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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit

Romans 8:9 "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."

God's desire to be in the midst of His people
God the Father dwelt above and among the people
The Triune God's intention from all eternity was to have a people in and through which He could display His glory and love.  In the Old Testament, God revealed the mobile worship center of Israel to Moses that is referred to as "The Tabernacle".  Inside that mobile "tent-like" structure, God the Father dwelt in the "holy of holies" amidst the camp of Israel as they journeyed through the desert.  Thus God was "God above the people" dwelling among them.

God the Son came to dwell with the people
When you come to the New Testament, you discover that God the Father sent His Son, with whom He has shared a common Divine Life from all eternity, to "tabernacle Himself" among people in a body of human flesh.  John 1:14 states - "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." That underlined word for "dwelt" in John 1:14 is a word that could be translated "tabernacled".  Thus in imitation of God the Father, God the Son came to tabernacle Himself among the people not in a building, but rather in a human body.

God the Holy Spirit was sent to be God in His people
When Jesus Christ raised from the dead, He ascended into Heaven in a glorified human body.  As He had promised His disciples in John 14 and 16, The Father would send the Holy Spirit in His name.  The Holy Spirit has with the Father and Son shared the Common Divine Life from all eternity.  When the Holy Spirit came, He came to be God in the midst of every person who would believe on Jesus Christ by grace through faith.  Ephesians 2:20-21 describes this truth - "in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

The Benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit
As one jurneys down from Romans 8:6-17, we discover why the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit is so vital to the Christian individual and to the church corporately.  When you see the benefits of the Spirit's indwelling, you will understand how precious it is for the Christian to have the very life of God Himself living on the inside:
1. Power to live for God  8:6-8

2. Personal experience of Jesus Christ 8:9-10

3. Points to the blessed hope of Christ's return 8:11

4. Provision for victory 8:12-13

5. Personal leading by God Himself 8:14

6. Personal Assurance of salvation through fellowship with God 8:15-17