The Personal Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

December 19, 2023

One of the most amazing facts about the Christian life is that the Holy Spirit dwells within each one of us individually.  The scriptures are very clear about this.  For example, consider what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  Flee immorality.  Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:17-19 NAS95) This passage shows us that, for those who are in Christ, our bodies have become a dwelling place—a temple—of the Holy Spirit. What an amazing thought!  Just as God filled the temple with His presence in Old Testament times, so now God dwells in each one of us.  Each one of us are a temple of the living God!

These words of scripture are not figurative language, but a spiritual reality.  It is a reality that some of the members of the church at Corinth did not understand, and their lack of understanding had a terribly harmful impact on their walk with the Lord.  Some at Corinth had been practicing sexual immorality.  They didn’t realize that in so doing they were being joined in one body to prostitutes.  Paul had to rebuke them and remind them of who they were.  How could they sinfully join themselves in one body with another when they were one spirit with the Lord?  The spirit of God was living within them!  How then could they so casually engage in sin?

You see, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a powerful incentive for holy living.  It is something that you and I need to understand about ourselves today.  An understanding of this reality will completely change the way we look at ourselves.  It will change the way that we live.  It will cause us to strive for holiness.  It will strengthen our walk with the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, have you come to realize that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you?  You are not your own.  Let us glorify God with our bodies.

—Scott Colvin

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Unhealthy Views About the Holy Spirit

December 12, 2023

There are devastating effects when we downplay the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit’s work is indispensable to the life and health of the church and each individual Christian. The list of things that the Spirit does for us is a long one, and to dismiss His work is quite dangerous.

And yet, some in the religious world go too far and ascribe things to the Spirit that are not according to the truth.  This is also quite dangerous.  For example, some groups place so much emphasis on the Spirit that Christ is overshadowed.  In such cases, worship assemblies are so Spirit-focused that Jesus and His work on the cross are almost forgotten.  This should never be the case.  Listen to the words of Jesus concerning the Spirit: “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:14 NAS95)  We see here that one of the roles of the Spirit is to glorify Jesus.  The Spirit points us to Jesus and exalts Jesus.  Worship in which Jesus is overshadowed is not Spirit-filled worship.

In a similar way, to overemphasize the gifts of the Spirit in our worship or in our personal lives is dangerous.  There are gifts of the Spirit today, and those gifts are very important for the health of the body of Christ.  These gifts should be taught about, and we should be encouraged to use them.  But there is a subtle danger here.  We can overemphasize the gifts in a self-glorifying way and end up seeking the gifts of God over the humble service of God.  We can make the teaching about spiritual gifts all about us. “Look at what the Spirit is doing in me!”  Like the church at Corinth, we can fall into the trap of pursuing spiritual gifts to promote ourselves.  We can pursue spiritual gifts to the point of failing to pursue the most excellent way, which is love. (1 Corinthians 12:31)

There is another danger of holding unbiblical views of the Spirit, and it is a grave one.  There are many in the religious world today who say things like this: “The Spirit revealed to me…” or “The Spirit said to me in a dream that…” While I do believe it is quite true that the Spirit helps us to understand the word of God more deeply, it is very important to realize that the Spirit of God does not give us additional revelation today, and the Spirit will certainly not instruct anyone in contradiction to the word of God.  It is the Spirit who gave us the word, and it was given once and for all time.  As Jude wrote, “…I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (Jude 3b NAS95) God’s instructions to us were handed down once and for all through the apostles and prophets who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.  What spiritual danger we could find ourselves in if we listen to the words of someone who claims the Spirit told them this or showed them that!  No, we must hold fast to the word of God which was given by the Spirit of God!

—Scott Colvin

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The Dangers of Dismissing the Holy Spirit

December 1, 2023

There is a lot of confusion in the church about the Holy Spirit.  Many questions arise, such as:  Is the Spirit a personal being or just some impersonal force?  Is the Spirit divine?  Does the Spirit help us in some way today?  What is His function, exactly?  What about miraculous gifts?  Does the Spirit actually dwell within us?  These are all important questions that should be asked, and answers should be sought. 

The scriptures make it clear that a reliance on the Spirit is critical to the spiritual health of both the church as a whole and of each individual Christian.  Despite this fact, there are some in the church today who downplay the role of the Spirit.  Some have claimed that the Spirit is not really doing anything today.  Some have claimed that the Spirit of God does not actually dwell in us today in any real sense.  We must carefully search the word of God to form our understanding of the Spirit.  Some are not forming their views of the Spirit on a careful study of the word, but on a counterreaction to certain misguided views held by the Pentecostal/charismatic movements.  Forming our views of scripture on a reaction to what others are teaching is no way to go about finding truth!   We must let the word of God speak for itself and let it shape our thinking.  Some who downplay the role of the Spirit do so because of their desire for simple, black and white teachings that can be easily understood.  But the fact is, there are some things in scripture that are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16), and there are many, many things in the scriptures that will far exceed our ability to fully comprehend.  Afterall, we are dealing with God.  His ways are far above our ways.  Why should we think that we could ever fully understand nature of God and His Spirit?  And yet, we sometimes try to put God in a box of our own making.

The effects of downplaying the role of the Holy Spirit are devastating.  Some minimize the work of the Spirit and then wonder why there is so much spiritual weakness in the church.  But it is the Spirit who brings power into our lives (Ephesians 3:16).  It is the Spirit who brings transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Some minimize the work of the Spirit and then wonder why we’re not reaching the lost like we should.  But it is the Spirit who will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8).  Some have done their best to remove the Spirit’s presence from the church and then wonder why so many congregations are dying out and closing their doors.  But when the Spirit is pushed out of the temple of God (the church), what should we expect to happen?

May we always strive to hold fast to a biblical view of the Holy Spirit.  May the Lord continue to bless us, transform us, and impart life to us through the Spirit whom He has given.

—Scott Colvin

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