Ezekiel 36:24-27 KJV
[24] For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
[25] Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
[26] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
[27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them .
Last week, we were able to establish the fact that eternal life is God dwelling inside of us.
God had been making promises in the old testament to man, to give man eternal life (himself).
In Ezekiel 36:24-27, God was simply telling man, he will give him eternal life.
In vs 27, putting his spirit within man is giving man the Holyspirit.
Eternal life is God coming to dwell in man and that is the ‘Indwelling spirit/ the spirit within’.
So let’s explain what the indwelling and infilling of the spirit / the spirit within and the spirit upon is;
The Indwelling/The Spirit Within
John 7:37-39 KJV
[37] In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
[38] He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
[39] (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.)
Vs 39 explains vs 37-38
The drinking or when a man drinks of what Jesus gives, is the receiving of the spirit.
Eternal life can be simply defined as God giving man the Holyghost; it is the spirit of God coming to dwell in man.
John 10:27-28 KJV
[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
[28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Vs 28 (Jesus said he gives us eternal life and we’d never perish).
This is Jesus here, establishing the fact that what he gives us is eternal life (the Holyghost).
John 14:23 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
It is the same here as Jesus talking about the spirit in John 7, eternal life in John 10. They are not different, they are the same.
So, if a man says he has eternal life, it means the spirit of God, which is God himself, is in him.
So, the indwelling spirit is man receiving eternal life.
(John 14:26, John 16:27, John 15:26)
The Holyghost in man is eternal life for man.
Ephesians 1:12-13 KJV
[12] That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
[13] In whom ye also trusted , after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
When a man believes the gospel according to Mark 16:15 -16; he is saved and paul used another word here for salvation; which is being sealed with the spirit.
When a man believes the gospel, his salvation will be the Holyghost coming to live inside of him.
The indwelling spirit is salvation, salvation is the simple explanation for the indwelling spirit.
What about baptism of the holyghost?
Baptism of the holyghost is the same as the indwelling of the spirit.
The holy ghost coming to live in man is receiving the baptism of the spirit.
Romans 6:3-5 KJV
[3] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
[5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
That was why John baptised with water (once), so people could repent of their sins and the bible says he was showing a replica of what Jesus would come to do.
Jesus also baptized by the holyghost i.e forgives and saves us (once) as John described. You cannot take away the work of the holyspirit from salvation and the holyspirit performs the work of salvation in the hearts of man.
So a ‘Christian’ saying “I don’t have the holyghost is either not saved or ignorant”.
1 Corr 6:17 KJV
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Salvation, redemption, the indwelling of the spirit talks about the holyghost dwelling in man.
The Infilling of the Spirit/ The Spirit Upon
Ephesians 5:18 KJV
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Paul was talking to men that have the holyghost here; why would he say ‘be filled with the spirit’.
It simply means being influenced or moved by the Holyghost.
The Indwelling spirit was not possible in the old testament, it became a reality only in the new testament. You’d only see prophecies in the old testament.
The word ‘Infilling of the Holyghost’ can be found in the old testament.
In the old testament, several times, men were filled with the spirit of God;but this doesn’t mean the spirit of God lives in them.
2 Peter 1:21 KJV
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Being filled with the holyspirit is being moved by the Holyghost to perform an action.
When men were prophesying in the old testament, that is an example of being filled with the spirit.
For example:
Saul prophesying
Also, Bezaleel and Aholiab, they were being filled with the spirit of wisdom and skill.
The infilling of the Holyghost is man been influenced by the spirit to perform a supernatural action
- David (1 sam 16:13) the spirit of God came on David for rulership, not that he lived in him like we believers today.
- Joshua (Deut 34:9) He was filled with the spirit of wisdom.
Men in the old testament were not saved but filled with the spirit for supernatural actions.
The spirit within is Salvation ; our identity.
The spirit upon is for activity, it is the divine enablement by the Holy Spirit (spirit within) causing man to function supernaturally.
The indwelling happens once when you believe, it doesn’t have to cause noise or be dramatic, while the infilling happens frequently, it can be seen (speaking in tongues, prophesying).
They both come from the Holyghost.
We have come to the end of this series. I believe we have all learnt.
I look forward to your comments, shares and likes.
Have blessed week.
