Born of the Spirit and Indwelt by the Spirit

OH 3:5{PH 1:13{It is true that we are only sealed by the Holy Spirit after having believed. But it is not then that we are born of God. If the presence of the Holy Spirit were life, every Christian would be an incarnation of the Holy Ghost. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit that we have of God (1 Cor. 6:19¹⁹What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)). Being born of God is another thing. We have not received, as to the state in which we 1 John 2:25²⁵And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (1 John 2:25)), it is no question of whether we have it, or have it not, but what is the promise of God. But the testimony of God is that He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, and he who has not the Son has not life (1 John 5:11,12¹¹And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:11‑12)). Christ is eternal life come down from the Father. Life eternal is indeed spoken of, as at the end (Rom. 6), because eternal life such as God means by it in His fixed purpose, is in the glory, when we shall be like Christ; but we are already quickened. John 5:24²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24): he has life, he is passed from death unto life, and the hour had already come (verse 25). Also John 3:36³⁶He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36). We are bound to reckon that we are alive unto God by Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:11¹¹Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11)). " I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me " (Gal. 2:20²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)). When we were dead, He quickened us with Christ (Eph. 2). We are seated only in Christ, and it is according to the power that worketh in us. God does not quicken in heaven wicked people who arrive there dead in sin! And the soul is not in the grave with the body. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 6 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." And here it is by faith, and down here; he who eateth of this bread shall live eternally: if one does not it, one has not life in oneself. " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." That is to say, resurrection is another thing; he has life, and made sure for eternity; he will be raised up at the last day. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Nothing appears to me clearer than the doctrine of the word on this subject under various forms; born of the Spirit, quickened by Christ, by faith in receiving Him as the Bread of Life. It ought to make the believer perfectly assured on this point. " He who has the Son has life." Christ is my life. The gift of the Spirit is quite another thing, the seal of faith. After having believed I have been sealed. We are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26²⁶For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)), and because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into the heart, crying, Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6⁶And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)).

“The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified " (John 7:39³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39)). But the passage in Galatians marks clearly the difference between new birth and sealing. “Ye are," chapter 3:26 tells us, “all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Then chapter 4:6, " Because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." “Because ye are sons," not in order that ye may be. It could not be more clear.

God does not seal an unbeliever, a sinner in his natural condition. This would be impossible. He will receive such an one in His grace; then He seals him. Further, the new life is not the Holy Ghost, or we should be an incarnation of the Holy Ghost; this would be nonsense simply. " That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," but it is not the Spirit, who is God. But when the Holy Ghost dwells in us, our bodies are

temples of the Holy Ghost. The difference is of all importance. The Holy Ghost acts in us, through the word, to produce the new birth, but it is one thing to build a house, and another to dwell in it.

We are not born again without the Holy Ghost; but His work and His indwelling are two distinct things. People confound His operation and His coming. The Son of God created the world, but He did not come until His incarnation. The Holy Ghost has wrought from the beginning:.He wrought in creation; but He did not come till the day of Pentecost. The Lord said that if He went away He would send Him, but if He did not go away He would not come (John 16:7⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)). Man must be in the glory, redemption having been accomplished, before the Holy Ghost could be given to believers, because the Holy Ghost is received by believers only.