Salvation of the Triune God (2)

[Romans 8:1-4]

                Today, I would like to meditate on the salvation of God the Holy Spirit among the “Salvation of the Triune God.”  Look at Romans 8:2 – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”  Is the Holy Spirit God?  The reason I ask this question is because some people are saying that the Holy Spirit is not God.  They claim that the Holy Spirit is ‘the power of God’.  But the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is God.  Look at Acts 5:3-4: “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?  And after it was sold, was it not under your control?  Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?  You have not lied to men but to God.’”  Ananias consulted with his wife Sapphira, sold the land, hid some of the money, and brought the rest to the apostles.  At that time, Peter told Ananias, 'You lied to the Holy Spirit' (v. 3), "You have not lied to men but to God” (v. 4).  In this verse, the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as God.

                The Holy Spirit is everywhere.  Look at 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”  When we believed in Jesus, God gave us the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).  Therefore, the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us who believe in Jesus.   In other words, God has made us the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, the believers all over the world who believe in our Jesus as each of us as a temple of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is God everywhere.  However, as a creature, Satan cannot be everywhere.  Of course, we, as creatures, cannot be everywhere.  The Holy Spirit was with God the Father and Jesus the Son when he created all things.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is the Creator.  Look at Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”  Here “the Spirit of God” refers to the Holy Spirit.  Only God can create this creation, not a creature.  Because the Holy Spirit is God, he created the heavens and the earth together with God the Father and Jesus the Son.  The Holy Spirit is God equal to God the Father and Jesus the Son.  Look at 2 Corinthians 13:14 – “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”  This verse is mainly used as a benediction by pastors at the end of the worship service.  If we look at the word of this benediction, “Lord Jesus Christ”, “God” and “the Holy Spirit” appear.  As the word that shows the Triune God, it shows that the Holy Spirit is equal to God the Father and Jesus the Son.

                What kind of God is the Holy Spirit?  Look at Romans 8:2 – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”  The Holy Spirit is the God of life.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is life.  The Holy Spirit is life itself.  God the Father, who exists from eternity, is life.  The Son Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6).  The Holy Spirit is life (Rom. 8:2).  The Holy Spirit is the God who created life.  The Holy Spirit is the life-giving God.  The Holy Spirit is God who gives us not only physical life but also spiritual life.  The Holy Spirit saves us.  He is the Holy Spirit who saves us on the basis of the salvation of Jesus Christ [“in Christ Jesus” (v. 2)].  There is now no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus (8:1), because Jesus Christ died for us the ungodly at the right time while we were still helpless (5:6); Jesus Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (v. 8); and while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through His death (v. 10).  On the basis of this salvation of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit saves us.

                The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”  Here, “the law” refers to power.  The Holy Spirit has power.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit can work out our salvation based on the salvation of Jesus Christ.  The power of the Holy Spirit is, in a word, omnipotent.  The Holy Spirit is Almighty God.  The Holy Spirit applies to us the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago, making it ours (forgiveness of our sins, our salvation).  ‘The law of sin and death’, that is, the power of sin and death is also great.  No one can defeat this power.  So, before we all believed in Jesus, we were slaves to sin under the power of that sin and death.  However, God the Holy Spirit saved us and set us free from our slavery to sin (v. 2).  Look at Colossians 1:13-14: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

                We must be filled with the Holy Spirit and live by the Holy Spirit.  Then we can live overcoming the power of sin and death.  God's power is revealed to those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly preached Jesus Christ to the officials and elders of the people.  Look at Acts 4:8 – “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people.”  When Peter was not filled with the Holy Spirit, he denied Jesus three times.  Look at Acts 4:31 – “And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”  If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will receive power and become witnesses of Jesus.  Look at Acts 1:8 – “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will boldly preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with the faith of a martyr in the midst of any difficulties, adversity, obstacles, and persecutions.  If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Look at Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  We live on this earth filled with the Holy Spirit and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  When the Lord comes back to this world, we will go to heaven in a glorious body.  We will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit fully/completely and live with the Lord forever.