In this lesson we will continue to see the work of the Spirit in us.
First John 3:24 says, “In this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” The phrase by the Spirit whom He gave to us modifies we know. Therefore, by the Spirit we know that God abides in us. It is by this Spirit that we are born of God, we receive the divine life as the divine seed in us, we have the fellowship of the divine life, we are anointed with the Triune God, and we abide in God. This wonderful Spirit is given to us as the promised blessing of the New Testament (Gal. 3:14). He is given without measure by the Christ who is above all, who inherits all, and who is to be increased without limit (John 3:31-35). This Spirit and the eternal life are the basic elements by which we live the life that abides in the Lord continually. Hence, it is by this Spirit, who witnesses with our spirit, that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16) and that we know that the Lord of all abides in us.
First John 4:13 says, “In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.” In the fact that God has given to us of His Spirit, we know that we abide in Him and He in us. The Spirit, whom God has given to dwell in us, is the witness in our spirit (Rom. 8:16) that we dwell in God and He in us. The abiding Spirit, that is, the indwelling Spirit, is the element and sphere of the mutual abiding, the mutual indwelling, of us and God. When we experience and enjoy the Spirit in the fellowship of the Triune God, by the Spirit we are assured that God abides in us and we in God; that is, we are assured that we and God are one, that we abide in each other, indwelling each other mutually.
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