At the moment of our salvation when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, three most amazing things will happen.
The first thing that will occur is that we will get automatic forgiveness for all of our sins – all past, present, and future sins that we will ever commit.
The second thing that will occur is that we will get to go straight to heaven when we die and cross over because we have now become saved and born again.
However, there is a third major thing that will occur that some Christians do not have a full understanding on. At the exact moment that we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and have become saved and born again, we also instantaneously “receive” the third person of the Godhead – the Holy Spirit Himself!
The Bible tells us that both God and Jesus live in heaven. However, when we become saved and born again, we literally get to receive the Holy Spirit Himself. He literally, and I mean literally, comes to live on the inside of us.
As you will see in the Scripture verses I will list below, our bodies have now become the temple of the Holy Spirit because He is now living on the inside of us. And not only does the Holy Spirit come to live on the inside of us as a result of accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, but the Bible also tells us that we have now become “sealed” with the Holy Spirit.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “seal” means “to confirm, authenticate or guarantee – to pledge.” In two Scripture verses I will list below, the Bible tells us that we are given the Holy Spirit by God the Father as a “guarantee” and as a “deposit.”
When God says that we are sealed by His Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation in Jesus, He is giving us a very powerful revelation on what is actually occurring in the spiritual realm. Not only are we receiving the presence of the Holy Spirit, but we are also being sealed with His actual presence. This seal now becomes a very powerful, spiritual bond between God and us.
Here are the specific verses from the Bible that will tell us that we will all “receive” the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation with Jesus, that our bodies have now become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that we have now been “sealed” with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
1. Receiving the Holy Spirit at the Moment of Salvation
This first verse will tell us that we will receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation with Jesus – not sometime later. Here it is:
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38)
Notice this verse is talking about those who are actually getting saved. When you “repent” and you are getting “remission” for your sins – you are in the process of getting saved by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You cannot truly repent and receive full forgiveness and remission for your sins unless you are first willing to accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
Then notice what the verse says next. After you have repented and have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior – then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself. I believe this verse is telling us that we will receive the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. It will happen right then and there, not sometime later.
Some people will get saved and water baptized at the same time. Others will get saved, and then baptized with water at a later date.
The Holy Spirit will come into you at the moment you get saved – not at the moment you go through the rite of water baptism. If you go through the rite of water baptism at a later date, the Holy Spirit is not going to wait until you do that. He will enter into you right at the moment that you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, no matter where that may take place at.
2. Our Bodies Are Now the Temple of the Holy Spirit
The above Scripture verse tells us that we will “receive” the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation in Jesus. So once we receive Him, where exactly does He go? The next set of verses will tell us that He will literally come to enter in on the inside of us.
The Bible says that we have three parts to our beings – body, soul, and spirit. Our human spirits are referred to as our innermost being by the Bible. The Holy Spirit will come and enter into your human spirit.
As a result of the Holy Spirit now living on the inside of us in our human spirits, the Bible tells us that our bodies have now become the “temple” of the Holy Spirit since we now carry His actual presence on the inside of us.
Here are 5 very good verses telling us that the Holy Spirit now literally lives on the inside of us, and that our physical bodies have now become the actual temple of the Holy Spirit.
- “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
- “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)
- “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:17)
- “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9)
- “But if the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Notice the first verse tells us to glorify God in both our bodies and our spirits. I believe this verse is giving us key insight that the Holy Spirit is now living on the inside of us in our human spirits and as such, our bodies have now become His temple. Notice this verse does not use the word “soul” – but only “spirit.” Our souls and spirits are two separate parts inside of our beings.
When the Holy Spirit initially comes into us, He will literally take up residence in our human spirits. However, I believe there is a second experience that can occur where the Holy Spirit will release from your human spirit to come up into your soul area.
This second experience has been called by many the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Our spirits are baptized with His presence at the moment of our salvation with Jesus, but our souls can also be baptized with His presence. For a good, detailed explanation on what this second experience is all about, and how to go about actually receiving it, go to my article titled “How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit“ in the Bible Basics section.
3. Sealed with the Holy Spirit
As a result of having received the presence of the Holy Spirit Himself at the moment of our conversions, the Bible tells us that we have now been “sealed” with His actual presence.
Here are 3 very powerful verses all using the word “seal” in reference to the Holy Spirit now living on the inside of us, and a fourth verse that says that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a “guarantee.”
- “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
- “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.” (2 Corinthians 1:21)
- “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13)
- “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 5:5 )
To think that God the Father would allow the third Person of His Godhead, the Holy Spirit, to come down and literally enter in on the inside of us where our bodies have now become the temple of His Spirit is something that is truly awesome and completely mind-blowing!
Conclusion
Now that we know that we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us – what exactly will He do with us? What kind of activity can we expect from Him? I will be doing additional articles in the very near future on some of the incredible things that will start to happen to you once you open yourself up to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to start to become much more active in your life.
