On top of all of the blessings we have so far considered, God has put the seal of the Holy Spirit on everything He has done in His Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of lost sinners. “In whom also, having believed, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13; cf. 2 Cor. 1:22). A seal is a final confirmation from an authorised party. All who have believed the gospel of salvation receive the Holy Spirit. He now testifies to the believer’s spirit that he is a child of God (Rom. 8:16). He wants to lead us into all the truth and to guide us on our journey of faith (John 16:13; Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18). Although we can grieve Him and even practically quench Him in His effect (or suppress or dampen Him) – which is very serious – the sealing remains (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19).
The Lord Jesus said:
“And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him; but you know him, for he abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16–17).
This divine Advocate (or Solicitor, Comforter, Supporter) will therefore never be taken away from us. Christ is our Advocate with the Father in heaven, and the Holy Spirit (the “other comforter”) in us is our Advocate on earth. These are two wonderful facts of Christian faith!
Today, however, the Holy Spirit not only dwells in every single redeemed person, but when He came to earth He baptized and united all believers into one body (Acts 2; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4). Every redeemed person receives the Holy Spirit and thereby becomes a member of this body, which includes every one of the children of God. The assembly, as the body of Christ, presents to us the unity of all the redeemed, with Christ as Head and believers as members one of another. At the same time, as “living stones”, together they form a “holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together as a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:5). The Holy Spirit will never depart from us, a member of the body of Christ can never be “cut off”, and a living stone can never be broken out of the house of God. The language of the Scriptures is unambiguous. Losing the Holy Spirit is impossible, even though some believers fear it, citing the words of David in Psalm 51:11: “take not the Spirit of your holiness from me.” In so doing, they overlook the fact that no believer in Old Testament times had the Holy Spirit dwelling within him as in the present time of grace. Repeatedly it is said that people were filled with the Spirit of God, that He came upon them, even that He was in them, but never that He dwelt in them (Gen. 41:38; Ex. 31:3; Num. 24:2).
The Holy Spirit
On top of all of the blessings we have so far considered, God has put the seal of the Holy Spirit on everything He has done in His Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of lost sinners. “In whom also, having believed, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13; cf. 2 Cor. 1:22). A seal is a final confirmation from an authorised party. All who have believed the gospel of salvation receive the Holy Spirit. He now testifies to the believer’s spirit that he is a child of God (Rom. 8:16). He wants to lead us into all the truth and to guide us on our journey of faith (John 16:13; Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18). Although we can grieve Him and even practically quench Him in His effect (or suppress or dampen Him) – which is very serious – the sealing remains (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19).
The Lord Jesus said:
“And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him; but you know him, for he abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16–17).
This divine Advocate (or Solicitor, Comforter, Supporter) will therefore never be taken away from us. Christ is our Advocate with the Father in heaven, and the Holy Spirit (the “other comforter”) in us is our Advocate on earth. These are two wonderful facts of Christian faith!
Today, however, the Holy Spirit not only dwells in every single redeemed person, but when He came to earth He baptized and united all believers into one body (Acts 2; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4). Every redeemed person receives the Holy Spirit and thereby becomes a member of this body, which includes every one of the children of God. The assembly, as the body of Christ, presents to us the unity of all the redeemed, with Christ as Head and believers as members one of another. At the same time, as “living stones”, together they form a “holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together as a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:5). The Holy Spirit will never depart from us, a member of the body of Christ can never be “cut off”, and a living stone can never be broken out of the house of God. The language of the Scriptures is unambiguous. Losing the Holy Spirit is impossible, even though some believers fear it, citing the words of David in Psalm 51:11: “take not the Spirit of your holiness from me.” In so doing, they overlook the fact that no believer in Old Testament times had the Holy Spirit dwelling within him as in the present time of grace. Repeatedly it is said that people were filled with the Spirit of God, that He came upon them, even that He was in them, but never that He dwelt in them (Gen. 41:38; Ex. 31:3; Num. 24:2).
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