If we are a child of God, we possess the Spirit of God. The reality that the infinitely loving Creator and Sustainer of all things indwells us is an incomprehensible wonder. This is possible only because of Christ. Due to Christ's efforts, we are counted as a pure vessel by God. If we were in any way not, He would not indwell us. God simply *can not indwell such a vessel. The simple fact that he does is proof we are pure in the eyes of God.
This is why Christ said he must go in order that the Spirit could come. Without Christ going to the cross to address our impurity, the Spirit would not come. As a result, in Christ, we now fully possess the Love of God and have His infinite care set upon us now and forever. It is ours. It can't be added to or taken away from.
This is why Christ said he must go in order that the Spirit could come. Without Christ going to the cross to address our impurity, the Spirit would not come. As a result, in Christ, we now fully possess the Love of God and have His infinite care set upon us now and forever. It is ours. It can't be added to or taken away from.
Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
According to the above verse being in the Spirit is synonymous with being a believer and suggests being in the flesh is the state of a nonbeliever. To say it another way, a true Christian cannot be "in the Spirit" on one occasion and "in the flesh" on another. This isn't describing a back and forth condition of a believer but the state of being in Christ or not in Christ i.e. being or not being a believer. According to this passage if you do not have the Spirit, you do "not belong to him" and if you belong to him you have the Spirit, no matter how obedient or **disobedient you are.
If you are a believer and have accepted God's provision of righteousness through Christ, then his Spirit indwells you and you are now "in the Spirit." This is the same as saying you are totally accepted and loved by God. The Spirit will not indwell you now or in the future to any greater degree than he did the first day you came to Christ.
According to the above verse being in the Spirit is synonymous with being a believer and suggests being in the flesh is the state of a nonbeliever. To say it another way, a true Christian cannot be "in the Spirit" on one occasion and "in the flesh" on another. This isn't describing a back and forth condition of a believer but the state of being in Christ or not in Christ i.e. being or not being a believer. According to this passage if you do not have the Spirit, you do "not belong to him" and if you belong to him you have the Spirit, no matter how obedient or **disobedient you are.
If you are a believer and have accepted God's provision of righteousness through Christ, then his Spirit indwells you and you are now "in the Spirit." This is the same as saying you are totally accepted and loved by God. The Spirit will not indwell you now or in the future to any greater degree than he did the first day you came to Christ.
The issue now becomes do we believe the Spirit is ours in this way i.e. never-ending, complete, without interruption no matter what we do or experience. We don't always feel/experience his love in this way. But this is only due to unbelief, which is the essence of sin and at the heart of all disobedience. By our unbelief, we can grieve and quench the Spirit. Some think this means God's love in some way stops. On God's side, it never stops. We as His children, on the other hand, can pull away from God in distrust -- this is on our side of the relationship. When we do, we no longer sense his love or presence. It's not that his love stopped and is no longer there, we are no longer in alignment with it, receiving, participating and experiencing it. To say it another way, we may have all of God by His Spirit, but does he have all of us; all our trust, the heart of what drives all obedience.
The key to experiencing God's love and presence is believing it is ours as described above and acting accordingly.
In truth, disobedience is the fruit of unbelief. If we truly believed in the full extent and manner of God's love we would never disobey.
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*For God to indwell an impure vessel, He would have to go against himself. God cannot go along with unbelief because it is rooted in distrust. It's not like we are refusing to believe something in general but something very specific about Him i.e. God is not who he claims to be. God cannot approve of this no more than he can approve of someone rejecting him as God.
It isn't whether we fully possess the love of God, but does the love of God fully possess us. And how does it possess us? By believing that in Christ it is set upon us no matter what we do, feel or experience and then acting accordingly i.e. acting for God's honor because we know we are totally loved and perfectly under his care.
For additional posts on having his love vs fully experiencing it click here.
**If you are willingly and flagrantly disobedience you may wish to search your heart to make sure you are His. We all sin but to knowingly and willfully sin is reason to examine our faith and whether we have truly received God's love.
For additional posts on having his love vs fully experiencing it click here.
**If you are willingly and flagrantly disobedience you may wish to search your heart to make sure you are His. We all sin but to knowingly and willfully sin is reason to examine our faith and whether we have truly received God's love.