But for right now, for those of you who have not received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit where He is now residing up in your soul area, I would highly recommend that you go to my article titled “How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit”
John
Friday 23rd of July 2021
I was doing a study on being sealed by the holy spirit its important to not this is not what people were teaching 30 years ago they was saying the holy spirit would leave you if you messed up they quoted King David take not your spirit from me lord not understanding the spirit was not indwelling inside David as a seal but moved on them at times the Bible declares so its important to know you can grieve the spirit but it doesn't mean he leaves you just repent in stir up the spirit from drawing away as timothy did and Paul stir him up inside you
Varghese Thomas
Thursday 6th of June 2019
It is very sad that people who claim to be Bible believers and yet not trusting in God's eternal promises ,but false man made denominational views like charismatic views. God'provision for man's deliverance from sin and he'll is believing in gospel. There is no salvation without. Holy Spirit 'presence in you which is totally a free gift of God's provision when one believes No fallen man is saved based on his so called gifts or works or merits . At the judgement seat of Christ many will claim of their supernatural achievements not on the blood of the slain Lamb, At last times some will depart from truth giving heeds to deceiving spirits and droctine of demons.
ET
Tuesday 5th of January 2016
The Holy Spirit is actually within you a degree before you even repent. It's not possible to be saved without the Holy Spirit pointing out your need for a savior, or so to say convicting you of your sins.
In response though, there is a group of believers that were baptized in the remission of sins that had not received the Holy Spirit. One could argue they just did not have knowledge of such. But then, Paul baptized them in the Holy Spirit after their conversion to Christ. So I believe it can go both ways. Acts 19:1-6 is just one such example.
ET
Tuesday 5th of January 2016
The Holy Spirit is actually within you a degree before you even repent. It's not possible to be saved without the Holy Spirit pointing out your need for a savior, or so to say convicting you of your sins.
theresa obioma
Saturday 3rd of May 2014
You started teaching a terrible error of the Once Saved Always Saved[OSAS] falsehood. From the beginning of your discourse, you started writing that at the point of justification.ie when we first become born again that ''OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE SINS ARE FORGIVEN''. The Bible didn't teach that. This is what the Bible teaches- Rm3v25: ........In His forbearance, God had passed over the sins PREVIOUSLY COMMITED. 2Pt 1v9: But if anybody does not have them{speaking of admonitions in v5-8}, he is near sighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his PAST SINS. From the above scriptures, it is clear that at justification, God forgives past and present sins up to that point but from then on, the Christian is given the grace to walk in SUBMISSIVE FAITH IN CHRIST AND GENUINE REPENTANCE WHEN THEY FALL INTO FUTURE SINS. If future sins are forgiven without genuine repentance when they are committed, consider 2Pt2v20-22:If they[born again believers} have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AND ARE AGAIN ENTANGLED IN IT[ future sins} and OVERCOME BY IT[never repented genuinely from it}, they are worse off at the end than they are at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness {being born again}, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred commands that was passed on to them.V22: Of them, the proverbs are true: ''A dog returns to it's vomit, ''And a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud''. Consider this, if future sins are automatically forgiven without genuine repentance, why would the above scripture tell us that those who turned back to sin after they were born again were worse off at the end than they were before they became born again. Also consider Hebrews10v26-31: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth{after we became born again}, no sacrifice for sins is left except a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire that will consume the enemies of God....... If the future sins of the believer were automatically forgiven at justification and he is sealed forever with the Holy Spirit never to be unsealed again, what happens if he deliberately chooses to return to sinful living without repentance? Won't he face the consequences of his actions if he dies in those sins? Of course, the word of God is clear, the only expectation at this point is judgment and raging fire. In conclusion, nobody's future sins are forgiven unless they repent of them. Rm2v4: Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, NOT REALISING THAT GOD'S KINDNESS LEADS YOU TOWARDS REPENTANCE. BUT BC OF YOUR STUBBORNESS, YOU ARE STORING UP WRATH AGAINST YOURSELF.
Ramnarine Bagaloo
Thursday 10th of December 2020
I have a question for you, you said when a person sins they should Repent genuinely and turn away from it . That sounds very good,but my question is what remains a person sins and what is used for atonement for his sins. Because if you say past ,present and future sins is false ,what is used for atonement .Because without atonement there is no forgiveness, and if there's no forgiveness you're lost.SO according to the doctrine you projecting is after you get saved ,your sins are remained by your walk . Which is works. And according to EPHESIANS 2:8,9 For by Grace are ye saved through faith and that (not of yourselves) it is the gift of GOD. (Not of works) lest any man should boast SO our righteousness cannot make atonement for sin. Without the shedding of blood there's no remission for sin. And the ONLY PERSON'S BLOOD CAN REMIT OUR SINS IS THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. SO THAT MEANS ALL OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, LOOK UP COLOSSIANS 2:13.ALL OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN THAT MEANS PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE SINS.