“…And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by The Spirit which He hath given us.” [1 Jn 3:24]
We have seen before how The Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation. But if we have forgotten, let us be reminded of what Paul said: “now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” [Rom 8:9] Again, if we are true children of God, “children of light, and the children of the day,” [1 Th 5:5] having been “begotten of Him,” [1 Jn 5:1] (for, “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,” [Jn 1:12]), then it is a necessity we have The Spirit dwelling in our hearts. For it is also written,
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” [Gal 4:6]
And herein we find our final proof of true Christianity that we shall look at: the supernatural assurance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We see in John what He says regarding this: ”hereby we know that He abideth in us, by The Spirit which He hath given us.” In the true Christian, there ought to be an assurance within him that he belongs to Christ, that Jesus abides in him. This is given to us through The Spirit, who cries out from our hearts, as Paul said, “Abba, Father.” Again, in Romans we read,
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received The Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” [Rom 8:16]
If we have received The Holy Spirit, it is necessary that He cries out to God from within us, “Abba, Father.” A genuine Christian will know innately that He belongs to The Father, seeing Him as Abba, as a tender and close father. We must each then ask ourselves: ‘do I have The Holy Spirit? Do I have an assurance that I belong to Christ and that God is my Father?’ Certainly there are times when we will be less aware of God’s indwelling and presence; at times, we may even dwell in darkness and have no light. As it says in Isaiah,
“Who is among you that feareth The LORD, that obeyeth the voice of His Servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of The LORD, and stay upon his God.” [Isa 50:10]
However, does your life exhibit this assurance at large? Today you may not feel this supernatural assurance, but have you ever? And does it persistently reappear if it leaves at all?
If we do not have much feeling that The Spirit dwells in us, we may test our life and actions as well, to see if they are influenced by His presence. Let us remember the fruit of The Spirit,
“But the fruit of The Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, moderation/reasonableness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] self-control.” [Gal 5:22-23]
Are these traits displayed in your life? Does The Holy Spirit dwell in you? Again, reading in Romans,
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” [Rom 8:5-9]
And again,
“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.” [Rom 8:11]
Notice the definitive statements in these passages. First, those that are of the flesh “mind the things of the flesh,” and, “they that are after The Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” There is not an option given, but only a statement of fact. Those who are fleshly, in the flesh, “mind earthly things;” [Phil 3:19] and those of The Spirit, heavenly, spiritual things. We can more readily see this distinction when we read again the first verse of Romans eight, which says, “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after The Spirit.” Certainly, all those in Christ may take this verse for a promise of God: in Jesus there is no condemnation. But let us notice also to whom Paul says this promise applies – “to them which…walk…after The Spirit.” And if there, then so too here, where those in The Spirit do not consistently think upon things of the earth, but things in heaven, taking heed to what is commanded us, “set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” [Col 3:2] Therefore, those who have The Holy Spirit, may find assurance in their habitual thinking. Is your mind, brother, regulated by God’s word, consistently meditating upon spiritual things, things of Jesus Christ? If it is not, if your mind is entangled with the things of this earth, and not of God’s word, not of those thoughts and ideas springing up from the fountain of God’s heart, then you very well may be lost. If your mind exhibits evidence of the spirit of the world dwelling in you, through your habitual thinking, then beware; for it is written, “now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but The Spirit which is of God.” [1 Cor 2:12] But there is another statement made regarding those in The Spirit, that is, those who have The Spirit, which we must jointly examine.
Secondly, let us take notice that it is said to those who have The Spirit of God in their hearts, “He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Though we may certainly take this verse as to apply to the resurrection of our bodies, there is yet another application. For we see that the life being given is to our “mortal bodies.” The Holy Spirit will produce the life of Jesus Christ in our bodies. He shall use our bodies, inhabiting them for such a cause, to produce the very life of Jesus. That is, Jesus Himself, using our bodies, shall live through us to speak to, touch, and influence the people around us for God. As Paul said, so too it must be true of us if we are saved: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” [Gal 2:20] Those same things for which Jesus first came to earth He has sent us for as well; for He tells us, “as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” [Jn 20:21] This interpretation is evident when we read the following verses in Romans,
“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 ye through The Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” [Rom 8:12-13]
“We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones,” [Eph 5:30] and He, Jesus, desires to live through us, for, “the body is…for The Lord; and The Lord for the body.” [1 Cor 6:13] And He does this through The Holy Spirit as we die to our flesh, killing the deeds of the body; for just “as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of The Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” [Rom 6:4] So then, we must ask ourselves again, ‘do I have The Spirit?’ Do you have assurance of His indwelling in you? If you do not feel His presence today, do you see evidences of His existence in your heart through the actions of your life? And if presently there is little fruit and actions, (for sometimes there shall be), and if you cannot see past the tears and sorrow of sin, do you at least find comfort in His presence and fellowship? If we are saved, we must exhibit this supernatural assurance. If we claim the Living and Great I Am dwells in our hearts, how is it that we have no assurance of His presence? How is it that we can have no evidence that He, Lord of all and King of all, greater and bigger than all of creation, dwells in our heart? Has Christ come to dwell in our hearts and leave us orphaned or without change? My dear brother, test yourself; prove your soul’s condition: do you have The Holy Spirit?
To see past and future posts in this series of Testing Your Salvation, click here.