Carol Swenson
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Beloved Holy Spirit
I. His ministry concerning the Christian. The instant an unsaved person prays, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” the Holy Spirit immediately effects a five-fold work in him.
1. The Holy Spirit regenerates the believing sinner. He literally recreates him and gives him the nature of God. The Holy Spirit thus functions as a divine “midwife” to the repenting sinner as he ushers him into the kingdom of God. This is accomplished by the instrument of “water,” which is symbolic language for the Word of God. The following passages bear this out:
“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” (Titus 3:5).
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Jn. 3:3-7).
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pet. 1:23).
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures” (Jas. 1:18).
2. The Holy Spirit baptizes the believing sinner. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3, 4).
“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” (1 Cor. 12:13).
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27).
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:4, 5).
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12).
The question is often asked: Does a person have to be baptized to be saved? The answer is an emphatic yes—but not by water baptism. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s placing the believer into the body of Christ is twofold:
a. He does it to answer Christ’s prayer for Christian unity.
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (Jn. 17:21).
b. He does it to prepare a bride for Christ, composed of all believers saved from Pentecost until the rapture.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).
“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).
“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” (1 Cor. 12:13).
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:27).
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23).
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Eph. 4:4).
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12).
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Eph. 5:23).
“For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph. 5:30).
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body: and be ye thankful” (Col. 3:15).
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2).
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God” (Rev. 19:6-9).
3. The Holy Spirit indwells the believing sinner. In other words, he not only joins us to the Savior (through the baptism), but he joins himself to us. Jesus, prior to his crucifixion, predicted both of these ministries. He said:
“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me [the baptizing], and I in you [the indwelling]” (Jn. 14:20).
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2:12).
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16).
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (Jn. 14:16).
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)” (Jn. 7:37-39).
“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” (Rom. 8:9).
“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” (1 Jn. 3:24).
The purpose of this indwelling ministry is to control the newly created nature.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:16-18).
“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16).
4. The Holy Spirit seals the believing sinner.
“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:22).
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
The presence of the Holy Spirit himself seems to be the seal here, who is given by the Father to assure the believer of his eternal salvation. This seal is also referred to as an earnest.
“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:22).
“Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 5:5).
“Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:14).
5. The Holy Spirit fills the believing sinner.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
A great deal of controversy and misunderstanding throughout church history has come into existence concerning this ministry of the Holy Spirit. For example, what is the difference between the indwelling and the filling of the Holy Spirit? To aid in understanding this vital distinction, consider the following illustration.
A guest is invited into a home. But upon entering that home he is immediately confined to a small room somewhere near the front door. For awhile, he may even be forgotten by his host. Finally, however, the owner of the house is convicted concerning his shabby treatment of the house guest. He thereupon gives his guest free access to every room in the house.
In this illustration the Holy Spirit is, of course, the invited guest. The host is the believing sinner, and the house stands for his life. The difference then between the in-dwelling and the filling is the difference between being confined in a small room somewhere and being given free access to all the rooms.
The filling, therefore, does not mean the believer gets more of the Holy Spirit, but rather the Holy Spirit gets more of the believer.
In the light of these five ministries we may observe that:
6. All five of these ministries happen instantaneously to the believing sinner. They all occur by faith and are not in the least dependent upon one’s personal emotional feelings at the time.
7. The first four ministries can never be lost, and therefore need not be and should not be asked for again. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to ask God to baptize us by his Spirit, or to seal us with his Spirit, or to regenerate and indwell us. If a man has accepted Christ, he has for all eternity been regenerated, indwelled, baptized, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
8. The fifth ministry, however, can be lost, and therefore should be asked for as many times as needed. The following passages bring this out:
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).
Believers in the book of Acts experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit often in their lives.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel” (Acts 4:8).
“Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business” (Acts 6:3).
“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).
“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:17).
“For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord” (Acts 11:24).
“Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him” (Acts 13:9)
“And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 13:52).
9. The first four ministries give us peace with God.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
But the fifth ministry assures us the peace of God.
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
Thus, all Christians, regardless of how backslidden they might be, enjoy peace with God, but only Spirit-controlled believers can know that blessed peace of God.
10. In Acts 2:13 and in Ephesians 5:18 a comparison is made between being filled with the Spirit and being filled with wine.
“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2:13).
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).
In all fairness, a comparison can be made between these two:
a. Both control the user and give him a new boldness, one in the good sense and the other in the bad sense of the word.
b. Both produce a desire for more.
11. The fifth ministry is lost whenever disobedience is found in the life of the believer. This disobedience may manifest itself in either (or both) of the following ways:
a. The sin of quenching the Holy Spirit. “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).
This sin involves not doing that which the Holy Spirit would have us do. It is negative in nature. The same word is used elsewhere in reference to the putting out of a fire.
“A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment into victory” (Mt. 12:20).
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16).
“Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Heb. 11:34).
b. The sin of grieving the Holy Spirit.
