Introduction

The very first reference to the Holy Spirit is seen in Genesis 1:2 where we read that “…the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”; this to show the Spirit’s active presence and participation from the very beginning and in the creation of all that is.

The Holy Spirit has been identified by various names in the Scriptures, a few of which are The Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost (ghost is just an old English word; it was changed to spirit when ‘ghost’ was used to refer to dead people haunting the living and evil spirits), The Spirit of God, The Spirit of Christ, The Spirit of the Lord, the Anointing of God or just The Spirit.

 

 

The Fall of Adam and the Holy Spirit

It is also paramount to note that Adam died when he fell in the garden through disobedience. Although not physically yet, his spirit became dead to God and His Spirit/influence (separated from God). And because of this, the Holy Spirit could not inhabit the hearts of men, He could not make humans His temple/His domicile even though He still related and communicated with them.

Often, God would reveal Himself through visions, dreams and angelic appearances and in definite cases, He would put His Spirit upon a person to carry out a specific work or function, most importantly the Prophets, the Priests and the King.

 

 

God’s Relationship with Humans

In order for ordinary men to be able to relate with God, He gave Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle and Priesthood. During the reign of Solomon, they moved to the Temple which was an idea and a revelation of King David. When the Jews began to spread, they built Synagogues in the locations where they spread to keep fellowship with each other and communion with God. These three differ but all had the intent of a meeting point with God.

But all these were still not the ultimate that God had in mind. Man was still spiritually dead and his spirit could not contact God. God was still limited to relating with man on the premises of man’s senses more than the plethora of resources that became dead along with his spirit.

 

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Now, when Jesus came on the scene (the Incarnation of God i.e. God in Human form), part of what He came to do was to unveil the Person/personality of God and to bring humans into the fullness of that which was paramount on God’s heart which is for man to be able to keep contact with God 24/7 through His Spirit which will be made alive by faith in Jesus and by the faithfulness of Jesus to keep the promises of the indwelling that God made.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (ref. Jeremiah 24:7, Hebrews 8:10-13, Isaiah 54:13)

 

 

Ezekiel’s Prophecy

Ezekiel was a Prophet of God who ministered amongst the Jews who were taken to captivity in Babylon. Historians tell us he was taken captive when he was 25 years old and began his prophetic ministry among the captives when he was 30 years old.

He spoke by the revelation of God (1 Peter 1:10-12, 2 Peter 1:16-21) about the New Covenant that God was to make with man and the defining character and charter of this covenant would be that God would put His Spirit IN man. So, rather than religious externalities that did not really find root, source and conviction in men’s hearts, this would be internal/inherent and intrinsic.

 

Jesus’ Promise of the Spirit

While Jesus was rounding up His earthly ministry, about going to the cross, He kept orienting the disciples about the promised Spirit. When the Scriptures use the phrase “the promise of the Spirit”, it identifies the Spirit as the promise rather than the promise that was made by the Spirit (Gal 3:14, Eph 1:13).

John 14:16-20, Jesus says He will come back to those who believe in Him and abide with them forever and says that the Spirit will be with us and IN us. John 16:5-15, Jesus talks about the functionality of the indwelling Holy Spirit too. We will get to that later in the study.

 

 

Salvation and the Indwelling Spirit

John 3:5-6 defines Salvation as being born of the Spirit. 1Peter 1:22-25 defines Salvation as being born of the incorruptible seed of God, which is the word of God (and Jesus is the Word of God and His word is Spirit and Life John 1:1-4, John 6:63). John 1:12 says “but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name”.

Indwelling Spirit

Salvation happens in the heart of man (with the heart man believes and with the mouth is confession made unto Salvation Romans 10:10 – the confession here is not of sin but of faith in Christ Jesus; confession of sins is not what leads to salvation, rather it is the confession of your faith in Christ).

The proof of Salvation is not in a changed behaviour (even though it does lead to that) but in the fact that the Holy Spirit begins to INDWELL your born-again spirit at the point that your heart believed (Galatians 3:2, Romans 8:8-16; Galatians 4:6-7; Eph 1:13-14; 2Cor 1:22; 2Cor 5:5; Romans 8:9-11,23; Romans 5:5).

 

 

Assurance of Salvation

The only genuine witness/testimony/proof a man has of his salvation is the witness of the Holy Spirit in him speaking expressly that he has become the son of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:26; Gal 4:6). Because it is the Holy Spirit that convinces our heart of the truth of the Gospel which leads to Salvation.

A person does not get saved because he did a mental/intellectual appraisal of the Gospel message; because it is foolishness to those who think they are wise (the mental giants) but it is the power of God to Salvation (Romans 1:16-17; John 6:44,65; John 16:8; 1Corinthians 1:18-30, 2:1-16). “…. No man can say that Jesus is Lord (salvation) but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor 12:3).

So, the Holy Spirit begins to INDWELL/dwell inside of a man who has accepted by faith in his heart the perfect sacrifice of Christ for him.

 

To be continued… watch out for Part 2