Covenant of Peace: A Return to Holiness

1.3 The Holy Spirit Dwelling Within

Nothing is more sacred than when the Holy Spirit dwells within followers of Jesus Christ. This is the promise of the New Covenant that was received on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was distributed on believers like tongues of fire. They were so inundated with the power and presence of the Lord that they staggered as if they were drunk. They miraculously spoke in other languages as the Spirit moved upon their vocal cords so that people from many different nations heard them speaking in their own languages.

This was the powder keg of the explosive growth of the New Testament church. The God who was too holy to draw near to in the Old Testament was within reach of anyone who repented of their sins and called on the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness. Jewish believers were astounded because this same baptism of fire was granted to Gentiles as well. It signified that the New Covenant is available to anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of ethnicity or gender.

John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets. His ministry was baptism in water for repentance, but there was one coming who would baptize with a holy fire. That did not occur until the day of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not simply the product of coming to faith in Jesus Christ. It is a remarkable experience in which the presence and power of the Lord become a tangible experience. Whereas the glory of the Lord filled the Old Testament temple in response to sacrifices, Greater Glory comes upon New Covenant believers. More details will be provided in the subchapter about Jesus and the Holy Spirit under the Inter-Covenantal Period.