The Spirit Dwells With Us – Post SWO26 Bible Study
John 14:15–17
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Ephesians 1:13–14
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
What’s The Point?
In this study we have looked at how Jesus came to dwell with us and how we will dwell with him for all eternity in heaven, but what about the time in between? We looked in the last session at what it looks like to abide with Christ, live in obedience, and produce spiritual fruit. The passages we are looking at today provide us with the wonderful promise that God will dwell with us in the Spirit in the time between his ascension and his second coming.
Jesus promised his disciples that the Helper would dwell with them in his absence, and this promise was not just for them but for us as well. Every time we think about God dwelling with us we should be amazed. God the Father desires to dwell with us; God the Son became one of us and dwelt among us, and now we see that God the Holy Spirit dwells with us and will be in us (John 14:17). All three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation and sanctification.
Jesus makes an important distinction in John 14—only those who know the Father and the Son can receive the Spirit. Not everyone is a child of God, only those “who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Those who know the Father and the Son will be given the Spirit to be with them forever. Jesus himself said it is better that he leaves and his disciples receive the Holy Spirit. After dwelling with us, Jesus left us in the best situation possible because God no longer dwells in temples, he doesn’t even dwell next to us, he dwells inside of us!
As if all of this wasn’t sufficient, the riches we gain from the Holy Spirit don’t stop with his dwelling in us. The Holy Spirit is also the seal of our salvation and the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). The word seal is referring to the wax seal that would be put on letters or documents. This is how documents were marked as official. A document bearing a royal seal would have great significance because it came with the weight of the king behind it. Being sealed by the Holy Spirit is God’s way of marking us as his. We belong to God, and we bear his seal because he claims us.
It is worth noting here that the seal is not a what but a who. God did not give us a piece of paper or a signature or a stamp that marks us as his. He actually dwells with us and in us! When someone delivered a message for a king with the royal seal it would carry a lot of weight. Now imagine, instead of the king’s official letter carrier showing up on your doorstep, it was the king himself. That would carry even more weight; this is how God seals us and dwells with us. The marker he gives us to identify us is himself!
But wait! There’s more! The word guarantee Paul uses contains the idea of a downpayment or a pledge of money that will later be paid in full. What a beautiful picture of our salvation! The Holy Spirit labels us as God’s child, gives us the blessings of salvation, and guarantees that God will one day fully redeem us in heaven. And because we are his sons and daughters, he is the one who will provide us with this full inheritance.
What is this inheritance? It is the promise we have been talking about. The inheritance is that one day we will dwell with God in sinless perfection. He won’t dwell in a temple where he can only be approached once a year by the high priest; he won’t require sacrifices because Jesus is the perfect sacrifice; he won’t only live with us for thirty-three years; he will dwell with us, and we will dwell with him forever. What a promise! What an inheritance!
Scripture Memorization
Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I do not think about the Spirit as often as I should. I forget about him and try to live by my own strength. Please, Holy Spirit, make your presence known in my life; convict me of sin and help me pursue holiness. Don’t let me stay the same; make me more like Jesus. Thank you for preparing me for glory and sealing me for eternity. Let me take rest in the promise and blessing of the Spirit in my life.
Reflection + Discussion
- What does it mean to be “sealed” by the Holy Spirit, and why is that important for Christians?
- Why is the promise of an eternal inheritance with God such an important part of the Christian faith?
- How are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit involved in God dwelling with us?
- Why is it better that Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us?
- What are some similarities and differences between God dwelling in the temple in the Old Testament and the Spirit dwelling in the hearts of believers?
If you have any questions, please reach out: harry@swoutfitters.com. All of the Scripture referenced in this study is from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.