Do All Christians Have the Holy Spirit?

[Striped Leopard]

This is a subject that I see popping up a lot around here. We seem to have a lot of Pentecostals/Charismatics on the boards, so I wanted to know what you all think about this topic.

Are all Christians given the Holy Spirit when they are saved, or is He a "second blessing" that comes afterward, when you have enough faith, or when you are baptized, etc.?

[Aftershocker]

I am certain the Holy Spirit lives inside of all Christians, but I don't have any scripture to back that up right now.

-- Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:50 pm --

1 Cor. 6:19, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.
2 Cor. 1:21-22, Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Gal. 4:6, Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out "Abba, Father."

The verses were said to Christians.

[HannahJ.]

You must receive it.

[The Old Judge]

Okay, hello, you have attracted my attention. I will now give my humble opinion on the matter:

The Holy Spirit comes into your heart and life as soon as you ask forgiveness of your sins and come into your heart and save you. Boom! He's there. Also, he never leaves you. Like when the Bible says, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," that's that for me. Now, I don't know if you all believe in eternal security like I do, and I don't mean offense to anybody that does, but I believe that Scripture shoots down the theory of "losing" your salvation. 'Cause, really, if we lost our salvation by sinning, we all would've lost our salvation years ago.

[NarniaQA Guy]

Yes, all of whom are true believers and put forth their faith have the Holy Spirit, and where the Old Judge quoted the Bible, that is true. If you believed when you were young, under eight for me, you were able to believe without second thoughts or doubts and that is when the Holy Spirit is at work, when you believe with no doubt, but when you are older it becomes harder to believe without a doubt and the Holy Spirit is not as strong, in some cases, as he was. @The Old Judge, God doesn't leave nor forsake, but I have seen people strong in faith, outgoing and excited, not believe anymore, unable to use the Holy Spirit because their faith in him dwindled. It is a choice to believe, and much like the tooth fairy or Santa, it can become no more for you, because you stop wanting or you start rationalizing and start looking at lies or other things that take you away from God. One thing that I believe is a duty to Christians is to keep building our faith so that when obstacles (I.E. Evolution) come our way we can think through things for ourselves and when we aren't sheltered by the Church or Parents we can still think through things the way we should.

This is my thought on the subject as well as my belief for it. Sorry if I counter-dict some ones beliefs or offend someone, I do not mean to, I just mean to say my thoughts.

[Striped Leopard]

You must receive it.

Can you explain what you mean by that? The Bible teaches that Christians receive the Holy Spirit when they are saved.

Also, receiving is a passive act. It's not something you do. Do you mean "accept" the Holy Spirit. That's something we can actively do. But receiving is not something you can strive for.

Oh, one more thing. Pet peeve of mine. Don't call the Holy Spirit an "it." He is just as much God as are the Father and Jesus. You would never call Jesus an "it," so don't disrespect the Holy Spirit by referring to Him as if He is an impersonal force or something to be used to your own advantage.

In John 14, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a "He" multiple times:

Verse 16: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—"

Verse 17: "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Verse 26: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.


Do you care to give me any references where the Holy Spirit is referred to as "it"?