Spiritual gifts part 24: The indwelling Spirit prepares the temple for the indwelling Christ
Pastor-Teacher Spiritual Gifts Part 24: The indwelling Spirit prepares a place for the indwelling Christ - the temple called your body.Point 1: Setting the scene for Paul’s teaching on the Spiritual Gifts. Point 2. The Giver of the Gifts: The Person and Work of God the Holy Spirit. The Indwelling of God the Holy Spirit refers to the act of God the Father sending the Spirit to take up His permanent residence in the Church Age believer, and this in answer to the prayer of God the Son, Joh 14:16. 1. In the Church Age, from the Day of Pentecost to the Rapture of the Church, God the Holy Spirit indwells every believer at the moment of salvation. 2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit cannot be lost. It is permanent, as is salvation, Joh 14:16-17. 3. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes the body of the believer the sanctuary, the temple of God, 1Co 6:19. God the Holy Spirit makes a sacred building out of your body for the indwelling of God the Son and God the Father. 4. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of the six permanent ministries of God the Holy Spirit at salvation. The others are efficacious grace, regeneration, the baptism of the Spirit, the sealing with the Spirit, and the distribution of spiritual gifts. 5. The objective of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, Joh 16:13. 6. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit means unlimited potential in residence for the believer. The extent to which that potential is realized in time is a matter of the relationship between the believer and the Holy Spirit, where the believer is called to obey certain New Testament commands, summarized by Eph 5:18, to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. 7. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the filling by the Holy Spirit, Eph 5:18. The indwelling occurs at the moment of salvation and continues forever. The filling of the Spirit (the believer being controlled by God the Holy Spirit) occurs for the first time at the moment of salvation but stops when a believer decides to grieve the Holy Spirit, Eph 4:30, or quench the Holy Spirit, 1Th 5:19. Confession of sin (1Joh 1:9) is necessary to re-establish fellowship with the Spirit (1John 1:6), thereby restoring the relationship under which the Spirit can once again fill or control the believer. The key to learning how to live the spiritual life is to note and master the commands in the epistles that relate to(mention) the Holy Spirit. “The individual is a Christian when rightly related to Christ; the Christian is spiritual when rightly related to the Spirit.”(Chafer) |