Who You Are In Christ
Bob Eckel · Jul 27, 2008
Who You Are in Christ, No. 30
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261743325

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

All right. We've got a handful today. I notice all my co-teachers haven't shown up today. And you can conclude whatever you want from that. So my first comment when I looked at the title of the topic today, which is under the paradigm of 33 Riches of Divine Grace, is united. In fact, it says vitally united. I left vitally out because it didn't fit the space. No, I'm just teasing. But united to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I think, is sufficient to the task at hand.

And my first response is, wow, what a task this is before us today. In a sense, this is Theology 101, Theology 201, Theology 301, and you're on your way to your Ph.D. here if you have this one down. This is kind of the basis that we all have in terms of our existence in the person and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. My thoughts initially leading into this, a very comprehensive topic for us today, is can you think of one word? So we're going to take something very comprehensive and complex. We're going to reduce it down. You got your handouts, isn't that fun? We need to cover each one of your handouts.

So one word that best describes this profound declaration, and it's small, and the term is in. And, you know, prepositions in the day-to-day operation of the earthly existence, we don't spend a lot of time thinking about, do we? We take them for granted in, of, all the other kinds, with, etc. We kind of ignore them. They're in context easily interpretable.

But in Christianity, in is really an essential truth. And as I think, it was me who mentioned last week during the lesson that if you look at in Christ being positionally who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ, I looked this up once. It's around 140, 150 times in scripture. And the preposition for Christ is only noted, I think, three times. So, I mean, you can interpret that however you want. Just because it's 145 to 3 doesn't make it more important, but I think it does reflect on the fact that as believers we're not working for Christ, we're in Christ. And so that kind of summarily is the topic before us today.

But now we're talking about united into the Father, into the Son, and into the Holy Spirit, and the The opposite is also equally as valid, that the Father is integrated into us, the Son is in us, and the Holy Spirit is in us. So that in goes both directions. It's a bi-directional relationship that as believers we share with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In a sense, I said to myself as I was preparing, isn't this simply amazing that we have this intimate relationship with all three forms of the Triune God? something I think we don't ponder on sufficiently.

And the foundation here is positional truth. Our conditions wax and wane, but positionally God sees us in himself and his son and in the Holy Spirit and vice versa. And how does this transform our condition? Question to the class. We're all concerned about our condition, aren't we? In fact, if you think about it, being concerned about our condition is really that self-focus. Isn't it? How are we doing? Our prayer to God is for some purpose, some outcome, some desire. It's often not positionally driven, but when we hang out in our position, then our condition becomes ultimately more like our position.

It's just by works or by faith how we transform our condition. The working for God is never going to accomplish the relationship that God has already declared that we have with himself, his son and the spirit. The next question is, do you believe this or not? I mean, by faith, we accept our position. And by lack of faith, we're living in our condition because there we're energizing ourselves to try to please God to pay him back for the great price that he has paid for our salvation. So keep that in mind as we move forward today. We're not going to put a metric on condition because I think when we try to measure condition, we're really using kind of what we think is the life of Christ and what that should look like.

Well, we're going to get back to that in a little bit because the term fellowship really reflects, I think, a very important part of our condition that is exemplifying our position on a day-to-day basis. Let's look at these various relationships now which were united to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let's begin within the Father. and begin with First Thessalonians 1.1. Now we're going to go to the scriptures today, look up some passages I've not put on your handout, but some of these are in fact on your handout. So the ones that I think are key verses to represent these relationships are on the handout.

So First Thessalonians 1.1 says, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy under the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So in a sense this verse indicates that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy were in God the Father and it also says they were in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're concentrating now in the Father. Now notice, it's the whole church that's in God the Father, just not Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.

It's the whole church at Thessalonica. So this isn't just a unique relationship to the apostle and his fellow believers of the times, but in fact to the church at Thessalonica. And I don't think it's too difficult to extend that relationship to the church at Holly Hill's Bible today. I mean, the church, remember, is a body of Christ. It doesn't have to be a particular denomination, doesn't have to be in a particular location.

