There are many believers who are
of the mind that the Holy Spirit dwells in the Christian, but only to the
extent that the Word of God dwells within us. In other words, the Holy Spirit
is not literally within the heart of the believer, but rather He works through
the Word in order to guide us. I believe that this is an erroneous idea. I
propose that the Spirit, literally, effectually dwells within the heart of the
believer. To be sure, He works through the Word to guide and help the
Christian. But I believe that the Scriptures witness to the fact that the
Spirit does more than that.
In Galatians four, Paul discusses
with the Galatians the benefits that the Christian has. In doing so, he tells
his readers in verse six that “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying ‘Abba Father.’” I cannot see how this can be
anything other than the indwelling of the Spirit. Examine the context and you
will see why this has to be case. In verses one through five, Paul discusses
how the Law served as a schoolmaster until Christ came. Remember that the
primary purpose of the entire letter is to counteract and combat the false
teaching of the Judaizers who insisted on keeping the Law in order to gain
salvation. Paul emphasizes the fact that the Law was not the final program that
God was to being about in order for man to be saved, but rather it was intended
to show man’s sinfulness to show why the Christ was necessary. Those under the
Law were children who were being kept until the redemption in Christ came. And
so verse six serves as an encapsulation of the entire argument. We are now
sons, Paul argues, and because we are sons God has sent His Spirit. Why then
would we want to go back to the Law after we have received the Spirit? If we
are not partaker of the Spirit, then Paul’s entire argument falls flat!
In Romans chapter eight, Paul,
after telling his readers in chapter seven that there is a constant struggle
between the flesh and the spirit, now encourages them by pointing to the fact
that they are no longer condemned because they are in Christ. At the very
beginning of the chapter he says, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ.” As he continues in the chapter, he reminds the Romans
that the Spirit makes all the difference. In verse nine he concludes that if
the Spirit of Christ is in them, then they indeed belong to Christ, but if the
Spirit is not in them then they are none of His. Nothing could be clearer. At a
time when the Word had yet to be enscripturated in its fullness, Paul tells his
readers that, in order for them to belong to Christ they must have His Spirit.
As he continues later in the chapter, he goes on to describe how the Spirit
makes intercession for us when we pray. He, says Paul, intercedes for us with
“unspoken groanings.” You’re probably tired of hearing me say it, but if the
Spirit is not within the Christian, then Paul’s whole argument falls apart. The
idea that this has reference to the Word abiding in the Christian, and that
alone, makes little sense in the context in which Paul speaks. He goes on to
lay out the famous golden chain of redemption where he explains that those who
are Christ are called, justified, sanctified and glorified. You cannot make the
context of this passage say anything other than the fact that the Spirit is
within the Christian and is involved in every step that the believer takes in
drawing near to God.
We move on to the letter to the
Ephesians. In chapter one, Paul lays out the glorious destiny of the believer.
Indeed, that destiny has already begun to be manifested in the Christian. In
verse three he speaks of the blessings that are ours in the heavenly places
through Christ. This reminds me of the letter to the Hebrews and how the author
there lays out what the sacrifice of Christ has done for us. He describes how
much better the blessings of the believer are because of the sacrifice of
Christ. In the same way, Paul reminds us that because of that great sacrifice,
we have inherited great and true promises. Moving on to verse 11, he tells his
readers that we have been predestined according to the counsel of God’s own
will to an inheritance reserved for us in heaven, in the words of Peter in 2
Peter 1. But the most important verse in this sequence for our purposes is
verse 13. There, Paul reminds his readers that we have believed in Him and that
we have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Again, to say that this has
reference only to the Word makes little sense in the context in which the
writer speaks. It is obvious that Paul is making the argument that the reason
that we are believers is because we have the seal of the Spirit. Hearkening
back to the previous argument in Romans, we have the Spirit of Christ and that
is why we can be identified as believers. Although we certainly have the Word
of God abiding in us, the writer makes it clear that it is the living,
breathing person of the Holy Spirit that servers as the seal of our redemption.
It is as though he were saying that God sees the Holy Spirit living in us and
knows us as His own.
You may be wondering why it seems
that the idea that the Holy Spirit is personally living within the Christian is
so problematic to some. I can come up with no other reason than tradition. The
traditions of men are strong and sometimes imposing. Regardless of how clear
the Word of God may be on a particular subject, our traditions hold a strong
grip on us. If we are taught a certain teaching, especially if it has been done
since our childhood, it is very difficult to let that teaching go. That can be
a good thing. We don’t want to be like the ones that Paul speaks of in
Ephesians 4:14 that are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. In other
words, there are those who, though believing something today, they hear a
powerful speaker who teaches something else tomorrow and they are immediately
convinced that the opposite teaching to what they believed must be true. In
order for us to not be of that kind, we need to be anchored in the Word and be
mature in the faith. It does us little good to be moving from one doctrine to
another and back again with seemingly little regard for what the truth actually
is. That being said, we always need to be aware that our understanding is not,
nor will it ever be, in this life, perfect. We will have ideas and beliefs that
will not stand up to scrutiny in the light of the Word of God. And when we
encounter such an idea, we need to have an open heart in order to receive it
and apply it. If that is not the case, we run the risk of hardening ourselves
to the point where we will miss all the glorious things that God has in store for
us even while we’re in the flesh.
Are you a Christian even if you
believe the Spirit does not dwell within you? Sure. I dare not say that because
you may not have a complete understanding of this or any other doctrine, that
your salvation is somehow suspect. But I do believe that not realizing the
strong and powerful effect that the Spirit has in us as He dwells and works
within us is shortchanging yourself and missing out on the glories of that
doctrine. The knowledge that God, through His Spirit, is actively working
within and for us is a powerful incentive to live the holy and righteous lives
He wants us to live. And it goes without saying, that we cannot hope to be
pleasing to God without that influence in the first place (Philippians 2:13). We
have not been left orphans, as Jesus told the apostles. We have been given the
most powerful tool that anyone could have: the Spirit living and abiding within
our hearts. Let’s remember that and let’s commit ourselves to His Lordship,
today and every day!
No comments:
Post a Comment