Christians are a diverse group of people but we were all given one Spirit. Some people are Christians because they follow the rules Jesus marked out for life. Others might be Christians because culturally they grew up in those traditions of church and morals. But a genuine Christian is someone who has been born again with a new spirit the Spirit of God himself. It is a miraculous event becoming a Christian not because of works or because of culture. The miracle is the Holy Spirit interrupting a dead life and making the individual alive with the presence of God.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV
The Spirit of God
It does not matter what age one lives past or present all Christians were given the one Spirit. It does not matter what geographical location one is born, it does not matter at what station one is born in this life, it does not matter who ones parents are, and it does not matter how long or how short life is for such an individual. What matters is the miraculous event that the person moves from no Spirit of God to being baptized with the Sprit of God.
For me this event happened at a young age. I was praying and asking God for help with something personal in my life and he seized on that opening and asked me to belong to him. That time in my young life resulted in me drinking, as Paul calls it, from the one Spirit that so many other Christians have experienced. I am not who I would have been because of something miraculous that occurred.
The Spirit of Truth
The blueletterbible.org defines the Greek word for Spirit πνεῦμα (pneuma) with the following characteristics… The third person of God, with a personality of His own. Sometimes the Bible emphasizes His personality “Holy” Spirit and sometimes emphasizing His work the Spirit of “Truth”.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17 ESV
Pronouns are He/Him
One can never emphasize enough that the Holy Spirit is not an “it” the Holy Spirit is presented as a “He”. He the Spirit given to those who love Jesus as an advocate to be with us forever. God himself in the form of the third person of the trinity comes to those that love Jesus and he brings truth into their lives. This truth is not a personal truth of the individual.
This truth is the perfect universal truth of God himself. Because I have the same Spirit of God living inside of me I have more in common with someone else that has drunk from this Spirit of truth that lives on the other side of the world than I do with my unsaved neighbor next door. One Spirit, who is Holy (set apart, righteous) and who is true, has invaded my dead life and made me alive in God. Thank you, Father!
He is not Temporary
One last note lest anyone be confused. The Holy Spirit’s transformative work in the life of a Christian is not temporary. When that miraculous event occurs and a person moves from dead to alive in Christ the helper and advocate comes with a promise that Christ will never leave us or forsake us. The Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is a guarantee that we are in the possession of God.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV
Thanks for reading. I hope this is helpful for your devotional or small group. Please leave a comment or click the like button. Satan has his own counterfeit version of the Holy Spirit.
