“…there can be no such thing as a Christian who is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This truth is so emphatically declared in the New Testament that it seems almost impossible that any other view could ever have been entertained.” – Lewis Sperry Chafer

There is nothing more important to understanding and practicing spirituality than the foundational works of the Holy Spirit as explained in the Bible: Indwelling, Baptizing, Sealing, and Filling. Countless erroneous (even damaging) ideas about how to please God as a Christian in the age of Grace have sprouted from man’s imagination and not from God’s instruction manual. That the Holy Spirit has taken permanent residence in the believer is the bedrock principle upon which a spiritual life is built.    

“From the doctrinal viewpoint or as a foundation for all truth respecting the relation between the Holy Spirit and the believer in the present age, there is no more characterizing or determining fact than that the Holy Spirit indwells every regenerated person. To fail to recognize the body of Scripture upon which this distinction in doctrine rests is to misapprehend one of the most essential factors in the Christian’s being, to conceive of the Christian as totally unprepared for the high and holy requirements which are laid upon him, to open the door for the promotion of unscriptural assumptions relative to persona holiness, and to create unwarranted divisions in teh Body of Christ. No student should pass over this aspect of truth lightly. No progress can be made in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s relation to the believer until the feature of the doctrine of the Spirit is recognized and accepted as declared by the Sacred Text.” *

The spiritual regeneration of a person by the Holy Spirit is the result of faith in Jesus Christ of the Bible: the incarnate Son of God who was crucified, died, was buried, rose again, and is exalted in Heaven. The new birth is the result of faith that does not happen unnoticed. The believer must know that he or she is born again. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of many things that happen to a new creation in Christ upon salvation. A new believer is unaware of most of the events in this “salvation package” until they grow in the Lord.. **

Chafer comments on this: “…the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer may not be indicated by any corresponding revolutionary experience, His indwelling is nonetheless one of the most characterizing of all the features which constitute a Christian what he is. The Spirit indwells without necessarily engendering an experience…” *

A few key texts about the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer (in their order by books):

John 14:16-17

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Having taken up His abode in the believer, His presence is never removed. (See II Corinthians 5:5 below.)

Romans 8:9

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

II Corinthians 5:5

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

The “earnest” spoken of here is like a down payment or an engagement ring that seals a promise that will be completely fulfilled or consummated in the future. This is evidence in the believer that all of God’s promises for us will be kept.

Galatians 4:6

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

I John 3:24; 4:13

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

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* Systematic Theology – Pneumatology (Volume VI) by Lewis Sperry Chafer

** 215 Things That Are True of Me, Now That I Am Saved; Sunday School Notes from Pastor George Zeller, Middletown Bible Church, Middletown, CT.

https://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/salvatio/215thing.htm

Five ministries of the Holy Spirit to believers in the Church Age:

• • • Regenerating

    • Indwelling

    • Baptizing

    • Sealing

    • Filling

“The primary instance of the Holy Spirit’s work in regeneration is found in Titus 3:5, which reads: ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.’ To be sure, the truth which this term expresses is set forth in many Scriptures and under various terms, but then always as a work of the Holy Spirit.

“The background of the doctrine of regeneration is its necessity springing from the universal fallen estate of man. Since the need is world-wide, the demand for regeneration is imperative in the case of every person born into the world. None can be excepted other than the Christ of God. In His conversation with Nicodemus by night (John 3:1-21), Christ recognized as acceptable to God nothing of the model character and attainments in Judaism on the part of this ruler in Israel. It was to such a one that Christ said: ‘Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again,’ [or,. born from above]; and to the same purpose Christ said: ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”*

“The believer is born ‘of the Spirit’(John 3:6) and has become a legitimate child of God. He has ‘partaken of the divine nature’ and Christ is begotten in him ‘the hope of glory.” As he is a child of God, he is also an ‘heir of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ.’ The new divine nature is more deeply implanted in his being than the human nature of his earthly father or mother. This transformation is accomplished when he believes, and is never repeated; for the Bible knows nothing of a second regeneration by the Spirit.”**

The Lord said, ‘The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). Upwards of eighty-five New Testament passages bear on this fact of an imparted divine life. No change in the human estate could be conceived which is as far-reaching and effective as that of an actual birth into a legitimate and actual filial relationship with God. Salvation is a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) which is wrought by the Holy Spirit as the Executor of the Godhead.”*

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* Systematic Theology – Pneumatology (Volume VI) by Lewis Sperry Chafer

** He That is Spiritual by Lewis Sperry Chafer

Five ministries of the Holy Spirit to believers in the Church Age:

• • • • Regenerating

      • Indwelling

      • Baptizing

      • Sealing

      • Filling

The Holy Spirit is very active iduring this time in which we live, called the Church Age or the Age of Grace. Activity by the Third Person of the Trinity is focused on promoting the Lord Jesus Christ and not the Holy Spirit Himself (John 15:26). This lesson sets the stage for examining five ministries of the Holy Spirit in the believer during this era. (See below.)

Before we address those ministries in future lessons, there are two ministries or activities of the Holy Spirit in the world in general today that are noteworthy.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit restraining the world – The Spirit of God in the world is always working in ways that we scarcely notice. Remember that the Holy Spirit is God and has all the divine attributes of God including omnipresence and omnipotence. Jesus said that the Spirit is like the wind—you can’t see the wind, but it’s there and you see its effects (John 3:8). One of the Spirit’s present works will not be evident until it is removed at the Rapture to begin the Tribulation.

