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About
Written By: Christian Nuesa
For: Sojourning Servants
Title: In the Spirit

Passage
Rom. 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on
the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit.
Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on
the Spirit is life and peace,
Rom. 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for
it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able
to do so,
Rom. 8:8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom. 8:9 ¶ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Rom. 8:10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin,
yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Rom. 8:11 But 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.

Contrast between non-believers and believers.

Paul states that the Roman believers are not in the flesh but actually
in the Spirit. In someway he is saying that they are save!

However, he did not give them an assurance coming from what he said.
Because Paul immediately followed that with this phrase “IF indeed the
Spirit of God dwells in you”.

In saying that, he left Romans to discover their own assurance of

salvation. And the assurance of salvation is…

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

What is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? For us to know that we

belong to Christ, we must know if indeed that Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Because by Paul’s statement, it indicates that you can know if the Holy
Spirit dwells in you.

The benefits of the Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer:

1. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, it means you belong the Jesus
Christ. V.9
a. You are Christ’s own possession. His own people. Belong
to Jesus Christ
b. If you are, then you are Christ’s slave
c. And therefore, Christ is your master or your king.
2. If the Spirit of God swells in you, you are spiritually alive.
V.10
a. This is the regeneration of believers.

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3. If the Spirit of God swells in you, surely, you will be

resurrected by the Holy Spirit Himself V.11

The entire Godhead dwells

Btw, this is not just the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit are actually dwelling in a believer.

Jesus Christ spoke about the Father and Him making their abode with a
believer.
- John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me,
he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will
come to him and make Our abode [house of dwelling] with him.
-
- Eph. 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
-
- In our passage alone indicates that it is not just the Holy
Spirit but also Christ. Rom. 8:10 If Christ is in you,

So when I say Holy Spirit dwells in you, it means: the Father and the
Son also.

Now think about this for a moment. The entire God is present in each
one of you, if indeed you belong to Christ.

Only those who belong to Christ has the Spirit of God.

The coming of the Holy Spirit:

Jesus’ promised the HS [coming soon in His word]

John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may be with you forever;
John 14:17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He
abides with you and will be in you.

When Christ spoke of the Holy Spirit to be given to His believer, the
Holy Spirit was in future tense.

Which mean when Christ was speaking this, the Holy Spirit was not
dwelling the disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Father promised the HS

Joel 2:28 ¶ “It will come about
Spirit on all mankind; And your
old men will dream dreams, Your
Joel 2:29 “Even on the male and
Spirit in those days.
after this That I will pour out My
sons and daughters will prophesy, Your
young men will see visions.
female servants I will pour out My

When the prophet Joel spoke, the Holy Spirit was in future tense.

Which means that the believers of the Old Testament did not have the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not dwelling in them.

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HS with OT
This does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not WITH the believers in
the Old Testament. The only thing is the Holy Spirit does not dwell in
the Old Testament believers.

When will the Holy Spirit be given

John 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in
Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus
was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit was to be given after the resurrection, when Christ is
glorified.

Dwelling of the HS: what is not

Is not equal to demon possession

When someone is demon possessed, that person is under the control of
demon.

The Holy Spirit does not control you.

Is not equal to FILLED with the Holy Spirit

Zachariah spoke of prophesy
Luke 1:67 ¶ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and prophesied, saying:

Spoke in tongues
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

People preach in boldness

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers
and elders of the people,

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak the word of God with boldness.

As you can see with all of these examples, it is always associated with
special abilities.
- Prophesies
- Boldness
- Speaking in tongue

Another use of the word Filled in the Acts.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to
lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?

Satan filled the heart of Ananias. This does not mean Ananias was
demon possessed. But was influence by Satan to lie.

Therefore, filling of the Holy Spirit means, you are under the
influence and the power of the Holy Spirit to do his work.

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It is not equal with the coming UPON of the Holy Spirit in the OT.
Special power of Samson.
Judg. 14:5 ¶ Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and
mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young
lion came roaring toward him.
Judg. 14:6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he
tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand;

Saul prophesied
1Sam. 10:10 When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of
prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that
he prophesied among them.