It's in fact the encompassing body of Christ that shares this relationship to the Father. Now the second part of the Father relationship is a little bit more interesting to think about. God the Father is in the believer. So, the verse we're going to share here is Ephesians 4.6, and I spent a lot of time on this verse because I think it's a complex verse in terms of clear understanding, and we're going to talk a little bit more about this. One God and Father of all, who is above or over all, and through all, in you all. So God is in you. God the Father is in us. Well, that's what the verse says. So let's dissect this a little bit further. Let's think out loud here a little bit. Describe this relationship about the Father in the believer.

Do you think about the fact that the God Almighty, the Supreme Being, is in fact in each one of us? Is that the way you think about this? So do you think about God living in your heart? I always thought the Lord Jesus Christ as a transformed creation lives and the spirit energizes, but the idea that God lives in our heart, I mean is that something you ponder?

I don't honestly, I mean it's true, it's what the scripture says, but I think that's wrapped up into the triune God being in fact all in one, but I don't think about God being in my heart, I think about being created anew in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit is there to exemplify the Christ life in me. The idea of God in my heart, I think God's still up there, I'm created in Christ Jesus and the Spirit leads, but the idea of God in the heart is something I must admit Let's look at some scripture that really reflects on this a little bit.

Maybe we can discuss this a bit further. So Stan, I'm going to give you John 14.23 and Paulette, 2 Corinthians 6.16 and Bill, I'm going to give you 1 John 4.12-15. Now see that's what happens when you sit in the back. I think you can handle it.

Okay, Stan, we're waiting for John 14.23. I think everybody should turn to these verses to make sure that they're seeing them as they are.

John 14.23 is the first one. So this is in response to Judas saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, not Iscariot, that, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? So, verse 23. Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. What do you make of that? Who's coming? Who's we? White men? Back in the Lone Ranger days, right? Tato?

Well, it doesn't say the Spirit, but this is John 14, and we know wrapped up in John 14 is the promise of the Holy Spirit. So we, I think, is triune, but it's clear that in context in that verse, John mentions the Father. Does he not? He says, If a man loves me, he'll keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him. But here, in context, it just means the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are going to come. And of course, again, this text is ultimately reflecting, I think, the spirit of God, which in fact is the promise that occurs in verses 15 and follows through the section we're looking at now.

All right, so there's additional evidence to support Ephesians 4.6, that God the father is in fact in the believer. Let's turn to the next verse.

Paulette, 2nd Corinthians 6.16, I like this one. Did everybody hear that?

So what Paul here is doing is appealing to the separation and the cleansing of the church from the world system, and he says, ìWhat agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, ìI will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.î That reflects his relationship to the nation Israel, but yet this is in context directed to the church at core. So God will be in them.

I think this verse maybe is a little less specific of God in what form, but again, we can't separate the triune God. So the idea that the God, the Father is also in us, I think is in part substantiated by this verse. And 1 John 4, 12-15. Bill, could you do that one for us please? No man has seen God at any time. We love one another.

God dwells within us. be in us because he has given us of the Spirit. We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever soever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God. Pretty straightforward there, isn't it? So I must admit I was kind of, it was not that I was shortchanging God in terms of his presence in my life, but I always really kind of assumed that it was the Son being energized by the Spirit and God the Father oversaw all this. Yes, a trium God, I've never doubted. I mean the issue is the God the Father for these multiple evidences in the scriptures in each one of us.

Maybe everybody here really had that in place and I'm sure that I wasn't shortchanging God by not, but again I'm thinking about the indwelling God as the Lord Jesus Christ as a new creation in me or in all of you. energizes spirit still seeing God somewhere in in eternity and Relating to me through his son in the spirit, but nevertheless the scriptures are clear God is in the believer and the believer in God, but Generally taught to some kind of thought your knowledge God the Father God Jesus Christ this sits at the right hand He is at the right hand And the Holy Spirit comes to reign within us. We're new creations in Christ Jesus, am I right? We're new creations in Christ Jesus. That's always seemed kind of a mystery to me, how we bring Christ down to earth once in a while and put him back up there. The next time he's an intercessor for us. It's a little bit over my head. But I see it in that position.

