Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
At regeneration, which precedes and causes faith
"This faith is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit." — Baptismal Regeneration (Sermon 573). And on the rite: baptism is "the outward symbol and representation of what is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the man who believes in Christ."
THE POSITION
Reformed Baptist. Faith itself is named as the Spirit's own work, which places the Spirit's operation before the act of believing rather than after it — the monergistic order, stated directly rather than inferred. The will is meanwhile actively hostile prior to grace; he describes his own pre-conversion state as having 'kicked, and struggled against the things of the Spirit,' a Spirit at work on a man not yet indwelt. The rite conveys none of this: baptism is only the outward representation of something the Spirit has already done.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
9 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, and the most famous preacher of Victorian England — the "Prince of Preachers." Preached roughly 3,500–4,000 sermons across 63 volumes; All of Grace and A Defence of Calvinism state his soteriology directly.
Cite this page
"Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Indwelling of the Holy Spirit", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/spurgeon/indwelling (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/spurgeon/indwelling).