Good article. I concur, although paragragh #9, I believe is a bit mistaken when it states there is no evidence in the NT that the Holy Spirit is automatically given upon salvation. Quite the opposite, the salvation itself is evidence of that indwelling.
The topical study would include the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
In Eph 4:30 we are commanded not to grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed until the day of redemption.
In 2Cor 1:21,22 we are also mentioned as having been sealed by the Holy Spirit in our hearts as earnest, similar to a down payment or guarantee of our salvation.
A vocabulary regarding the Holy Spirit is of fundamental understanding when studying these issues. Discern between indwelling, filling, grieving, and quenching.
Upon faith in Christ and faith alone, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Indwelling is not the same as the filling of the Spirit, although our initial salvation is accompanied by a filling of the Spirit.
The indwelling of the Spirit provides a temple for the indwelling of the Son in each and every believer.
Man is body, soul and spirit. Since Adam and the fall in the Garden, man is initially dichotomous or simply body and soul, dead or separate from a living spirit.
Upon faith in Christ and Christ alone, the Holy Spirit makes that faith efficacious for salvation by the creation of the living human spirit in the believer.
We are sealed by 5 sealings associated with the Holy Spirit.
I. Seal of Efficiacious Grace. God the Holy Spirit puts His seal upon the faith alone of the unbeliever to make it effective for salvation.
II. The sealing of Eternal Life. God the Holy Spirit guarantees eternal life at the point of salvation by creating the human spirit, which God the Father imputes eternal life.
III. The seal of eternal security in time.
At the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit seals us for eternal security. No believer can undo what God has done. To sin is to grieve the Holy Spirit. Quenching the Holy Spirit is the act of human volition choosing not to continue to grow and/or walk through Christ. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to allow the Holy Spirit control the battlefield of the soul, while the indwelliing of the Holy Spirit is a permanent seal of the Spirit by the creation of the human spirit and our spirit being alive which is only from God.
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
Whenever we sin, as believers we have been faced with a temptation and have chosen by our own personal volition to think independently of the Spirit. As soon as our thinking strays from Him, not the temptation or initial thought, but the consequential thinking when we stray, we have given control of our thinking to the old sin nature vice remaining filled with the Spirit. That sin is not merely a change in our own state, but it also grieves the Holy Spirit.
Our sins are forgiven and they have already been paid for by Jesus Christ on the Cross. The sin and salvation are not really the issue here. That has already been settled. What is the issue and the battle objective is the volition of the believer in choosing God, remaining filled with the Spirit, in order that the many rewards predestined for us and placed in escrow for us in heaven might be rewarded to us when we arrive. Where we grieve the Spirit, we don't get away with anything.....we still have salvation, but we lose many of those rewards which would have been ours had we remained faithful in all things through Christ continually.
IV. The sealing of our personal invisible gifts.
The Father has provided the annoiting and sealed us by a 'down-payment' of the Spirit in our hearts,...(portion of our thinking which is a matured essence developed after dynamic thinking which is characterized as our selves) Recognition of the Spirit in our hearts is another seal of our eternal security.
2Cor 1:21,22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, [is] God;...Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Anointing or unction [1 Jn 2:20,27] is identified with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but is not identical with the 'filling of the Holy Spirit'. [Acts 4:27, 10:38; 2 Cor 1:21]
1 Jn 2:20,27 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things....As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father.....And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal....And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.
Acts 4:27 for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together,
Acts 10:38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
V. The Holy Spirit seals us for the Redemption of the Body.
Redemption of the soul occurs at the moment of salvation. Redemption of the body occurs on the Rapture or Resurrection
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:13-14 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: ..In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:
Rom 8:23 And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.
But concerning the doctrine of "once saved, always saved" I believe the Scriptures are clear that Christ will let nothing come between Him and a believer. However, I am also compelled that every believer has free will which God will respect and thus a person can, of his own free will, reject Jesus to his eternal peril. (Hebrews 10:29)
However, I do not believe this is easily done. Things originating from such as a bad dream, a temper tantrum, anger in grief would not be the same as a free will decision. The Spirit knows the thoughts and intents of the heart even if we do not.
My two cents...
For sake of clarity, I think your point that "salvation itself is evidence of that indwelling [of the Holy Spirit]" is an excellent one, but it would help to have some scriptural passages to demonstrate this. Personally, I have not come across any passages that clearly promises the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon salvation, but the lack of scripture on this point does not mean that it does not occur.
However, we do have several Biblical accounts of people who put their faith in Christ without the benefit of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This took place while Jesus was on earth, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was yet to be given. So it certainly is possible, from a scriptural standpoint, to believe in Jesus and yet not have the benefit of the indwelling of the Spirit!
Now, did that change after Pentecost? The answer is clearly "no." As evidence, we have Acts 8, where we have people who put their faith in Jesus, but did not receive the Holy Spirit! It was only after they were specifically prayed for that they received it:
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.In this passage, and many others, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a distinct event from believing in the gospel and water baptism.He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”
They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Simon himself believed and was baptized [by water]. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 8:9-17 NIV
In fact, in charismatic/pentecostal meetings around the world, this is still the case. People will put their faith in Jesus, get water baptized, and will receive prayer for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is never assumed that the Holy Spirit is given simply via belief in the gospel message.
I personally believe it is a terrible presumption to assume that someone has recieved the indwelling Holy Spirit upon their intellectual acceptance of Jesus. We have no passages of scripture that promise this, and it is not wise to believe in a promise from God that scripture does not fully support.
But scripture does support the idea that the Holy Spirit will be poured out if one specifically asks for Him in prayer, or if someone prays for you to recieve Him who already has the indwelling.
Now in Paul's epistles, he speaks as if the believers he is writing to recieved the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon their acceptance of the gospel. However, this is not proof that it happens this way. The simple truth is we don't know how, exactly, these people received the Holy Spirit. Was it poured out upon them when they believed the gospel? Was it given to them as Paul and his helpers prayed for people? Paul doesn't say. And since Paul does not discuss exactly how people received the Holy Spirit, his letters do not give us any reassurance that the Spirit is given simply upon intellectual acceptance of Jesus.
However, as you correctly point out, Paul's letters do give us insight as to certain aspects of theology surrrounding the work of the Holy Spirit, especially in regards to sealing.