THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SALVATION OF BELIEVERS
Preface:
Not until men yearn to escape the sins of the world and the inevitable pains and death in life, have they grown a heart of repentance and thoughts of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ with the ultimate goal of obtaining salvation. However, the goal of salvation cannot be achieved by mere declarations of one’s belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like everything else, success can only be attained by following a prescribed order, step-by-step, in an accurate manner with persistent aspirations, striving to move forward. Otherwise, our hopes will be mere wishful thinking while our goals vanish and success will elude us.
The first step to salvation is repentance and baptism. By the power of water, one is born again so that he shall be able to appear before the Lord with a good conscience.
1Pet. 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Nonetheless, success is not achieved even when one puts away the old man and is renewed, eliminates fleshly dross, seeks to understand the Scriptures or strives to reach a spotless and wrinkleless condition like the perfect state of the Lord Jesus Christ, if he has not received the Holy Spirit. As spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3,5).
The example set by the Lord Jesus Christ is the way to salvation, thus, we should follow in His footsteps and emulate Him. We should guard ourselves to continue in the Lord Jesus Christ’s path forever and not be entangled by fleshly desires. The Lord Jesus Christ said “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
The Lord Jesus Christ set many examples for us and due to the wide scope, we shall only focus on the relevant point here. The four Books of the Gospels record the beginning of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
After the Lord Jesus Christ underwent baptism, He went up straightaway out of the water and the heavens were opened to Him; thereafter, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, lighted upon Him and there was a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16-17). This was the first example set by the Lord Jesus Christ and it is the most important one of all. After baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and overcame the temptations (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life) of the devil in the wilderness. Therefore, every word and every deed of the Lord Jesus Christ have become the greatest examples to mankind in the pursuit of eternal salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ said “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. As such, the Holy Spirit is very crucial for the salvation of believers. Being those who hope for salvation, how can we not understand the relationship between the Holy Spirit and salvation and to steadfastly pursue after it?
Here, we shall discuss the broad outline of why believers cannot be saved if they do not rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.
1.There Is No Guarantee Of Salvation Without The Holy Spirit
Salvation is the escape from this sinful and mortal world of pain into the bright and holy kingdom where no deaths or sorrows can be found. Thus, being saved means being able to enter into the heavenly kingdom; having entered the heavenly kingdom means salvation has been obtained.
As mentioned by Paul, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his…” (2Tim 2:19 U.P.).
From this Bible verse we understand that the Lord only knows those who have His seal. Those who do not have the seal will not be known by the Lord and hence they will not be able to enter the heavenly kingdom and be called the people of God. Paul said, “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). As such, it is impossible for us to be saved and enter the kingdom of God if we do not possess the seal of the Holy Spirit.
2.One Cannot Receive The Inheritance Without The Holy Spirit
Inheritance is the accumulated possessions bequeathed by a father to his children. Inheritance is only given to the children, and others shall have no part with it. The inheritance of the world is no more than houses and lands, gold and silver; wealth which is like drifting clouds and fleeting frost, eaten by moth and seized by men. These things are temporary and corruptible that will disappear in an instant.
Eccl. 5:14-15 14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
1Cor. 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Pet. 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you
The greatness of this inheritance cannot be described by mere words. Since we truly desire this inheritance, how can we obtain this precious inheritance without conditions?
Paul said, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1Cor. 15:50).
This is the condition that we must fulfil in order to receive the precious inheritance. God is a spirit, thus all who are His are in the spirit and incorruptible. However, our bodies are of flesh and blood which is corruptible. That which is corruptible cannot inherit the incorruptible; hence we must transform our corruptible bodies into an incorruptible spirit in order to receive the precious inheritance.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The fleshly and spiritual boundaries are strictly and distinctly drawn with no traces of ambiguity. According to the traditions of the world, only children can become heirs to the inheritance. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven can only be inherited by heirs.
Gal. 4:6-7 6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Eph. 1:13-14 13In 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, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
From these Bible verses, we understand that the Holy Spirit is indeed the guarantee of our inheritance. Thus, we must pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that our bodies will be transformed and we can become the children of God.
3.One Cannot Understand The Truth Without The Holy Spirit
The truth is the word of God which is essential to the life of believers. Only by the words of God are we able to overcome the deceits and temptations of the devil which is in the spirit. For our enemy is not in the flesh, hence we will not be able to withstand if we do not have the spiritual truth and the Holy Spirit. As Paul said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:12-13).
The armour of God includes His truth for His truth is living and powerful.
Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Therefore, only through the truth and the Holy Spirit can we discern the trickery of the spiritual wickedness and darkness of this world so that we will not succumb to temptations and fall into snares, being able to rely on the power of the words of God to triumph over them.
4.One Cannot Be Sanctified And Justified Without The Holy Spirit
God is a holy and bright spirit and all who belong to His heavenly kingdom are holy and bright. However men are born of flesh and blood and therefore are full of sin, filth and darkness. For the spirit and the flesh cannot mingle; the clean and unclean are not in agreement, and there is no fellowship between light and darkness, thus God and men can never be close together. As Paul said, “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” (2Cor. 6:14-15).
God belongs to the light and is holy. We will be able to draw near to Him only if we transform our unclean bodies into the likeness of God which is bright and holy. Paul said, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”. (Heb. 12:14)
Eph. 4:21-2421If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The deeds of the old man were formerly dominated by sins and were stirred by deceitful lusts of the flesh. Lust is born of sin and ultimately heeds sin to become a slave of sin; hence all of the old man’s deeds are of sin. This represents a great obstacle in our endeavour to preserve ourselves in the truth of God and in our pursuit of eternal salvation.
The old man may put us into the realm of wickedness once again if we become careless. Hence, we ought to strive to put off the old man and put on the new man, which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Since lust is of the devil, we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to subdue it gradually and to eventually get rid of lust.
The Bible tells us to “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit…” (1Pet. 1:2 U.P.) for “...we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” (2Thess. 2:13). These Bible verses confirm that sanctification can only be obtained by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit helps us to put away the lust of the flesh and sanctifies us so that we can be justified before God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”(1Cor. 6:11)
If we are sanctified and justified before our Lord God, we will then be able to draw near to Him.
The discussion above is merely a brief outline regarding the Holy Spirit and salvation but it is sufficient to inform us of the importance of the correlation between the Holy Spirit and salvation.
(Extracts from Holy Spirit Times - 1936 Volume:11 No:1,2)