A characteristic feature of every believer in Christ

But ye are not 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, KJV)

Paul makes the bold statement by the Spirit and says “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”. A distinguishing characteristic of those who belong to Christ is the possession of the Holy Spirit.

The day you believed in Jesus Christ and accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, He came into your heart. This is well established in our minds. Let me take this one step further. Who is the “Christ” that came and started living in your heart? It is the Holy Spirit! Christ came into your heart as the Spirit of God. Jesus, as a Man, has a resurrected body and is currently in heaven. However, as the Spirit, the Spirit of God, also called the Spirit of Christ, He dwells and fills His people.

You, therefore, received the Holy Spirit the DAY YOU BECAME SAVED.It is the Holy Spirit that makes you a christian, child of God or a believer! Scriptures clearly show us that there is a distinct and separate experience with the Holy Spirit that follows salvation, which has been called the “baptism of/with/in the Holy Spirit” and is accompanied by manifestations of spiritual gifts and power. This has often been confused with when the believer actually receives the Spirit of God. This is for another day. The believer receives the Spirit the day they receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

The fact that you have the Holy Spirit is the totality of Christianity, Christ in you! As I shared before in our Glory & Grace Live Bible studies, the Holy Spirit does not replace your human spirit. Neither does He dwell alongside your spirit so that there are two spirits in you. No! He dwells in you as one with your spirit. This is the mystery of our union with Christ. As one with your Spirit, He lives in you as you. He is in your thoughts, emotions, will and consciousness. It means you are not an ordinary human being. You are a new creation, of the order of the last Adam, having the life of God. It means within you, is the ability to experience God’s life and manifest it. That is, you can feel how God feels, think as He thinks, operate in His wisdom and power not as a robot that God is controlling but fully as you, yet not you but Christ the Holy Spirit in you!

MEDITATE

When does a believer receive the Holy Spirit? What is the mark of any true Christian as described above?

APPLY THE WORD

The Spirit is the presence of God. Please note I did not write that He brings the presence of God. He is the presence of God! The fact that you have the Spirit means God is 24/7 in and with you! All He wants is for you to learn how to live in this new life where God is one with you. It takes some understanding and growth but it will be the best thing you can ever invest in. The Spirit longs to completely take over your life because as one with you, you will have to yield yourself to Him; otherwise, He will be in you as if He is not there. Grow in your knowledge of Christ in you. Believe it. Yield completely to Him and see what glory will result in your life!