What function does the Holy Spirit have in the hearts of believers?

Carl Emerson said:

Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us.

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God wants Holy, Consecrated, Sanctified vessels. God dwelled with man in wilderness in the Holy of Holy s in the tabernacle. Now we are to be the temple of God.

Carl Emerson said:

Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us.

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The Holy Spirit is our Guide, Teacher, Comforter - to guide us and lead us into all truth. Then out of the abundance we receive from God we share with others.

Carl Emerson said:

is this still happening today

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I say yes.

Change from the inside out

And also to prevent the bad from entering.

Hi @Carl Emerson, a couple of passages come to mind about this.


--David

Carl Emerson said:

Now some are claiming that the Holy Spirit no longer speaks to folk since the Apostles have all died

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Fake news.

Carl Emerson said:

The very presence of the Creator of the Universe within the believer is an underrated and little talked about topic.

Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us.

This is not about spiritual gifts, or the empowering for ministry, but simply His presence within.

Given the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, is this still happening today? If so does that mean He speaks to us?

Does He no longer dwell within since we have the church as our guide? Does He no longer dwell within because we have the bible instead as our guide.

Your comments much appreciated.

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He regenerates and calls us to the faith, applies the benefits of Christ's redemption to our souls, sanctifies us in holiness and illuminates to us his divine truth, giving us perseverance to the end.

Carl Emerson said:

Given the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, is this still happening today? If so does that mean He speaks to us?

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When Jesus said "He will guide you into all the truth" it was not a promise to all believers. He was personally addressing the 11 disciples when he was preparing them for Pentecost. It was part of the same discourse where he said...


The "you" in this passage is the disciples. The Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth as they taught and wrote the New Testament.

It is plainly obvious that the Holy Spirit does not internally guide today's believers into all truth because if he did we would all agree with each other! (unless we claim that those who disagree with our particular set of doctrines are not Christians!)

What function does the Holy Spirit have in the hearts of believers?

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(see the rest of the post)

The very presence of the Creator of the Universe within the believer is an underrated & little talked about topic. Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us?

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Yes, we can establish that from the revelation in the Scriptures.

This is not about spiritual gifts, or the empowering for ministry, but simply His presence within. Given the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, is this still happening today?

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Yes, it is still happening today.

If so does that mean He speaks to us?

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Yes, He speaks to us today. Jesus' sheep HEAR HIS VOICE & they follow Him.

Does He no longer dwell within since we have the church as our guide?

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False. He continually dwells within us, leading us & guiding us into all the truth & transforming us as we yield & obey, into the very image of Christ.

Rom 8:1-11 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE has set you FREE from the law of sin & death.

3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous standard of the law might be FULFILLED in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is LIFE & PEACE, because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

8Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God LIVES IN YOU.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does NOT belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your SPIRIT is alive because of righteousness.

11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is LIVING IN YOU, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, WHO LIVES IN YOU.

Does He no longer dwell within because we have the bible instead as our guide?

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False

John 14:16,17 And I will ask the Father & He will give you another Counselor to be WITH YOU FOREVER, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you & will be in you.

Those are some good questions, brother Carl, to consider & yes, often the Holy Spirit is not talked about enough & the key role He plays in our practical walk with Christ daily.

Here are a couple of insightful websites on this very topic.

What is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? | GotQuestions.org

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit – What is it?

What Is the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

**One key role I see the Holy Spirit's indwelling brings about or accomplishes is practical HOLINESS. He is conforming us to the image of Christ, from one degree of glory to another, making available to the yielded Christian the power to overcome sin & live holy lives--within our body, the dwelling place of God in the Spirit, His temple on earth, where His Presence is IN His people forever.

This is brought out by various Biblical writers, saying the same thing.

I Pet 1:1,2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia & Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the SANCTIFYING WORK OF THE SPIRIT, TO OBEY JESUS CHRIST & be sprinkled with His blood: may grace & peace be yours in the fullest measure.

2 Thess 2:13,14 But we ought always to thank God for you, brethren loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the SANCTIFYING WORK OF THE SPIRIT & through belief in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may SHARE IN THE GLORY of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 8:29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON...

2 Cor 3:3-8,14-18 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it removed. To this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. {Ex 34:29-34}

17Now the Lord is that Spirit & where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (liberty). And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. {Rom 8:2-4,9-11,15; Exodus 24:9-11}

Psalm 29:2 Give to the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Eph 1:4 For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy & blameless in His PRESENCE.

I Thess 4:7 For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.

Luke 1:73-75 ...The oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us deliverance from hostile hands, so that we may serve Him WITHOUT fear, in holiness & righteousness BEFORE HIM--ALL the days of our lives.

**Another key role that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ & the Spirit of the Father does is give to us the ministry of a NEW COVENANT--OF THE SPIRIT. It is not often that people talk about this ministry of the New Covenant of the Spirit or grasp this or continue to walk in it.

The Galatian believers did for awhile but then became side-tracked, going back under bondage again. Only by God's grace & mercy are we able to continue in this path of glory. (Gal 3 and 5)

Gal 3:1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Gal 5:1,7-9,13-16 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

7You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit & you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

This New Covenant (NC) of the Spirit brings life not death; this NC brings liberty not bondage; this NC of the Spirit brings us into the very Presence of the Living God, where we do not have to veil our faces when we speak with Him. As we spend time in the Presence of the Lord, we see His indescribable glory. He through the Spirit changes us into that very image, to reflect His glory with no need for a veil!

