Adoption Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

When does a Christian first receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Firstly, we have to ask ourselves whether there is a passage in the Bible that clearly spelt out the correct position of the topic. If not, then we have to subject relevant passages to interpretations. Therefore, the conclusion I reached is also one of interpretation, and one of call based on a degree of sensing of the anointing of the Spirit as I dwell on this topic. For those not already know, sometimes, when I write for this blog I will have heat coming on, on my back – an indication of anointing/presence of the Spirit around me. I dare not say all my writings are inspired by the Holy Spirit but I believe some are.

Many believe that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received by Christians upon conversion. I have come to the conclusion that it is correct. Although originally I thought it would be difficult to find scriptures to directly support it, I have managed to find a few key texts that when taken together would suggest that the position taken is correct. The expositions of the texts/verses are found in the article - No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

In here, I just want to address the reasonableness of associating the first indwelling of the Holy Spirit to the time of conversion. From the article just mentioned, we can conclude that to be born again is to be born of water and the Spirit and by that it means that (1) a person accepts Jesus as the Lord and Saviour and is cleansed by His Blood (essentially a conversion event, a saying of the Sinner’s Prayer), and (2) God puts His Holy Spirit into the person and adopts him as son and quickens the spirit of the man (essentially the event of receiving of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit).

But are the two events happening at one go? That is the question? If they are, then we can say that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received on conversion. For clarity and easy reference, I reproduce the relevant passages here:

John 3:4-7
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

From these verses, it is reasonable to conclude that to be born again, one has to be born of water and the Spirit. What is not clear is that whether the two “births” (born of water and born of the Spirit) need necessarily be at one go. Not really clear, I think. What do you think?

Let’s look at another passage:
Ezekiel 36:24-27:
24 " 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

You would realize in the article, I said the 2 passages are of the same “type” and therefore I read them together. I find that verses 25-27 of Ezekiel 36 are about things in one sitting/in one go. As such, when you take verses 5-7 of John 3 together with these Ezekiel verses (25-27), we can conclude that the “two births” (born of water and born of the Spirit) in the John passage happen at one go/one sitting.

So, it is true that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received at the time that one accepts Jesus as the Lord and Saviour. When one accepts Jesus as the Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit adopts the spirit of man, as son. I called this first indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a person as a Christian, the Adoption Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In this particular experience, the adoption, there is NOT the necessity of speaking in tongue as an evidence of receipt of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The passages above clearly did not mention the speaking of a new tongue. Having said these, I want to state that I did NOT say post-adoption, you do not need further times of “coming on”/infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Other verses commonly referred to by other people, in support of the position that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received on conversion/salvation/born again, include those below. But I must say, taken by themselves, each does not conclusively support the position.

Eph 1:13-14 -
13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

Remark: “Having believed, you were marked……” How long after that before you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit? Time not known, cannot presume to know and say it was at the time of salvation.

1 Cor 12:13 -
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Remark: No connection was really made between the timing of conversion/salvation/born again and the receipt of Spirit. Also, the context is somewhat off the issue on hand.

Romans 8:9 –
“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

Remark: With the understanding gained from the article on “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit”, it would be easy for one to accept that this verse implies receipt of the Holy Spirit on conversion/salvation/born again. Without that understanding, doubts still feature because timing is not easily discernible here. (To more tightly relate the various truths and revelations, I would separately write on Romans 8:1-18 which is commonly titled in the NIV Bible as Life Through the Spirit – watch out for it.)


Anthony Chia – Yes, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is first received on salvation/conversion/born again. Yet, further times of “coming on” of the Holy Spirit are recommended.

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