The Holy Spirit

The involvement of the Holy Spirit in salvation

Nobody can come to Jesus unless they are drawn by the father

John 6:44 ESV

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:65 ESV

65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

draw ἑλκύω (Hell-q-yo)

negative connotation

John 21:6 ESV

6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

John 21:11 ESV

11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Acts 16:19 ESV

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

Why does God need to draw us to salvation?

We are dead in our sin.

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Romans 3:10–13 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”

We are hostile to God

Romans 8:7 ESV

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Even our most righteous acts cannot earn us favor

Isaiah 64:6 ESV

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

But we can rationalize it.

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

So, we need a savior, we need a rescuer. Christ is our redeemer, but how do we come to know/understand/embrace that? We have to be drawn.

So, how is one “drawn”

Conviction of sin

John 16:7–8 ESV

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

Acknowledgement of Christ as Lord

1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV

3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Regeneration

Titus 3:5–6 ESV

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Indwells the believer

Romans 8:9 ESV

9 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.

1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

13 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.

Sealing of the Holy Spirit

This happens at the time of salvation. We are signed, sealed and delivered.

Sealing is a successor to salvation.

John 6:38–40 (ESV)

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:44 (ESV)

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-the-baptism-of-the-holy-spirit

Heard, believed, sealed. not at a later date.

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

13 In him 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 ESV

21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Sanctification

1 Peter 1:2 ESV

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit

Happens once at time of conversion

Ephesians 4:4–6 ESV

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Places the believer into the body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

13 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.

Involves the receiving of the Holy Spirit as a seal and a promise

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

13 In him 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

There is never a command in scripture:

to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit

to be sealed by the Holy Spirit

to be baptized by the Holy Spirit

Baptism in the spirit is something God does, not man. However, we are commanded by God to be filled with the spirit.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life

Filling with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:17–19 ESV

17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Notice the distinction between drunkenness and spirit filled.

πληρόω ple-uh-row (to be influenced by, or under the influence of)

The filling of the spirit is not:

Being baptized b the Holy Spirit

being indwelt by or receiving the Holy Spirit

being sealed or secured by the Holy Spirit.

We are commanded to be filled,

The command is present tense, imperative, with no assessment of completion....continuing.