, a perfect law of liberty (see Jude 3, James 1:25).

Holy Spirit baptism served its purpose. We can benefit from the work that the Holy Spirit did through the apostles when we study the New Testament, but we were never promised that we would receive the Holy Spirit in the same measure in which it was received by the apostles.

The Lord made great promises to the apostles regarding the help they would receive from the Holy Spirit, but we must understand that these promises were limited to the apostles. The Holy Spirit is not a Helper or Comforter for us in the sense that He was for the apostles. Jesus fulfills this role for us today (1 John 2:1). However, we do benefit from the work that the Holy Spirit did through the apostles. As the Holy Spirit taught them all things, reminded them of all things, and guided them into all truth, they wrote it down. When we read what they wrote, we can understand all things that the Spirit has given to the apostles (Ephesians 3:3-5).

The Holy Spirit played an important role in the Old Testament. He is not a manifestation of the Father or of the Son. He did not sit quietly, waiting His turn until the time of the New Testament. He was active from the beginning, as was the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit has been, and continues to be, very active. He played an important role in organizing the created world and in revealing God’s will to mankind. Through His word, He continues to work in the hearts and minds of men and women today. As His word is preached, He convicts men of sin and brings about faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel. He also works in the lives of faithful Christians today. He leads us by His word, helps us in our battle against sin, and intercedes for us during our times of weakness.

The only things that we can know for certain about the Holy Spirit are the things that have been revealed in the Bible. We must be content with the teachings of the Bible, as opposed to relying upon denominational doctrines, human opinions, and personal feelings. In this series of articles, we will discuss the Bible’s teaching on various aspects of the Holy Spirit. This article will serve as an introduction to our subject.

Now, if ever there comes a time when everyone is saved, if there were ever a time when there were no lost sinners, if every man were forgiven, would water baptism continue? No, for its purpose would no longer be necessary. That is why the other baptisms ceased. So, water baptism would end and would no longer be practiced if everyone were saved. Obviously, that has not happened, and water baptism continues. It is, therefore, the “one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5.

The following correspondence was initiated with brother Hafley by a man who sought to defend the use of instruments of music in Christian worship. We will limit our identification of the man to his first name, Don. Don’s grammar and punctuation, as well as his sentence construction, lacks formality. We thought it best, however, to retain the form rather than seeking to edit the posts of one with which we disagree. The correspondence is reprinted here for your study on this important subject.

Some ask, “Should I feel the indwelling of the Spirit?”. The question reflects a Calvinistic influence that salvation is better felt than told. Indeed you should feel that you are right with God, but you should not think that you are right with God just because you feel good. You should allow the Spirit to swing his sword into your heart and then examine your own deeds to see if they are fruits of the Spirit or works of the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26). When you are full of faith and doing right, you can trust, know and feel that the Spirit is in you. He dwells there, not literally, but in the figure of the influence of his word.

Let us never apologize for our dependence upon the Bible for our contact with God. Let us never back away from acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives today. Yes, we are led by the Spirit of God and we rejoice that we have the living word of God, the sword of the Spirit, in our lives every day.

With the abundance of error on the person, work, and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we thought it prudent to republish these outlines for your study, and encourage you to pass them along to others. We need to make sure we are well grounded in the faith concerning this issue, as Charismatic/Pentecostal groups are on the increase (Col. 1:23; Titus 1:9-14). Too, there are brethren who believe in a direct non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit, something which brother Puckett and this writer deny.

Any consideration of the themes contained in the Book of Acts must surely include the administration of the Holy Spirit. As Joel prophesied, the “last days” would see the pouring out of the Spirit of God. Peter, one of the twelve who received this pouring out in Acts 2, confirmed that God had kept his word, the last days had arrived and the Spirit was thereby being given. It is notable that the apostles were never confused about the Spirit, its mission nor its medium; but confusion reigns today as every charlatan and huckster seeks to make merchandise of the Spirit of God. How fearful it is to consider the fate of those who do despite to the Spirit.

I am some 2,000 years departed from that great Day of Pentecost when twelve uneducated men turned the city of Jerusalem upside down by preaching the good news of a resurrected Savior. These twelve men made a promise to a believing people who had heard the truth about Jesus. That promise was the gift of life, eternal life, the gift of the very Holy Spirit of God. It was for them, and it is for you. Accept the gift and receive the promise is our prayer for every reader.