IN CHRIST
In Christ
John 14:15-21 ESV - [15] "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. [18] "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. [20] In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
Galatians 2:20 ESV - [20] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
As we take in these 2 passages we see something that connects them to each other. The connection is the idea that the Spirit lives and works in us and through us. This Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not any different than Jesus Himself. Galatians says that Christ lives in us. John 14 is Jesus preparing his disciples for his departure from earth. He promises that soon after His departure that Jesus will be in us and we will be in Him. If we are Christians (we have repentented of our sins and put our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins) then we have the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Jesus) living in us.
What does this mean for us? This is what it means:
We have the Spirit of living God in us - giving us spiritual life.
We have the power in us through the Spirit to conquer sin. This does not mean it will not be a battle and that there will not be a fight but we have the power to conquer it.
We have the power in us to live out the Christian life obediently (The life I now live, I live by faith).
We have the power to fully surrender our lives to God because Christ lives in us and through us (I am crucified with Christ).
We are not alone in this sinful world (I will not leave you as orphans).
How do we accomplish this?
We accomplish this the same way in which we became Christians. We live by faith (The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God). If we truly believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose on the 3rd day and is seated at the right hand of the Father then we should also believe that His Spirit lives in us and us in Him. When we truly live this way in faith it will lead to the power to live out the Christian life. We have the Spirit of God living in us that created this world out of nothing just by speaking it into existence. Our problems are not too large for Him to handle.
The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. Let that sink in......