Jesus teaches that the world cannot receive the Spirit of
God, God within us:
·
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you
forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will
be in you.” (John 14:15–17)
Yet many professing “Christians” claim that God lives within
each of us, even if we have not been reconciled to Him, forgiven, and His wrath
abides upon us:
·
“The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is
also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of every human being.” (Henry
Nouwen)
·
“Yes, God is alive and he is in every single
human being. (Robert Schuller)
·
“Blessed are those who see God in every person.
(Pope Francis)
·
“God is everywhere, in everyone. (Roma Downey;
All of the these quotations are taken from The Titanic and Today’s Church,
Warren B. Smith)
However, the Bible explicitly and consistently teaches that
God is not in everyone. Instead, His wrath abides on all those
who have rejected Him and His clear evidences:
·
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;
whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains
on him. (John 3:36)
·
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18)
Instead of God indwelling them, the knowledge of God’s
judgment accompanies them:
·
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls
on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those
who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the
judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and
forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you
to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up
wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be
revealed. (Romans 2:2–5; 1:32; Hebrew 1:26-27; John 16:8)
Unless they confess and sincerely repent of their sins, they
cannot receive the Spirit of God. He is the last One they would want:
·
The natural person does not accept the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand
them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all
things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind
of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1
Corinthians 2:14–16)
It is a Biblical impossibility for the unrepentant to have
the Spirit of God. Even God’s people had been afraid to approach God, let alone
to even hear His voice:
·
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the
flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the
people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You
speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus
20:18–19)
Nevertheless, there is a multitude who teach that we all
have the Spirit within, and even that those who listen to this spirit will
usher in a worldwide awakening and peace. However, the Scriptures often warn us
against Satanic deceptions:
·
For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his
servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end
will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13–15)
Considering these deceptive teachings, I take comfort that
Jesus’ followers hear His voice in the Scriptures:
·
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no
one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is
greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I
and the Father are one.” (John 10:27–30)
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