“But ye are nor in the flesh, but in the Spirit; if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” – Romans 8:9
LIGHT FOR NOW: A fundamental understanding about the leading of the spirit is that God has given every believer his spirit.
Our key text above makes us see that God’s spirit dwells in us. We are His. In verse 14 of Romans 8, Paul says “For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God”. We are led by the spirit of God. “His spirit” used above is a very strong word. It implies partnership, fellowship and oneness. Recall, we are led by his spirit. He will not lead us anymore than He has led us. “Led” here carries the thought of union with another. It is important to note that the spirit dwelling in man was a prophecy under the Old Covenant. Ezekiel in prophecy said “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I clean you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). The promise of the spirit was fulfilled in Christ and received by faith in Christ/the gospel. The minute a man believes the gospel, he receives the spirit of God.
In Ephesians 1:13, Paul echoes “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”. At new birth, the Holy Spirit took residence in you; you now house God’s spirit eternally. Paul emphasized this fact to the Corinthian church: “Now we have received, not the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1Corinthians 2:12). “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1Corinthians 6:19). This was in spite of the correction he had given to them earlier in the same chapter, that is, 1Corinthians 3:1 which reads “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ”. They still had the spirit of God. It is a never-ending fact. A believer must accept this fact, hold unto the knowledge of it irrespective of what happened. It is what gives us the confidence of God’s leading everyday and all the time. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Let your realities occupy your mind.
CONFESSION: I have the spirit of God. It is a never-ending fact. The spirit of God is in me eternally, in Jesus Name, Amen.
QUOTE: God’s spirit in the believer is an eternal reality of his identity.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: 1CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 3; EVENING: 1CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 6
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 