The New Testament repeatedly warns God’s people against confusing human emotion, intuition, impulse, imagination, or subjective impressions with divine revelation. In every age there has been a tendency among sincere religious people to attribute internal feelings, dreams, sensations, or impressions to the direct activity of the Holy Spirit. Statements such as “The Spirit nudged me,” “The Holy Spirit told me,” “God laid this on my heart,” or even more extreme claims that the Spirit physically...

The doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of the most precious and, at the same time, one of the most carefully discussed subjects in New Testament theology. It is precious because it touches the believer’s union with God, his identity as one who belongs to Christ, his sanctification, his hope, and his assurance of resurrection. It is carefully discussed because sincere and Bible-minded students have long sought to understand not only whether the Spirit dwells in the Christian,...

There is a growing sentiment in our time that the world has changed so drastically that the gospel itself must be adjusted to remain effective. The argument is often presented in language that sounds reasonable and even compassionate. We are told that people think differently now, that culture has progressed, that society has evolved beyond what it once was, and therefore the church must adapt its message in order to remain relevant and effective. Some insist that if we do not reshape our...