Is the Holy
Spirit in me?
There are few things as important as knowing whether the Holy Spirit is in you. Of all the blessings we receive in Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important. The work of the Holy Spirit is to enlighten Christ (John 16:13-14) and it is through Him that we call upon God as 'Abba Father' (Romans 8:15). He is the pledge, or the deposit and guarantee that we have received eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14).
1. The believer has the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:9 makes the following statement: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” This means that every true believer has the Spirit of Christ. There is no true believer who does not have the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit we cannot receive eternal life, because as the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Those who have not received the Holy Spirit do not have eternal life either. It is therefore obvious and essential that every believer has the Holy Spirit, and every true believer can know that the Holy Spirit lives in him.
We receive the Holy Spirit the
moment we come to faith. 1
Corinthians 12:13 says “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one
Spirit." The baptism with the Holy Spirit is synonymous with
repentance. The moment a person comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he
receives the Holy Spirit, this is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. We know
that every believer receives the Holy Spirit upon conversion from the Lord
Jesus' own words in John 7:37-39
and the subsequent explanation: “On the last day of the feast, the great
day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his
heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit,
whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not
been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’”
2. Filled with the Holy Spirit
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be submissive to the leading of the Spirit. This is not a one-time or sporadic event, but the continuous experience of the Christian life. Through this we are 'led by the Spirit', we 'walk by the Spirit', all of which are synonymous with being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The believer grows in his 'being filled' by the Holy Spirit throughout his spiritual life and must strive for it and constantly seek it. In our spiritual growth the request is… “do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” (Ephesians 5:18-19).
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit. It's to experience renewal in your heart, it's to be obedient to the Lord, it's to boldly share the gospel and to be freed from the power of sin (See Acts 4:8, 7:55, 9:17. 13:9, Romans 15:13).
3. Fruit of the Holy Spirit
The evidence that someone is truly born again is found in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit that is visible and becomes more visible in his life. Galatians 5:19-23 shows us two very different communities. On the one hand there are those who show the fruit of the flesh. 'sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.' (Galatians 5:19-21). This type of fruit does not belong to a believer. The believer should show the fruit of the Spirit and grow in it 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control' (Galatians 5:22-23) every believer, but we must also grow in this.
Look at your life and see if this fruit is visible in you, it testifies to the Spirit's presence in your life. Perhaps you also realize that you still need to grow in these areas, such a desire testifies to His work in you. But what should this fruit look like in our relationship with fellow believers?
a.Love - Do you work for the good of your brothers and sisters?
Romans 5:5 says God pours his
love into our hearts. It brings about change in us, it creates unity among
believers, and it makes us one of love, soul and mind. This motivates us not to
do anything out of selfishness or vain glory, but to consider in humility the other
higher than myself and makes me seek the other's interests Philippians 2:1-4
tells us. This love drives us to be 'joined together' according to Colossians
2:2 and to be of one mind and not conceited but humble according to Romans
12:16. Our experience of Christ's love is what drives us to love our fellow
believers says Galatians 2:20. It makes us patient with one another (Ephesians 4:2), makes us concerned
about our fellow believers' spiritual well-being says 1 Corinthians 8:1. We
regard ourselves as one another's servants (Galatians 5:13) so that we work for
the good of others (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
b.Joy - Do you rejoice in the Christ-likeness in fellow believers?
Paul says to Timothy 'As I
remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.' (2 Timothy 1:4). Paul makes his
prayers for the congregation in Philippi, with joy (Philippians 1:4). Because
the joy of the Spirit is the joy of our Lord Jesus (Philippians 4:4) and it
overflows in those who are made in His image. Paul says that in order to make
his joy complete, the believers in Philippi must '[be] of the same mind, having the
same love, being in full accord and of one mind.' (Philippians 2:2).
c. Peace - Do you strive to maintain the unity of
the Spirit, even at the cost of yourself?
It is the Holy Spirit who unites
the church. On the basis of the peace-making work of Christ, he makes the Jew
and Gentile into 'one new man' (Ephesians 2:15). Those who were formerly
enemies become 'members of the [same] household of God' (Ephesians 2:19). We
become a 'holy temple in the Lord' (Ephesians 2:21-22). We do not tear down
what the Lord has built (Ephesians 4:29-30), but pursue peace in the church
(Romans 14:19). We accept admonition and seek unity so that we can experience
the love and peace of God (2 Corinthians 13:11).
d.Patience – Are you growing in your ability to overlook transgressions?
Longsuffering or patience is
inner spiritual strength (Colossians 1:11) that enables us to overlook
transgressions. To be patient is to be like God who is 'longsuffering' (Ex.
34:6). Even in times of severe and repeated attacks to be tolerant and full of
longsuffering (Rom 2:4). In the church we find ourselves among the
'disorderly', the 'small-hearted' and the 'weak', but we must be long-suffering
towards them all.
e. Kindness – Do you repay others' transgressions
with love?