It is one of those understandings that only come with time & gazing upon the 'beauty of the LORD' in as much of His unveiled HOLINESS & His manifested GLORY as we are able to handle & see! We are seeing in a mirror dimly now, seeing a reflection that grows clearer as we are transformed from one degree of glory to another, into the very likeness of Christ.

God speaks and reveals to us things to come "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come" John 16:13

swordsman1 said:

The "you" in this passage is the disciples. The Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth as they taught and wrote the New Testament.

It is plainly obvious that the Holy Spirit does not internally guide today's believers into all truth because if he did we would all agree with each other!

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Hi Swordsman1, I'm not sure that's completely accurate. For instance,

Just like us today, the Apostles had to renew their minds and regularly battle their old nature/their old self .. e.g. Ephesians 4:22-24, which clearly got the better of them at times, yes?

There is more to discuss, especially concerning the Spirit's work in the lives of believers today, but for me, that is going to have to be this evening.

God bless you!

--David
p.s. - just to be clear, I believe that the HS guided/superintended the writing of the Bible to make certain that each of its human authors penned His "breathed/inspired" words accurately such that when the Scriptures speak, God speaks!

St_Worm2 said:

Hi Swordsman1, I'm not sure that's completely accurate. For instance,

Galatians 2
11 When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I [Paul] opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

Acts of the Apostles 15
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.
38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.
39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.
41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
​

Just like us today, the Apostles had to renew their minds and regularly battle their old nature/their old self .. e.g. Ephesians 4:22-24, which clearly got the better of them at times, yes?

There is more to discuss, especially concerning the Spirit's work in the lives of believers today, but for me, that is going to have to be this evening.

God bless you!

--David
p.s. - just to be clear, I believe that the HS guided/superintended the writing of the Bible to make certain that each of its human authors penned His "breathed/inspired" words accurately such that when the Scriptures speak, God speaks!

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I think that proves my point. When Jesus said to the disciples, "He will guide you into all truth" he was only referring to guiding the apostles in their teaching and scripture writing. On other non-doctrinal matters even they occasionally disagreed in their thinking .

swordsman1 said:

It is plainly obvious that the Holy Spirit does not internally guide today's believers into all truth because if he did we would all agree with each other! (unless we claim that those who disagree with our particular set of doctrines are not Christians!)

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This is an amazingly illogical conclusion that has never been true in history and is not true today.
But if you insist that it is really true, then you are obliged to use the same measure with those who study the scriptures.
ie. Everyone who reads the scriptures would automatically grasp the exact same message from them and be in complete agreement.
And the silliness of that notion is proven by the constant conflict we see between theologians studying the exact same scriptures.

Mankind is carnally minded, individually or collectively. We read the scriptures and our carnal minds mangle it to suit our prejudices.
Alternatively, we let someone else mangle it for us, and we start following him, or his particular denomination or cult.

Similarly, God might whisper deep within us, as perhaps a conviction in our conscience. And just as with the scriptures, we shut out that whisper because we are carnally minded and want to follow our own agenda.

Whether its scriptures or Holy Spirit, the level of our response will always be our own choice.

Carl Emerson said:

The very presence of the Creator of the Universe within the believer is an underrated and little talked about topic.

Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us.

This is not about spiritual gifts, or the empowering for ministry, but simply His presence within.

Given the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, is this still happening today? If so does that mean He speaks to us?

Does He no longer dwell within since we have the church as our guide? Does He no longer dwell within because we have the bible instead as our guide.

Your comments much appreciated.

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What would you really like the Holy Spirit to do?

Those 12 and maybe even the 120 had Christ: physically with them, Loving on them, listening to them, teaching them, correcting them, serving them and allowing them to do wonderful stuff. This is what is still needed today.

Today if just one Christian would allow the Spirit to live in them unquenched and through them being, the physical Christ to those around him or her (a small group) with just one in the group each year becoming like this one Christian (who is like Christ) in just 36 years we run out of people on earth (all 8 billion) to be part of a small group. This seems to be happening now in Communist China and North Korea.

Francis Drake said:

This is an amazingly illogical conclusion that has never been true in history and is not true today.
But if you insist that it is really true, then you are obliged to use the same measure with those who study the scriptures.
ie. Everyone who reads the scriptures would automatically grasp the exact same message from them and be in complete agreement.
And the silliness of that notion is proven by the constant conflict we see between theologians studying the exact same scriptures.

Mankind is carnally minded, individually or collectively. We read the scriptures and our carnal minds mangle it to suit our prejudices.
Alternatively, we let someone else mangle it for us, and we start following him, or his particular denomination or cult.

Similarly, God might whisper deep within us, as perhaps a conviction in our conscience. And just as with the scriptures, we shut out that whisper because we are carnally minded and want to follow our own agenda.

Whether its scriptures or Holy Spirit, the level of our response will always be our own choice.

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Well done, you have just proved my point. We all disagree. The Holy Spirit does not guide us into all truth. That verse is not speaking about us. The whole passage was addressed to the disciples personally. Jesus was explaining how the Spirit would work in their lives as apostles.

Carl Emerson said:

The very presence of the Creator of the Universe within the believer is an underrated and little talked about topic.

Can we establish what the believer can expect the Holy Spirit to do within us.

This is not about spiritual gifts, or the empowering for ministry, but simply His presence within.

Given the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, is this still happening today? If so does that mean He speaks to us?

Does He no longer dwell within since we have the church as our guide? Does He no longer dwell within because we have the bible instead as our guide.

Your comments much appreciated.

Click to expand...

Believers have the Spirit of the Father in them (Matthew 10:20) and the Spirit of the Son (Jesus Christ) in them and the Holy Ghost


We also read of having BOTH the Father and the Son in us