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
This sin involves doing that which the Holy Spirit would not have us do. It is positive in nature.
To illustrate: A believer boards a plane in Chicago for Los Angeles and finds himself seated next to an unsaved man. In flight the Holy Spirit attempts to witness to the unsaved man through the testimony of the Christian, but he remains silent and fails to witness. At this point, the believer has quenched the Holy Spirit. He has not done that which the Spirit of God wanted him to do.
As the flight continues, however, the two men introduce themselves and begin talking, but not about spiritual things. In fact, to the shame of the Christian, several off-color stories are passed between the two men. Now the saved man has gone the second step and grieved the Holy Spirit—he has done that which the Holy Spirit did not want him to do.
These two sins, if left unchecked for a long period of time, can eventually lead to that “sin unto death” as described in the following passages:
“To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5).
The sin unto death in this case was immorality on the part of a totally carnal believer in Corinth.
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Cor. 11:30).
In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, gross dishonesty and blatant hypocrisy led to the sin unto death (Acts 5:1-11). That Ananias was indeed a believer is proven by the question Peter asked him:
“Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost… ?” (Acts 5:3).
The sin unto death does not mean one loses salvation, but it does imply the possibility that God will remove him from the scene down here earlier than originally planned. This seemed to have been in the thoughts of Paul when he wrote:
“I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Cor. 9:26, 27).
12. The fifth ministry may (and should be) instantly regained. This can be accomplished:
a. By knowing God’s means of forgiveness and cleansing—the blood of Christ.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7).
b. By knowing God’s method of forgiveness and cleansing—the confession of the Christian.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
This confession is absolutely vital, for while Christ’s blood will cleanse us from all sins, it will not cleanse us from a single excuse.
God does not demand golden vessels, nor does he require silver ones, but he must have clean ones. Thus the union with the Spirit is so strong that nothing can break it, but the communion with the Spirit is so fragile that the smallest sin can shatter it.
Consider another illustration: A family leaves California to visit friends in New York. The first half of their trip is rather uneventful, but while they are in the Chicago area, their automobile breaks down. After some difficulty, the services of a mechanic are secured and the car is repaired. What action does the family take now? Does the driver head back for California and take another run for New York? All would agree that this, of course, would be sheer stupidity. What does this family do? They simply continue on from the spot where they first broke down.
This little travel story has a direct application to the Spirit-filled life. When God saves a man, he puts him on the road to heaven. For a while the trip may go smoothly for the new convert. But there will come a time when he will break down somewhere along the line. Perhaps the spiritual motor trouble will be caused by some angry words, or a wicked deed, or some careless act. The Spirit has been quenched and grieved and all forward progress ceases immediately. There the man sits.
What should he do? He should immediately secure the services of that divine mechanic, the Holy Spirit. If he confesses his sins and depends upon Christ’s blood, his broken testimony will once again be restored. Then what should the believer do? The answer is obvious, of course; but there is a false concept among Christians today that once a child of God sins (particularly if it is a serious sin) he automatically loses all previous progress and must start all over. This simply is not the case! The secret of the Spirit-filled life is the knowledge that broken fellowship can be instantly restored by confession and by Christ’s blood.
13. The fifth ministry assures the believer of the following blessings:
a. The Holy Spirit will pray for him.
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26).
In the original text, the word “infirmities” is in the singular. Thus the one infirmity in mind here is our inability to pray as we ought to pray. It is for this reason that the Spirit comes to our aid. However, it should be kept in mind that the Bible says he “helpeth” us, which simply means he desires the Christian to do his part also. Therefore, to be effectively prayed for, we ourselves must pray.
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20).
“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18).
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Eph. 6:18).
b. The Holy Spirit will guide him.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (Jn. 16:13).
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
c. The Holy Spirit will teach him.
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 Jn. 2:27).
d. The Holy Spirit will empower him for witnessing.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
e. The Holy Spirit will impart the love of Christ to him and through him.
“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5).
f. The Holy Spirit will conform him to the image of Christ.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).
The ultimate goal and stated intention of the Father is to conform the believer throughout eternity into the image of Christ. This is made clear in such passages as Philippians 3:21 and 1 John 3:2. But God the Spirit desires to start this glorious work in each child of God at the moment of salvation. (See Phil. 3:10.)
g. The Holy Spirit will strengthen his new nature.
“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16).
This he does through Bible study (1 Pet. 2:2) and prayer (Jude 1:20).
h. The Holy Spirit will reveal biblical truth to him.
“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).
i. The Holy Spirit will assure him concerning salvation and service.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16).
“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” (1 Jn. 3:24).
j. The Holy Spirit will give him liberty.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
k. The Holy Spirit will fill his mouth with appropriate things.
“But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost” (Mk. 13:11).
Several instances come to mind in the book of Acts where this blessed prophecy was fulfilled. See Acts 4:8-22; 5:29-33; 7:55.
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