In your early 20’s, you started attending a church that had a vibrant young adult ministry. There, you met Charlie. His enthusiasm for the Bible was contagious. He was constantly talking about the love of Christ. Over that next year, Charlie spoke wisdom and faith into your life. It was through Charlie’s encouragement that you made a commitment to begin reading the Bible faithfully and to spend quality time in prayer. In your opinion, Charlie was the quintessential example of what a Christian should be. When you thought about your own walk with Christ, you prayed to the Lord that you might become like Charlie.

Time moved on. People graduated, moved to different places, started new jobs, got married and had children. All of your friends from that young adult ministry have gone their separate ways and you, yourself, don’t even attend the same church anymore because you now live too far away.

Then, in your mid-40’s, on a random day, you happen to see a social media post from one of your old friends from that young adult ministry you once attended. It’s a faith-based post, and you’re glad to see it. It’s an encouragement to cast your cares upon the Lord.

But then, in the comment section, you see none other than Charlie! You read his comment, only to realize it’s filled with atheistic vitriol. You click on Charlie’s profile and discover that several of his posts criticize Christianity, while others explain why he now believes the Bible is a lie.

WHAT HAPPENED??????

You’re perplexed. Your faith feels discouraged as you wonder how such a thing could have possibly happened. You begin to wonder if a person can lose their salvation.

What Should We Conclude:

There are some people who love the idea that God loves them. They find reassurance in the notion that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son. They may find comfort in the fellowship and friendships developed at church. They may enjoy being part of a community where they feel accepted and valued, but nevertheless, they don’t want God to have authority over their lives. They’re unwilling to surrender to Christ. They’re not willing to take themselves off their own throne and let Christ be the King of their lives.

But here’s the rub. Remember when Moses went up the mountain to meet with God and came back down with his face glowing? Moses had to cover his face until that glow faded. (See Exodus 34:29-35 and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

Well, in a very similar way, when a person who lacks the Holy Spirit is continually in the presence of God through their close association with true Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit, they may begin to glow, not from their face like Moses, but in their spirit. This can give us the impression that he or she is a sincere Christian. Combine this with a naturally outgoing and charismatic personality, and people will naturally gravitate toward them, given the impression that they possess leadership qualities. Newer Christians who have yet to develop deeper spiritual discernment may then look to this person as a spiritual influence and assume that their outward qualities are evidence of genuine spiritual maturity.

But when life moves on, everyone moves away, and they stop associating with Spirit-filled believers, that glow they once had fades away. Like everyone else, life has given them turbulence, bumps and bruises. But because Christ is not the center of their life, they don’t experience the peace that the Holy Spirit offers. Because they insisted on keeping themselves on the throne rather than allowing Christ to be their King, they eventually begin to look just like the world. They’ve gone 180 degrees from the Christian lifestyle they once appeared to embrace.

Charlie never surrendered his life to Christ. What appeared to be a genuine Christian faith was nothing more than the outward appearance of a life influenced by his fellow Spirit-filled believers. His Christian appearance was largely the result of his environment and personality. When that influence was eventually removed (everyone moved away), and his environment changed (he stopped attending church), his previous glow faded away to reveal his true condition of being spiritually dead in the world.

So then, now that we’ve seen what happened to Charlie, how do we ensure that this doesn’t happen to us? How are we genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit?

We are filled with the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus. But faith is not merely the acceptance and acknowledgment of a fact. Faith begins with belief, but it also includes trust and surrender.

Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. (see Mark 9:24)

Ask (for the Holy Spirit) and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)