That Which Dwelleth In Us

2 John 1:1-4  The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;  (2)  For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.  (3)  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.  (4)  I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

               

                Consider our Salvation: God has given to us the gift of eternal life.  We sometimes cannot grasp the entirety of eternity, eternal, and forevermore.  Our minds are finite.  We have no apparent ability to stretch our paradigm (the box of our imagination) to allow such a massive object within.  But we can stretch our paradigm enough to allow new wonders to abound.

                (I believe our problem is:  we were born, we have seen others born, and we have seen those who have been called into eternity.)  In other words, “we know of a beginning and an ending.”  (Eternity is a realm of no beginning and no ending.  It is, always has been, and will be forevermore.)

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

To those of us who believe that Jesus The Christ is their Saviour, God has given an eternal existence with Him our Father, and with His Son Jesus. 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God wants us to know we have eternal life, and that when we are called into eternity, it will be with Him in Heaven for eternity.

1 John 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

God wants you to know “ye have eternal life” and know it is “eternal.”  For years I fought to grasp the immensity of eternal, everlasting, and forevermore.  (I finally realized I will never grasp it until I see it, and then it will be okay.)  Until then, I have accepted it by faith, believing The Word of God. 

                The second portion of these verses, “which dwelleth in us” can be another paradigm problem.  (I know that God, His Son, and The Holy Spirit reside within me.)  My body has become “the temple of God.”

1 Corinthians 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

I know that when I accepted Jesus as my Saviour, I did not feel God installing Himself through The Holy Spirit.  Yet, somehow I knew I had changed.  (My attitude changed.  My thinking changed, and not because my Pastor told me to change my ways.  (He did indirectly through his preaching, which allowed The Holy Spirit to convict my heart to change.) 

                I imagine many people have a “hard time” believing that their body is “the temple of God.”

                Accepting Jesus creates a new you.  We become new, afresh, something Godly, a “new creature.”

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We are a new person with the “old you” still a part of us.  We must spiritually feed the “new creature,” otherwise the “old you” (spirit) will again become dominate.

Colossians 3:7-10  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.  (8)  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  (9)  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;  (10)  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

We are a “new man.” As we grow spiritually, all that we were before will begin to fall away.  Some people will attempt to tell us that “now we can do what ever we want.”  This is true.  However, as a “new creature,” and a “new man,” our lives should be following a new path.  What I “want to do” and our “want to’s” should have changed with our Salvation. 

                I no longer want “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication” as a part of my life.  I want what God wants me to have.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  (23)  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

This is the definition of my “want to’s.”  “Have I successfully integrated all 100% into my life?  No, I haven’t.  The “old man” rears his ugly head on occasion.  Because of the “old man,” I spend much time in my prayer closet repenting for those sins.”

                As Christians, regardless of the days, weeks, months, years of our salvation, we must walk “a walk” that honours God and His Son Jesus.

Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Paul is speaking to Christians, the “brethren.”  He lays out for us what we must do.  We are to pattern our lives from these verses.  We are “the temple of God,” The Holy Spirit “which dwelleth in us.” 

                Find your “reasonable service,” which is whatever Glorifies God.  Turn yourself from the “world,” and with a sincere willingness look to the “renewing of your mind.”

                Today is the day to begin improving your walk with God.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed, as tomorrow never comes.  (It becomes today,) and tomorrow could be too late.

Bro John R. E Chastain

Baptist Evangelist

Wylie, Texas              

<www.johnchastain.com>