Commentary

The Personal Possession of God’s Spirit

Scriptures: Ephesians 2:10 ; 2 Corinthians 5:17
by Jacob Abshire on December 14, 2017

Anyone who manages a rent home knows that renters treat the house like renters—to put it nicely. Since they don’t own the home, they have little vested in it. They only tend to it as it makes their current state of living comfortable. Otherwise, it is someone else’s property. Renters are temporary bodies in permanent buildings.

This is not the case with God. So far, we’ve learned from Ephesians 2:10 that God is the preeminent purchaser of soul, we are the peculiar project of His choice, and the pristine product of His handiwork. For sure, this is enough to inspire us to walk confidently in Christ. But, consider a fourth reason.

The verse says that we are “created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10). While the idea of being created causes us to think first about the making of something out of nothing, it also carries with it the idea of divine ownership. All that God creates belongs to Him. Since God created the cosmos, all of the cosmos belongs to Him (Ps. 24:1). Our salvation, being a new and second creation, implies that we are God’s personal possession. God is not renting. Rather, He lives in you, works on you, and stays with you.

God Lives in You

Prepositions are big words in the Bible. When it talks about us being “in Christ Jesus,” it conveys the idea of association. When it rains, we cover our fire pit. Whatever is in the firepit, stays dry. Being “in Christ” means that we benefit from His benefits. “Because I live, you also will live” (Jn. 14:19). A big benefit is that He is living in us. “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn. 14:20). He doesn’t just lease, He lives.

God Works on You

As God lives in you, you works on you. He tends the home and makes it new (Ps. 51:10). God was at work in His Son when His Son was at work on the cross. Jesus was no sinner, yet He paid the sinner’s price on the cross after living a sinless life. God “worked in Christ” to raise him from the dead and seat him “at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20). Friends, this is the same language used to describe what God does for us. He “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). God doesn’t let the home rot, He works on it.

God Stays with You

God lives in you and works on you because He stays with you. Renters don’t do much as far as upkeep because they have no plans to stay. God, on the other hand, stays forever. He is not renting. He takes up residence. He stays because He owns. You are His home and He is here to remain—to see job completed.

Although we focused on the implications of being “in Christ Jesus,” we should not forget that we are created by God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). God lives in you, works on you, and stays with you. You soul is His home.

Will you yield to the new owner of your soul? Will you take pleasure in knowing that God is taking residence—not as a temporary tenant, but an everlasting possessor? He will take pride in making you new.

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