Week 11 - Friday

The Love of God

because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:b)

A fifth thing that guarantees our salvation is the presence of God's Holy Spirit in us. In John 14:23 Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." That is an incredible statement. Jesus is saying, if any person believes in Him and commits themselves to following Him, that He and the Father will actually come and live inside of that person. As incredible as that may sound, it must be true or Jesus wouldn't have said it. How does it happen though? How can both Jesus and God the Father come and live inside of a person? The answer is that they do it through the Holy Spirit. "Now wait a minute", you might say, "didn't Jesus say that it would be Himself and the Father that would come and live inside of us? That's right, He did. But the Holy Spirit is Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the Father also. As Christians we believe that there is one God who exists as three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are separate persons and each of them are equally God, yet they exist together as one. If you don't understand this, don't worry about it. It is a mystery that no one will fully understand, until they get to heaven. There are many places in the Bible where God is presented to us as three persons. One of those places, where we see all three persons of God together at the same time, is when Jesus was baptized. Just before Jesus began His preaching ministry on earth, He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. When Jesus came up out the water the Holy Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove and God the Father spoke these words, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (Matt. 3:13-17) The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all present together at the same time.

There are many things that the Holy Spirit does when He comes to live in us. One is that He produces the the love of God within our hearts. Before we believed in Jesus Christ, we didn't particularily love God. We didn't feel a strong desire to obey Him either. But after we received Christ, that all changed. The fact that we now love God and want to obey Him is proof that our hearts have been changed by the Holy Spirit. Our love for God is a divine miracle produced in us by the Holy Spirit. However the love of God that Paul is referring to in this verse is not our love for God but God's love for us. Through the Holy Spirit, God not only produces our love for Him but He also confirms His love for us. The presence of God's Holy Spirit in us gives us a spiritual bond with God that witnesses to our hearts that God indeed does love us. Have you ever felt a special closeness to God when calling Him your Father in prayer. That's the work of the Holy Spirit in you, confirming God's love for you. Unbelievers don't feel that kind of closeness to God. Have you ever felt led by the Holy Spirit to do something for God's kingdom? If so that is more evidence that God's Spirit is in you and the presence of God's Spirit in you is your guarantee that you belong to Him forever.

Readings for today: John 7:37-39; Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 5:22; Rom. 8:14; Eph. 1:13-14