Individual – not collective – salvation

“Let it be a settled principle in our religion that when a man brings  forth no fruits of the Spirit, he has not the Holy Spirit within him.  Let us resist as a deadly error the common idea, that all baptized  people are born again, and that all members of the Church, as a matter  of course, have the Holy Spirit. One simple question must be our rule: What fruit does a man bring forth? Does he repent? Does he believe with the heart on Jesus? Does he live a holy life? Does he overcome the world?  Habits like these are what Scripture calls ‘fruit.’ When these “fruits”  are lacking, it is profane to talk of a man having the Spirit of God  within him.” (J.C. Ryle)

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