"The Mystery of the "Divine Indwelling"
Colossians 1:26-29
The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which* is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
The "Mystery" of the "Divine Indwelling":
The second "great mystery" revealed to Paul the Apostle was called the "Mystery of the "Divine Indwelling". This mystery was hidden for the most part of at least 3 "Ages" (Creative, Antidilvulian and part of the Present age) and 5 'Dispensations". ( Edenic, Antidilvulian, Post Dilvulian, Patriarchal, and Legal) It was revealed to the Apostle Paul to reveal to the saints after Pentecost after the Holy Spirit had come and empowered the Apostles to preach the Gospel and elighten the saints after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul called this the "mystery" of "Christ in You".
This is truly a great mystery becaust this mystery is the catalyst" of what Jesus declared to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees and a member of the Jewish ruling council came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born" "Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again."
Indwelling as it Pertained to the "New Birth":
Our "natural birth" introduces us to "light". Light is the "commencement" of life and it throws us in the midst of the "works of God", and of course, light is the beginning of our existence. But it also introduces us to a world of sin. Because we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, we natural in our early life go astray. All men transgress. The "imagination" of the "thoughts" of the heart is evil from the youth up. We are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. All sin exposes men to misery here and hereafter.
To escape from sin, to be happy in the world to come, it is necessary that man should be changed in his principles, his feelings, and his manner of life. This change, or the beginning of this new life, is called the "new birth," or "regeneration." It is so called because in many respects it has a striking analogy to "the natural birth". It is the beginning of "spiritual life". It introduces us to the light of the gospel. It is the moment when we really begin to live to any purpose. It is the moment when God reveals himself to us as our reconciled Father, and we are adopted into his family as his sons. And as every man is a sinner, it is necessary that each one should experience this change, or he cannot be happy or saved. This doctrine was not unknown to the Jews, and was particularly predicted as a doctrine that would be taught in the times of the Messiah.
What is "Divine Indwelling"?
The "New Birth" is a wondereful experience. It's the "union of the Divine nature of God with our human nature" the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Through the "indwelling and sealing" of the Holy Spirit, we become "one with Christ" by taking on His nature and submitting our will to HIS will. The "real mystery" of this union is we then become "identified with Christ". We become "identified" with him in every aspect. We identify with his birth, his death, burial, and HIS ressurrection. This means we are just a part of Christ as the members of the body are a part of the body. This is the reason that the church is sometimes refered to as the "Body of Christ"
Paul's Personal Explaination concerning "Divine Indwelling":
Galatians 2:20-21
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Concerning the "New Birth", the Apostle Paul gave a great explanation in Galatians 2:19 of what really transpires in a believer whenwe are truly "born again". Paul says: "For "through the law" I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. In this sense, Paul died to the Law of Moses, that is, he ceased to observe it as a ground of "justification". Now that he had met Christ for himself (on Damascus Road) keeping and upholding and obeying the law ceased to be the grand aim and purpose of his life. As Anninias the Priest in Damascus and the Holy Spirit taught Paul (then Saul) a "more excellent way", Paul came to realize that Christ had a higher purpose for him than keeping the Law, and that higher purpose showed him how to truly live to God.
Why the Change in Paul?
According to Philippians 3:4-6, Paul had formerly expected to be justified by the Law. He had endeavored to obey it. It had been the object of his life to comply with all its requisitions in order to be saved by it. But all this while he had not fully understood its nature; and when he was made fully to feel and comprehend its spiritual requirements, then all his hopes of justification by it died, and he became dead to it; Paul said it another way in Romans 7:9-10: "Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death".
Why?
"That I might live unto God" That is, that I might be truly alive, and might be found engaged in his service. I was dead to the Law, but not to every thing. I had not become literally inactive and insensible to all things, like a dead man, but I had become truly sensible to the commands and appeals of God, and had consecrated myself to his service Paul now says to us: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Note: Paul, though he was crucified with Christ, did not wish to be understood that he felt himself to be dead. He was not inactive; not insensible, as the dead are, to the appeals which are made from God, or to the great objects which ought to interest an immortal mind. He was still actively employed, and the more so from the fact that he was crucified with Christ.
