It is imperative that the Holy Spirit live within us for salvation. This daily devotional looks at what that means.
Nuggets
- Being in the Spirit is dependent on being in Christ.
- Being in Christ gives us eternal life.
- When Christ is in us, God sees Him when He looks at us.
Devotions in the Never Alone: The Holy Spirit in Our Lives series
The Holy Spirit lives within us. He dwells within us 24/7/365/eternity when we are a child of God.
Paul told the Romans what that meant. Let’s take a look over the next few devotions.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
The Spirit in Us
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8: 9 ESV)
Being in the Spirit is dependent on being in Christ.
This is a difficult concept for many to understand. It is more than just saying we are human but not human.
Our whole nature isn’t remade. Instead, the condition of our nature is fixed.
That helps us understand the issues we face. That is why Paul wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom. 7: 15 ESV).
We are going to still feel Satan’s pull because our sinful nature is still in us. It will be at war with our spiritual nature.
The good news is that we aren’t left on our own to fight these battles. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.
Being a spirit, the Holy Spirit doesn’t need to obey physical laws. He is transcendent, just as God is.
(News flash: that is because He is part of the Trinity, so He is God. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct Persons within one indivisible Divine nature.)
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Who has the Spirit dwelling in them? We know because it is the opposite of what is said in the last part of the verse.
Romans 8: 9 says, “… Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8: 9 ESV).
That tells us that we can totally miss being Christ’s. It is our choice to be His.
We have to really want to be Christ’s, not just a Christian. If we profess Christ because we think we will gain something — like eternal life — but not belong to Him, we are insincere. We won’t be a child of God’s.
We can’t look to the things of flesh for salvation. Works aren’t going to cut it. Empty worship isn’t going to cut it.
We have to have the Spirit in Christ. Binning wrote, “That which gives being to a Christian is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him. He is to a Christian what the soul is to a man.”
Resource
It kind of threw me when it switched from Spirit of God to Spirit of Christ. Let’s see what was said.
Spurgeon tied all of this up in the descending dove at Jesus’ baptism that empowered His ministry. While the image of the dove may have left, the Spirit did not leave Christ.
It makes more sense to me thinking Jesus and God are the same (Jn. 10: 30). Then again, the Holy Spirit is the same, too.
I can see why the Holy Spirit is given to us instead of something physical. Spurgeon explained this. He wrote, “True religion consists not in outward forms, peculiar garbs, or modes of speech, or anything that is ritualistic and external. ‘The kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.’”
Resource
Then, we also can remember that Jesus said that the Spirit would come. ETA may not have been until Pentecost, but His coming was all wrapped up in Jesus’ going.
Why is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us? He carries out many important functions in leading us to and keeping us in God’s Will.
The Holy Spirit instructs and teaches us. Then He takes the instruction a step further. He prompts us to follow the teaching.
One way the Holy Spirit does that is by helping us to mortify our sins. Mortify means to place a death penalty on our sins.
Glossary
Mortifying our sins is all about having the spirit mortify the flesh. “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5: 24 CSB).
While the Holy Spirit is mortifying our sin, He is sanctifying us. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
In other words, the Holy Spirit is changing our character to be more like God’s. That can happen because He takes the focus off of us and puts it on Jesus.
Being Alive
“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8: 10 ESV)
Being in Christ gives us eternal life.
Spiritual death entered our bodies when Adam and Eve first sinned. It was punishment for their disobedience to God.
When we confess that Jesus is our Savior and Lord, regeneration occurs. “… The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (II Cor. 5: 17 NLT).
What is gone wasn’t really life. It was spiritual death.
Some can have trouble understanding how we can be dead even though we are alive. It is easy. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (I Jn. 5: 12 ESV).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Whoever has the Son in their hearts and lives has eternal life. Period.
It is all contingent on our submission to Christ. The source of this life is our faith.
This switch to a body designed for eternal life isn’t going to happen until Jesus’ Second Coming. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 8: 27-28 ESV).
What that means is that physical death does not sever our ties with God. It ushers in a brand-new life.
Look what the last part of the verse says. “… the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8: 10 ESV).
That means the Spirit that is in us now is the one who will raise us from death then.
Who God Sees
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8: 11 ESV)
When Christ is in us, God sees Him when He looks at us.
Our souls will be perfected upon Jesus’ Second Coming. Until then, we are to live holily and remain faithful to the end.
The Holy Spirit will guide us on the Sanctification Road so that we become holy.
- “I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another” (Rom. 15: 14 ESV).
- “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5: 25 ESV).
Only the Trinity can raise someone from the dead.
Oh, yes. Disciples still die a physical death.
It is this resurrection that completes salvation. We’ve talked before about the three different tenses of salvation.
- There is a past tense to salvation where we believed Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer and confessed God as Sovereign Lord. This was the point of conversion where God changed us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- The present tense of salvation is when we are working out our salvation on the Sanctification Road. This is where we are changing our characters to be like God.
- The future tense of salvation is when sin will be eliminated, and we will be perfected.
Strutt felt that the transformation on that day will be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. If He is working on the inside, wouldn’t it be logical that He would work on the outside, also?
Resource
Think of that day – when sin has been defeated and eliminated. What a great day that will be!
Making the Connections
Think about it. Disciples die just as non-believers do.
Well, what would happen if we didn’t? Let’s say disciples made up a quarter of the world’s population. Let’s say, with a population of 8 billion people, that added up to 2 billion people.
With 60,000,000 births a year and 27,000,000 deaths a year, that 2 billion would continue to increase every year.
If disciples had eternal life now, how would this finite earth support us?
Horton was right. That would probably be more disappointing than we imagine.
Resource
Disciples are still part of mankind. Therefore, they still suffer the results of sin: disease and death.
We just know that – eventually – all will be good.
How Do We Apply This?
- Don’t buy into Satan’s lie that God’s grace is not sufficient.
- Don’t buy into Satan’s lie that we are too sinful.
- Follow examples of godly saints, especially Jesus.
- Glory in being Christ’s, not a Christian.
- Undergo a character change to be more like Jesus.
- Have a Christlike devotion, including a solid prayer life.
- Follow God in obedience.
Resource
Father God. Thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit to live within us. We know we could not be able to live without Him. We long for the day when we have experienced complete salvation. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.