If you have sincerely trusted Christ for your salvation and acknowledged him as Lord, then the Holy Spirit has come into your life, and you are a Christian. You won't know that the Holy Spirit has come if you are waiting for a certain feeling; you will know he has come because Jesus promised he would. When the Holy Spirit is working within you, you will believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son and that eternal life comes through him (1John 5:5); you will begin to act as Christ directs (Romans 8:5; Galatians 5:22,23); you will find help in your daily problems and in your praying (Romans 8:26,27); you will be empowered to serve God and do his will (Acts 1:8; Romans 12:6ff); and you will become part of God's plan to build up his church (Ephesians 4:12,13).
The Holy Spirit is God's promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in Christ. The Spirit is in us now by faith, and by faith we are certain to live with Christ forever. See Romans 8:23; 1Corinthians 6:14; 2Corinthians 4:14; 1Thessalonians 4:14.
When a person becomes a Christian, he or she gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God's family. One of these outstanding privileges is: being led by the Spirit (see Galatians 4:5,6). We may not always feel as though we belong to God, but the Holy Spirit is our witness. His inward presence reminds us of who we are and encourages us with God's love (Rom 5:5).
For first-century believers, there was economic and social persecution, and some even faced death. We too must pay a price for following Jesus. In many parts of today's world, Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ's first followers. Even in countries where Christianity is tolerated or encouraged, Christians must not become complacent. To live as Jesus did - serving others, giving up one's own rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world - always exacts a price. Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.
Christians today face hardships in many forms: persecution, illness, and imprisonment, even death. These could cause them to wonder: "have they been abandoned by Christ?" But the Bible teaches that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of his unconquerable love. Nothing can stop Christ's constant presence with us. God tells us how great his love is so that we will feel totally secure in him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid.
