Hereby know we that we dwell in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit
The evidences of true religion in man
Theexercises of the mind, influenced by the Holy Spirit, are the evidences of true religion in man.
The state of the mind is known only by its exercises; and spiritual exercises indicate the operations of the Spirit of Christ.
I. Self-abasement is a certain evidence of true religion. It is a gracious exercise, the effect of a saving work of the Spirit in the soul.
II. Entire dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ is certain evidence of a state of grace.
III. Submission to the law of Christ is an evidence of true godliness.
IV. Joy in God, the Saviour of the soul, is an evidence of piety. (A. Macleod, D. D.)
The work of the Holy Spirit
The recovery of man to his lost righteousness must be by means of an agency from above. The strong evil element in our nature must be dispossessed by a stronger element for good.
I. The nature of the agent spoken of. Who and what is the Holy Spirit? He is “a Divine Being, of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.” But what is this work of the Holy Spirit in man, in regard to his salvation? In the text, it is set forth as the occupation or possession of the soul by a Divine principle, designed so to counteract the evil of our nature as to admit of our restored fellowship with God. The Spirit in us is heaven’s witness and heaven’s interpreter. Through Him Christ becomes “Immanuel, God with us.” It is when we are “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man,” and not before, that “Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.”
II. What is the appointed medium and method of this Spirit’s operations? and how is this renovating influence brought into effective contact with the human spirit? The result is commonly effected through the instrumentality of the revealed Word, “Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God.”
1. In these passages the Word is spoken of as an instrument only. It is only when the Spirit takes the veil away that it can be said of us, “The entrance of Thy Word giveth light.”
2. But if the Word does not convert without the Spirit, so neither, as a rule, does the Spirit convert without the Word; that is, without taking of the facts and statements of revelation, and through them, as a medium, operating upon the religious conscience.
3. In what way does the Holy Spirit ordinarily bring about in us these convictions? Is the influence absolutely miraculous, or is it bestowed in entire harmony with the known laws of mind? Plainly the latter. Taking the written Word as the instrument, the Spirit acts through the natural conscience--using that term in its broad theological acceptation, as describing the judgment which a man passes upon the rightfulness of his own conduct. And this He does by reviving its impressions; by strengthening its empire; by restoring its delicacy of moral perception, and then presenting to it objects suited to its new condition and worthy of its awakened powers. Conscience, of itself, may reprove of sin; but it must be conscience with the spirit that turns the sinner. Conscience may witness to the law, that it is broken; to God, that He is offended; to retribution, that it is awaiting us; but the Spirit only can witness to the impiety of rejecting Christ and the guilt of neglecting so great salvation. And this view of the method of the Spirit’s working, through the Word upon the conscience, will be found to be entirely congruous with the principles of our mental and moral constitution. He does not give us any new physical power to turn, but He gives us the inclination and the willingness. And the bias of inclination is that which constrains to action. As Sir William Hamilton has well expressed it, “The greatest spontaneity is the greatest necessity.” We are not driven by the Spirit, but we are “led.” (D. Moore, M. A.)
God’s life in man
It is said that the finest rose tree in the world is one in Holland, which a few years ago had six thousand flowers in bloom at the same time. The poor brier in the hedgerow might well despair of rivalling that wonderful rose tree and attaining worldwide distinction. But if some kindly hand could transplant it to a choicer soil, and give it nurture of needful skill, and if some bud from that wonderful Dutch tree could be grafted into its central fibres, the poor despised growth of the hedgerow might hope one day to bear its thousand blooms, and be the wonder of a nation. And poor in all high moral and spiritual qualities as we ourselves may be, grudging in sacrifice, ignoble in spirit, grovelling in motive, yet if God infix His own life within us, no limit can be put to our spiritual development. (T. G. Selby.)
