'The result of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us'
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How can we be sure we indeed are a Christian and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in us? We know that we are a Christian and that we possess the Spirit of God because of the change taking place in our personality.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25)
If we claim that we belong to Christ and have the Spirit of God but are exhibiting hatred, misery, unrest, impatience, harshness, an evil nature, lack of faithfulness, lack of self-control, and are yielding to our fleshly lusts, we are deceiving ourselves.
We may begin the Christian discipleship with such a disposition. But if we are not changing into the moral image of Christ over a period of time, if some signs of the fruit of the Spirit are not appearing, then we are not walking in the Spirit of God. We may be doctrinally correct. We may speak in tongues, prophesy, and work miracles in the name of Christ. But Christ does not know us. We are none of His.
There is the fruit of the flesh and then there is the fruit of the Spirit of God. If we are walking in the appetites of the flesh we will reveal in ourselves the works of the flesh: lust, murder, covetousness, occult practices, envy, spite, backbiting, gossip, slander, bitterness, unforgiveness, and every other evil behavior.
If we are walking in the Spirit of God we will demonstrate love, joy, and peace.
Adherence to correct doctrine is not a substitute for love, joy, peace, and brotherly kindness.
Spiritual manifestations and gifts are not a substitute for loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves.
The proof of the Christian discipleship is the development of the fruit of the Spirit in our personality.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Romans 8:10)
Our mortal body is dead spiritually, being cut off from the life of the Holy Spirit. The body is dead because of the sin that dwells in it.
Our body is alive physiologically. We breathe, eat, think, move, speak. This is not the only life God desires that we have. Eternal life is the possession of Christ who Himself Is eternal Life. We do not have the Life of Christ in our body because our body contains a sinful nature that is an enemy of God.
We do possess eternal life in our new spiritual nature because the Holy Spirit in us gives us of the Life of Christ. The Spirit of God is the Life of the Christian. We have eternal life in our new spiritual nature because the righteousness of Christ has been ascribed to us. Eternal life always follows righteousness.
The righteousness brought to us by the Spirit of God is both imputed (ascribed) and imparted. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us in that God has declared us to be righteous on the basis of our acceptance of the shed blood of Christ for our justification. God has declared us guiltless and has given to us His own righteousness through Christ.
The righteousness brought to us by the Spirit of God also is imparted , as the Spirit leads us into paths of righteous conduct. The Spirit empowers us, prompts us, warns us, comforts us, encourages us, teaches us, exhorts us, invites us to stop serving our fleshly mind and our flesh and to follow the righteous and holy ways of the Lord.
The Spirit works in us the love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, teachableness, and self-control that are so highly prized by the Father in Heaven.
It is the Holy Spirit who sets us free from the law of sin and death. Before we were Christians we were ruled by the lusts of our body. We may have desired to obey the law of God but we found that we were unable to do so because of the law of sin that governs the physical body.
The Presence and power of the Holy Spirit changes the condition of bondage. When we are obedient to His leading He furnishes us with wisdom and power sufficient to enable us to put to death the deeds of our flesh.
If we are willing to bring ourselves under the gentle rule of the Spirit He will make it possible for us to conquer our sinful deeds, words, motives, and imaginations. He frees us by bringing to us the Presence, authority, power, and moral Nature of Christ. We are set free from the lustful, murderous, idolatrous tendencies of our flesh by the Presence of God.
We always must keep in mind that the enabling power for righteous living that comes to us in the Holy Spirit is founded on the fact that our sins have been, and continue to be, forgiven by the merits of the atoning blood of Christ on the cross. We must regard ourselves as having been crucified with Christ and resurrected with Christ in order for the Holy Spirit to release us from the lordship of sin.
As we press forward in the Spirit of the Lord, bringing under subjection by Christ’s power the lusts of our flesh and the rebellion of our mind, we grow in eternal resurrection life. We develop and mature in the new covenant. We move along in the purpose of God for us, which is that we be changed into the image of Christ.
By walking in the Spirit of God we keep on drawing closer to the day when we are fit to be part of the eternal Temple of God. It is God’s will that we become transformed by consistent and increasing exposure to His Glory.
The Day of the Lord is breaking over the horizon of our soul. The light of His Presence will shine more and more brightly until our whole being is filled to fullness with His glorious radiance and we know as we are known.
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