What is the primary sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual? First of all, we better define the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person not simply a force. He is the Spirit of God. He is the person who spoke through the prophets. The apostle Paul introduces a quote from the prophet Isaiah by saying, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet...” (Acts 28:25).

What about today? How do we know the Holy Spirit is really behind what someone says today? After all, the Bible tells us, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Here is a clue. We have a test which we can make.

The test is outlined by the apostle Paul. It is the single most important test for identifying the presence of the Holy Spirit. “No one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is Accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). The first test for the presence of the Holy Spirit is a heartfelt confession acknowledging Jesus Christ as the supreme Lord over the life of the individual speaking.

How many of us pass this test?