THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US FOREVER

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would abide with us forever.

Jn14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

The word abide (meno) means to abide, to continue, to dwell, to endure, to be present, to remain, to stand, to tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held and kept continually, to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure, to survive, to wait for, await one, to stay, stomach, suffer, support, tolerate. 

When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would abide with us forever, He meant all of this and much more. Let us apply these various meanings of this word to what this scripture says the Holy Spirit does in us;

  • To abide, to dwell, to stay;

This means to stay in a house or dwelling. The Holy Spirit lives in us in the same way that we live in a house. When we become Christians we become the temple of God and the house of the Holy Spirit. He comes and begins living in our spirit as His home.
“…, you are God's building…Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1Cor3:9-17

“…Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” 1Cor6:19-20

“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 2Cor6:16

This dwelling in us in not just a concept or a positional truth, it is a present day reality. The Holy Spirit lives in us.

  • To continue, to remain, not to depart, not to perish, to be held and kept continually, to last;

This has to do with permanent residence. Living in a place forever. The Holy Spirit lives in us FOREVER. He will never depart. He will continue, remain and last. We will have and keep Him forever in our heart.

The idea that our sins can drive the Holy Spirit away from us, or that God will take His Holy Spirit away from us if we live in sin is an error based on ignorance of the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. People quote Old Testament scriptures to make the point that the Holy Spirit will depart if we sin. There is no New Testament scripture that says that or even suggests it. Why?

Because Jesus’ death on the Cross changed everything. His shed blood washed away all or our sins (past, present and future) as far as the East is from the West and He has given us everlasting righteousness and eternal redemption. God is no longer dealing with us according to the Old Covenant but according to the New Covenant which was sealed in the blood of Jesus. (See Hebrews7-10)

The word forever means forever. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would abide with us forever, no conditions.

To believe that the Holy Spirit can depart from you if you sin, you have to believe that Jesus was either lying or He did not know what He was talking about when He said the Holy Spirit would abide with us FOREVER!

Besides, you have no New Testament scripture to prove it! It is just your own opinion.

  • To be present, to continue to be present, to tarry, to wait for, to await one.

The Holy Spirit is always at every moment ever present in us and to us. As we saw in our previous lesson, He is our Standby, our parakletos (one whose job is to be alongside us).
Anytime you need Him, He is available and ready to be your parakletos (comforter, helper, counselor, intercessor, advocate, strengthener, standby, coach). He is always waiting for you to draw on Him and commune with Him.

One of the worst things we do is to ignore the Holy Spirit and act like He is not around. We give Him the silent treatment. 

Learn to be conscious of Him all the time. Become talkative, talk to Him, He likes to talk, Even right now He is there with you, right there this very moment, take a moment and fellowship with Him, thank Him and be with Him as He is with you. You are never alone.

  • To endure, to survive, to stomach, to suffer, to tolerate;

The Holy Spirit does not just live with us, He endures us, He endures our weaknesses, our sins, our foolishness, our meanness, our selfishness, our bad habits, our ignorance and all the pieces of stupid we do.

You can never wear Him out. He can stomach anything, He can suffer anything, and He can tolerate our worst. If what I am saying is not true then you my friend do not have the Holy Spirit, He left you a loooooong time ago!! (not with all the stuff you have done!)

There is no sin too big, there is no ignorance too dark, there is no stupid too deep that the Holy Spirit cannot tolerate. His staying power is forever. Jesus said He would abide with us FOREVER. His stamina is infinite!

  • To support;

The Holy Spirit is not just living in us forever or tolerating us forever. The Holy Spirit supports us and empowers us to overcome these weaknesses and this world. When in battle, He upholds us and will never stop upholding us until we see victory.

He will not leave you in your sins, He will give you strength to defeat them and will support you until you obtain utmost victory! He will not fail.

God has given us much more than we have ever imagined in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is absolutely awesome in us. Today do not harden your heart towards Him. Heed Him.

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