1 John 4:13-14
By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit.
In 1st John 4:12 John had told us that God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. Now, in verse 13, John explains how we remain in God and God abides in us—by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is communion between God and us, through the indwelling Holy Spirit made possible by the person and work of Jesus.
“because He has given to us from His Spirit.”
God has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, the divine communing with our Spirit. And, it changes us from the inside out. Not only are we given spiritual gifts to use to minister to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, there is the fruit of the Spirit, that 2 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; as Gal 5:22 tells us. Not only that, we enjoy the peace that comes from living our lives in truth the influence of the Holy Spirit lets us know that we are In Christ. 1 John 3:19-22 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, 20 that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; And as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to live our life in the Spirit, and not in the flesh, we find that our will lines up with God’s will.
The Holy Spirit gives us life, but the life in the flesh is death
The Holy Spirit was present at creation, in Gen 1:2 as we see the undeveloped creation as “without form and void” and in “darkness,” and the Spirit of God “hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). And, He is specifically mentioned, along with God the Father and God the Son in Gen 1:26 when God creates man “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). At Pentecost, in Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out. The Holy Spirit was present and active in this creation, filling the whole house, and causing them to be able to witness in every language there. What was the Holy Spirit creating that day? It was the Birth of the Church! And, it is by the Holy Spirit that each of us is a New Creation, we are born again by the Spirit. 2 Cor 5:17 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The Life in the Spirit
When we are born again, of the Spirit, it makes sense that we begin the life of the Spirit. We are in fellowship with God, abiding and remaining in Him, which means that our priorities change. Romans 8:5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. God, His Kingdom, our relationship with Him, the work that He has set for us to do before the foundation of the world becomes our priority. We find our new Life in the Spirit, Hidden with Christ. And, this means that we begin to let the Holy Spirit sculpt us, knocking off the old hurts, habits and hangups, and heal us. It also means that we think differently than we used to.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
But those who choose to live in the flesh are just sowing seeds unto death, because the flesh cannot survive past this life. 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, The mind of the flesh is the opposite of peace, it is a war, at enmity with God, and so with Jesus the Prince of Peace. 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The Holy Spirit as Witness
The Holy Spirit Bears Witness Through Scripture
Through the inspiration of Scripture, the Holy Spirit provides clear testimony of who God is, the promises that He gives us, and what He expects of us. As Christians regenerated, indwelt, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, on our way to be with Jesus, we still need wisdom and understanding. These are provided by the Holy Spirit, as our guaranteed sure guide to heaven. And the way that He guides us most often is through scripture. When our Lord was talking to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion of the Comforter who after His departure was to come to take His place, He said,26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me, and the Apostle Peter and the other disciples when they were strictly commanded by the Jewish Council not to teach in the name of Jesus said in Acts 5:32 32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. It is clear from these words of Jesus Christ and the Apostles that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bear witness concerning Jesus Christ. We find the Holy Spirit’s testimony to Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, but beside this the Holy Spirit bears witness directly to the individual heart concerning Jesus Christ. He takes His own Scriptures and interprets them to us and makes them clear to us. All truth is from the Spirit, for He is “the Spirit of truth,” but it is especially His work to bear witness to Him who is the truth, that is Jesus Christ John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me (John xiv.6). It is only through the testimony of the Holy Spirit directly to our hearts that we ever come to a true, living knowledge of Jesus Christ 1 Cor 12:3 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking [a]by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except [c]by the Holy Spirit. No amount of mere reading the written Word (in the Bible) and no amount of listening to man’s testimony will ever bring us to a living knowledge of Christ. It is only when the Holy Spirit Himself takes the written Word, or takes the testimony of our fellow man, and interprets it directly to our hearts that we really come to see and know Jesus as He is.
The Spirit Bears Witness of Us
The Spirit also testifies about us, which makes sense, since we Christians are In Christ. Romans 8:16-17 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.