According to 1 John 3:23-24, the Holy Spirit was given to us to provide obvious evidence in our lives that Jesus lives in us and we live in him. Part of that obvious evidence is Jesus “purifying us from all unrighteousness” (1:9) “by the Spirit putting to death the misdeeds of our body” (Romans 8:13). And so effectively is that being done by the Spirit that we’ll “know” it’s happening (1 John 4:13).
In other words, we’ll sense there’s a switch going on, which in John’s words is a switch from darkness to light (1 John 1:5-7), and – in Jesus’ instructions to Paul – a switch from “the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). Not only, then, is the Spirit “putting to death” whatever had us held in Satan’s grip, he’s also replacing it with what God’s all about. Comparing us to a house, the Spirit’s not only scrubbing and scraping and cleaning out all the engrained muck we accumulated from not knowing God, he’s also filling up every cleaned out room with brand new furnishings. And because of the Spirit we can sense both these things happening, both the scrubbing out and the refurbishing.
It’s this massive and obvious switch that helps us really know Jesus is living in us. Paul gives us several practical illustrations too, writing about “our old self that was being wrecked by deceitful desires,” Ephesians 4:22, and in its place “being made new in the attitude of our minds, and putting on a new self that’s like God in his nature and character” (23-24).
And the same again in Colossians 3:9-10, “for you’ve finished with that old self and its rotten habits and put on a new self, which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself.”
And the switch is so obvious – from being angry, resentful, nasty and dishonest (8-9), to being kind, humble, sensitive, patient and quick to forgive (12-13). And the same in Ephesians 4 – from bearing grudges to being forgiving, and from hateful feelings to being tender-hearted (31-32). Such total and obvious opposites. The Spirit’s taking us on a wild journey – a bold escape from the clutches of the devil into a totally new home filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
And the Spirit makes sure we know it too, because what the Spirit wants for us is “Knowing that Jesus lives in us”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 