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NASB | 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. |
Bible Question: What gives evidence that the holy spirit dwells in a Christian? |
Bible Answer: Greetings Stokeyhk, "What gives evidence that the holy spirit dwells in a Christian?" Ephesians 4:17-32 is an excellent passage of Scripture that describes the walk of a Christian and how we can know, beyond any doubt, whether or not a person has genuinely been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ; if there has been a 'renewal and change of the heart' that has taken place, leaving a person forever changed. Verse 17 states that we should "affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind," - Life without God is intellectually frustrating and meaningless (Romans 1:21; Ecc. 1:2), and if we have not been genuinely, forever saved by the Lord in our hearts and minds, then our actions will "bear witness" of the fact that we have not been truly saved (Romans 8:7; Mark 7:20-23). But those who are saved have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), and will therefore produce the 'fruit of Christ' (Galatians 5:22-23). "But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit," (vv. 20-22)- The old way of thinking, the old lifestyle that is spoken of in verses 18-19 in which we were slaves to, is 'laid aside', so that we do not freely choose to act upon those desires any more. A person who is truly saved would have the same attitude about sin that God does (Romans 7:22), and lays aside those sinful deeds that he did in the past, because our bodies are dead to sin (Romans 6:6; 7:24). Those who are saved are renewed in the spirit of their minds (Eph. 4:23), putting on the new self, which is in the likeness of God (4:24). Therefore, we know beyond any doubt, that a person who has been genuinely saved no longer uses his hands to steal and commit sin, but leaves that behind, and begins to do the things with his hands that he has been called to do by the Lord (4:28); called not of his own accord, but called by the Lord to do the Lord's work, which is not in and of himself, but of the Lord. When a man stops what he is doing and considers the Word of God, and then sets out to do that which God wants him to do, then we know that a change has occurred in this man's life! And if the person willingly does those things with his hands that the Lord has set him to do, then we know that this person was truly set apart and saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that there has been an irrevocable change- since he is no longer doing those things that he did before, but he has set himself to do that which is the Lord's work, "performing with his own hands what is good." Blessings to you, Makarios |