There is one further aspect to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer that has been born again but has never progressed to any further encounters with the Holy Spirit, which is that they have no tangible evidence (other than a changed lifestyle) that they have the Holy Spirit residing on the inside of them. It is by faith alone that they believe that He resides on the inside of them, and as such they do not enjoy the blessing of being sealed by the Holy Spirit, Who is given to us as the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). Sadly there are many in the body of Christ that only experience the first encounter with the Holy Spirit, and because of ignorance of God’s word, never progress any further in their walk with the Holy Spirit. Their ignorance in this area, is perpetuated by ministers of the gospel that have been taken captive by the devil to teach error in the church, i.e. that there is no such thing as the baptism of the Holy Spirit or such things as the gifts of the Spirit. In a way, these ministers are similar to the Sadducees of Jesus’ day, for just as Jesus said of the Sadducees, that they were greatly mistaken not knowing the scriptures or the power of God (Mark 12:24), so too these ministers are greatly mistaken not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. Sadly, because this group of ministers have never experienced the tangible power of the Holy Spirit, they tend to condemn fellow believers who do enjoy the blessing of subsequent encounters with the Holy Spirit. And so, when these fellow believers get into error through excesses in this area (which we will discuss later in this series), they are quick to use such excesses to justify their standpoint that there is no such thing as further encounters with the Holy Spirit. It is only by God’s grace that He grants some of these ministers repentance in this area, through their own experience of further scriptural encounters with the Holy Spirit. And so, because they eventually do learn the truth and are able to come to their senses, they can begin to proclaim the full counsel of God’s word as He intended.
Michael E.B. Maher
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