In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God would come upon people to accomplish works at times. Jesus promised to His disciples (and to us) that he would send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Because this promise has come to pass, we can know for certain that the promise of His return will also come to pass.
We have the fullness of the Godhead dwelling within us. Just as he breathed life into Adam physically at creation, He breathed life into us spiritually by sending us the Holy Spirit. Under the old covenant, the high priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies once a year to offer a sacrifice. He was the only one allowed in and had to spend time preparing. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom, removing the barrier separating us from His presence. Upon receiving the Spirit we have become the temple of the Lord, and His presence is in us. Just as Jesus cleaned out the physical temple, He needs to clean things out of our lives as well.
This promise is conditional, like all other promises of God. The condition is to receive Christ as Lord and Savior – to confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts. Without His Spirit dwelling inside of us, we are not His.
The ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives is for us to declare Christ with the same love with which the Father loves us. Without His love, we are nothing. It is what keeps us functioning in the Kingdom of God.
Love is a progression. First we need to learn to love God in the way that He desires us to love. When we learn to love Him, then we will learn to love the brethren. After learning to love one another, we will learn to love our neighbors. Finally, we can learn to love our enemies.
- Loving God means we will follow His commands.
- This love will cause us to want to do what He commands us.
- Loving the brethren will cause us to consider others’ welfare above our own.
- Loving our neighbor will cause us to want to share the good news with them.
- Find ways to be a blessing to others.
- Loving our enemies causes us to forgive them, pray for them and bless them.
The promise is that God will send His Holy Spirit to us. The condition is that we confess Christ as Lord and savior with our mouths and believe in our hearts. The result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is that the Love of God works in us and through us.
Key Scriptures: Ezekiel 36:27, John 14:16-18; 20:22, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:9; 10:9-10, John 17, Romans 5:1-5, Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 10:25, John 15:10, 1 John 5:3, Romans 12:10, 1 John 3:16-18, John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:16, Luke 10:29-37, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:27, Mark 11:25, Matthew 5:43-48, Romans 12:17-21, Luke 6:27-36
