Born again. Into what?

One of the most common misconceptions is that the Holy Spirit is an ‘it’, or the Holy Spirit is simply a ‘power.’ The Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’ or a ‘power,’ He is a person. The Holy Spirit has much power and loves to demonstrate His power in and through us for His glory (Acts 1:8, Acts 3:12), but the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son in the trinity. As God, the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship, adoration, thanksgiving and honor, these things are due to Him just as the Father and the Son. We owe our salvation to the workings of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we would be bound to Hell (Jn. 16:7-11).

Many characteristics of personality are given to the Holy Spirit; He speaks (Rev. 2:7), He searches (1 Cor 2:10), He prays (Rom. 8:26), He instructs (Jn. 16:12-14), He feels (Is. 58:10). It is not wrong or burdensome to ask God to give us the power of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 7:7-11). In fact, it was the command of Jesus before His ascension that His disciples wait to be endued with power from on high (Lk. 24:49). But in relating to the Holy Spirit merely as a power that we want to attain, we neglect a glorious relationship with God which we have been invited into.

The new birth is about much more than simply getting the power of the Holy Spirit. Although forgiveness of sins is huge, the new birth is about more than simply getting forgiveness. The new birth emphasizes being born again into a new reality of connectedness with the Spirit (Jn. 3:4). God didn’t just die on a cross to save us and then leave us here until the day He comes. Rather, He gave us His spirit that dwells within us and He is longing that we would give ourselves to communion with Him in a very intentional way all the days of our lives.

His desire is that we would live our lives in constant communion and fellowship with the Indwelling Spirit. This is the glory of every believer, that we have access to God because of the Spirit that has literally tabernacled inside of us. I like to call this reality “Fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit.” It is the reality of communing or talking to the Spirit who dwells within.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14)

This reality is not hard to understand at all, it’s actually so easy that many can overlook it because of its simplicity. I’m convinced that communing with the Spirit who dwells within us isn’t one of the extra activities that we do on top of our Christian walk, rather I believe that it is the meat and sustenance that is required for us to live our lives and is also clearly laid out in the Word of God.

In my next post I'll be talking about the practicals of 'how' to fellowship with the Indwelling Spirit.