In this lesson I want to focus our attention on that last phrase of John 14:17: ". . . for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be IN you." Being born again is not just an experience; rather, it is
receiving the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, a Divine Personality, who comes to make
His home in us.
There is no need for any believer ever to feel comfortless, bereaved, or forlorn. Christ's
purpose in sending the Holy Spirit was so that the Holy Spirit, a Divine Personality, might come
to live in us and be in us.
God For Us, With Us, and In Us
The New Testament gives us three relations that God sustains toward man. First, God is for
us. Second, God is with us. And third, God is in us.
To have God be for us guarantees our success: ". . . If God be for us, who can be against us?"
(Rom. 8:31). If God is on our side, we are sure to win in life. If God is for you, and you know
that He is for you, you become utterly fearless in life.
No matter how difficult the situation may be, no matter how dark the clouds that hang upon the
horizon of your life may be, you are calmly assured that you must win in every circumstance
because God is for you.
There can be no defeat if the Lord is for us. And, thank God, He is for us. If God be for us, who
can be against us?
You can also have the assurance that not only is God for you, but in every place in life and in
every situation, God is with you. No matter what the circumstances may be, if you are a
Christian, the Lord is with you.
The knowledge of the Word of God along this line should certainly cause our hearts to leap for
joy within us, and buoy our spirits up in faith and confidence.
Under the New Testament or New Covenant, the Bible says we have a better covenant
established on better promises (Heb. 8:6). Under the covenant in the Old Testament, God was
for Israel and with Israel, but He was not in Israel.
However, in the New Testament, God is with us and for us, but we also have something better
— God is in us. God is actually making His home in our bodies as His temple (1 Cor. 6:19).
Believers Are the Temple of the Holy Spirit
Of all the mighty truths in connection with our redemption, this is the apex of the reality of our
redemption: that after God Himself recreated us and made us new creatures in Christ and
made us His own, then He, in the Person of the Holy Ghost, makes our bodies His home!
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU?
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16 (Amplified) 16 Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God's
temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you — to be
at home in you [collectively as a church and also individually]?
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19
19 What? know ye not that your body is THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST which is IN
YOU, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 (Amplified)
19 Do you not know that your body is the temple — the very sanctuary — of the Holy
Spirit who lives within you, whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not
your own?
2 CORINTHIANS 6:16
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF
THE LIVING GOD; as God hath said, I will dwell IN THEM, and walk IN THEM; and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:16 (Amplified)
16 What agreement (can there be between) a temple of God and idols? For we are the
temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and
will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people.
Through the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Godhead, God Himself indwells the believer
through the new birth experience. No longer does God dwell in the earth-made Holy of Holies.
Our bodies have become His temple.
FFT: God For Us, God With Us, and God In Us!
ACTION POINT: Live daily with the assurance of His ever-present presence!
INTERACTIVE SESSION: Is your life an habitation for the Holy Spirit?
Great write up, God bless you Sir
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