Posted on 09/21/2021 5:10:57 AM PDT by metmom
“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9).
The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us an assurance of salvation.
Assurance of salvation is essential to our Christian lives, and I can’t imagine living without it. And we must have clarity about it from a truly biblical standpoint. This begins with realizing that a genuine believer is in the Spirit and has been given a new nature (see John 3:6). If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you are no longer controlled by the sinful tendencies of the flesh, as Paul suggests in Romans 8:9. The Greek term for “dwells” indicates that the Holy Spirit makes His home in you and in every believer.
But today’s verse also points out that if someone does not have the Holy Spirit within him, he doesn’t belong to Christ. From time to time—perhaps for you it’s the first time—we need to be warned about that. Being in the Spirit is not merely professing Jesus, having a pious appearance, or attending church. No matter what we claim, if we aren’t fulfilling God’s law, desiring to walk by the Spirit, and wholeheartedly seeking the things of the Spirit, He is not in us.
Second Corinthians 13:5 exhorts, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” You can do this by looking for evidences of the Holy Spirit in your life. Have you sensed the presence of the Spirit’s fruit in your life (Gal. 5:22-23)? Do you struggle with sin and have a desire to be free from all its influences (Rom. 7:14-25; Gal. 5:16-17)? Have you experienced the actions and attitudes the Holy Spirit brings to your daily life, as we studied earlier this month? Do you yearn for a closer communion with God and a deeper fellowship with other believers? If you can answer yes to these questions, you have solid reasons to be sure the Spirit lives in you and to know for certain that you belong to Jesus Christ.
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for the reminders His Spirit gives you that you belong to Christ.
For Further Study
Read 1 John 5:1-12.
What indicators does John give us that would also provide us with an assurance of salvation? What role does the Holy Spirit have in this passage?
Studying God’s Word ping
I can’t see the entire ping list...
Just these folks...
To: Alex Murphy; boatbums; CynicalBear; daniel1212; ealgeone; Elsie; Gamecock; HossB86; Iscool; ...
That’s normal. Entire ping lists are never shown, only the first few names.
Neither can I. 😀
Well I just had cataract surgery on my left eye ... and I am amazed to see that your names are in blue font color!. Having the right eye done asap. Who knows what I will discover you rhymists have posted!
There must have been a long list;
for one to be called a rhymist.
I’ll just take a vacation
from excess alliteration;
Or else I will never get kissed.
Lol, I bet your goats kiss you. I wont, though. Never could stomach images of two Russian generals kissing
When they were little guys.
Now they are like teens that cringe if Mom tries to hug them in public.
Off we go...
Into the wild blue yonder, climbing high, into the sun …….
Star Trek unifoms
How about the highest? 😀😁😂
https://youtu.be/pos1BzW_t2A
And if you want the official song, here it is. 😀😊
https://youtu.be/9RZZuJA4Eos
My son is rather talented, with his singing voice. He was selected to be the MC at his OTS graduation dining in. He sang the national anthem, and the Air Force song, and brought the house down, but his favorite phrase, was, “to the grog.” People told him he should be making money 💰 with that voice, but he said he has a love affair with USAF aviation. He loves to fly USAF aircraft. I created a monster. 😂 Even when he flew his dollar ride, he knew, flying was his life’s dream. 😀😊
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