Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. |
Subject: Evidence of holy spirit in a Christian? |
Bible Note: OK, Makarios. These things can be. We should not be surprised to see the things you listed in the life of a believer. They are desirable and possible. However, they are not inevitable. In many cases they are not present. If we make them out to be evidences we are saying that their absence indicates the Holy Spirit is not in the life. That cannot be true. As I indicated before, Paul is asking the Ephesians to put on these things. If they were already there he would not have to ask them to put them on. They can be there. They should be there, in a believer‘s life. But they are not always there. Therefore they are not evidence. As you noted before, some of these things are found in unbelievers. Again, their presence in an unbeliever would not be evidence that the unbeliever possesses the holy Spirit. That cannot be. You can take any of the items you have mentioned and recognize that a believer sometimes does not have it. Does that mean then that he does not have the Holy Spirit? I think I have read you enough to know that you believe every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. I hope I have not read you wrong. I wish I did not have to write this, but I guess truth is sometimes sad. I was speaking to a pastor today about a lady who made a profession of faith earlier this year. She showed the joy of the Lord and other evidences of salvation. She was baptized and spent three months in joyful fellowship. She declared that she had given up all other goals for the goal of living for the Lord. I found out today that she has gone back to her former life as a common-law wife. For those who are not familiar with that term, she is living with a man to whom she is not married. Evidence of salvation, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, would not now be joy and peace. It would be a sense of guilt and shame. I hope you understand me. If a person is saved and living for the Lord he will have some or all of the things you mentioned. If he is practicing sin, he will not. He will have the opposite. Yet I am assuming in all cases where we say a person is saved, that we also know the person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not leave a believer. So, evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit varies. And yet, I feel embarrassed to have had to say these things. I think it should have been clear if a believer is being asked to replace irresponsibility and stealing with industry and benevolence it would not be logical to think that the change had already taken place. I think it is not the change which is evidence but the willingness to change. Learning, perhaps starting with a reading of the epistle, produces the change. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to convict and to encourage. But even a believer can resist and grieve the Holy Spirit. This in itself is proof that the Holy Spirit is resident. OK. Enough said. Let us think on these things. |