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THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
 IN THE CHRISTIAN'S SALVATION
John 14:16-17
Sunday Morning, June 30, 2024
​Today we will continue our study of the Holy Spirit. We have already noted that the Holy Spirit is a Person. That is, He is not merely a force or an influence, but He is a Person. In the verses I read earlier, John 14:16-17, the Lord Jesus said, that “the Father will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” Jesus always referred to the Holy Spirit as a Person.

We have also discovered that the Holy Spirit is God, equal in every respect to God the Father and God the Son. He possesses the attributes of God, such as, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, holiness, and mercy. He does works only God can do, such as creation, inspiration, illumination, and regeneration. The Holy Spirit, the Helper sent by the Lord Jesus to empower His church, is a divine Person and He is God.

This biblical truth has been held by the church from the beginning. Church leaders and theologians from the fourth century declared that the Holy Spirit is coeternal and coequal with the Father and the Son. One fourth-century scholar called for the worship of the Holy Spirit when he declared, “From the Spirit comes our rebirth, from rebirth a new creating, from the new creating a recognition of the worth of Him who effected it.”

God the Father sent His Son to secure the eternal salvation of those who believe in Him by giving Himself to the sacrifice on Calvary’s cross and His resurrection. Only through by believing that Jesus died and rose again as our Substitute and eternal payment for our debt of sin, can a person be saved. God the Father also sent the Holy Spirit to empower and enable those who believe in Jesus Christ to live a Christ-honoring and godly life. Our salvation was granted to us as a gift by God’s grace. Our spiritual growth and sanctification are also gifts granted by God’s grace. We cannot earn these benefits neither do we deserve them. It is all by grace.

Today we will look at four gracious benefits granted to all believers through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. These are the exclusive benefits of Christians and are available only to those who are saved by God’s grace. We begin with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 Corinthians 12:13

What Is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is that work whereby the Spirit places the believer into eternal union with Jesus Christ and all other believers in the body of Christ. One of the great hindrances in understanding this work is our misunderstanding of the word “baptism.” The word is used both for water baptism and for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The word “baptism” comes from the word “baptizo” in the original language and simply means to immerse. When a Christian participates in believer’s baptism, he or she is immersed in water to show a willingness to be obedient to the Lord’s command (to be baptized). Water baptism is also the believer’s witness to a watching world that they have identified themselves with Jesus Christ and that they now intend to follow Him as His disciple.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not associated at all with water baptism. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that happens the moment a sinner receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a divine work accomplished only in the church age. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament.

The Purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit was predicted by John the Baptist. In Matthew 3:11, he said, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The baptism of the Holy Spirit did not happen until the Day of Pentecost when the church was born. The Lord Jesus said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and He did so on the Day of Pentecost.

The Apostle Paul defines the baptism of the Holy Spirit and explained its purpose. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). The purpose of this baptism is to place or immerse every believer into the body of Jesus Christ. It happens at the moment of salvation and it identifies every believer with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every believer is in Christ and Christ is in every believer. We are in Him, one in Him, united in Him forever.

Characteristics of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit includes all believers in the church age. Paul said, “We were all baptized…” This is true whether they were Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. All believers receive the same baptism. The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings believers into permanent union with other believers in the body of Christ. There are no distinctions and no exclusions. All believers are also brought into eternal union with Jesus Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not experiential. Since this is a work done to the believer by the Holy Spirit and not by the believer, and since the baptism occurs at the same moment as salvation, it is not experiential. The Bible’s truth is simple: If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you have already been baptized by the Holy Spirit. You have been made an eternal member of His eternal body and you are therefore eternally secure in the Holy Spirit.

THE SEALING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Ephesians 1:13

The Reality of Our Sealing. Paul wrote in Ephesians, “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, 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” (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit performs this work on behalf of the believer to eternally secure his or her salvation. It identifies the believer in Jesus Christ as belonging to God.

Sealing shows ownership. By being sealed by the Holy Spirit, we belong eternally to the Lord, He is ours and we are His. The sealing means that relationship cannot change. In John 10, the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd, and explained that believers are His sheep. He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

Christians are Securely Sealed. Those verses give an amazing picture. Every believer is found in our Savior’s hand and are therefore secure. And if that was not enough, they are all also found in the Father’s hand and therefore supremely secure. This blessing of security is granted to each and every believer in Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation. Like the baptism of the Spirit, it is God’s work and is not accompanied by an experience. Since it is done by the Holy Spirit it is unconditional, unrepeatable, and unceasing. Once a person is sealed by the Holy Spirit, they will be sealed forever. It requires no action on the part of the believer outside of receiving Christ as Savior and Lord.

THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Romans 8:9-11

The Holy Spirit Indwells All Believers. The truth about the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit was revealed by the Apostle Paul in the eighth chapter of Romans. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:9-11). Genuine believers are in the Spirit and the Spirit is in them.

At the very moment of personal salvation, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell within the child of God. The new Christian can immediately live a righteous life through the enabling of the indwelling Spirit. Please notice that Paul said that if a person is not saved, then the Holy Spirit does not dwell in him or her. Paul revealed that the Spirit’s indwelling shows we belong to the Lord. And the indwelling Spirit gives spiritual life to our mortal body.

As with the baptism of the Spirit and the sealing of the Spirit, this, too, is an unconditional gift. The Holy Spirit, at the moment of the sinner’s salvation, comes to live inside the new believer and remains inside the believer. Remember, in John 14:16, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be with us forever. The believer does not ask for the Spirit to indwell them, it happens automatically and permanently at the moment they are regenerated.

