How does the Holy spirit work in the lives of people who aren’t Christians?

Published by 1c15 on

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Since the unbeliever is not indwelt with the Holy Spirit does that mean that he at least has to rely on arguments and evidence to know if Christianity is true? No, according to the scriptures, God has a special ministry of the Holy Spirit that is geared to the needs of the unbeliever in particular

Jesus describes this in John 16:7-11

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

John 16:7-11

Jesus is addressing the ministry of the Holy Spirit not to the church, but to the world and he is talking about people “who do not believe in me”.

It is threefold

  1. He convicts the unbeliever of their sin
  2. Of God’s righteousness 
  3. Of their condemnation before God

The unbeliever who is so convicted can therefore be said to know such truths as “God exists” “I am guilty before God” etc. If it weren’t for the work of the Holy Spirit, no one would ever become a Christian. According to Paul, natural man left to himself does not seek God

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

Romans 3:10-11

Unregenerate man cannot understand spiritual things

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 2:14

The unregenerate man is hostile to God

“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”

Romans 8:7

As Jesus said men love darkness rather than light. No man would naturally never come to God. The fact that we do find people seeking God when sharing the Gospel with them is evidence that the Holy Spirit has already been at work in their lives convicting them and drawing them to him.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

John 6:44

So it is never lack of evidence or intellectual difficulties that someone doesn’t come to believe in the faith. At root, the unbeliever willingly ignores and rejects the drawing of God’s Holy Spirit on his heart. This convicting power and drawing of the Holy Spirit may take years, decades for the believer to come to Christ. No one in the final analysis really fails to become a Christian because of the lack of arguments or evidence. He fails to become a Christian because they love darkness rather than light and want nothing to do with God. But anyone who does respond to the drawing of God’s Spirit with an open mind and an open heart can know with assurance that Christianity is true because God’s spirit will convict them eventually that it is true.

“Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”

John 7:16-17

If your will is to do God’s will then they will know Jesus’ teaching is from God. Jesus is affirming that is anyone truly wants God’s will and is truly seeking God then they will come to know Jesus’ teaching is from God. So for the believer and the unbeliever it is the testimony of God’s spirit that ultimately assures him of the truth of Christianity.


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