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Today, we continue in our series on ETERNAL SECURITY.
In our last session … we looked at the Role of the Son in Securing our Salvation.
In the two sessions before that … we looked at the Role of the Father in Securing our Salvation.
In this session … we will be looking at the Role of the Holy Spirit in Securing our Salvation. This study will be based on a study prepared by the late Tom Murray, fournder of Truth Seekers Fellowship.
Reasons that are Dependent On The Holy Spirit
The third of the 17 Biblical proofs … that confirm and guarantee our eternal position in God’s family or our eternal security “in Christ” rests in the power and work of God the Holy Spirit on our behalf.
There are many ways that the Holy Spirit ministers in our lives during our journey home … but, for now, we will focus our attention on five purposes and activities of the Holy Spirit that guarantee our eternal security “in Christ.”
1. The Holy Spirit’s Work Of Regeneration
2. The Holy Spirit’s Permanent Indwelling
3. The Holy Spirit’s Ministry Of Spirit Baptism
4. The Holy Spirit’s Ministry Of Sealing
5. The Holy Spirit’s Power To Finish What He Begins
1. The Holy Spirit’s Work Of Regeneration
Do you remember what regeneration involves? Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit alone and involves His restoring that spiritual life that was lost when Adam and Eve rebelled and fell in the Garden of Eden. Your regeneration or your being raised spiritually from the dead occurred the moment you received Jesus into your heart. But the actual work of regeneration was performed in you by the Holy Spirit … as confirmed in the following New Testament verse.
Titus 3:4‐6 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Did you see that regeneration is not by works that you do, but according to His mercy?
The spiritual life that results from the Holy Spirit’s regeneration is eternal life and cannot perish. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration restores eternal spiritual life to you, not simply temporary or conditional life that lasts only until your next journey sin. It is your spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit that makes you a new creation (butterfly) “in Christ” and causes the spiritual person you were “in Adam” (caterpillar) to pass away as the following verse confirms.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Did you notice that you are now a new creation or butterfly? Did you also notice that old things have passed away? What old things? The person you were spiritually “in Adam” has ceased to exist forever. You can no more spiritually go back and undo your regeneration than a butterfly can undo
the miracle of metamorphosis and once again become a caterpillar. This leads to the next verse that also confirms that regeneration has made you a new creation.
Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
The Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration has made you a new creation or a new person spiritually. What bearing does your being regenerated and being a new person spiritually have on your eternal security? The Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration is not a work that can be undone. It is a fact of science that once you have been physically generated into the world by natural birth, you cannot as an adult ever become a fetus again or reenter you mother’s womb and be unborn. Physical generation is a work that cannot be undone. In the same way, you have now been spiritually regenerated at new birth and your regeneration is a work that also cannot be undone. The fact that your spiritual regeneration
by the Holy Spirit cannot be undone guarantees your eternal security “in Christ.” The next verse focuses your attention on the fact that the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit is an act of creation.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The point in this verse is that you have been created, and since only God can create, you are the product of His work and not your works. Can you uncreate yourself physically? Absolutely not. And you cannot uncreate yourself spiritually either. Once the Holy Spirit has spiritually created you “in Christ,” you can never be uncreated!
The point is that since you did not create yourself, you cannot uncreate yourself through journey sins or in all of eternity. The Holy Spirit’s work alone in regeneration makes you a new creation or a new spiritual creature, and His work for you cannot be undone. You are eternally secure because the Holy Spirit alone did the work of regeneration, you did not regenerate yourself by your works, and you can do nothing during your journey or in eternity to undo what the Spirit alone does.
2. The Holy Spirit’s Permanent Indwelling.
The second work of the Holy Spirit alone that guarantees your eternal security “in Christ” is His permanent indwelling. Notice that Jesus specifically prayed before going to Calvary that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to abide forever in those who would believe and receive Him.
John 14:16‐17 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, 17 even 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.”
Jesus prayed this request before His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Do you think the Father answered Jesus’ prayer request? Yes He did! The Apostle Paul affirms in the following passages that the Holy Spirit now indwells every believer “in Christ,” including you.
1 Corinthians 6:19 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?
Ephesians 2:22 In whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Look again at John 14:16 and note that Jesus prayed that when the Holy Spirit came to indwell you, He would indwell you forever. Do you think the Father answered that part of Jesus’ prayer as well? Yes He did! The point here that is so relevant to your eternal security is that when the Father sent the Holy Spirit to indwell you at your new birth, the Holy Spirit came to indwell you permanently, eternally, or forever!
The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit was the result of the Father’s answering Jesus’ prayer, not your merit or works. If you did not deserve or earn the Spirit’s permanent indwelling, you cannot lose it through your journey sins. If the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is forever, your salvation is assured forever. You can leave following Christ and obeying God, but the indwelling Holy Spirit will never leave you, and that makes you secure.
