Holy Spirit Comes to Dwell in Each Christian at the Time of Baptism
EPHESIANS--LESSON 12

Teacher Outline--The Holy Spirit (2)
Memory Verse: Ephesians 3:20-21

In the last lesson, we established that the Holy Spirit worked in different ways in the early church. The only one of these still functioning is the "indwelling." The question is often raised, however, "If the Holy Spirit lives in us, what does He do?" We cannot understand all the Spirit does for us any more than we can understand all that Christ does as our High Priest and as our Intercessor.

The scriptures do, however, give us some ideas about what the Holy Spirit does for Christians. It is on these passages that we shall focus our lesson.

  1. The Holy Spirit Comes to Dwell in Each Christian at the Time of Baptism.
    1. John 3:5; Acts 2:38; 5:32; Romans 5:5; 8:89-11; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 3:2-5; Eph. 3:17; I Thes. 4:8; James 4:5; I John 4:13.
    2. Roy Lanier, Sr. wrote in his book, The Timeless Trinity, that the Word comes through the Holy Spirit and what the Word does for us, the Spirit may be said to do. Yet, there are those things the Spirit does that are beyond what can be done by the Word. Knowledge of the Word and even influence of the Word cannot account for the description of "indwelling" in the above passages, particularly when we note that one has knowledge of and influence of the word before he beomes a Christian will all of the indwelling is after one becomes a Christian.
  1. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Strengthens Each Christian With a Strong Sense of His Presence.
    1. Having the Spirit within makes us want to be with God in heaven.
      1. We have the Holy Spirit as a downpayment on our inheritance. That eventual inheritance is to be with God forever and we have an early taste to make us want the full benefit. Eph. 1:13-14.
      2. Through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. Gal. 5:5.
      3. Feeling the presence of God by the Spirit within, we want to be with God in a fuller sense and this helps us to live as He wants us to.

    2. Having the Spirit within makes us want to do right.
      1. Since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we are motivated to make the temple what it should be for such as noble purpose.
      2. Since we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit, we want to do what will please Him. (Eph. 4:30)
      3. Believing the Spirit is within, we want to please Him and that moves us to a higher standard of living.

    3. Having the Spirit within helps us to give priority to the spiritual.
      1. At the time of our new birth, we enter a new level of spiritual living. (Rom. 8:10)
      2. Recognizing that the Spirit is within helps us to attend to the things of the spirit rather than the things of the flesh. (Rom. 8:4-5)
      3. Having the Spirit within causes us to work toward the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:21-22)
      4. As we submit to the leading of the Spirit, both to what He says in the Word and the desire to please Him, we move to make the spiritual more important and the fleshly less important. (Rom. 8:14).

    4. Having the Spirit within helps us to resist temptation.
      1. With the Spirit within us, we can put to death the deeds of the body. (Rom. 8:12-14)
      2. Believing the Spirit is within us, we are more aware of the presence of God in our lives and this makes us better able to resist Satan and to claim the promise that God will never allow us to be tempted above what we can bear. (I Cor. 10:13)

    5. Having the Holy Spirit within helps our worship.
      1. The Holy Spirit helps our prayers. (Rom. 8:26; Eph. 6:18; Jude 19-20)
      2. The Holy Spirit helps us feel greater communion, greater fellowship with the godhead and this is the essence of worship. (II Cor. 13:14)
      3. With the Spirit within, we sense the presence of God more strongly and come closer to Him in worship and the Spirit expresses thoughts with us to aid their effectiveness.

    6. Having the Holy Spirit within helps us to be optimistic.
      1. The Spirit helps us to think positively about what is more than we can ask or think. (Eph. 3:16-20)
      2. Since the Spirit is evidence we are children of God, we sense a source of power we would not have otherwise. (Rom. 8:15-16)
      3. If God is for us and within us, who can possibly overwhelm us. (Rom. 8:31-38)
Conclusion:

We cannot, of course, fully comprehend what it means to have the Holy Spirit to indwell in us. The scriptures, however, certainly teach that He does. And the scriptures have suggested several ways in which His presence in our lives helps us to be stronger. Just believing we have the Spirit living with us strengthens us in many ways. And He works in our behalf in ways we do not know.

We should believe the Spirit is within. We should enjoy His presence. We should sense His presence in times of temptation, loss, joy, fear, death, disappointment--and that sense of His presence will bring strength. We should feel His presence as we worship and believe He adds to our prayers. We should look at life with more optimism knowing that the Spirit is within and will help us to make decisions, to overcome problems, and to grow spiritually.