Holy Spirit -07- How the Holy Spirit Makes Christians
How the Holy Spirit Makes Christians
Though we may not know how the Spirit dwells in the hearts of Christians, we do know how the Holy Spirit is received. Paul asked this very question, and by asking the question, answered it. "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2). The question is rhetorical and demands the answer: by the hearing of faith. "The hearing of faith" is the condition on which a Christian receives the Spirit. This shows also how the Spirit operates in making a Christian; for let it be under stood clearly that in the conviction and con version of a sinner the Holy Spirit performs an essential office. "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11) . How does the Holy Spirit wash the unclean? "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:25-26). This shows that the word of God is the means by which the washing is done. How is one sanctified? "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth" (John 17:17). This shows that the word of God is the Spirit’s means of sanctification.
How is one justified? "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1). "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). This shows that the Spirit justifies through faith and that this is done by the word of God. The Master said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63), that is, they are spiritual and life-giving. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to make Christians. Then he takes up his abode in the Christian’s heart. This is his temple. This doctrine is in strong contrast to the doctrine that the Spirit enters the sinner’s heart in order to make him a Christian. The divine order is, "because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Again, of the Holy Spirit as a Comforter Jesus says, "Whom the world cannot receive" (John 14:17) . On this passage B. W. Johnson pertinently remarks:
"’Whom the world cannot receive.’ The reason the world cannot receive the Comforter is indicated in verses 15 and 23 . There must be a preparation of the soul for his in dwelling. The heart must be purified by faith, the soul must be filled with the love of Christ, this condition must be demonstrated by obedience to his commandments. This is in harmony with the entire teaching of the New Testament. ’Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). The necessity of a loving obedience in order to the reception of the Holy Spirit is taught emphatically. Peter said to the Jews (Acts 5:32). ’We are witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Spirit which God gives to them who obey him.’ In John 7:38 it is declared that the Savior ’spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive.’ In Acts 2:38 Peter, in reply to the anxious inquiry of convicted sinners, answers, ’Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; ’ the gift being made dependent upon repentance and obedience. The temple of the human heart has to be prepared by obedience for the indwelling of the Father and the Son, and hence the world cannot receive the Comforter through whom they are manifested."