Salvation and Sanctification in the Old and New Testaments

Would you like to learn more about the Holy Spirit, about His work in regeneration, salvation, and sanctification in God’s people? Consider listening to the following sermons exposited by Dr. Caldwell from the Word of God:

The Unbelief of The Sinner:
Another Helper - Part 1: https://youtu.be/Ihqjn13Q_Oc
Another Helper - Part 2: https://youtu.be/o8guIwYkA-U
The Holy Spirit - Part 1: https://youtu.be/oc1KmArRoJg
The Holy Spirit - Part 2: https://youtu.be/RupM3s5aakc
Because He Has Come - Part 1: https://youtu.be/HPJjQN_k6qk
Because He Has Come - Part 2: https://youtu.be/bOlbKF_Ob6Y
Our Teacher: https://youtu.be/TDo6j-Lzzio
Something New: https://youtu.be/uXwkOrCmJ94
Something Better: https://youtu.be/qmtIfuhRWz0
A Faithful Shepherd - Part 2: https://youtu.be/m2F45HQ1sKg
The Baptism in The Holy Spirit - Part 1: https://youtu.be/QWfa592i7nw
The Baptism in The Holy Spirit - Part 2: https://youtu.be/F84rSzwlD2M
The Holy Spirit as God's Seal & Pledge - Part 1: https://youtu.be/1hSs5rAEtcI
The Holy Spirit as God's Seal & Pledge - Part 2: https://youtu.be/YGGegdkUIb0

The New Testament teaches the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit of all believers. But in the Old Testament, this wasn’t the case; it was different. How can we understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? That work appears to have been selective and temporary. For example, we read King David praying to God in Psalm 51 to not take ‘Your Holy Spirit from me.’ Whereas New Testament believers, permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirit, are being transformed into the image of Christ, from one degree of glory to another through the work of sanctification. So then, if the Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell Old Testament believers, and just sort of, came and went, how were they sanctified? This is the topic for this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast. Join us as host Dr. Josh Philpot asks Dr. Richard Caldwell to share his thoughts and understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in saving and sanctifying believers in both eras, old and new.

Dr. Caldwell says this is a great opportunity to think about continuity and discontinuity. Continuity is that, which remains the same, and discontinuity is that which is different. So what is the same and what is different? As Dr. Philpot mentioned, the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit is new, so something different has taken place. But, if we understand and believe what the Bible teaches about all mankind since the fall, we have to know that no one has ever been saved in all of history apart from regeneration. Man does not and cannot save himself. He is blind, and he is dead. Man does not love God nor the things of God and has no desire to live for God. God must do a work in a man's soul for this to change; it requires the grace of God at work in the soul that brings new life. This is regeneration and is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's heart for salvation. This has not and does not change from the old to the new. So, in the same way, to think that anyone can live a godly life without the help of the Holy Spirit, Old or New Testament, would be erroneous. The Holy Spirit is He who works to give the eyes of faith to believe God, His Word, and His promises, to love the Scriptures, and the desire to obey Him.

Dr. Caldwell shares about Jesus coming to Nicodemus in John 3, where Jesus talks about the new birth. Nicodemus is reproved for not knowing and understanding the things Jesus speaks about with him. Nicodemus was a teacher in Israel and had the Old Testament. He should have understood the need for the new birth, even in the Old Testament. If new birth was required in the Old Testament, so also was sanctification and growing in godliness. But what’s new then? What’s new is that we have the Messiah; we have Christ. The Old Testament progressively continued to point to the coming of Christ, but He hadn’t yet come. In the New Testament, we have Christ come. Now we have met with Emmanuel, God with us, God incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. In this same discussion with Nicodemus, we begin learning it's through Christ that love takes on a new character. Dr. Caldwell shares what this means and looks like in the life of believers.

Before Christ was to return to heaven, He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who baptizes us with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is given to those who have trusted in Christ. This is a post-resurrection, a post-ascension reality that every believer is now permanently indwelled by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is our comforter. He is Christ in us. He is the seal and down payment that God has given to us, His people, regarding our future inheritance. He works in us for our sanctification, for the holiness without which no man will see the Lord. His indwelling confirms the fact that we are headed toward a future that God has promised, one we will most certainly have. These are all new realities.