Admittedly, the following verse has some difficulties, but I believe the New KJV translation captures the right meaning: “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed…” (II Thessalonians 2:6-8a NKJV). The context is the Man of Sin—the Antichrist—and his appearance on the scene after the Rapture. The Antichrist will be (is now!?) in the world and working while the Holy Spirit holds him back from exercising his most evil sinfulness. “Ultimately, this Restrainer, the Holy Spirit, will lift His staying hand because the church in whom He dwells will have been translated.” * An instant after the Rapture there will be no Christians in the world. How long will it take for the darkest evil in the souls of sinners to notice this and seize the occasion?

The ministry of the Holy Spirit convincing the world of sin, righteousness, judgment – Jesus promised that “another comforter” would come after He left his apostles to prepare a place for them. “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11 KJV).

Chafer explains: **

(1) The Spirit enlightens the unsaved with regard to one sin only: ‘Of sin, because they believe not on me.’ Hence a lost man must be made aware of the fact that, because of the cross, his present obligation to God is that of accepting God’s provided cure for his sins. In this ministry, the Spirit does not shame the unsaved because of their sins; but He reveals the fact of a Saviour, and One who may be received or rejected.

(2) The Spirit illuminates the unsaved with respect to righteousness. How can a sinner be made righteous in the eyes of a Holy God? It will not be by any attempted self-improvement. There is a righteousness for him from God, which is unto all and upon all who believe.

(3) The Spirit illuminates the unsaved concerning a divine judgment which is already past; for ‘the Prince of this world is already judged.’ Every claim of Satan over man because of sin has been broken, and so perfectly that God, who is infinitely holy, can now receive and save sinners.

Thus the Spirit ministers to the world, actualizing to them otherwise unknowable fats which , taken together, form the central truths of the Gospel of His grace.

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* The End Times by Herman A. Hoyt

** He That is Spiritual by Lewis Sperry Chafer

Five ministries of the Holy Spirit to believers in the Church Age:

• • • • Regenerating

      • Indwelling

      • Baptizing

      • Sealing

      • Filling

As we have seen in the past two posts, the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God in the Old Testament was upon or with chosen individuals and enabled them for a limited purpose and time. Jesus predicted in the Gospels that the Holy Spirit would, starting a few days hence, minister inside the believer and would remain there forever. That prediction was fulfilled in dramatic fashion in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost (fifty days after Passover) after Jesus’ resurrection. This miraculous entrance is described in Acts 2:1-4 and the far-reaching impact in 2:5-41ff.

Lewis Sperry Chafer * explains how this event marked a new chapter in the ministry of God’s Holy Spirit. NOTE: The sign-gifts of the Holy Spirit were prominent as the early church gradually formed. Miraculous signs and wonders gradually disappeared when apostles and prophets died and their God-inspired written revelation, the New Testament Scriptures, took their place.

“At least three things were accomplished on the Day of Pentecost concerning the relationship of the Spirit to man:

(1) The Spirit made His advent into the world here to abide throughout this dispensation. As Christ is now located at the right hand of God, though omnipresent, so the Spirit, though omnipresent, is now locally abiding in the world, in a temple, or habitation, of living stones (Ephesians 2:19-22). The Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and that aspect of the meaning of Pentecost will no more be repeated than the incarnation of Christ. There is no occasion to call the Spirit to ‘come.’ For He is here.

(2) Again, Pentecost marked the beginning of the formation of a new body, an organism which, in its relation to Christ, is called, ‘the church which is his body.’ Though the Church had not been mentioned in the Old Testament, Christ had promised that He would ‘build’ it. ‘Upon this rock I will [future tense] build my church’ [Greek word EKKLESIA, a called-out assembly or gathering]. The Church, as a distinct organism, is not mentioned as being in existence until after the advent of the Spirit at Pentecost. It is then stated ‘And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls’ (Acts 2:41). While the Greek word [EKKLESIA] for the church does not appear in this text as it does in 2:47, ‘And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.’ The unity which is here being formed is none other than the Church. See also Acts 5:14; 11:24.

(3) So, also, at Pentecost, the lives that were prepared were filled with the Spirit, or the Spirit came upon them for power as was promised (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). Thus they began the age-ling ministry of witnessing. Thus the full meaning of Pentecost was revealed in the advent of the Spirit into the world to abide throughout this dispensation: in the baptism of many members into Christ; and the empowering of those whose lives were prepared for the work of witnessing unto Christ.

“A careful student of the Scripters may distinguish yet one further step in the whole transition from the relationships of the Spirit as revealed in the Old Testament to that which is the final relationship in the present dispensation. During the well-defined period in which the Gospel was preached to Jews only, which was from Pentecost to Peter’s visit to Cornelius (Acts 10:44, cf. Acts 15:7-9, 14), or about eight years, the Spirit, in one case at least, was received through the Jewish rite (Hebrews 6:2) of laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17). There is no record that hands were laid on believers in Cornelius’ house [or thereafter]. The Holy Spirit ‘fell upon them’ (this phrase is evidently synonymous with receiving the Spirit.) when they believed (Acts 8:18; 10:43, 44;11:14, 15). Thus the events in Cornelius’ house undoubtedly marked the beginning of a new and abiding order.”

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* He That is Spiritual, by Lewis Sperry Chafer, 1918