Indwelling Holy Spirit as a Gift
INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT AS A GIFT
There are different "gifts" of the Holy Spirit. In one instance, during the apostolic age of the church, Paul enumerated nine gifts, which were of miraculous nature. Not all Christians possessed these gifts. Miraculous gifts were given for a particular purpose, to last during the infancy of the church. The Holy Spirit, however, dwells in the heart of every child of God today.
Holy Spirit A Gift On the day of the origin of the church, the first time re-mission of sins was offered in the name of Christ, those desiring remission of sins were assured of the "gift" of the Holy Spirit.
"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles , Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37-38).
In this Scripture two gifts are promised: the "remission of sins" and the "gift of the Holy Spirit." Remission of sins was the gift to the penitent, baptized believer. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" was evidence of pardon and received as a gift from God. Although baptism is for the remission of sins, it is not an assurance of eternal salvation. Baptism is for the remission of past and alien sins. The Holy Spirit in our heart, bearing fruit in our lives, is an assurance of salvation.
The Holy Spirit is received as a gift by those who obey the gospel. The apostles declared, "And we are his wit-nesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit , whom God hath given to them that obey him" (Acts 5:32).
The apostle John wrote, "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us" (1 John 3:24). The Christian abides in Christ by keeping his commandments. Christ and the Spirit abide in the Christian as he keeps the Lord's commandments.
Holy Spirit Not Seen To deny that the Holy Spirit, as a person, dwells in a Christan because he has not been seen of mortal man would be equal to a denial of God, whom man has not seen.
The apostle John concluded: "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:12-13).
Although man cannot see the person of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Christian any more than he can see the per-son of God, we do see the fruits and work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life. In the quotation from John it is affirmed that "if we love one another, God abideth in us; hereby we know that we abideth in Him and He in us , because he hath given us of his Spirit."
Fruit of the Spirit The Holy Spirt may be seen in the child of God by the fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
Brethren who hate, bite and devour each other, holding malice and envy in their hearts, give public testimony to the fact that the Holy Spirit does not dwell in them.
Where love rules in the hearts of God's people, the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God are the persons on the throne of the soul.
Joy is the spice of a Christian's life. God's people should be the happiest people on earth. The miserable, unhappy, ever complaining member of the church does not bear evidence of the indwelling spirit.
Peace is the fruit of the Spirit dwelling in the Christian. Our Lord declared, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the Sons of God" (Matthew 5:9).
Some of God's children seem to have been born in the objective case and "kickitive" mood; they object to almost everything and kick about almost anything. They do not seem to be happy unless promoting unrest, disturbance, or trouble of some kind. A constant disgruntled person, who is always in trouble in the church, does not have the Spirit of Christ.
Longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control are winning attributes of the Christian who has the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart. Not only will the Christian, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, be saved, but other souls are influenced to be saved by the fruits of the Spirit revealed in the Christian's life.
If Not Spirit, None of His A most declarative statement is made by the apostle Paul when he said, "But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man bath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his" (Romans 8:9).
The Holy Spirit must reign supremely in the Christian's heart; otherwise, he is none of Christ's. Where Christ and the Spirit reign, the deeds of the body are put to death and the fruits of the Spirit are revealed in righteousness.
"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:10-11).
The apostle concludes: "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God . . . The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:12-16).
Spirit Dwells In Body The Holy Spirit dwells in the child of God as long as the child of God has room for him. He does not share his dwelling with the devil. The Holy Spirit is the royal guest in the body of a Christian and, as the deity of God, has the right to dictate the terms and conditions of his abiding in his human temple.
To the Corinthian church. Paul wrote: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body , and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The child of God and the Holy Spirit live in the same house. The temple of God must remain Holy. The body is the only dwelling place of the soul of man. When man moves out, by reason of death, the body is dead; the temple is unoccupied. If the Holy Spirit is forced to vacate the temple because of sin and unrighteousness, spiritual death is the result.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
A Christian cannot afford to forfeit his right to have the Holy Spirit occupy the holy chambers of his soul, but the Spirit does not dwell where sin dwells. Jesus, the Son of God, warned man of those things which defile man. Hear him as he declared:
"But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, forni-cation, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile man . . ." (Matthew 15:18-19).
From this divine declaration we must conclude that man is responsible for all the deeds of his body. All actions and deeds of the body, good or evil, proceed from the heart. When the Holy Spirit reigns on the throne of the Chris-tian's heart, the deeds of the body, borne in the heart, will be none other than the fruits of the spirit, which are good and not evil.
Indwelling Spirit And The Word A question of much concern to many people is, how does the Holy Spirit dwell in a Christian? Does the Spirit dwell in a child of God independently of the word of God?
Today I am alive. My spirit dwells in me. If you ask me how? I can not fully explain, but there are some con-ditions for the abode of my spirit in this mortal body. When I die my spirit will no longer dwell in this body. Likewise, there are certain conditions upon which the Holy Spirit dwells in the body of a child of God.
Filled With Spirit Filled With God In Ephesians 5:18 Paul exhorts, "Be filled with the Spirit." Yet, the same apostle admonishes, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16). To be filled with the Spirit, therefore, is to have the word of Christ richly dwelling in a Christian. It must be remembered that the spirit is life to the word. Jesus said: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63).
We are not to confuse the exhortation to be "filled with the Spirit" with the promise of the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." One might fill a jug with water, yet not "baptize" the jug in water. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15), yet he was not baptized with the Holy Spirit and worked no miracles (John 10:41). The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a promise to the apostles which was fulfilled on Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2 nd chapter, as we have discussed previously.
