Romans 8:9 shows that the believers belong to Christ also. Since we are members of Christ, we are of Christ. Once we are saved, we are eternally saved. Furthermore, once we are of Christ, we are of Him eternally. He will never change, and in the same way, our being of Christ will never change.
First Corinthians 15:48 says that we are heavenly, that we are of heaven. We were originally in Adam, who was made of clay and earthy. But now we are saved, and we are in Christ. We are heavenly because we have the heavenly life and nature within us. We are on the earth but not of the earth, for within us are the heavenly life and nature.
Because we are heavenly, our taste is often heavenly. The more earthly desires we have, the more we suffer within. Whenever we taste the heavenly flavor and touch the heavenly reality, we feel very comfortable, sweet, and happy. This is because our nature is heavenly. Christians are special people. Our inner nature is heavenly; hence, we often cannot follow people in the world. Outwardly we have the same appearance as people in the world; we all have four limbs and five senses. We have wives, husbands, and children, and we all eat, wear clothes, study, and work. Outwardly there is no difference between the people in the world and us, but inwardly our nature is different. They are earthy, while we are heavenly. This difference is because we belong to heaven, not earth. For this reason, those who are of heaven and those who are of earth often cannot go together.
We also have a few things. First, we have God. In preaching the gospel, we often say that if man does not have God, he feels empty, but if man has God, he no longer feels empty. We do not feel empty because we have God. We do not merely have God objectively, but we have Him subjectively. God is abiding in us. First John 4:13 and 15 say that God abides in us. Verse 15 says that God abides in us because the Lord Jesus became our Savior. Verse 13 says that God abides in us because God has given us the Holy Spirit. This means that the Lord Jesus came to be our Savior and that the Holy Spirit entered into us in order to bring God into us so that He may abide in us. Today we not only have God as our Lord, bearing full responsibility for us in the heavens, but we also have God abiding in us to be our everything.
First John 4:4 says that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. The greatest one in the world is Satan, but the One who abides in us is greater than Satan. Outwardly speaking, we are insignificant and unimportant because we have no position in the world. But inwardly speaking, we are great because the God who is greater than anyone in the world abides within us.
First, we have God abiding within; second, we have Christ living within. This is mentioned in the New Testament numerous times. The clearest verse is 2 Corinthians 13:5, which says, “Do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?” Regardless of how weak we are or how little faith we have, as long as we are saved, we have Christ in us. Christ being in us does not depend on the amount of our faith but on whether we have faith. Our faith can be so small that it seems as if it cannot be any smaller. But even if our faith is as small as a mustard seed, we are not disapproved. We have Christ in us. Not only did He die on the cross for us, but He is even inside of us, living for us. From our perspective, we may consider ourselves to be weak, but from His perspective, we are strong.
We must see that once we are saved, the God who is above all and greater than all abides in us. At the same time, we have Christ in us. Even though we are weak, Christ in us is strong. Thus, we must learn not to look at ourselves but to look only at Christ. We should not be concerned that we are weak or that we have only a little faith, but rather, we should simply believe that the Christ who abides in us is strong. If we do this, we will become strong. This is our salvation.
We have God and Christ, and we also have the Holy Spirit. This is spoken of in the New Testament many times. It is sufficient, however, for us to refer to just two portions. In John 14:16-17 the Lord Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will be with us forever and shall be in us. Romans 8:9 also says that whoever is of Christ has the Spirit of Christ within him. Since we have God and Christ, we also have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Regardless of how dead, dry, down, or bored we may feel, the Holy Spirit in us is living, fresh, and uplifting. Thus, we should not look at ourselves, but instead, we should believe in, pay attention to, and follow the Holy Spirit within.
Our salvation not only includes being accepted by God, belonging to God, and becoming heavenly objectively, but it also includes gaining the Triune God subjectively. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—the Triune God—are all in us. From the standpoint of the Father, God is in us. From the standpoint of the Son, God is in us. And also from the standpoint of the Spirit, God is in us. The entire Triune God is in us. What we believers have is great, full, rich, and high.