Join Colin Cook as he unpacks the mystery of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling within Christians, navigating the complex interchange of terms such as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Through a detailed examination of Romans 8, discover how faith and recognition of God’s presence are critical to experiencing a deep, transformative relationship with the divine. This episode serves as a spiritual guide for believers seeking to affirm their connection with Christ and the Holy Spirit.
00:00:05 Understanding the Holy Spirit in Romans 8
SPEAKER 01 :
So we come to an important passage now in Romans 8 in regard to the Holy Spirit and to receiving the Holy Spirit. Paul is saying, but you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit dwells in you. Well, there are Christians who are rejoicing in this, where Paul says, wow, yes, we’re not in the flesh, we’re in the Spirit. But then there are Christians who get really worried about it, because they say, well, it says, if indeed the Spirit dwells in you, well, how do I know the Spirit dwells in me? And there are books about this and there are pamphlets and lectures on it. And there’s a lot of confusion because some people say, well, ask for the Spirit and then believe you have received him and simply go on your way whether you feel it or not. And others say, well, wait and pray and keep praying and purify yourself so that the Holy Spirit can live in you, and then the Holy Spirit will come at His time. And so many people have been waiting for days and weeks and, quite honestly, for years. Some believe the Holy Spirit will not come to you until you’re fully cleansed of all sin and everything is removed and every false motive. And then others believe that the Holy Spirit’s purpose is to come to you anyway and cleanse you in the first place. So the confusion is enormous, really. And I remember in my own experience as a student in college, I… read books on the Holy Spirit and thought, okay, I need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I waited and prayed and sought to purify myself for two years, and still I didn’t seem to gain the blessing of the Holy Spirit. What a confusion all this is, isn’t it? Well, yes, it is, if we read all these books and get so confused about it. But if you look at these verses very simply and directly, then you know. You say, well, Colin, how can you know with such simple verses when people have spent books writing on it? Well, let me tell you that people writing books can make a thing more complicated than ever. Let’s just read for what it says, carefully. Romans 8… beginning at verse 9, but you are not, well, let’s read verse 8 for connection. So then, those who are in the flesh, that is, those who live according to their natural human nature, that’s the flesh, cannot please God. In other words, God wants to bless them and can’t get to them because they’re living as if they didn’t need anything. They’re in the flesh, the natural human condition, which says, basically, I can do without you, O God, thank you very much. Well then, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, did you notice a few things there? The first thing to notice is the names that Paul is giving the Spirit. Notice, he says in verse 9, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. All right, so the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He’s not distinct from God. He is one with God. He is one of the members of the Trinity. There is the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each has a personality, and yet they are one. It’s a mystery that we don’t understand clearly in this world. But the point is, the Spirit is the Spirit of God, coming from God and of God. Now then, notice next what he says about this. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Oh, this is interesting. He’s just called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God, and now in the same verse he calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ. Well, that’s very revealing, isn’t it? This Holy Spirit represents God and represents Christ. And then look at verse 10. Now notice, having called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God, and then called him the Spirit of Christ, now he speaks, he calls him Christ. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Well, you need to grasp the meaning of that. It is to say that if we have Christ, if Christ is in us, then we have the Spirit of Christ and we have the Spirit of God. Paul is using these names for the Holy Spirit interchangeably. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, is the Spirit of Christ, is Christ. You say, well, I don’t get it, Colin. How can that be? Well, take note of Colossians chapter 2, verse 9. For in him, that is in Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. My goodness, that is astonishing, isn’t it? That’s why the disciples couldn’t make head or tail of Christ. They saw him as a human being, born of Joseph and Mary, and yet he walked on water. He calmed the… sea, the ocean, and the sky. He fed 5,000. He raised the dead. He healed the sick. Who is this man? Well, in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So, if we have Christ, we have the Holy Spirit, you see. And if we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Spirit of Christ. And if we have the Spirit of Christ, we have the Spirit of God. Let’s read these verses one more time in Romans 8. So, the first thing we note then… is that having the Spirit is having the Spirit of God, and having the Spirit of God is having the Spirit of Christ, and having Christ is having the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit. So then, now we look at this. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, Well, how do we know then that Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God, all one, dwell in us? And if Christ is in you, the body is dead. Well, how do you know that Christ is in you? Do you know it? by faith. You came to believe, didn’t you, that Christ was the Son of God, and represented the sons of men and women, and that he died for the sins of the world, and that he rose to represent all humanity, so that all humanity would be resurrected ultimately. And thus what we have is that Christ is the Savior of the world and the Savior of you and me. You believe that, don’t you? Well, if you believe it, you have Christ. the only way you could believe that is that the Holy Spirit would give birth to that faith in you. You therefore have the Spirit of Christ, and in Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And so anyone who has Christ has the Holy Spirit. And so if you want to ask God to baptize you with the Holy Spirit, then go ahead and ask him, and then thank Him that you have received Him. Or, if you believe that you already have the baptism of the Holy Spirit because you have Christ, then give thanks to God that the Holy Spirit dwells in you. And each day you are aware that your faith in God, when your heart rises up to God and gives praise to him for helping you today, for forgiving you today, for protecting you today, for guiding you today, know that those prayers of faith are in fact the Holy Spirit of God working your prayers in you. And so you need to give praise to God and thanks to him for his Spirit. And the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, you see, and Christ himself, will make himself more known to you and reveal more of himself to you and give more of his power to you every day. This is the growing experience of Christians throughout the world. And to support this truth, remember Psalm 139. O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, in the grave, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. Do you see then that you can praise God and lift your heart up to Him and thank God for the Holy Spirit? You can talk to the Holy Spirit. He is a person. He guides you, he counsels you in the night. He wakes you up to give you thought sometimes. If I say, surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to you. Do you see then that we can give thanks and we can praise him? And you do that because you have Christ. And how do you know you have Christ? Because God gave you faith to believe that he is the Son of God and the Son of Man, representing all humanity and sacrificing himself for your sins and coming back to life to give you eternal life to come. This is then how we know. And each day when we’re in trouble and we seem alone and isolated and depressed and overcome by sin, we say, Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit. I thank you so much that he is present with me, that he has come into my darkness, that he is my light, and that he is the light of Christ to me. That’s how you know. that the Holy Spirit is with you. It’s all a matter of faith that God has given you and that you receive and thank him for. Well, thank you for joining me today. Colin Cook here, and this is a program of mine called How It Happens. I thank you for listening. You can hear this program any time of the day or night on your smartphone. 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