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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Who Has the Spirit |
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Acts
2:1-11 Whitsuntide May
11, 2008 Fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ comes another day that, with Christmas, Easter, and Ascension, divides time. We call it “Pentecost,” or, “Whitsuntide.” Why do I rank it with Christmas, Easter, and Ascension? And why do I call it a day that divides time? Because it was on this day that the Holy Spirit of God came to indwell Christ’s Church. Christ said He would not leave us orphans when He returned to the Father. He promised He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell with us and in us. Just as Christ was “God with us,” so the Holy Spirit would come, and He would be Christ with us. That promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. We could, in fact, say that the real “New Deal,” the real “New Era,” the real “New Age,” the real “New World Order,” is the reign of Christ on earth in the hearts and lives of His people through the Holy Spirit, and that it began on Pentecost. It was on that day that the Apostles finally, by the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit, understood what Christ had been telling them for the last three years of His life. It was on Pentecost that they finally understood that He came to establish a spiritual Kingdom and to give His life as the ransom for our sin. It was on Pentecost that this Gospel of Christ was publicly and openly proclaimed by the Apostles, and it was on Pentecost that people first heard and believed the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ. All of the Old Testament promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ and His Church, and Pentecost is the beginning of that Age of Fulfillment. I will talk about this more at a future date, for this is one of the most exciting doctrines in this book of miraculous doctrines we call the Holy Bible. Today I want to dwell upon issues that have become probing and distressing questions in the minds of many regarding the Holy Spirit. These questions are; “Who has the Holy Spirit?” and “How can I know that I have the Holy Spirit?” Who has the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit came to give knowledge, yet in no other area of the knowledge of God are people more ignorant than in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. This is because from the very beginning there have been those who mistakenly believe that the Baptism of the Spirit is an emotional experience accompanied by supernatural signs, chief of which is “the gift of tongues.” Their teachings go something like this:
It is important that you know that the New Testament books of First and Second Corinthians, along with certain parts of the book of Galatians were written to refute these ideas. These books have been misunderstood by those who call for speaking in tongues today. So let me answer the question of who has the Holy Spirit by saying unequivocally that all Christians have the Holy Spirit. Let me say that again in a slightly different way; all born-again believers, all who have trusted in Christ alone as their Lord and Saviour, all who have received Christ by faith, have been baptized in, with, of, and by the Holy Spirit of God. This is true because all real Christians are members of that mystical body which the New Testament calls the “Church.” I will talk more about the Church at another time. For now simply allow me to say that being a Christian necessarily puts us in a relationship with other Christians, and this is the will and plan of God who calls these Christians, and this relationship, His Body, and His Church. This is very important because the Holy Spirit was given to the Church. When Christ told the Apostles in John 15:26 that He would send the Holy Spirit to them He was talking to them collectively, not individually. He was telling them He would send the Spirit to them as to one body. This is why in 1 Corinthians 3:16 the Apostle Paul, calling the Church the temple of God, says “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.” The Holy Spirit is given to the Church and the Holy Spirit dwells in the Church. The Holy Spirit lives here, in us, collectively as the Body of Christ. Individual believers, then, by virtue of being members of Christ and His body, have the Holy Spirit. But Paul also says in First Corinthians 6:19 that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is obviously written to individuals and refers to each of us separately. Is this a contradiction? No. Think of yourself as a living stone in the spiritual building which is the House of God, or the Church (2 Pt. 2:5). In that sense, that is, as being a part of the larger Church, each one of us has the Holy Spirit, and each one of us is also a temple of the Spirit. But the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit, are still given in our connection with the larger body of believers and are given for the purpose of building up, or, edifying, the whole body in love, (Eph. 4:16). If you have not the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 8:10, “ye are none of His.” In other words, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit in you, you do not belong to Christ. You are not a Christian. The great question the Apostles put to the Christians, after the Spirit had fully come on Jewish, Samaritan, and Gentile Christians, was not, “do you have the Holy Spirit?” but, “are you walking by the Spirit?” And the great exhortation was not to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and, thus to have some kind of emotional experience, but to walk in the Spirit, which means to trust in Christ and keep His commandments (see Gal. 5:16-25). So, who has the Holy Spirit? All true Christians have the Holy Spirit. All Christians have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. How can I know that I have the Holy Spirit? In view of the great controversy and confusion created by those of the charismatic/pentecostal faith, this is a valid question for us today. And the answer is; if you are a Christian, you can know that you have the Holy Spirit because God has said so. Let me reiterate the Scripture passages already referenced so far. The Church is the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in it, 1 Corinthians 3:16. You, as a member of the Church, are a living stone in the spiritual building that is the Church, 2 Peter 2:5, so the Holy Spirit dwells in you. The Holy Spirit and His gifts are given to the Church for the edification, or building up, of itself in love, Ephesians 4:16. As a member of the Church, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19. And, finally, if you do not have the Holy Spirit, that is, if you have not been baptized in, with, of, and by the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to Christ, Romans 8:10. These verses cannot be logically interpreted to mean anything other than that the Holy Spirit indwells all true Christians. Let me now add two more verses in support of this. In Ephesians 1 Paul is telling us that we who have believed in Christ have been sealed with the “Holy Spirit of promise,” (1:13). In verse 14 of that same chapter he tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “earnest” of our inheritance. Our inheritance is everything God has willed, and promised us in Christ. It is forgiveness. It is new life here and now. It is hope for the future and help for today. It is the joy and bliss of Heaven forever. It is the presence of God forever. That is our inheritance in Christ. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is the down payment on that inheritance. The Spirit is the earnest money, the pledge, the cash advance. Paul is using a term from the financial world to illustrate the truth of our relationship to God, and the Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance to enjoy now until we receive the full amount in Heaven forever. That is the meaning of the word, “earnest” in Ephesians 1:14. So, how can you know you have the Holy Spirit? God says you do. Second, you know you have the Holy Spirit if you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Galatians 5:22-23 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. The Bible never says that everyone should speak in tongues. When Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 12:30, “do all speak with tongues?” he is using a Greek form that demands “no” for an answer. We would probably ask it, “All Christians don’t speak in tongues do they?” But when he lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, and then exhorts us in verse 25 of that same chapter that, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit,” he is telling us in no uncertain terms that the fruit of the Spirit is for all Christians, every single one of us from the Apostles to you and me and all Christians throughout all generations. Furthermore, the fruit of the Spirit, not ecstatic experiences or speaking in unknown tongues, but the fruit of the Spirit, is the proof, not only of the fact that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but also that we live in Christ and Christ lives in us. How amazing the truth of God is. People keep trying to turn truth into experience, or to prove it by experience. We try so hard to turn Christianity into feelings and emotions. We try so hard to reduce God to thrills and chills and smells and bells. But don’t look for feelings and emotions and moving experiences and thrills to convince you that you have the Holy Spirit. Simply trust the Bible. Simply ask yourself if you truly repent of your sins and unfeignedly believe the Gospel of Christ. If the answer is yes, then trust the Bible which says the Spirit dwells in you. If you are not sure that you have received Christ as your Saviour, or if you know you have not, please see me as soon as possible, for you have an important decision to make. Then ask yourself if the fruit of the Spirit is present in your life, and growing in your life. If you can say, “yes, by the grace of God it is,” you have the Holy Spirit. If you have doubts, or if you do not see this fruit in your life, please see me as soon as possible, for you also have an important decision to make. Let us pray. Holy Spirit, may your grace and power fill us with faith, that we, acting on the promises of Holy Scripture, may walk in holiness and serve you faithfully. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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