THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER’S LIFE

Baptism by the Holy Spirit

The secret to a successful, God-glorifying, powerful, sweet, courageous, victorious Christian life is correct alignment to the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life.  However, this work of the Holy Spirit is no more automatic than salvation is for the lost. We all were once lost, heard the Gospel, desired it with all our heart, repented of our plan for salvation, and then believed God’s plan of salvation through Jesus to become saved.  Consequently, we must hear the potentiality of the Holy Spirit working in the believer’s life, desire this with all of our heart, repent of our plan for living the Christian life, and then believe God for the work of the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus in our lives.  The purpose of this study is to help us properly align ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus in our lives.

Furthermore, much confusion exists concerning the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit.  That confusion does not exist in the Greek of the New Testament.  Consequently, allow me to lead you into what the Holy Scriptures say concerning the third person of the trinity – the Holy Spirit.

The English word “baptize” is not a translation of the Greek word, but only its transliteration.  In translating we bring the meaning of the word over into another language but in transliteration we only bring over the spelling of the word. Through a study of the original Koine Greek in the Bible and secular documents of this period we can derive the following original definition for the word baptism.

Baptism - The introduction or placing of a person into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition.

Therefore, the correct translation of the Greek word for baptism is “to place into.”  Let us now examine this definition in the context of the Holy Scriptures.

NKJ 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free -- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The body here is the spiritual Body of Christ of which Jesus is the head and all believers are the members.  The word “Spirit” is in the instrumental case that is used here to express personal agency .  The personal agent in this case, who does the baptizing, is the Holy Spirit.  He places or introduces the believing sinner into the Body of Christ.  The verb is in the past tense, referring to a past action, and is aorist, referring to a once-for-all act. 1 Corinthians 12:13a could then be translated as follows:

“By means of the personal agency of one Spirit, we all were placed into one body.”

Therefore, the purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to introduce a believing sinner into the Body of Christ once and for all time.  However, it is not the baptism with the Spirit, or of the Spirit, in the sense that the Holy Spirit is the element that is applied to us.  The baptism by the Holy Spirit brings the believer into vital union with Jesus Christ but does not bring the Holy Spirit to us or in us.  This means that “the baptism” is not for power, for in this baptism there is nothing applied to or given to the believer.  Again, the baptism places the believer once and for all time into the Body of Christ.  It is the baptism “with the Spirit” in the sense that God the Father does the baptizing through His personal agent – the Holy Spirit.

The Internal Anointing with the Holy Spirit

There are two Greek words that we translate as  “anoint” in the English Bible.  The first word is “aleipho” and it is used exclusively in the New Testament of the anointing with oil or ointment. 

Furthermore, this word is used to indicate anointing with oil for medicinal purposes or for protection of the body from the dry climate of the Middle East.  This word is also used of anointing with ointment that contains fragrance for protection of the body.

The following verse gives us an example of the use of this word for anointing:

NKJ James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

The meaning here is the application of oil for medicinal purposes.  The anointing oil is not used here to represent the Holy Spirit.  The Bible is pointing out two God-appointed resources in the case of illness – medical help and prayer.

The second Greek word is “chrio” which is never used with connection to anointing with oil but is used only of the anointing with the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.

We will look at the second Greek word “chrio” in the context of the Holy Scriptures.

NKJ 2 Corinthians 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

NKJ 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

NKJ 1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

The anointing in the believer’s life refers to the act of God the Father sending the Holy Spirit to take up permanent abode in our heart and this in answer to the prayer of God the Son.  It takes place once, at the time the sinner puts his faith in the Saviour, and is never needs to be repeated.   Consequently, the believer is saved forever – hallelujah!  However, the Holy Spirit does not anoint – He is the anointing Himself.  Furthermore, two of His ministries to the believer have been mentioned: teaching the believer the Word, and His work of giving the believer an innate ability to know in an intuitive way, spiritual things.  The phrase “you know all things” in 1 John 2:20 is more accurately “you all know.”

NKJ John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Therefore, the anointing with the Holy Spirit is when He comes to dwell permanently within the believer in order to begin the work of forming Jesus Messiah in our lives.  However, this work of forming Christ in us is not automatic in its nature.  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee the full efficacy of His work in us unless we desire and pursue it.

NKJ James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

The verb “dwell” is not from the Greek word that means “to take up one’s residence,” but from a closely related verb meaning “to cause to take up residence, to send or bring to an abode.”  The Holy Spirit does not of Himself take up residence in the believer.  God the Father causes him to do so in the believer’s life.  Furthermore, this verb has a preposition prefixed to it that means literally “down” and gives the idea of permanence.  This agrees with 1 John 2:27 where the word “abide” means “to abide” in the sense of “to remain.”   In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would “come upon” a person (external anointing) to empower them for service.  However, this ministry of the Holy Spirit did not change their character and He could be taken away.  Under the New Testament (internal anointing), the Holy Spirit never leaves the believer and is resident to begin the work of forming Christ, including His character, in our lives as we moment by moment yield to Him.

Consequently, it is not scriptural to pray for a fresh internal anointing of the Spirit.  However, we will see that praying for the fullness or control of the Holy Spirit is scriptural.

The Fullness of the Holy Spirit

We believers are commanded to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit; consequently, to not do so is a sin.

