How Do I Know If I Have the Holy Spirit?
1) Direct Answer
You know you have the Holy Spirit when the Life of Jesus Christ (the Token) is in you, bearing witness inside, making you a new creature, loving and obeying the Word, giving you power over sin, and leading you into truth. It is not proven by a feeling or a single gift, but by the inward witness and the Word-lived.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The inward witness and sealing: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). “After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
- New birth and indwelling: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:5). “He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17).
- Led into truth: “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things… the anointing… teacheth you of all things” (1 John 2:20,27).
- Love for the Word and obedience: “He that is of God heareth God’s words” (John 8:47). “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3-5).
- New nature and holy living: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22-25).
- Love of God within: “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Romans 5:5).
- Power to witness and overcome: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14).
- Right confession: “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3). “He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:11-12).
Now notice, the Bible also warns that gifts alone are not the proof: “Many will say… we have prophesied… cast out devils… and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22-23). So tongues, prophecy, or sensations are not the evidence. The life of Christ agreeing with the Word is the evidence.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- The Spirit wrote the Word; when He comes in, He makes you love the Word and live it. If a life is in a vine, it produces the fruit of that vine (John 15). If Christ’s Life is in you, Christ’s character appears in you.
- The Holy Spirit doesn’t just excite you; He changes you, anchors you, and guides you. He bears witness inside, He breaks the bondage of sin, and He keeps you walking in the Light you receive.
4) A Simple Test
- Do you have the witness? Does the Spirit assure your heart you are God’s child? (Romans 8:16; 1 John 5:10)
- Do you love and receive all the Word, even when it corrects you? (John 8:47; 1 John 2:3-5)
- Is there a new life and a clean walk, with the fruit of the Spirit growing? (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-25; Hebrews 12:14)
- Are you led into truth and away from sin’s dominion? (John 16:13; Romans 6:14; Romans 8:14)
- Do you boldly confess Jesus Christ as Lord and live under His Lordship? (1 Corinthians 12:3)
If you lack assurance, the Bible’s way is clear: repent, believe the Gospel, be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask—He promised the Holy Ghost to all who are called (Acts 2:38-39; Luke 11:13). Yield your whole life, stay under the Blood, stay in the Word, and the Token—His very Life—will be seen.
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Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Questions and Answers on the Holy Ghost
59-1219 §25
The Holy Spirit's what... You are believing unto eternal life; but when the Holy Spirit comes, it is eternal life. You're believing unto... You're begotten of the Spirit at sanctification, but never born of the Spirit until the Holy Ghost comes in; that's correct. A baby's got life in the womb of the mother, little muscles are quivering; it's a life, but it's a different life when it breathes the breath of life into its nostrils. It's a different. That's what it is, it's... My dear Methodist brother, and Pilgrim Ho...
El Shaddai
60-0802 §67
Brother, that's it. If we would just look around and see how good God is to us---count our blessings---then we'd be willing to take our place at His throne. Let's bow our heads just a moment. Is there someone here would like to say, "Brother Branham, I know that God's been good to me, and I haven't been good to Him. I would like to raise my hands, and say, I want to serve Him. I want Him to be my Saviour. I raise my hand to Him now." Now, I pray that the sincerity of your heart will come to the spot now, this glori...
What is the Holy Ghost?
59-1216 §20
You let me talk to a man two minutes; I can tell you whether he's received the Holy Ghost or not. So can you. It separates them; it's a mark; it's a sign. And the Holy Spirit is a sign. Any child that refused circumcision in the Old Testament, which was a foreshadow of the Holy Ghost, was cut off from amongst the people. He could not have fellowship with the rest of the congregation if he refused to be circumcised. Now pattern that to today. A person that would refuse to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost can ha...
Questions and Answers
59-1223 §46
Now if the spirit of Elijah upon John would make John act like Elijah, the Spirit of God upon you will make you act like Jesus. Now there's where you find the Holy Spirit, see. That's what the Holy Spirit does. It makes you meek, makes you humble, makes you forgiving. Could they pull whiskers from your face, if you had them there, jerk them out and spit in your face, when you had the power to call legions of angels? Could you do that for the love of the people that was spitting in your face? Could you do it? If som...
Questions and Answers on the Holy Ghost
59-1219 §104
I went to meeting that night, and that Spirit would fall; and brother, you could feel it! It was the Holy Spirit. Yes, sir! If it wasn't, it bore record with my spirit that it was the Holy Spirit. And I was just a young preacher, and didn't know much about a discernment of spirit. But I was sitting there. And I know the very God that saved me, that was the same feeling... Felt like I was going through the roof, it was such a wonderful feeling in that building. I thought... About 1500 of them there. I thought, "My,...