Message topic: Is the Spirit of God abiding in you?
Scripture text: Galatians 5: 14-26.
IS the Holy Spirit of God abiding in you? For anyone to answer this question correctly, you must also know what is the Holy Spirit, and what is it’s purpose.
In the Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is the third person of the Trinity. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality and influence of the unitary God over the universe or his creatures. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication.
This brings up another question, which is, what is Nicene Christianity? Nicene Christianity is a term that refers to Christian denominations that adhere to the Nicene Creed, which was formulated in 325 AD at the first council of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed is a statement of faith that opposes certain heresies, particularly Arianism, and is considered orthodox. We know that there are many lack of understanding in the in the word of God because of author’s and teachers.
The Bible teaches that anyone who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior receives God’s Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
To be a Christian, is to have the Holy Spirit living in you: you however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Paul taught the Corinthians church that by the one Spirit of God all believers are united in one body: for just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body so also is Christ.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, weather slaves or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
Drinking of the Spirit is a metaphor for receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation: Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, anyone who is thirsty may come to me!
Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declares, Rivers of living water will flow from his heart. When he said living water, he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. (John 7:37-39)
When you by faith receives Christ as your Savior, then you have the Holy Spirit. But many believers, confuse having the Holy Spirit with being filled with the Spirit. Acquiring the Holy Spirit happens at salvation. All true believers possess the Holy Spirit as a seal marking them as a child of God.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit-submitting to the Spirit’s control, is an ongoing experience in the Christian life. being led by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, and keeping step with spirit, spiritual parallels to being filled with the Spirit, are all biblical descriptions of the goal of Christian discipleship.
Every believer should seek to be filled with the Spirit as of his or her continuing relationship with God, don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians (5: 18-20)
So, what is the Holy Spirit, and how do we get it? The Holy Spirit is a free gift from God to mankind by giving mankind his undeserved love through Christ Jesus who came to earth with one desire to show mankind what is love. The Holy spirit did not come to us empty handed, He brought with Him love, joy, peace beyond human understanding, humbleness, gentleness, patience, He showed us how to forgive others their trespass against us, as we follow His examples, then our heavenly father will transform our hearts and make us more Christlike.
As believers of Christ Jesus, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, Because, it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:17) since the Holy Spirit lives in us, our lives should show signs that He lives in us and is actively at work in our hearts. The Holy Spirit works in us and helps us mature as believers, and bring about the transformation of our heart and minds.
Are there any signs to tell that the Holy Spirit is abiding in someone? The answer is yes; as they will display love, Joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and against these qualities, there are no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23). The more time we spend with God, we grow in love, joy, peace, and the other fruits listed in this scripture. When you see someone grow in the fruit of the Spirit, then you know that they have allowed God to work in their hearts
The journey of salvation is lifelong, and it takes time for the fruit to fully manifest in our lives. Sometimes you will find that you are not as joyful as you should be, and you can pray and ask God to help you.
Growth takes time, and you can be patient with yourself as you grow in the fruit of the Spirit. When you have the fruit of the Spirit manifesting in you, you will notice that you do not act the way you do before you got saved. If your joy and happiness came from outside sources, it now comes from the inside.
Whenever you want to check whether you are growing in the fruit of the spirit, you can go through each of them and ask yourself if you are manifesting them in your life.
When Jesus had returned to heaven, He sent them the Holy Spirit who in filed those who were praying in the upper room, and they began to speak in tongues as evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that those who believe in Him will speak in new tongues. And these signs will follow those who believe in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues. (Mark 16: 17)
As believers, we can speak in tongues when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Not speaking in tongues does not mean that a person is not saved, they are, only that they have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
God gives us gifts according to the task he has for us to do when, where and how. We have noting to do with what God has to do with or through us, we can only do what he asked of us, to surrender ourselves completely to him and He will make of us that which he desire us to be and do His will.