The Holy Spirit is a gift! Acts 2:38, ‘Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”’ Peter spoke these words in answer to the crowd who came to believe Jesus is the Christ, and they had a part in crucifying Him. The audience asked, “Brethren, what shall we do?” But notice the end of the verse mentions “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Whatever can that be?

The Holy Spirit is a gift bestowed upon obedient believers. The Bible supports this view. Not only do we have the significant verse of Acts 2:28, but we also see Acts 5:32 and 1 Corinthians 6:15 as proof. The Holy Spirit is the gift.

Further proofs abound! The Holy Spirit lives within Christians, as shown in Romans 8:9, 11, 16, 26, 27. Romans 8:9 states this, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Accordingly, does the Spirit live within us or not? Paul affirmed He did.

Here’s Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Our Father raised Jesus from the dead, but it was through the Spirit. The same Spirit will give life to our mortal bodies. Can you be raised from the dead without the Spirit?

Now see Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Is our Spirit within us? Of course. The Spirit who abides within us agrees with our Spirit.

Romans 8:26-27, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. It’s the Holy Spirit who helps with our prayers, prayers being something personal within us.

Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” The Holy Spirit abides where? It’s within the body, and our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 4:6 has it our Father sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, “because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 

So, do Christians have miraculous powers, then?  It is not a necessary conclusion Christians have miraculous powers today, even if the Spirit lives with us. Nor does the Spirit give us knowledge apart from the Word. Also, one cannot conclude the Spirit somehow works on our hearts. Understand the Spirit lives with Christians; however, the way He operates, that is, what He does, doesn’t mean He gives miraculous gifts to believers as in the age of the apostles.