Ezekiel receive the word

Ezek. 11:5 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to
me, “Say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “So you think, house of Israel, for I
know your thoughts.

As you can see with all of these examples, are also associated with
special abilities.
- Prophesies
- Special human strength
- Receivng the word of God

Evil Spirit on Soul

1Sam. 19:9 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on [It already
came up] Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his
hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand.
1Sam. 19:10 And Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear
- On – The evil spirit is already upon Saul
- Saul was not demon possessed, but under the influence of the evil
spirit.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit coming upon means, you are under the
influence and the power of the Holy Spirit to do his work.

“Filling” and “come upon”

Two different words: one Hebrew, one Greek. Both have the same result.

Therefore, NT “filled with the Holy Spirit” is the same with OT “Spirit
coming upon”.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is NOT filling for the Spirit
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in NOT the Spirit coming upon you

The indwelling of the HS remains to be distinct.

This is a New Testament phenomenon, and only in the New Testament,

specifically, the Pentecost in the book of Acts.

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Temporary.
Filling and coming upon of the Holy Spirit are temporary. It comes and
goes away.

You can see that evidence in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent.

Eph. 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of
truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you
were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph. 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a
view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of
His glory.

And according to Paul, the Holy Sprit is God’s down payment on your
salvation.

Dwelling of the HS, what is it?

Habitations – Remaining and living in a particular place.

God is everywhere present. There is not a place or point of location

where God is not there.
Psa. 139:8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
Psa. 139:9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Psa. 139:10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

God cannot be contained:

1Kings 8:27 ¶ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold,
heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You…

So it is true: God is present everywhere

But God does not dwell everywhere.

God presently dwells in two places.

- One in spiritual place, that’s Heaven.
- One in physical place, that’s believers. [pause]
Yes, God has made a believer His habitation; a secondary and permanent
residence.
- God is not dwelling in Angels
- God is not dwelling in the old testament believers
- God is not dwelling in non-believes. AKA. Worldlings.
- Much less the animals, or the tress.
- Or inanimate things like a rock
- But God is residing in Heaven also residing in believers.

Since dwelling is distinct presence of God, I can be dwelt by the Holy

Spirit and be filled by the Holy Spirit at the same time.

I can also be dwelt by the Holy Spirit, and NOT field with the Holy
Spirit at all, because filling comes and goes.

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Old Testament dwelling

To further understand the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are gonna
need the Old Testament.

God did dwell in Israel in the Old Testament. To understand the

present dwelling of us in believers, we must understand how did He
dwell with Israel in the OT.

Although, God did not dwell IN the OT believers, He did dwell WITH
them. Not in them, but with them.

Again, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believers is a promised

to come in their future. That’s us, future.

God was in Israel dwelling WITH His people. But never did God dwell IN
them.

God dwelling IN believers only happened in the New Testament saints,

particularly after the resurrection.

How did God dwell with Israel? Did God somehow walk with them? No.
He was with them as their King.

[Just a small talk]

Can you believe that in the ancient time, there was a nation where God
is their King?

So God being their King dwelt with that nation.

When God was dwelling with Israel, God was in a specific place. In
that place is where God is found. Always, they go to that place God is
there.

Repeat: God was dwelling in Israel not in people, but in a particular

physical location.

Places where God was found

God was in a place called Bethel

Gen. 35:1 ¶ Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and
live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you
when you fled from your brother Esau.”
Judg. 20:26 Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went
up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before
the LORD and fasted that day until evening. And they offered
burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

God was In Mount Sinai

Ex. 19:20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the
mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain,
and Moses went up.

God was in a Tabernacle [Read]

Ex. 25:8 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell
among them. Ex. 25:9 “According to all that I am going to show
you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its

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furniture, just so you shall construct it.

As you can see here God wants to dwell with Israel and He chose
to the Tabernacle to be His dwelling place.

The final location, God was in the Temple [Read]

God chooses his dwelling place

2Chr. 7:12 ¶ Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said
to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place
[TEMPLE] for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

Chosen to dwell with Israel in a Temple with condition.

