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The indwelling of the Holy Spirit – What is it?
The indwelling
of the Holy Spirit is God taking up permanent residence in the heart of those
who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
In the Old
Testament, the Spirit would come intermittently upon the saints, empowering
them for service but not necessarily remaining with them.
The Spirit "rushed upon" Lehi (Judges 15:14) and "clothed" Amasai (1 Chronicles 12:18).
The Spirit was
with David and able to be removed from him (Psalm 51:11), and the Spirit "fell upon" Ezekiel and spoke
to him (Ezekiel 11:5).
The Spirit, who
had once been with King Saul, "departed
from" him, removing His influence and guidance from the king (1 Samuel 16:14).
It wasn't until Pentecost that the Spirit began to indwell those who belong to God through Christ.
It wasn't until Pentecost that the Spirit began to indwell those who belong to God through Christ.
Jesus predicted
the coming of the Spirit who would live within His people, as well as the new
role the Spirit of Truth would play in their lives.
Prior to the
resurrection and Pentecost, the Spirit was with the disciples and influenced
them, but He did not yet indwell them, as Jesus explained to them: "he dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:17, italics added).
John 7:39 explains further: "Now this he said about the Spirit,
whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not
been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
The apostle Paul reiterated the same truth about the Spirit's
indwelling: "Or do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your
body" (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
Because
believers have been purchased for God by the blood of Christ, shed on the cross
for our sins, our bodies become a living temple where the Spirit of God
resides.
The image of the
believer's body being a temple is reminiscent of the Old Testament tabernacle,
in which the Spirit of God lived.
There, God's
presence would appear in a cloud and meet the high priest, who came once a year
into the Holy of Holies.
On the Day of
Atonement, the high priest brought the blood of a slain animal and sprinkled it
on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. On this special day, God granted
forgiveness to the priest and His people (Leviticus 16).
The Jewish
temple in Jerusalem no longer exists.
Now the believer
in Christ has become the inner sanctum of God the Holy Spirit, as the believer
has been sanctified and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7).
In fact,
Scripture also says that the believer is the dwelling place of all three
Persons of the Trinity.
Along with the
Spirit, Jesus Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27), as is God the Father
(1 John 4:15).
The purpose of
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is many-faceted.
First and
foremost, the Spirit creates new life in believers (Titus 3:5), producing the same new birth Jesus
spoke of in John 3:1–8.
The Spirit
confirms to us that this new birth is real and that we truly belong to God (Romans 8:15–17).
He also imparts
to believers spiritual gifts to be used to build up the body of Christ and
glorify God (1 Corinthians 12:4–11).
Further, as the
author of Scripture through the writers He inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), the indwelling Spirit
helps believers understand what He has written and how to apply it to daily
life (1 Corinthians 2:12).
Other functions of the indwelling Spirit include interceding for believers in
prayer (Romans 8:26), leading us in the ways of
righteous living (Romans 8:14), producing His fruit in
our lives (Galatians 5:22–23), and installing
believers into the universal church of Christ, also called the baptism of the
Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
One of the
indwelling Spirit's most encouraging functions is to seal believers for
eternity by placing His own mark upon us.
Doing so assures
our arrival in the Lord's presence when we die (Ephesians 1:13–14, 4:30).
The Holy
Spirit's presence within us is the guarantee that we have been purchased by
Christ and redeemed from our sins.
We can never
lose our position as a prized possession.
Until we die,
the Spirit remains within us, renewing and sanctifying us, comforting us in
trials, and sustaining us in afflictions.
With the
indwelling Holy Spirit, we are never alone, never lost, and never without His
power.
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