God is the Father and He's in them. So you and I have viewed this similarly. I don't think there's anybody in error here, it's just that I think the purpose of this is in fact to recognize that God the Father is also about Himself in each one of us. Yes, Stan? I was going to say someplace, and I can probably find it, I've had my search, but it says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. someplace spirit of Christ spirit of Christ which when I saw that and that indicated to me that Holy Spirit had in 12 Jesus when he was here obviously back to those who are here on earth. That's the way I see it. Yeah.

You know, that's an interesting point you've just made, which makes me reflect a little bit on the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Now, we know he was fully God, as he was fully man, correct? We all accept that as truth. But think about the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, in the temple as a boy, there was some evidence that he was Christ the God-man. But yet, when did the ministry start? the baptism in the River Jordan, and there the ministry began. As far as we can tell, until he was crucified, it never ceased. Yet Christ was fully God, but yet the Spirit had not really entered him yet.

Isn't that evidence of the triune nature? Here the Lord Jesus Christ is standing there. As far as we know, the Spirit Well, people argue over this point. Was the spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ as he was here? Well, we have to believe that he was, but at least the ministry of the spirit didn't really get evidenced until the River Jordan experience, the baptism. Back to your point, I think the spirit of Christ really is that same spirit that's in each one of us. Think of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the time of Acts, the beginning of the church. Here were all these people who would claim salvation based on their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he represented, but yet the ministry didn't start until the spirit was given to the body.

In a sense, we have a vehicle here. The car is fully the car, but until gas is placed in it, it doesn't go anywhere. Before God, the car is sacred and holy and part of the triune, but the spirit is what enables the car to move and carry out its function. What happened when Adam and Eve died? I mean, they became finite. They went from eternal to being finite. So the spirit, as I see it, was removed at that point in time. And so then they became 100% finite.

Am I wrong? No, Stan. I think you've raised, in my opinion, one of the most important questions that we can ask God about His Word. Where did the power to do right come from? in the Old Testament. Is that the Spirit coming and going? Daniel and Joseph and Jacob and David and all these other heroes of the faith, their faith came from where? God demands all of us to respond by faith. That same capability was there in Adam as it was in Isaiah, as it was in Joshua, as it was in Stan. We all act by faith.

The spirit I think is there to energize the light, but we know that there was no indwelt spirit in the Old Testament, right? Bud, do you have a question? Back to the good old... Old Testament? In the Old Testament, yeah. About Samson. Samson. Wish not the Spirit of God to depart. What does that mean?

He didn't know the Spirit of God. Let's just take Joseph for instance. Here's the son of ultimately Jacob who ultimately looks like he was raised up above most people of his times in terms of what he went through. Was the Spirit indwelling Joseph constantly back then?

Can you find scriptural evidence for that? One of the first questions, keep in mind when we leave this earthly existence, who's going to have earthly questions? One thing I want to ask God is how did men and women of the Old Testament live by faith? We've talked about this in this class before, the response by faith is placed by God in every man and woman. Do you get saved because the Spirit comes in and saves us?

Then the next question is, well, why isn't the Spirit saving Mrs. Smith down the street here, just enacting... I mean, then you get into kind of this super election kind of position, which, you know, God would have all men to come to himself, right? Not just Stan, not just Pat, not just Paulette. I mean, to have all men come to himself. So we, as humans, must be able to respond by faith.

