Empowered

It is clear from the Book of Acts that the empowering of the Holy Spirit is distinct from the indwelling Holy Spirit who is in every believer. A number of events in Acts reinforce the empowering of the Holy Spirit as being something that is separate from salvation, though it can happen at the same time.

When believers heard that Saul of Tarsus had been converted, they basically thought, “Saul, a believer? No way.” Saul was a notorious persecutor of the church, after all. His conversion was unexpected to say the least. But God spoke to a man named Ananias and told him to go visit Saul and pray for him, because Saul was a chosen vessel to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

Saul already had put his faith in Christ. He already had met the risen Lord on the Damascus road. But Ananias arrived and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). Saul would become the apostle Paul, one of the most powerful preachers in the history of the church, and would pen a good portion of the New Testament.

Peter is another example of the difference the Holy Spirit’s power makes in a believer’s life. Prior to Pentecost, we see him filled with fear, even denying the Lord. But after Pentecost, he was a changed man.

So not only does the Holy Spirit indwell us as believers, not only does the Holy Spirit seal us as believers, but the Holy Spirit empowers us as well.

P.S. For more of my writing, check out my weekly column at WorldNetDaily.
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