The person and work of the Holy Spirit in conversion is greatly misunderstood by the religious world. Many believe that there is a miraculous and mysterious working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of an individual at the time of his conversion to the Lord. One passage cited in support of this belief is Romans 8:16: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” However, one should examine more closely the wording of this verse. Upon doing so, one can see that the Bible states that the Spirit bears witness “with” our spirit and not “to” our spirit that “we are the children of God.” There is a tremendous difference. This passage simply states that there are two witnesses to our conversion to Christ. They are the Holy Spirit and our spirit. Yet, how is this possible?
Perhaps it is best that we mention that the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are not the same. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God as the instrument in the act of conversion. Paul wrote that “the sword of the Spirit” is “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). This is the only offensive weapon that the Christian soldier has in combating the forces of Satan and in the converting of the alien to the Lord. The apostle Peter informed us in 2 Peter 1:21 that “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” While this was spoken of the Old Testament writers, nevertheless, the principle is true and applicable regarding the inspired men who preached and wrote in the first century. In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul wrote, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God….” Paul declared that those who are “the sons of God” are the individuals who “are led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14), but, how does the Holy Spirit lead people today? He leads today in the same way that He did in the first century, and that is through the inspired Word. The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all the truth (John 14:26; 16:13). We conclude therefore that the Holy Spirit leads people in the matter of conversion by the use of His instrument, the inspired Word.
Now, when an individual believes in Jesus Christ and obeys His commands, the Holy Spirit bears witness that he has complied with the requirements of the Lord, and a person’s spirit also bears witness that he has been obedient to Christ, thus becoming a child of God. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:22-23, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
In the Book of Acts, there is not one example where the Holy Spirit ever instructed an alien sinner how to be saved except through men who possessed the inspired Word. That principle has not changed. Today, when one reads the Bible and comes to believe in Jesus as being the divine Son of God, repents of sins and is baptized for the remission of sins, that person has done what the Holy Spirit has instructed one to do in order to be pleasing in the sight of God (Acts 2:36-38). The two witnesses to the conversion of that person are the individual’s spirit and the Holy Spirit. Both testify that the sinner has obeyed the terms of pardon set forth in the Holy Scriptures and has become a child of God.