The purpose of all such expressions as this is, to show that it was no design of the gospel to make people inactive, or to annihilate their energies. It was not to cause people to do nothing. It was not to paralyze their powers, or stifle their own efforts. Paul, therefore, says, "I am not dead. I am truly alive; and I live a better life than I did before." Paul was as active after conversion as he was before. Before, he was engaged in persecution; now, he devoted his great talents with as much energy, and with as untiring zeal, to the cause of the great Redeemer. Indeed, the whole narrative would lead us to suppose that he was more active and zealous after his conversion than he was before. The effect of religion is not to make one dead in regard to the putting forth of the energies of the soul. True religion never made one lazy man; it has converted many a man of indolence, and effeminacy and self-indulgence to a man actively engaged in doing good.
Christ was the source of all the life that he had. Of course this cannot be taken literally that Christ had a residence in the apostle, but it must mean that his grace resided in him; that his principles actuated him: and that he derived all his energy, and zeal, and life from his grace. The union between the Lord Jesus and the disciple was so close that it might be said the one lived in the other. So the juices of the vine are in each branch, and leaf, and tendril, and live in them and animate them; the vital energy of the brain is in each delicate nerve-no matter how small-that is found in any part of the human frame. Christ was in him as it were the vital principle. All his life and energy were derived from him.
As a result, the life which I now live in the flesh As I now live on the earth surrounded by the cares and anxieties of this life. I carry the "life-giving principles" of my religion to all my duties and all my trials. Now, I live by the faith of the Son of God] By confidence in the Son of God, looking to him for strength, and trusting in his promises, and in his grace. Who loved me, etc. He felt under the highest obligation to him from the fact that he had loved him, and given himself to the death of the cross in his behalf. There is no higher sense of obligation than that which is felt toward the Saviour; and Paul felt himself bound, as we should, to live entirely to him who had redeemed him by his blood.
Colossians 1:26-29
The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which* is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
The "Mystery" of the "Divine Indwelling":
The second "great mystery" revealed to Paul the Apostle was called the "Mystery of the "Divine Indwelling". This mystery was hidden for the most part of at least 3 "Ages" (Creative, Antidilvulian and part of the Present age) and 5 'Dispensations". ( Edenic, Antidilvulian, Post Dilvulian, Patriarchal, and Legal) It was revealed to the Apostle Paul to reveal to the saints after Pentecost after the Holy Spirit had come and empowered the Apostles to preach the Gospel and elighten the saints after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul called this the "mystery" of "Christ in You".
This is truly a great mystery becaust this mystery is the catalyst" of what Jesus declared to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees and a member of the Jewish ruling council came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born" "Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again."
Indwelling as it Pertained to the "New Birth":
Our "natural birth" introduces us to "light". Light is the "commencement" of life and it throws us in the midst of the "works of God", and of course, light is the beginning of our existence. But it also introduces us to a world of sin. Because we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, we natural in our early life go astray. All men transgress. The "imagination" of the "thoughts" of the heart is evil from the youth up. We are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. All sin exposes men to misery here and hereafter.
To escape from sin, to be happy in the world to come, it is necessary that man should be changed in his principles, his feelings, and his manner of life. This change, or the beginning of this new life, is called the "new birth," or "regeneration." It is so called because in many respects it has a striking analogy to "the natural birth". It is the beginning of "spiritual life". It introduces us to the light of the gospel. It is the moment when we really begin to live to any purpose. It is the moment when God reveals himself to us as our reconciled Father, and we are adopted into his family as his sons. And as every man is a sinner, it is necessary that each one should experience this change, or he cannot be happy or saved. This doctrine was not unknown to the Jews, and was particularly predicted as a doctrine that would be taught in the times of the Messiah.
What is "Divine Indwelling"?
