Is a Gradate of Northwestern University in 1911
THERE CAN be no adequate understanding of the purpose of the Holy Spirit's presence in the world as long as one rejects the doctrine of eternal security.
TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER
Just before Jesus left this earth, he promised those that were his: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever ... he lives with you and will be in you" (John 14:16, 17).
Therefore, in this age the Holy Spirit dwells in the individual believer and is there to abide forever.
It is true that David prayed, "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me" (Psa. 51:11), but that was before Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would abide forever. That makes a vast difference. That Holy Spirit can be grieved (Eph. 4:30) and may be quenched (1 Thess. 5:19) so that his voice is not heard; but this doesn't imply that he's taken away.
The Holy Spirit never dwells in a lost person. Such a person is spiritually dead, which means that he is separated from the Spirit. It is a contradiction, then of the promise which Jesus gave to his disciples, to say that one in whom the Holy Spirit has come to abide forever, can be lost.
SEALED, AS TO POSITION
Believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit to the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). What is the purpose of that sealing?
In Revelation (Chap. 7:2-8) is a company of servants of God who are sealed in their foreheads. The purpose of this seal was to keep them secure (Rev. 9:4).
After Daniel had been cast into the lion's den, "A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed" (Dan. 6:17).
In his vision, John (the writer of Revelation) saw Satan bound for a thousand years, cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up; and a seal was set upon him so that he could no longer deceive the nations, until the thousand years were ended (Rev. 20:2, 3).
In the first case, the servants were sealed so as to be secure against the torments of the locusts. In the second case, the seal was applied so that there could be no change in the king's command. In the third instance, the seal assures that Satan will be in a place of safe keeping from which he cannot escape.
In all three instances, the seal denotes an unalterable position of those who are sealed. That is exactly what the Holy Spirit as a seal means to the saved person. God has sealed him by his own Spirit so that he, as a believer, cannot be changed until the day of redemption.
SEALED AS TO OWNERSHIP
The seal also signifies ownership. Everyone who believes is sealed with the Holy Spirit "until the redemption of those who are God's possession" (Eph. 1:14). This sealing then is effective and cannot be broken as long as a believer is in this mortal body. It is not needed after that. Those whom Christ has purchased with his own blood shall always be his very own. As the seal cannot be broken, they are secure. (See also page 43.)
DEPOSIT ON OUR INHERITANCE
In addition to all of the above, the Holy Spirit is given as a deposit guaranteeing the believer's inheritance (Eph. 1:14). A deposit is a payment made by a purchaser to guarantee the completion of the transaction by him. In Christ, the believer has obtained an inheritance which was "predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" (Eph. 1:11).
The believer has not as yet entered into possession of this inheritance, but the Holy Spirit has been given as a deposit that it shall be given when the transaction has been fully completed. To say that one who has been saved can be lost is to say that possession of the inheritance shall not be given to one to whom God has already paid a deposit. "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind, Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (Num. 23:19).
Thus the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is required by the fact that the Holy Spirit has come into the saved one to stay forever; he is sealed by the Holy Spirit, both for the purpose of security and as a sign of ownership due to purchase; and God has given him as a pledge to the believer that he shall receive an inheritance in heaven.
If the believer is not eternally secure, what does all of this teaching concerning the Holy Spirit mean?
You have read a chapter from the book _"SHALL NEVER PERISH" by J. F. Strombeck you can read the entire book at,
Shall Never Perish - By J. F. Strombeck
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Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
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