1Kings 6:12 “Concerning this house which you are building, if you
will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all
My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word
with you which I spoke to David your father. 1Kings 6:13 “I will
dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people
Israel.”

AKA: House of God

1Sam. 1:7 It happened year after year, as often as she [Hanna]
went up to the house of the LORD, she would provoke her; so she
wept and would not eat.

The Temple is In Jerusalem

Ezra 6:3 “In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king
issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem,
let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be
rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height
being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits;

Why would God be in a particular place?

God desires to dwell with Israelites because He is their God.
- Ex. 29:45 “I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be
their God.
There must be a place for God to stay.
- Ex. 25:8 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell
among them.
- Ezek. 37:27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will
be their God, and they will be My people.

For God to dwell with the sons of Israel as their God, God must be in a
particular place in Israel. The most recent was the Temple.

Picture
Much like the president of the United States dwelling with the
Americans in the White House. It would not make sense if the President
is residing in Bagdad, Iraq.

God is a God who dwells with His people.

Notice that it is God who will dwell with His people, not the other way
around.

The idea behind God dwelling with His people is so that God could bring

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God to His people. So that He would not be far.

Remember: man cannot reach up to God. God had to reach down to man.
Basically, God had to come down so that people can reach Him.

Israel needs their God. Therefore, God had to be in a place where they
can find Him and receive His words.

Therefore, there must a physical place for God to stay or dwell so that
He could be with His people.

And God will dwell with His people as their own God.
Not as neighbor
Not as friend
Not as co-citizen
But their own God and King.

Israel was a country where citizens can find God easily in their own
country. This is amazing!

These days, if you ask people, where is God they’d say, “God is in
Heaven”?

I think, if you ask any Hebrews back then “Where is God?” A Hebrew
would say God is in the Temple, in Jerusalem.

That’s how close God was to the sons of Israel.

Dwelling place cannot be defiled

- Lev. 15:31 ¶ “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated
from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their
uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”

God is a holy God; his dwelling place must also be holy.

Defilement of any form of sin is punishable by death.

This is the reason why a thick curtain separates the Holy of Holies
and only a purified priest can enter to represent the people.

Holy of Holies is a room in the Temple of God. In this room is

where God is at, in the Temple.

A place where God is found

Since God was in the temple, everything that pertains to God must be
brought to God in the temple.

Picture
Think of this like an employee of Walmart coming into the president’s
office to approach him about what the employee needs.

The place where God dwelt was just like that.

People come to the dwelling place of God for variety of reasons.

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- To approach God
o Deut. 12:5 “But you shall seek the LORD at the place which
the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to
establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you
shall come.

- To bring sacrifice and offerings

o Deut. 12:11 then it shall come about that the place in
which the LORD your God will choose for His name to dwell,
there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt
offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the
contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive
offerings which you will vow to the LORD.

- To seek God.
- Ex. 33:7 ¶ Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside
the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the
tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to
the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
-
- Where God would disclose his commandment
- Ex. 25:22 “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the
testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in
commandment for the sons of Israel.
-
- To pray
- Is. 56:7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make
them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and
their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house
will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

Ark of the Covenant

1Kings 8:6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD
to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy
place, under the wings of the cherubim.
What is it?
- is described in the Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested
the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments.
- Ten commandments is the moral law of God.

People love the temple

- Psa. 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand
outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my
God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
- Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of
my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His
temple.
o It’s like being in Heaven.

The idea behind a temple is, for God to dwell with people there has to
be a place for Him to stay and a place where people go to pray,
worship, bring offerings, etc.

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God was dwelling and localized to Jerusalem. In his own temp.

Again, the Jews at that time when they think of God, it’s not Heaven,
but Jerusalem.