But yet in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not enact the new man. There was no indwelling new creation in Christ Jesus in the Old Testament. But there was something there, because David's greatest fear was that God would take his spirit from him. And I really truly believe that's what motivated David to have a heart for God, was the fact that he knew God had the option of removing that spirit. Well, Abraham lived by faith. I mean, the examples are numerous in the Old Testament of people who lived by faith. But yet, the source of that faith, you think, is just the Spirit coming and going in and out?

I think it was upon. Upon. Somehow I think it was a presence. I think it was almost like, you know, I don't think it was in Like when you talk about a cookie and you take, like I said before, where you take baking powder and the other ingredients, and then once you bake them, it's all part of the same cookie and you can't separate it.

That's what I see as the triune God. It's three different ingredients, but when you put them all together, they're inseparable. I think in the Old Testament, they were separable. And I think it was upon David, because obviously David knew that it could be removed. Now in the New Testament, I'm not sure if once you're born again, I don't think that's possible to have that removed.

No. It's because you become, you're like the cookie and you become, it becomes part of you. It's not like you're a vessel being filled, but it's like you're an entity that's just, I don't even know how to say it. What's the word that means that it's part of the whole? Well, we're baptized under the Spirit at the time of salvation. So the Spirit is in us once and for all. Now in the Old Testament, what Stan has described here may be in fact closer to the reality is the spirit of God was throughout the entire earth and still calling people to himself. But that spirit was not indwelling. So that omnipresence of God through the spirit, that triune aspect, was in fact something that directed men towards God to respond by faith.

You okay with that? Okay, Ruthie? I was just going to say that I think I have a hard time separating the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Good, you're supposed to have trouble. And when I look at the Old Testament, I think that Abraham and Jacob and all the other heroes of the faith, they knew God was with them. We know God is in us. Simple enough. That's okay. That's fine. Sometimes I feel like we're trying to stuff God into a box. But he's bigger than that. So I have those questions too. Was the Spirit with them in the Old Testament? Did he come and go? He's God. And all three were there. And he's still here now. So by faith, they believed that he was there with them.

So do we agree that God has called all men to believe? Okay, so the ability to respond to God by faith is there in every man and woman. Now someone who's mentally impaired, etc., we have to ask questions, but God in his great capability and wisdom knows how to deal with those individuals equally as well as he would someone who was fully with it cognitively. Yes, Stan?

It's no different than the angels. that when they can see everything, there was a group of angels that decided to, they decided to follow God in infinite detail and be his servants, whereas other angels decided that they wouldn't. I mean, they could see everything that was going on, so they had the advantage of sight over what we have now. But what I'm saying is, that was a willful choice as well. Sure it was.

Otherwise God wouldn't have punished them like he did. Now remember, if we agree as a class, and I think we all agree, and if we talk to believers around the world, I think we could agree on this point, God has given every man the capability of responding by faith to what he's revealed. So what is faith? Just kind of answered it myself in that last statement.

No, well that's Hebrews 11.1, that's true, but faith is believing what God has revealed. That's a very simple definition, but it's so true.

Adam and Eve were only revealed so much, and God asked them to believe in what he had revealed to them. Think about Abraham, what God revealed to him. Abraham, do you believe me for what I reveal? And think of the prophets, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah. They needed to respond to God by faith and believing what he revealed. Think of John the Baptist. His faith was based on what God revealed. And so those people that lived at the time of Christ were asked to believe in what God revealed and is this his promised son? So we're all accountable. Today our faith is based on what God has revealed. Here it is. Do we believe what God has revealed?

So the principle of faith is there for all men for all time. The spirit must be omnipresent because it's part of the triune God. But yet the indwelling of the spirit is unique to us as believers today. and how the Spirit worked in the lives of Old Testament saints, I think we can just say the Spirit is on the present and called men unto himself, but this was not an indwelling relationship. We are far better, and the term far better is the book of Hebrews. The sin of bulls and goats can never take away sin, but Christ himself is the full payment for our sin and the sins of the entire world. So your conclusions about God and the believer is that I think the evidence is more than sufficient. God is in the believer. It's hard and cannot ultimately be stated that God is separated from his son and spirit in his relationship to indwelling man. The triune God is in each and every one of us.

