God Living In Us

1. The Holy Spirit brings every believer in Christ into a new birth.
When we believe in Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit recreates us. We are each made a new creation in Christ, in the image of Christ. This is called the new birth. We are born again into new persons by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8). We are regenerated (reborn) by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the SPIRIT gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be BORN AGAIN.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone BORN OF THE SPIRIT."
(John 3:5-8)

He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of REBIRTH and renewal by the HOLY SPIRIT.
(Titus 3:5)

Going to Church meetings does not make us new persons in Christ. Being born into a Christian family does not make us new persons in Christ. doing good woks does not make us new persons in Christ. Getting baptized does not make us new persons in Christ. Only when we believe in Jesus as our Savior and are baptized will we then be saved and be made new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:16).

Education, even religious education, cannot change a person. Laws, regulations, traditions or social pressures cannot change the heart of a man. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to change the inner being of a man when he turns to God for salvation through Jesus.

Because every child of God today has been born of the Holy Spirit, the least of us in the kingdom of God today is greater than any man of God under the Old Testament. Each of us is greater than Moses or Elijah or King David or Solomon, because we are new creations in Christ. We have been born of the Holy Spirit. All the Old Testament saints never had this rebirth or regeneration by the Holy Spirit. They were born only of woman (Matthew 11:11).

I tell you the truth: Among these born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the baptist; yet he who is LEAST in the kingdom of heaven is GREATER THAN HE.
(Matthew 11:11)

2. The Holy Spirit lives in every believer.
Under the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit lived in a man-made Temple. However, under the New Testament, the Holy Spirit lives in every believer. Individually and corporately, all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We therefore form a temple for the Holy Spirit to live in (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Do you not know that your body is a TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, who is in you, whom you received from God?
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
(Corinthians 6:19-20)

The Holy Spirit lives in us forever (John 14:16). He will never leave us or forsake us. That God would live in our bodies shows how holy God views each of our bodies, now cleansed and made holy by the blood of Jesus. We must therefore honor God in our body and lives.

3. The Holy Spirit gives life and brings renewal to every believer.
The Holy Spirit in us gives us the life of God. The Holy Spirit gives life to our spirit, soul and body (John 6:63). We partake of God's divine life through his Spirit (2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 3:6).

The SPIRIT gives LIFE; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are SPIRIT and they are LIFE.
(John 6:63)

He has made us competent as ministers of a New Covenant -- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the SPIRIT gives LIFE.
(2 Corinthians 3:6)

Through the Holy Spirit, we receive from God His love, His joy and His peace. Through His Spirit, we receive from God His wisdom and His power. Without the Holy Spirit, the life of Christ can never shine forth in our life.

In times of dryness, the Holy Spirit comes upon the people of God to bring revival and renewal (Titus 3:5). This is possible only as God's people repent of their sins (Acts 3:19). The Holy Spirit will bring God's refreshing as we turn back to God.

He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and RENEWAL by the HOLY SPIRIT.
(Titus 3:5)

4. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.
The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; 16:13-15). This is because His work is to lead the children of God into all truth. The Holy Spirit will teach us all things.

He will remind us of everything that Jesus has taught. The Holy Spirit will teach us the truth concerning God and His plans and purposes for our lives, for His Church and for the world. He will speak of things yet to come.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever -- the SPIRIT OF TRUTH.
The counsellor, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you ALL THINGS and will REMIND you of EVERYTHING I have said to you.
(John 14:16-17,26)

But when He, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, comes, He will guide you into ALL TRUTH. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.
He will bring glory to be by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
(John 16:13-15)

We must therefore be sensitive to the leading and voice of the Holy Spirit everyday. If we do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will fall into danger and unnecessary trials and hardships. The Holy Spirit will tell us the truth concerning any situation so that we can always walk in victory.

As sons of God, we must be led by the Holy Spirit in all that we do (Romans 8:14). We are servants of God, who serve at the direction of the Holy Spirit. We need to follow the Holy Spirit's leading concerning the person we marry, the place we work in, the place we live at, the local church we fellowship with, the ministry we take up, etc.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
(Romans 8:14)

5. The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.
When we believe in Jesus as Savior and are baptized, we are translated into God's kingdom from the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13). God becomes our Father. We become children of God.