Life In The Seed The Holy Spirit gave the regenerating life to the word of God, which is the "seed of the kingdom," and is the perpetuator of life in the born again child of God (John 6:63; 1 John 5:7; Luke 8:11). The child of God is be-gotten by the Spirit through the word of God (John 3:5; 1 Peter 1:22-23).
The Holy Spirit, as a person, does dwell in the body of a child of God, having begotten life through the seed. Man's own spirit dwells in the natural body, having been begotten through the seed which produces natural life. It is not within the realm of human wisdom to fully understand how this is possible regarding spiritual life, or natural life. It is a fact! Just how and to what extent God, in His providence, through the Spirit, may overrule and direct the life of His children we are not prepared to say. Surely that is God's part. Our part is to follow the direction of the dictates of the Spirit through the word of God and trust Him. Men may speculate on how the Spirit intervenes on behalf Qf the child of God, but that does not change the fact that the body of a Christian "is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you" (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Word of God Spiritual Food
Man is born into this world through life in the seed by which he was begotten. Unless that life is sustained by proper nourishment and treatment the Spirit will move out of the body. We call it death. The child of God is "born again" by the Spirit giving life to the seed, the word, by which he is begotten. The spiritual life must continually be nourished by the word of God which sustains and perpetuates life and growth of a Christian. Unless the child of God receives proper spiritual nourishment and engages in proper spiritual exercises and activities , he will die spiritually. The Holy Spirit moves out!
The apostle John surely refers to the spiritual life of a child of God declaring that this new begotten life is sustained and maintained "because his seed abideth in him" (1 John 3:9). The apostle positively does not mean in this scripture that a child of God cannot sin for the same apostle in the same epistle, chapter one and verse eight, declares: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-selves, and the truth is not in us." The child of God, how-ever, who does "walk in the light, as he is the light" has the assurance that "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7; 1 John 1:9). This spiritual life is predicated upon the promise that "his seed remaineth in us." If the seed is not nourished to active spiritual growth, the child of God will die spiritually. He will be lost!
Sealed By Holy Spirit The Christian has the seal of promise by the Holy Spirit, which is an earnest of the inheritance.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).
The apostle made the same declaration to the children of God at Corinth, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:22).
The earnest of the Holy Spirit is the seal of promise, the guarantee deposit, from the highest power there is, an omnipotent God, assuring the child of God of his eternal inheritance and final redemption. The child of God , therefore, must not grieve the Holy Spirit, nor force him out of the dwelling place occupied by both the Christian and the Holy Spirit. Paul admonishes the Ephesian Christians, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God where-by ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).
Holy Spirit Intercedes The Holy Spirit in the Christian intercedes and helps to bear his infirmities. Hear the apostle! Are you listening?
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).
When the Holy Spirit and Christ reign in the Christian's heart, the power to sustain and strengthen him is beyond human measure.
Indwelling of Spirit A Reality
It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the body of a Christian that will quicken the mortal body on the resurrection day. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh" (Romans 8:10-12). The indwelling Spirit enables the Christian to put to death the deeds of the body. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans 8:13). Our access to God is affected by the indwelling Spirit. The indwelling Spirit, which generates life to the child of God, has a distinct relationship to the word of God through faith. Hear the apostle! "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). But access by the Spirit is predicated upon faith in God through His word. ". . . by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2). This grace, to which we have access by faith, appears unto man teaching him (Titus 2:11-12).
One of the great difficulties in understanding the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person, who dwells in the child of God, is the fact that so many people do not recognize the Holy Spirit as a person, but consider him as an influence, a power, or an ideology. But the Holy Spirit is a person; one of the Godhead, three; omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal. If it be a matter of rejecting the reign of the Holy Spirit, as a person, in the Christian and his body, as a temple, because it is not "reasonable," then one would be forced to deny his own existence in the body because no man on earth could identify the soul of man the person who lives in the body, by any physical measurements or identities.
Glory of His Personality The glory of the personality of the Spirit is described by David when he said:
"O Lord, thou hast searched me , and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compasseth my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee" (Psalms 139:1-12).
The Christian may not fully comprehend the Spirit and his divine personality, but we can comprehend his message, his methods and the fruits of his power. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" is God's gift to his children that obey him, the gift of the Spirit himself. Lift high your own spirit to the mountain top of God's infinite power; catch a vision of the. glory of the divine spirit who will live with you and abide in the same house with you in your body, until the time shall come when He will transform our mortal bodies into the glorious image of Him who died for us that we might live with him in eternity.
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11).
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as the by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Php 3:20-21).
INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT AS A GIFT
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). No human tongue can describe the glory that shall be revealed to the saints of God who have been kept by the power of God unto that day. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus; come into my heart to stay!
QUESTIONS FOR MEDITATION 1. What are the two gifts promised to one who became a child of God?
2. What is the "gift of the Holy Spirit" of Acts 2:38?
3. May one receive "remission of sins" and the "gift of the Holy Spirit" without obedience to the gospel?
4. Does the Holy Spirit dwell in the child of God?
5. What are evidences of the indwelling Spirit?
6. What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the word of God? Life and seed?
7. Does the Holy Spirit dwell where sin dwells?
8. May a child of God die spiritually?
9. What are the conditions which assure the child of God eternal salvation?
10. What is the relationship of access to God by the Spirit and access into the grace of God by faith?