The Holy Spirit is one of God's most precious gifts. He freely gives His Spirit to those who follow Him, but is it possible for God to take this gift back? Is it possible for a Christian to do something that causes them to lose the Holy Spirit (either in part or in whole)? Can anyone who has received the Holy Spirit lose this gift?
When believers think about the Holy Spirit, it's common to think of Him as something from the Bible in the New Testament, but the Holy Spirit appears several times in the Old Testament. One moment is at the anointing of Israel's first king, Saul. When Saul was anointed king, the prophet Samuel told him, "The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you... you will be changed into a different person," (1 Samuel 10:6). So, the Spirit of the Lord (the Holy Spirit) remained steadfastly with Saul throughout his kingship, until one day when Saul gravely disobeyed God. Saul's disobedience was so great "the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul," (1 Samuel 16:14). From this section of Scripture, we can see that in the times of the Old Testament it is possible for God to give His Holy Spirit and to remove it Himself, as an action against disobedience.
Later on in the Old Testament, though, we come across the next king of Israel, David. As with Saul, David was anointed king by Samuel, "and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David," (1 Samuel 16:13). So, during David's reign as king, the Holy Spirit was with him. One day, though, like Saul, David committed a horrible act of disobedience against God. Confronted with his guilt and sin, David cried out what is written in Psalm 51 from verses 10 to 12:
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
God honored David's cry of repentance, and God never took away His Holy Spirit. From this section of Scripture, we can see that disobedience can lead to God taking away His Holy Spirit, but this is not always the case.
So, how come Saul was abandoned for his sins, but David remained in the Holy Spirit's presence? When Saul was caught in his sin, he asked that he be forgiven, but he did not ask God to forgive his sins. He only asked for Samuel to forgive him (1 Samuel 15:24-25). No one can forgive our sins, except God, (Isaiah 43:25). David, knowing this, confessed his sins, saying to God, "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight," (Psalm 51:4). Because David asked God and not any man for forgiveness, the Lord forgave him, for it is written, "If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness," (1 John 1:9). It is because God can maintain the righteousness of all those who follow Him that those who follow Him can keep the Holy Spirit.
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| God described David as a man who was after God's heart (Acts 13:22). |
This maintaining of righteousness is not something that was readily available in the times of the Old Testament, but it is available to all who live today. Jesus came to earth to make it so, as it is written, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16). All who follow God today can remain righteous in God's sight, because all of the sin of God's followers was paid for on the cross of Jesus Christ. It is written, "'He himself bore our sins' in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; 'by His wounds you have been healed,'" (1 Peter 2:24). We, who believe in God and what He has done, have been healed from our sins, and so "in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace," (Ephesians 1:7).
It is written that those who have been redeemed by God are His children, (John 1:12). God's children belong to Him, and "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ," (Romans 8:9). This means everyone who belongs to Christ has received the Holy Spirit.
So, it's not possible for someone who has received salvation through the cross of Jesus to lose the Holy Spirit, but is it possible for a believer to lose some of the Holy Spirit? Is it possible for someone to dwindle in some way and so have less of the Holy Spirit?
In answering this question, let's look at what the Holy Spirit is: The Holy Spirit is not a "what," but a "who." The Holy Spirit is not an "essence" or a "force," but a person with whom believers can have a relationship. This relationship with the Holy Spirit is just like a believer's relationship with the Lord and with Jesus, because, like those two, the Holy Spirit is God. For someone to say that they have lost some of the Holy Spirit, but not all of Him, would be the same as if someone said they lost some of a friend. A person can either have a relationship with someone or not have one (and things are never "complicated" with God). If someone has a relationship with a close friend who loves them for all of time, then that person will never lose their relationship with their friend; no matter how they feel about the relationship or their friend. It is written, "A friend loves at all times," (Proverbs 17:17), and God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is the friend of all who believe in Him (John 15:15). Believers can never lose their relationship with God, because nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God," (Romans 8:39).
Oftentimes you might hear somebody praying, or you might even be praying this, "God, I pray that you would give me more of Your Spirit." ... God has already given you His precious Holy Spirit. The Bible says that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and that the Spirit of God dwells within us. So, to pray and ask God to give us more of His Spirit, that's not gonna happen, because God does not give Himself to us in pieces.
- Allen Parr
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| Though it is better for us to think of the Holy Spirit as a person in much the same way Jesus Christ is, the Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove, because that is how He came upon Jesus, when Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:16). |
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