And it is the Holy Spirit who testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. It is the Holy Spirit who gives assurance to us that God is our Father (Romans 8:16). Man can never give that assurance, It is the Holy Spirit living in us who will speak to our spirit and tell us that we are children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
(Romans 8:15-16)

6. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgement.
It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world, believers and non-believers alike, of sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16:8). We cannot convict men of such truths. We should never argue with another man concerning the truths of God.

When He {the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement.
(John 16:8)

We are commanded by God to preach the Good News, not to convict men. We are commanded by God only to speak the truth, not to convict men. Only God's Spirit can do that. No one else can do that work. We can therefore rest in God's wisdom and power to touch the hearts of man, and not be anxious or frustrated.

7. The Holy Spirit fills us with God's love for ourselves and for others.
It is the Holy Spirit who fills us with God's love (Romans 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:7). As we know God's love and are grounded in God's love, we can then begin to love God and to love others in obedience to God's commands (Matthew 22:37-39).

God has poured out HIS LOVE into our hearts by the HOLY SPIRIT, whom He has given us.
(Romans 5:5)

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of LOVE and of self-discipline.
(2 Timothy 1:7)

To truly love others, we need the love of God that can flow as rivers of living water out of our being through the Holy Spirit living in us (John 7:38-39). We therefore need to depend daily on the Holy Spirit for God's love to love others. We must also always follow after the Spirit's leading to walk in love, and not to walk after the flesh, ie., after our sinful nature (Galatians 5:13-26).

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will from within him." By this Jesus meant the SPIRIT, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.
(John 7:38-39)

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; rather serve one another in LOVE. So I say, LIVE BY THE SPIRIT, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
(Galatians 5:13,16)

8. The Holy Spirit transforms us into the character of Christ.
As a believer obeys the Holy Spirit and begins to love other with the love of God, the Holy Spirit will transform him from glory to glory into the likeness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). The believer will begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit in his life (Galatians 5:22-23). The Spirit thus produces Christ-likeness in the character of the believer.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the SPIRIT.
(2 Corinthians 3:18)

But the fruit of the SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians 5:22-23)

9. The Holy Spirit fills us with power to bear witness to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit has been given to us to empower us to bear witness to Jesus. They Holy Spirit empowers all believers by imparting into their lives the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As these gifts are used to bless others, miracles take place, and the name of Jesus is exalted and glorified (Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

But you will receive POWER when the HOLY SPIRIT comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of earth.
(Acts 1:8)

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous power, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
(1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

10. The Holy Spirit sets every believer into the ministry God has called him.
since it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to serve God, it is also the Holy Spirit who lead us into the type of ministry we are to be involved in. It is thus the duty of every believer to wait upon the Holy Spirit and be led by the Holy Spirit to serve in the area to which God has called him (Acts 13:2).

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the HOLY SPIRIT said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
(Acts 13:2)

11. The Holy Spirit helps us to pray and to worship God.
Whenever we do not know how or what to pray in any situation, we can call upon the Holy Spirit to pray through us (Romans 8:26-27). The Spirit of God will pray through us in accordance with the perfect will of God. Such a prayer in accordance with God's will will always be effective (1 John 5:14-15). The Holy Spirit also helps us to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24; Philippians 3:3).

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to PRAY, but the SPIRIT Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the SPIRIT, because the SPIRIT intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
(Romans 8:26-27)

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who WORSHIP by the SPIRIT OF GOD.
(Philippians 3:3)

12. The Holy Spirit will bring about the resurrection of the believers' bodies in the last day.
At the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the dead in Christ shall rise with a new resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:47-51; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). Those who are alive at His coming will also receive this new body. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the transformation of our bodies into a resurrection body on the last day (Romans 8:11).

And if the SPIRIT of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give LIFE to your mortal bodies through His SPIRIT, who lives in you.
(Romans 8:11)

Your thought:

1. Why do believers often ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in thier lives?

Would it be better for us if we depended on Holy Spirit in order to live a life of victory?

2. How can we live a life that is totally dependent on the Holy Spirit?

List out some simple practical steps that can be used by all believers.