As the prophet Ezekiel proclaimed long ago: “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:19–20).

According to the Apostle John, Spirit-filled people demonstrate their supernatural unity with Christ through the ordinary actions of faith, love, and obedience. Though many Christians associate abiding in the Holy Spirit with prophecies, healings, and a whole host of other things that would help one’s social media posts go viral, John locates encounters with the Spirit within the confines of ordinary Christian living. In other words, those who have the Spirit confess Christ, love the brethren, and obey God’s commands.

The Spirit and Salvation

In 1 John 4:13, John writes, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” The verses that precede and follow this one tie the concept of abiding in God to right belief and behavior. In verse 15, John writes, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” In other words, those who abide in God—and who have the Spirit of God—confess that Jesus is the Christ. They not only recognize that Jesus existed; they affirm that Jesus is fully God and fully man, and that as such he has offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for their sins and given them eternal life. As John writes in 1 John 4:9–10, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world…he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Those who have the Holy Spirit confess the apostolic gospel relayed through the Bible by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus told John in the Gospel of John 14:26, “The Holy Spirit…will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The Spirit uses Scripture to regenerate the hearts of God’s people. As the apostle Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” The first and great work of the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with the Father and the Son, is salvation.

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