NKJ Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

However, we must not think of the Holy Spirit filling our hearts as gas fills the tank of a car. The Holy Spirit is not a substance to fill an empty receptacle. He is a Person to control another person, the believer. He does not fill a Christian’s life with Himself – He controls that person!  Furthermore, the heart of a Christian is not a receptacle to be emptied in order that the Holy Spirit might fill it.  The expression “filled with the Holy Spirit” speaks of the Holy Spirit possessing the mind and heart of the believer.  This possession implies His control over that mind and heart; therefore, to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be controlled by Him.  However, this is not an automatic process. The Holy Spirit does not automatically control the believer just because He indwells him.  There must be an ever-present conscious dependence upon and definite subjection to the Holy Spirit, a constant yielding to His ministry and leaning upon Him for guidance and power.  We must moment by moment yield our will to Him if He is to control the believer in the most efficient manner and with the largest and best results.

The condition of being filled with the Holy Spirit must not be a spasmodic thing in the life of a believer.  The command, “be filled (controlled) by the Spirit” is in a grammatical construction in Greek that speaks of a continuous process or state.  Furthermore, it is in the present imperative meaning that we are to be constantly, moment by moment, filled with the Holy Spirit.  God’s plan for the normal Christian life is that it should be a life that is constantly, consciously, and definitely subjected to the thoughts, words, and actions of the Holy Spirit.  This is a life that is unceasingly controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, the Christian needs this constant control of the Holy Spirit over his life if:

• he is to gain constant victory over sin;
• the Lord Jesus in His beauty and fragrance of character is to be radiated by the Holy Spirit through the life of the saint;
• the saint is to walk in the path of God’s will for him;
• he is to live a life of prayer (praying without ceasing);
• he expects to understand the Bible as he should.

Next we will look at what Jesus said in John Chapter seven about the Holy Spirit.  However, let us first examine the context of the chapter – Jesus is attending one of the feasts of Israel.  The nation of Israel was commanded to keep seven feasts each year.  The first month of the Jewish religious calendar contained three feasts that were held together: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits.  In the third Jewish month comes the Feast of Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks or Harvest).  In the seventh Jewish month, near the end of the year, there are three more feasts: Feast of Trumpets, Feast of the Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles (also called the Feast of Ingathering).  It is this last feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, which Jesus is attending in John chapter seven.

NKJ John 7:2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

The feast of tabernacles is the seventh feast celebrated in the seventh month for seven days.  This is a triad of sevens – 777.  Seven is the number for completeness, fulfillment, and perfection in the Bible.   At the end of each year, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the people of Israel came together before the Lord to celebrate the harvest.  They built booths, or makeshift tents, and for seven days they would together celebrate the ingathering of the harvest.  It was a feast of unity, harvest, and joy.

NKJ John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering) Jesus declares again that He is the only one that can provide true refreshment.  In context, Jesus is letting us know what will be necessary for us in the Great Harvest at the End of the Church Age – Christians completely yielded to the Holy Spirit!

Let us back up in the Gospel of John to the woman at the well:

NKJ John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?  12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Even if a person constantly drinks from the wells of the world they will forever be thirsty.  The lifeless, dull, brackish, polluted, stale water of sin will just keep you thirsty.  However, one drink from the Lord Jesus forever satisfies.  How can this be?  The one drink is itself a spring that ever keeps bubbling up, ever refreshing and satisfying the one who takes the drink of the water of life.  The spring is destined to turn into a river of living water.

So what is this living water?

NKJ John 7: 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The living water is the Holy Spirit who comes into a person’s life upon salvation.  He comes into our lives as a spring of water to satisfy our spiritual thirst.  However, He desires to be a river in our lives that will not only satisfy our spiritual thirst but also those with whom we share Jesus.  How does the spring inside that quenches our thirst become a river that will quench the thirst of others?

First, “If any man thirsts” refers to a desire on the part of the believer that the Holy Spirit be the One to control his every thought, word, and action.  We do not drink water unless we are thirsty.  Likewise, we do not appropriate the ministry of the Holy Spirit unless we desire Him to control us.  This desire for His control will, as a minimum, include a desire that He:

• will cause us to judge sin in our lives,
• put sin out of our lives and keep it out,
• separate us from all the ties we have with the system of evil known as the world,
• dethrone our self-life and enthrone the Lord Jesus as sovereign Lord and Master,
• produce in us His own fruit,
• make us Christ-like,
• lead us and teach us.

This desire for His control of our lives is a serious thing that involves crucifixion of self.  The Holy Spirit controlled life is a crucified life!

NKJ Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

You must crave the control of the Holy Spirit more than your next breath, drink, or meal.  If you do not have this desire, then admit it to God and ask the Holy Spirit to bring your will to this level of desperation for His control of your life.

NKJ 1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,  2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Until you make a complete break from all sin you cannot expect to have a hunger for the Word of God.  Sin fills your heart with the “sugar of the world.”  Like sugar, it suppresses your spiritual appetite without adding any nutritive value.  When we stop eating the “sugar of the world” then we will have an intense desire for the Word of God.  The result will be our feeding upon it and thus make progress in our spiritual growth.

Second, “He that believeth on Me, out from his inmost being shall flow rivers of living water.” 

The trust here in this context is not only trust in Him as Saviour, but trust in Him as the One who fills with the Spirit.  Consequently, the Spirit filled life is also a life of faith (trust). 

In summary, there are just two things that the believer must do in order to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, have a moment by moment sincere desire for His control and a moment by moment trust in the Lord Jesus for that control.

Our moment by moment prayer should include the following:

Thank you, Heavenly Father for the presence of the Holy Spirit in my heart.  Lord Jesus, may those seeing and hearing me see You – be glorified in and through me today.  Holy Spirit, please reveal the thoughts, words, actions, attitude, and character of the Lord Jesus in and through my life today.  Let the world see in me the one they so desperately need - the Lord Jesus Christ!  Thank you for controlling my life right now.

Amen