Tagged: indwelling

June 25, 2019

You are indwelt

This is the eighth in a series of excerpts from the new MBC resource, “What Every Christian Should Know About Salvation,” available at mobaptist.org/apologetics.

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Followers of Jesus take comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit indwells us. That is, the third person of the Godhead has taken up permanent residence in our human spirits, from which He engages in the lifelong ministry of conforming us to the image of Christ.

While regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings sinners from spiritual death to spiritual life, indwelling is the continuous presence of the Spirit in the temples of believers’ bodies.

Without the Spirit’s continuous abiding in our hearts, we have no assurance of salvation, no soothing balm in times of trouble, no unbroken protection against the Devil’s false claims of ownership, no spiritual growth, and no means by which both the Father and Jesus keep their promise to abide in us forever.

It may be rightly said that the Spirit’s occupancy in our hearts is purchased, not rented. We are bought with a price – the redemptive work of Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23) – and we belong to the One who has promised that the Spirit abides with us forever (John 14:16).
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August 28, 2008

Sound reasons to trust the Scriptures (part 8)

This is the eighth in a nine-part series of articles offering sound reasons to believe the Bible is the Word of God.

In Systematic Theology (Vol. I), Dr. Norman Geisler presents many lines of evidence supporting claims for the Bible as the Word of God. In unique fashion, he labels each line of evidence with a word beginning with the letter “S,” making his arguments relatively easy to follow and remember. This article borrows his headings and then incorporates some of Geisler’s research with numerous other sources, which are cited.

Reason 8: The testimony of the Spirit

The same Holy Spirit who authored all Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17) lives in the hearts of all believers and “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). This means the indwelling Holy Spirit confirms the truth of God’s Word to us.
Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would convince unbelievers of their sin of unbelief, of the righteousness of Christ, and of the judgment they will share with Satan if they persist in their unbelief – all clear teachings of Scripture (John 16:7-11).

Next — Reason 9: The tesimony of the saved.