Blessings of the Indwelling Holy Spirit. He empowers worship. Genuine worship of God is “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). All believers have the Holy Spirit and are empowered to worship the Lord. We can pray in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit unifies the fellowship of believers making the true church the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. All are made one in Christ. The Holy Spirit’s presence guarantees assurance. Because the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, He testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). When we receive salvation by grace alone through Christ alone, the Holy Spirit gives assurance to our hearts that we are His.

The indwelling Holy Spirit enables our service to the Lord. In this church age, Christians serve the Lord “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6). Serving God must be generated from within us, Spirit-driven, and marked by love. The indwelling Holy Spirit enables spiritual growth. It is God’s design that all believers grow from spiritual infancy to adulthood. As we read, understand, and apply the Scriptures to our lives, we grow spiritually. We can know God’s truth given in the Bible only as the Holy Spirit teaches us. Therefore, to grow in Christ, we must rely on the Holy Spirit. We must not substitute human effort for the divine power of the Spirit. All three of these works of the Holy Spirit, baptism, sealing, and indwelling, are all given at the very moment of salvation, are unconditional and eternal, and are supplied freely by the Holy Spirit. They are all non-experiential and given by God’s grace. If you are a Christian, you already have these blessings.

THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Ephesians 5:18

The Command to be Filled with the Spirit. Unlike the baptism, sealing, and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which are unconditional blessings bestowed by the Lord at the moment of salvation, the filling of the Holy Spirit is conditional and comes after a person is redeemed by Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells all believers–rather than just being with some of them as was true before Pentecost. This is one of the great dispensational truths of the New Testament. During the present church age, The Spirit of God would not be just alongside His people, but be in all of them.

Being filled with the Spirit is not a dramatic, ecstatic experience or a second work of grace. It is not a process of change progressively by degrees since every Christian has already been given the Spirit without measure. It is not the result of asking or praying for the filling of the Spirit. There is not a single reference in the New Testament that calls for believers to ask to be filled with the Spirit. Rather, being filled with the Spirit is a result of being obedient to the Lord’s command. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.” Believers cannot fill themselves but rely completely on the Holy Spirit. We are called to be filled with the Spirit over and over, since the grammar of the text says, “Be continually filled.”

The Illustration of Being Spirit-Filled. How can we illustrate being filled with the Holy Spirit? Imagine a pair of gloves being held in your hands or lying on a table. Now suppose you told those gloves to pick up a Bible or play the piano. What would happen? Nothing! The empty gloves possess no power on their own to accomplish anything. They have no strength or capacity to pick up any object or do any task.

Now imagine that I put my hands into those same gloves. Now the gloves are under the command of my hands and will do whatever my hands do. The gloves are filled or under the control of my hands. Now, with the gloves on my hands, and I pick up a book, what actually picked up the book? Did my hands? Did the gloves? The answer is yes, they both did, although the gloves could not by themselves but needed the power and ability of my hands.

This is the same with being filled with the Spirit. Without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, spiritually, we can do nothing. “To be filled” means “to be under the control of” in this case, of the Holy Spirit. A Christian can accomplish no more without being filled with the Holy Spirit than a glove can accomplish without being filled with a hand. So, how do we place ourselves under the control of the Holy Spirit. First, we come under His control when we submit ourselves to His authority and obey His commands. Second, since the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit when we willingly submit ourselves to obey the Word of God. We can experience spiritual power given by grace by the Holy Spirit only when we are surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s control of our lives, decisions, and desires.

The Results of Being Spirit-Filled. (Ephesians 5:19-21) After commanding us to be filled with the Spirit, the Apostle Paul gives us four results of being Spirit-filled. First, Spirit-filled believers will be “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” That is, they will be spiritually concerned for others. They will purposely share God’s Word with others. The second result is joyous worship. Spiritual controlled saints will “be singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Spirit-controlled hearts, lifted up to the Lord in worship will rejoice whatever the circumstances of life because he or she knows God loves us and He is in control. The Spirit-filled believer will see life from God’s point of view.

Third, a Spirit controlled saint will “give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. As believers we can thank God for all things and in everything. With all of the difficulties, sorrows, and disappointments in life, this may seem like an impossible dream. But Christians who are filled by the Holy Spirit know that God is present and that He is working out His sovereign will. Finally, the Spirit-filled believer will be noted for his or her humility and willing submission to others in the fear of Christ. Being under the control of the Holy Spirit is necessary in family and cultural activities, and there is a mutual submission of believers to each other because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

God has graciously granted to every believer the spiritual position of being baptized, sealed, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. God placed His divine power within us to enable and empower us to do His divine will and accomplish His divine purpose for our lives here and now. Then through submission and obedience to His Word, the Holy Spirit’s power will grant us the ability to put His will to work in our lives, our families, our communities, and our church. When any Christian, young or old surrenders to the control of God’s Spirit, we find that He produces amazing things in them. We become strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. We are made able to be His faithful witnesses in this present generation. The Holy Spirit enables us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This wonderful blessing is available right now to each and every Christian. For this reason, I would like to invite those who have not received Christ to receive Him right now. Have you placed your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you received Him as your personal Lord and Savior? If you have not, He is waiting to bless you and give you spiritual strength as He has done for so many others. Will you ask the Lord Jesus to be your personal Lord and Master?



Updated by Pastor Vernon Welkner, 7/1/2024