Dear Friend,

After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared on the earth forty days. He appeared to His believers many times. Before He ascended back into Heaven, the Lord Jesus said,

“You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8).

• Who is the Holy Spirit?
• What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit living in us?
• What does it mean to be “baptized in the Spirit”?

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. The one true and living God is in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a “force” or a mere influence; He is a Person! He is God the Holy Spirit.

Thus far every step in our Christian life has been brought about by the blessed Holy Spirit. We were born into God’s family by the Spirit. We have spiritual life by the Holy Spirit. We know that we are the children of God by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?

The great purpose of the Holy Spirit who lives in us is to glorify the Lord Jesus. His primary concern is not us or our service for God. The great desire of God the Father and the Holy Spirit is that all may honor and love the Son. Jesus said,

“When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth…He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you” (John 16:13-14).

The Holy Spirit is a gift.

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to each and every person who believes on His Son, regardless of age, sex, condition, intelligence or former manner of life. There is nothing God so delights in as to give the Holy Spirit. It is His longing and His joy to give the Spirit to us. You do not have to work for a gift, pay for it, or struggle for it. You simply receive a gift with thanks.

The Holy Spirit dwells in every child of God.

Because they do not know the Scriptures, many of God’s children beg and plead with God to send His Holy Spirit. They do not realize that God has already sent the Holy Spirit into the world, and that He dwells in every child of God.

There is not one believer in the Lord Jesus Christ in whom the Holy Spirit does not dwell. The Bible says,

“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

This glorious fact that the Holy Spirit lives in us, when known and acted upon, makes the difference between success and failure in the Christian life. There is a world of difference between saying that you believe in the Holy Spirit and knowing that He lives in you. A beloved Bible teacher shares his experience with us:

We have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Before He ascended back into Heaven, the Lord Jesus promised His disciples that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. He said,

“For John indeed baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5).

The word “baptize” means to “immerse” or “dip under.” When John the Baptist baptized with water, he dipped the people under the water. When they went under the water they were immersed in water.

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were all together in one place. Suddenly the Holy Spirit came like a mighty rushing wind, and filled the house where they were sitting. This was the baptism in the Holy Spirit which the Lord Jesus promised. They were baptized [immersed], not in water, but in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Something else happened—the Church was formed! On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit united all the believers into one spiritual body—the Body of Christ.

Through the Holy Spirit, the believers were baptized or put into one Body. Before this, they were individual, separate believers, but now they were “the Church”—the spiritual Body of Christ.

On that day, the gospel was preached, and about three thousand people believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved. The Holy Spirit put these new believers into the Church—the spiritual Body of Christ. After this, others were saved daily, and they, too, were added to the Body of Christ. The Bible says,

“And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 5:14).

Now, whenever a person believes on the Lord Jesus, he is saved and baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,

“For by one Spirit are we [all believers] baptized into one body…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The death of Christ on the cross was a once-for-all act. It will never be repeated. Christ’s resurrection was a once-for-all event. It can never be repeated. Christ’s ascension into Heaven and being exalted to the right hand of God is a once-for-all event. It will never be repeated. Likewise, our being baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit is a once-for-all action. It never needs to be repeated. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God's “seal.”

The Bible says,

“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

One purpose of a seal is to identify. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit identifies us as belonging to God. It distinguishes us from the unsaved people of the world. The Bible says,

“If any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9b).

I have a new power.

Every Christian has the old sin nature which the Bible calls “the flesh.” There is a “law” or principle about the flesh which is very powerful and it is always pulling us down. It is called “the law of sin and death.” No matter how hard I try, I can never overcome this “law” in my own strength.

God delivers us from “the law of sin and death” by giving us the Spirit of His Son. The Bible says,

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).

I have the Spirit of Christ and the law of His life which makes me superior to the law of sin and death. The “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” is the most powerful law of all. The Bible says,

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

I have a new power! I can sin, but I do not have to sin. I can say “no” to sin. I have the power through the Holy Spirit to turn from it. The Bible says,

“Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

“Walk in the Spirit”

As Christians, there are two powers within us—the flesh and the Spirit, so there will always be two ways before us. We can “walk in the flesh,” or we can “walk in the Spirit.”

To walk in the flesh means to allow the flesh to rule and express itself. When we allow the flesh to rule, we are capable of committing the terrible sins listed in Galatians 5:19-21. There is not one sin of the flesh that we are not capable of committing. This is why the Bible says,

“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

What does it mean to “walk in the Spirit”? First, it is a walk, not a work. I am no longer struggling to please God and failing continually, like I once did. Instead, I am quietly and restfully depending on the Spirit of Christ to do in me what I cannot do myself. When I do this, the Holy Spirit takes over, and “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Second, to “walk in the Spirit” means that I am subject to the Holy Spirit. He is my “Resident Boss.” As long as I obey Him, I enjoy all the riches of Christ. If I sin, I will lose my joy. I have grieved the Holy Spirit. What do I do? I go to God at once and confess that sin to Him. I claim His forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9.

The one thing that every Christian needs to know today is that the Holy Spirit lives in him. To many Christians, the Holy Spirit is not real; they think of Him as just an influence for good. They fail to realize the greatness of the Person who lives in their hearts.

The Spirit of God who dwells in me is not some “force.” He is a Person. He is God! He is God the Holy Spirit. The infinite God dwells in my heart! The Bible says,

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God…” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Dear friend, will you believe God’s Word? Begin today thanking Him that He lives in you. You carry God in your heart. Say to yourself many times a day, “The Spirit of God who lives in me is a Person. He is God! I carry God in my heart! Thank You, blessed Holy Spirit, that You live in my heart.”

Eventually King Saul and Jonathan, his son, were killed in battle. David wept when he received this news. David became Israel’s new king.

David was 30 years old when he began to reign over all Israel. God preserved David wherever he went. David never lost a battle! Every enemy of Israel was defeated and subdued. David became Israel’s greatest king.

But the time came when David sinned greatly. David’s army had gone to battle, but David tarried in Jerusalem. One night, while walking on the roof of the king’s house, David saw a woman bathing herself. She was very beautiful.

David inquired about her name. He was told that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was one of David’s mighty warriors, and he was away fighting their enemies.

David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came, he had sex with her, and she returned to her house. Bathsheba conceived and sent word to David, and said, “I am with child.”

David sent word to Joab, his commander to send Uriah to him. David wanted Uriah to go to his own house and sleep with his wife, but Uriah slept with the servants in David’s house. He said, “My lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camped in open fields. How can I go to my house, and eat and drink, and lie with my wife? I will not do this thing.”

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. In his letter David said, “Set Uriah in the front, in the hottest battle, and retire from him, that he may be smitten and die.” Joab did as David had said, and Uriah was killed in battle.

After the time of Bathsheba’s mourning for her husband was past, David brought her to his house, and she became his wife. Seemingly, David had covered up his sin, but God saw what David had done, and it displeased Him.

God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sins of adultery and murder. David was truly convicted of his sins. Psalm 51 describes the depths of David’s repentance. David said to God,

“Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

God always forgives us when we confess our sins with a broken heart, but we have to live with the consequences. We will reap what we sow. The Bible says,

“…whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

God said that David was a man after His own heart. Although his private sins were grievous, David stood like a rock for God. He never turned away from God. Above all, he loved God with all his heart. The Lord Jesus said the greatest of all commandments is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

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