The Spirit In Us

The Spirit In Us

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

1 Corinthians 6:19

We shouldn’t doubt that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we should certainly recognize that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19. If someone feels a love for God’s Word and gladly hears, speaks, thinks, teaches, and writes about Christ, you should know that this comes, not from a person’s will or reason, but from the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible for this to happen without the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, where there is hatred and contempt for the Word, we should know that the devil, the ruler of this world, blinds the hearts of the people and holds them captive so that the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, can’t shine on them. We see this today in the masses who are not moved by the Word but despise it as if it has nothing to do with them.

But those who have any kind of love and desire for the Word should gratefully acknowledge that these attitudes are poured into them by the Holy Spirit. For we are not born with these attitudes and cannot acquire them through the law. This transformation rests completely and absolutely in the hand of the Almighty. So when we eagerly listen to preaching about Jesus Christ, the Son of God—who for our sakes became a human being and subjected himself to the law to save us—then God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts through this preaching. Therefore, it’s very useful for us to remember that we have the Holy Spirit.