There are some who do receive the Holy Ghost before they are baptized in the Name of JESUS Christ. If they were to refuse water baptism when it was revealed to them, do you think the Holy Ghost would still abide in them?
Act_5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
The context of Acts 5:32 is that the religious leaders from the temple were jealous of the apostles and their popularity among the people, just as they were jealous of Jesus. So, they arrested them and put them in jail. During the night an angel of the Lord brought them out, and commanded them to “Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people all about this new life.” So, they obeyed, and they did as they were told. When the leaders of the Sanhedrin discovered that the apostles were no longer in jail, they didn’t know what to make of it.
Then, someone told them that the apostles were standing in the temple courts teaching the people. The apostles were made to appear before the Sanhedrin, where they were reminded that they had been given strict orders not to teach in Jesus’ name. The apostles replied that they must obey God rather than human beings, meaning that if the Sanhedrin told them to do something but it contradicted what God had instructed, they had to obey God, and not men, even if these men were in positions of authority over them.
Then, they basically gave the leaders the message of the gospel. The Jesus whom they had hung on a cross to die had been resurrected from the dead by the God of Israel. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, exalted as Prince and Savior, “to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” And, then they said, “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him,” i.e. to those obeying him.
When the apostles said they must obey God rather than man, they were not speaking of the obedience of their initial faith in the gospel and their initial belief in Jesus Christ as Savior of their lives. They were talking about obeying the command that the angel had given, which was from God, to go into the temple courts and to tell people about this new life in Christ, i.e. to share the gospel of our salvation. This obedience was after they were saved.
Yet, when they spoke of the Spirit being given to those obeying (present, active) Jesus, they were speaking both of their initial obedience in faith in Christ and in what he did for them on the cross, but also of their continued walks of faith, walks of obedience, which is also required for us to have eternal life with God. In John 3:16 it says “whoever believes (present tense) will not perish, but has everlasting life. Our faith must be continuous and ongoing, as must be our obedience, yet I don’t believe it speaks of sinless perfection (See: 1 Jn. 2:1). I believe scripture is very clear that an obedient lifestyle is required of all who will receive eternal life, not that we will never sin, but that, from beginning to end, which only God can see, we remain faithful, we persevere, and we obey consistently and persistently, dying daily to sin and self, putting off the misdeeds of our flesh, by the Spirit.
When I quoted the passage showing that there were people - and they were not the only ones recorded in scripture - who received the Holy Spirit, meaning they were saved, prior to them being baptized with water, meaning they were baptized in/of the Spirit prior to water baptism, you quoted Acts 5:32, and your question was, if they received the Holy Spirit but then did not follow Christ in water baptism, would they retain the Holy Spirit? Or something like that (not an exact quote).
And, your question concerning their obedience was not concerning the obedience of faith in regeneration, since they were already regenerated, but a subsequent obedience after they had received salvation, asking if they did not obey in that one thing would they still be saved. So, that is why I asked if you have lived in sinless perfection since you got saved. If you have not, and you don’t believe God requires sinless perfection, then that brings into question whether or not you are justified in suggesting that if someone does not obey God in water baptism after they are saved, if they are still saved. That would be the same as asking whether or not if you sinned after salvation, are you still saved, or was the Spirit taken from you? Also, are you obeying God in everything you know he requires of you now? If you are not, then you also would not be justified in suggesting that if someone has been baptized in/of the Spirit, but that they have not yet received water baptism, that the Spirit should be taken from them.
Now, let me say here that I believe the Bible teaches that obedience is required for salvation, and not just the initial obedience of faith to believe, but continued obedience, and continued faith are required by God unto the end if we are to have eternal life with God, yet scripture teaches this in the context, not of sinless perfection, but of lifestyle, i.e. of our walks of faith, which includes dying daily to sin and self, and by the Spirit putting to death the deeds of the flesh, so that we will live. So, I agree that obedience is essential, but if we could keep the law perfectly, Jesus would not have to die. But, I don’t believe scripture teaches that water baptism is essential for salvation, otherwise these people could not have been saved and baptized in the Spirit prior to water baptism. More on this later.
Here are more scriptures on the importance of obedience in our daily lives:
John 8:51: “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
John 14:23-24: Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
Acts 5:32: “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” Literally, “to those obeying” (present tense) “him.”
Hebrews 5:9: “and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Literally, “to all those obeying” (present tense) “him.”
1 John 2:3-6
: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
1 John 3:24: “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
2 John 1:6: “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
