The Holy Spirit was promised to Christians, and especially Gentile Christians, to prove that they were acceptable by God. Spiritual gifts in a church established two things: 1) the credibility of the apostles that imparted the spiritual gift, and 2) the genuineness of the church as being one approved by God. This appeal to spiritual gifts in the church is made by Paul in answer to Judaizing teachers that denied that he was an apostle of Christ and that the churches he established were churches approved by God. We do not need to receive the Holy Spirit today to establish the credibility of the apostles or the church being acceptable by God. We use the written Word to establish the credibility of the apostles and to prove that a church today is a New Testament church.

A non-miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit would not supply a single one of the three needs that spiritual gifts provided Christians and churches before the New Testament was written. Everything the Holy Spirit provided for Christians and churches directly THEN is NOW furnished in the New Testament. Here are the reasons that the New Testament promised the Holy Spirit to Christians. But the promise of the Holy Spirit to Christians was miraculous, temporary, and ceased when the New Testament was completed (Mark 16:16-20). It was the revelation of the gospel by spiritual gifts that was the means of evangelizing and edifying even when a church had these gifts. It was the visible manifestation in these gifts that assured churches that they were acceptable to God and thereby gave them the strength to live the Christian life in the face of all opposition.

The Holy Spirit never directly, apart from the revelation and the assurance with the genuineness of the revelation, gave strength to live the Christian life. If the Holy Spirit gives strength directly and apart from revelation to live the Christian life today, then it seems to me that one of two things must follow: the doctrine of the impossibility of apostasy is correct, for if the Holy Spirit takes over, apart from the truth, and empowers the Christian to overcome sin, how can the Christian fall? Secondly, if the Holy Spirit directly and apart from the Word empowers the Christian to overcome sin, and the Christian is overcome by sin, then the Holy Spirit has failed the Christian. Becoming a Christian is a voluntary action motivated by the truth of the gospel. Living the Christian life is also voluntary and still motivated by the truth of the gospel. The misunderstanding of the denominational world of this fact has contributed to its false teaching on the necessity of the Holy Spirit working directly on the sinner to empower him to obey the truth. Once the Holy Spirit has empowered him to obey the truth in becoming a Christian, then the Spirit continues this work, and it makes it impossible for a Christian to apostatize. We have rejected the first, but some have accepted the second premise, while refusing to also accept the doctrine of the impossibility of apostasy.

What does the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Do Today?

1. It cannot give faith for faith comes by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
2. It cannot give love to God for the gospel is the motive for love to God (I John 4:8).
3. It cannot make us love one another for gratitude in response to the love of God and the gospel is the basis of love among brethren (John 13:34-35). Even the miraculous indwelling did not produce love in the church at Corinth (I Corinthians 13).
4. It cannot produce the spirit of sonship, as the contents of the gospel produces the spirit of sonship, rather than the spirit of bondage that characterized the law (Romans 8:15).
5. It cannot give knowledge for knowledge comes from the Word itself.
6. It cannot give strength for it is faith based on the Word of God that gives strength for living. (Read the entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews.)
7. It cannot empower to overcome sin for we overcome through the blood and the Word (Revelation 12:11).
8. It cannot produce spirituality for the gospel makes one spiritual. Even the miraculous indwelling in the Corinthians did not make them spiritual (I Corinthians 3:1-3).
9. It cannot give growth for we grow by the Word of God (I Peter 2 :2).
10. It would not make one unselfish. The church at Corinth had miraculous gifts, but these gifts did not make the Corinthians liberal. (II Corinthians, Chapters 8 and 9.)
11. It would not keep one from sinning. Even the baptism of the Holy Spirit did not keep Peter from sin (Galatians 2:11). Surely, non-miraculous indwelling would not accomplish more than the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
12. The Holy Spirit does not work miracles today, as the miracles are now written (John 20:30-31).
13. The Holy Spirit does not give revelation today as revelation is completed (Jude verse 3).
14. The Holy Spirit does not work miracles of confirmation, as confirmation ended when revelation ended (Mark 16:16-20).

What does the Holy Spirit do today that He does not do by the Word?

Franklin Camp, Work of the Holy Spirit In Redemption, pp. 260-262