Its one thing to be patient with
those who have done wrong, but it's another thing to repay them with love. In
this the question is that we will follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ
who repaid our transgressions not with eternal punishment, but with salvation
(Titus 3:4-5; Romans 2:4-5). It takes maturity in the Spirit not only to show
kindness to those who do you good, but to 'the ungrateful and evil' (Luke 6:35) and to respond with
blessings even when we are cursed (Romans 12:14).
f. Goodness – Are you seeking opportunities to be
helpful?
Through the Spirit, believers do
not only do good when an opportunity presents itself, but they seek out the
good (2 Thessalonians 1:11). They seek and do what is 'pleasing' to the Lord
and do it. Spurgeon once
said we must be on the lookout and seek for opportunities to be useful, we must
go about with our ears and eyes open, ready to be available to do good at every
opportunity, we must not be satisfied until we are useful, but it must be the
chief design and ambition of our life (The Soul Winner, p312).
g.Faithfulness – Do you do what you say you are going to do?
According to 1 Thessalonians 5:24, we can trust God, because “He
who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” So we must do
everything we said we would, even if it comes at a cost. Together with Paul, we
strive to say “As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No”
(2 Corinthians 1:18). We do
what we say because we are faithful. The Lord teaches us that we must not fail
to be faithful in the little things (Matthew 25:21), because it reveals that we
can handle bigger things (Luke 16:10)
h.Gentleness - Do you use your strength to serve the weaker?
When Jesus came to save sinners,
He clothed Himself with 'gentleness' (Matthew 11:29; 2 Corinthians 10:1), but
this does not mean that He lacked power. As David Manhis says it is 'the godly
exercise of power' with which He came. This must be our approach when we
restore a fellow believer who has fallen into sin (Galatians 6:1). We restore
them 'with love and a spirit of gentleness' (1 Corinthians 4:21). Meekness and
humility go hand in hand (Ephesians 4:2), for it places no value on
self-interest, but is concerned for the soul of the offender. In meekness you
want to restore such a one.
i.
Self-control -
are you resisting the desires of your flesh?
Self-control is hard work. Paul
compares it to an athlete who exercises his body to get it under control (1
Corinthians 9:25, 27). The Greek word for discipline means "to give a
black eye, to slap in the face". The point is, self-control is painful. It
demands that we will ruthlessly say 'no' to worldly desires (Titus 2:12).
Self-discipline must of course be applied to all areas of life, even sleeping,
eating food, drinking coffee and such things, but it is especially important to
keep our sexual desires at bay (1 Corinthians 7:9). We must resist our sinful
sexual desires with all our might (Ephesians 5:3).
4. The Holy Spirit's primary work
There is an intimate connection between the work of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ and his work. We see this in Jesus' own words in John 16:14 “He [The Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ, to exalt Him. He does this by emphasizing the truth about Christ as well as the righteousness, majesty, splendour, goodness, compassion and love of Christ in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit's work is to make Jesus Christ a reality for us. So that we can experience His love and power in our lives. It is through the Spirit's work that we become more like Christ and through whom we desire that others will come to faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us of sin (John 16:8), who regenerates us (John 3:5-6), who gives us the assurance of salvation (Romans 8:16), who enlightens our minds (John 16:13), who changes us (2 Corinthians 3:18), who makes us fruitful (Galatians 5:22-23), who gives us the gift (1 Corinthians 12:7) and who empowers us for the work of the Lord (Acts 1:8).
He is also the one who changes our 'head knowledge' into 'heart knowledge' so that we can be changed by our knowledge of Christ. Ultimately, the main task of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to live the life Christ died to give us.
Finally, the Holy Spirit works in
us through the Word, through prayer, through fellowship with believers. The
operation of the Holy Spirit is rarely a highly emotional experience. The
primary way the Holy Spirit works is through common means (Word, prayer,
fellowship with believers) that He supernaturally uses to ultimately lead us to
Christ and Christlikeness.
So the question is: How do I know if the Holy Spirit is in me? Well, every believer has the Holy Spirit, without exception. It is impossible to come to faith without the action of the Holy Spirit, which is why He is in you. But if your question is: What is the evidence of that? Then there is a visible sign of it: (a) You will be led and desire to walk in the ways of God, (b) the Fruit of the Spirit will become more visible day by day in your life, (c) you will Embrace Jesus Christ by faith, recognize His dignity and desire to be conformed to Him.
The believer is not a perfect person. Surely there is still work in each of
us (in some still a lot), but there is no doubt that the one in whom the Holy
Spirit dwells, will not only notice these signs in his life himself, but that
other people will see it too. Ultimately, the work of the Holy Spirit is to
lift up Christ and work in us a desire to be conformed to Christ. If you
experience these things, you can know that the Holy Spirit is in you and you
are a child of God on the way to eternal rest.
ds. Leon Harmse
Pastor of Sunward Park Baptist Church