Is it possible to be a Christian without receiving the Holy Spirit? The New Testament makes it clear that everyone who has received Christ as Lord and Savior has likewise received the Holy Spirit. When anyone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit indwells every true believer in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19). The New Testament declares that the person who does not have the Holy Spirit does not belong to Christ.
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God abides in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9).
There are those who teach that one can be a Christian without receiving the Holy Spirit. They present their case from the book of Acts. Millard Erickson addresses this issue: "Acts covers a transitional period. It is my interpretation that these cases did involve people who were regenerated before they received the Holy Spirit. They were the last of the Old Testament believers. They were regenerate because they believed the Old Testament and feared God. . . . But when on Pentecost those who were already regenerate under the Old Testament system received Christ, they were filled with the Spirit. . . . Thereafter, regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit were simultaneous" (Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1992) 283-84.
How can a Christian know that he has received the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God indwells every true Christian with three abiding gifts. "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). Each of these abiding gifts are intimately related to Jesus Christ. Saving faith is the gift which abides in Christ. Hope receives our glorified future in Christ. Love experiences the presence of Christ. These three abiding gifts provide assurance that the Spirit of Christ lives within us.
Jesus promised that all who believe in Him would receive the Holy Spirit. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:38-39). In Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost, the glorified Christ poured out the Holy Spirit upon all who believed. He kept His promise and continues to give the Holy Spirit to all believers.