The "New Birth" is a wondereful experience. It's the "union of the Divine nature of God with our human nature" the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Through the "indwelling and sealing" of the Holy Spirit, we become "one with Christ" by taking on His nature and submitting our will to HIS will. The "real mystery" of this union is we then become "identified with Christ". We become "identified" with him in every aspect. We identify with his birth, his death, burial, and HIS ressurrection. This means we are just a part of Christ as the members of the body are a part of the body. This is the reason that the church is sometimes refered to as the "Body of Christ"
Paul's Personal Explaination concerning "Divine Indwelling":
Galatians 2:20-21
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Concerning the "New Birth", the Apostle Paul gave a great explanation in Galatians 2:19 of what really transpires in a believer whenwe are truly "born again". Paul says: "For "through the law" I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. In this sense, Paul died to the Law of Moses, that is, he ceased to observe it as a ground of "justification". Now that he had met Christ for himself (on Damascus Road) keeping and upholding and obeying the law ceased to be the grand aim and purpose of his life. As Anninias the Priest in Damascus and the Holy Spirit taught Paul (then Saul) a "more excellent way", Paul came to realize that Christ had a higher purpose for him than keeping the Law, and that higher purpose showed him how to truly live to God.
Why the Change in Paul?
According to Philippians 3:4-6, Paul had formerly expected to be justified by the Law. He had endeavored to obey it. It had been the object of his life to comply with all its requisitions in order to be saved by it. But all this while he had not fully understood its nature; and when he was made fully to feel and comprehend its spiritual requirements, then all his hopes of justification by it died, and he became dead to it; Paul said it another way in Romans 7:9-10: "Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death".
Why?
"That I might live unto God" That is, that I might be truly alive, and might be found engaged in his service. I was dead to the Law, but not to every thing. I had not become literally inactive and insensible to all things, like a dead man, but I had become truly sensible to the commands and appeals of God, and had consecrated myself to his service Paul now says to us: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Note: Paul, though he was crucified with Christ, did not wish to be understood that he felt himself to be dead. He was not inactive; not insensible, as the dead are, to the appeals which are made from God, or to the great objects which ought to interest an immortal mind. He was still actively employed, and the more so from the fact that he was crucified with Christ.
The purpose of all such expressions as this is, to show that it was no design of the gospel to make people inactive, or to annihilate their energies. It was not to cause people to do nothing. It was not to paralyze their powers, or stifle their own efforts. Paul, therefore, says, "I am not dead. I am truly alive; and I live a better life than I did before." Paul was as active after conversion as he was before. Before, he was engaged in persecution; now, he devoted his great talents with as much energy, and with as untiring zeal, to the cause of the great Redeemer. Indeed, the whole narrative would lead us to suppose that he was more active and zealous after his conversion than he was before. The effect of religion is not to make one dead in regard to the putting forth of the energies of the soul. True religion never made one lazy man; it has converted many a man of indolence, and effeminacy and self-indulgence to a man actively engaged in doing good.
Christ was the source of all the life that he had. Of course this cannot be taken literally that Christ had a residence in the apostle, but it must mean that his grace resided in him; that his principles actuated him: and that he derived all his energy, and zeal, and life from his grace. The union between the Lord Jesus and the disciple was so close that it might be said the one lived in the other. So the juices of the vine are in each branch, and leaf, and tendril, and live in them and animate them; the vital energy of the brain is in each delicate nerve-no matter how small-that is found in any part of the human frame. Christ was in him as it were the vital principle. All his life and energy were derived from him.
As a result, the life which I now live in the flesh As I now live on the earth surrounded by the cares and anxieties of this life. I carry the "life-giving principles" of my religion to all my duties and all my trials. Now, I live by the faith of the Son of God] By confidence in the Son of God, looking to him for strength, and trusting in his promises, and in his grace. Who loved me, etc. He felt under the highest obligation to him from the fact that he had loved him, and given himself to the death of the cross in his behalf. There is no higher sense of obligation than that which is felt toward the Saviour; and Paul felt himself bound, as we should, to live entirely to him who had redeemed him by his blood.
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