The Temple was in Jerusalem

- Towards the House of Prayer
- 1Kings 8:44 ¶ “When Your people go out to battle against their
enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to the
LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I
have built for Your name,
-
- Dan. 6:10 ¶ Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he
entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open
toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three
times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had
been doing previously.
-
- When they are outside Israel, they pray towards Jerusalem,
because God was in Jerusalem.
-
- God was localized therefore their thinking of God is also
localized.
-
- Even though the Jews were aware that God is everywhere present,
they know He is in Israel and Israel alone.
-
- Even now, we know that God is everywhere present but we also
think that God is in Heaven not here.
-

Temple gone?
John 4:21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming
when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the
Father.
John 4:22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father
seeks to be His worshipers.

Jesus was saying this is no longer be the case. God will no longer be
localized to a specific place.

God dwelling in Jerusalem will end.

There will no longer be a place of worship.

There will no longer be a place of prayer.
There will no longer be a place where you can seek God.

All of that will end.

AND IT HAS ENDED!

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Jesus said that Temple will be destroyed, indeed was destroyed by the
Romans in AD 70.

Go to Israel and you’ll see what’s left of it.

God is no longer in Jerusalem. He’s gone.

He is no longer dwelling in Israel, not anymore.

Believers are the new temple

In the New Testament, there is a new temple not made of stones.

The new Temple of God is now a living being. Instead of made of stone
covered with gold, it is now flesh and blood, covered with skin.

God is still localized though, not on a particular place, but in

particular people.

As a corporate
1Cor. 3:16 ¶ Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the
Spirit of God dwells in you?
Eph. 2:21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing
into a holy temple in the Lord,

All believers as a whole is the new Temple of God.

As individual [our emphasis]

1Cor. 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your
own?

Each believer is the New Temple of God.

Reason:
1. The Holy Spirit (with the Father and the Son) dwells in you.
2. The Law of God is written in your heart
Jer. 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with
the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD,
“I will put My law within them and on their heart I will
write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people.

Just like the former Temple, where God dwells and the Law of God
is located.

You as the new Temple have God living in you, and His Law written
on your heart. Just like the former temple.

The difference is, you are a living being instead of an in-

animate building.

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Advantages of the New Temple

1. You are the new temple of God, therefore, you do not need to go
to Israel seek God.
a. Wherever you are, you can worship, pray, and seek God
because you are now the new temple of God.
b. Wherever you are, the Temple of God is there. If the
Temple of God is there, God is there!
c. Remember what Jesus taught us. God is no more localized to
Jerusalem.
2. You are the new temple of God, therefore, God knows you not from
a distance but up close.
a. He has a direct connection to what you feel, therefore, He
feels what you feel. He feels your sadness and your tears,
your smile and your joy.
b. He knows your struggle.
c. God knows you intimately.
3. God made you a temple for you, so that He is always with you.
a. Therefore, you cannot ever think God to be far. That’s
false! God is always in His temple, 24/7 365days/year
regardless of what you feel. And you are that Temple of
God.
4. God made you a temple so that you can bring God to others.
a. Every people you witness for Christ
b. Every missionaries
i. They all are bringing God to non-believing world.
c. If were a missionary to a pagan country, you’ve just
brought the Temple of the Living God in that country.

Localized God no more.

- Many people thinks that God is
o In an altar, somehow God is localized there.
- In an idol, I cannot explain this. But somehow in their mind,
God is in that idol.
o In a wall, I do not know what the Jews are thinking.
Kissing and praying to that wall as if God is dwelling in
those walls.
o
- Amazingly God is actually in a believer.

Warning

Just as Israel had to keep the temple Holy, you are to keep the Temple
of God holy.

- Lev. 15:31 ¶ “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated
from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their
uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”

Applies to you, as the new Temple of God.

When you sin, you’ve sinned in the very temple of God where God is
dwelling.

The only reason why are you alive: Christ. His blood covers you.

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picture
Look at me. You see me right.

You would not do anything wrong right in front of me, however if you
are alone, you may do wrong things.

Remember that in your aloneness, God is there, present, just as I am

right in front of you.

Therefore, always be aware that you are the Temple of God.

1Cor. 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you
are not your own?
1Cor. 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body.

Live a holy life to glorify God in your body.

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