3. The Holy Spirit’s Ministry Of Spirit Baptism.
Spirit baptism is not the same as water baptism. Spirit baptism occurs at the moment of your new birth and is non‐experiential, non‐repeatable, and irreversible. Spirit baptism is the ministry of the Holy Spirit alone and involves His placing you into the universal Church or the true Body of Christ. The following verse confirms that all “in Christ,” including you, have been Spirit baptized into the one true Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by (in) one Spirit we were all baptized into one body ‐ whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Since Spirit baptism placed you as a member into the true Body of Christ, do you think Jesus could or ever would lose any part of His Body? Once the Holy Spirit baptized you into the Body of Christ, you became a member of Jesus’ Body or the true Church forever. There are absolutely no Scripture verses or illustrations that teach that you can ever fall out of His Body!
You also cannot slip through Jesus’ fingers; because you are in fact part of His Body! You enter the Body of Christ through Spirit baptism alone and Spirit baptism is a work of the Holy Spirit alone. You are eternally secure because the Holy Spirit has placed you into the Body of Christ through Spirit baptism and you cannot be un‐Spirit baptized and lose you eternal position in the Body of Christ.
4. The Holy Spirit’s Ministry of Sealing.
The fourth ministry that the Holy Spirit alone performs on your behalf that guarantees your eternal security or position is His work of sealing you “in Christ” until the day you finally arrive safely in Heaven. The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit is the most vital of His ministries that guarantee your eternal security or position. This special ministry of the Holy Spirit is confirmed in the following passages in the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 1:21‐22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
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- 2 Corinthians 1:22 (KJV) Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
- NOTE: The KJV uses the word “earnest” instead of “guarantee”.
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- An earnest … with respect to purchasing a house … would be a pledge, by the buyer, to pay the full price for the house.
- In the case of what Paul is saying … the Holy Spirit is God’s personal pledge and guarantee to seal (secure) us for our ultimate salvation.
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- Notice, now, how the NET translates 2 Corinthians 1:22 …
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 (NET) who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
- We all know what a down payment is — a part (initial) payment, made as part of an agreement to pay the balance.
- The term “down payment” in the following verse refers to an earnest agreement-like pledge and guarantee.
- Ephesians 1:13‐14 (NET) And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) — when you believed in Christ — you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
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Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Did you notice in the last passage that you were sealed for the day of redemption? On what future day will your total redemption at last be completed? When your position and your condition become equal, or when you are glorified, and that will not happen until Jesus returns or you arrive safely in Heaven. The Holy Spirit has sealed you, and the purpose of His sealing is to secure you “in Christ” as a guarantee that you can never lose your position.
The clear teaching of these verses is that you have been permanently sealed, not just temporarily sealed until your next journey sin or until you no longer believe, but you have been sealed unto the day of redemption! You seal containers to preserve the contents until you are ready for them to be opened. The Holy Spirit alone has sealed you “in Christ,” you cannot seal yourself, and you will remain sealed and preserved in your position until the day you arrive safely home in Heaven.
5. The Holy Spirit’s Power To Finish What He Begins.
The fifth work of the Holy Spirit alone that guarantees your eternal security or position is that as a member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit has the Divine power to finish what He has begun in your life.
The following passage focuses on His Divine power to finish what He has begun, not on your power or efforts to keep yourself saved and secure until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Did you notice that your confidence or assurance is in the Holy Spirit’s Divine power to complete what He has begun in you until the day of Jesus Christ? When is the day of Jesus Christ? When Jesus returns and you are eternally glorified. Having been justified, you can remain confident and secure throughout your journey that you will be glorified, because the Holy Spirit alone has the Divine power to complete the work He began in you at your regeneration or new birth.
Your new birth did not result from your works and neither does your eternal security. It was the Holy Spirit who began the work of salvation in you, and He alone will bring your redemption to its final completion in the day of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit alone has Divine power and He alone can and will get you safely home. You do not have the power or ability to get yourself home, and that is why God the Father has provided the ministries of the Holy Spirit alone to guarantee that now being justified, you will certainly one‐day be glorified.
Reasons Dependent On God the Holy Spirit Alone
Review Questions
1. What kind of life does the Holy Spirit restore at your regeneration?
2. How does the Spirit’s indwelling you forever guarantee your security?
3. How does Spirit baptism guarantee your eternal position in the Body of Christ?
4. Why did the Spirit seal you until the day of Jesus Christ?
5. How does the Spirit’s Divine power to finish what He began make you secure?
Summary
Reasons Dependent On God The Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit secures you through regeneration or new birth because regeneration cannot be undone.
• The Holy Spirit secures you because He indwells you forever.
• The Holy Spirit secures you by baptizing you into Christ’s Body so that you become part of Christ’s Body forever.
• The Holy Spirit secures you by sealing you until the day of redemption.
• The Holy Spirit guarantees your security because He has the Divine power to finish what He began at your new birth.