The Holy Spirit dwells not in tabernacles unfit and unworthy. Paul makes the sublime declaration that man may become the temple of God, with the Spirit of God dwelling within him; and the apostle specifies the penalty prescribed for defiling a structure sanctified by so holy a presence (see 1 Cor. 3:16; see also 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; D&C 93:35). Faith in God leads to repentance of sin; this is followed by baptism in water for the remission of sins, and this in turn by the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, or the right and title to the personal association and inspiring ministration of the Holy Ghost, through those power come sanctification and the specific gifts of God.
An Exception to this Sequence is shown in the case of the devout Gentile, Cornelius, unto whom, together with his family, came the Holy Ghost, with such power that they spake with new tongues to the glorification of God, and this before their baptism (See Acts, chap. 10). But sufficient reason for this departure from the usual order is seen in the prejudice that existed among the Jews toward other nations, which, but for the Lord’s direct instructions to Peter, would have hindered the apostle from ministering unto the Gentiles. As it was, his act was condemned by his own people; but he answered their criticisms with a recital of the lesson given him of God, and the undeniable evidence of the divine will as shown in the reception of the Holy Ghost by Cornelius and his family before baptism.
In another sense the Holy Ghost has frequently operated for good through persons that were unbaptized; indeed, some measure of His power is given to all mankind; for, as seen already, the Holy Spirit is the medium of intelligence, of wise direction, of development, of life. Manifestation of the power of God, as made plain through the operations of the Spirit, are seen in the triumphs of ennobling art, the discoveries of science, and the events of history; with all of which the carnal mind may believe that God takes no direct concern. Not a truth has ever been made the property of humankind except through the power of that great Spirit who exists to do the bidding of the Father and the Son. And yet the actual companionship of the Holy Ghost, the divinely-bestowed right to His ministrations, the sanctifying baptism with fire, are given as a permanent and personal possession only to the faithful, repentant, baptized candidate for salvation; and with all such this gift shall abide unless it be forfeited through transgression. (James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith [London: West European Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1962], 164-65)