Yes, Bill. I think the verse Stan was looking for, it came to my mind, is Romans 8. we're talking about is any man in the flesh but you are not in the flesh but you're in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwells in you how now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of this okay and that's in Romans 8 I think that the thing we have to remember this prior to the Lord's death, which was only about four hours, four or five hours after he said what he said there in the upper room discourse. He left us with two major documents, and that was, in that day you will know I am in the Father, the Father in me, and I in you. And then he talks about the triune Godhead, which is the Holy Spirit's gonna come. He was never resident. He was resident, but never indwelt.

And so, I think an answer to the prayer of John 17 is what we see today. Christ prayed for every one of us that God has given him and that's the elect and not one of them will be lost except one that well in that context was Judas right but then he said I don't pray for these alone but I pray for those that will believe on them through our word through my word and the thing that's crucial is the word prayer there the word prayer in the original language there is eretaro which is different than Aiteo, which is what we do. When we ask the Father, we Aiteo, we ask as an inferior to a superior. But that word Eretau in John 17, it means an equal, one who's equal to the one who he was asking. So when you see that word Eretau, it was never used of us. But the word Aiteo, it is, because we're an inferior to a superior. But when it comes to Christ, He's equal to the Father, who is equally asking on an equal basis, because He's God. Asking the Father that in the future, what He prayed would happen.

So today, what Jesus prayed in John 17 is the basis by which we were in Christ. He says so. He said, I prayed that more love would be in them and I in them. And he tells you that throughout John 17 constantly, I in them and them in me. And I think the thing that we have to really, that's really important is the balance between in Christ and Christ in us.

Well, we're ready for that right now. So these are great insights. Bill, thanks for sharing those. But remember, we're adopted sons now, right? Also Romans truth and beyond. And now as adopted sons, our relationship to the Father is as one. Is it not?

Yes, Bob. Yes, is the term volition our prerogative to quench the spirit? Yes, we have that capability. We have that ability to quench the spirit. Right. By that meaning he can turn his attention away from us. Right. Yes, we can. But God never takes his spirit from us. He never takes it from us. He quenches it. Stan?

But I would add, I think that is a believer's I think that's probably a believer that's able to do that once in a while. As far as an unbeliever, I don't think that pertains. Yeah, there's no relationship that's permanent. So it would be the spiritual person turning carnal in the process of dealing with their life.

But they're still fully accepted as sons of God, right? Yeah, remember that we're the temple of the Holy Spirit and the body, so he can't be leaving it. All right, some very good discussion. Thank you. Let's continue now with the third aspect of united to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The believer is in the Son, and we could spend a lot of time here. The verse I quote is one of many, many verses in Scripture. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Wow. Think about that, Bud, in reflection of what you just said about quenching the Spirit. There's no condemnation.

So what happens when we quench the Spirit? Is that going to be an answer, or are you just waving your hand? The spirit doesn't leave, but the fellowship. There's an alteration in the fellowship. And how do we take care of that? Well, it's a process sometimes, but we have to turn our attention back, and the spirit hasn't left, but we have. We've turned our back. by prayer, by whatever it takes to get out of the condition that we are in and reaffirm, acknowledge that fellowship again.

Yeah, I mean, Ruthie, 1 John 1.9 is just confessing. But you know, Margaret and I have had this discussion recently. Even if we don't confess, the relationship the Father has with us, I mean, that doesn't give us a license or right to defy his word and live in our own power and strength. The idea is that relationship God has with us is never-ending. It's not based on any further work God has to do.

But 1 John 1.9 says, confess your sins, and that fellowship, I'm paraphrasing, fellowship is restored.

First John 1.9, if we confess our sins. Well, it's kind of like sins to some extent. If we confess our sins, then God's faithful and just forgives our sins and He cleanses us. But we cannot conclude from that verse that if we don't confess that our relationship to God has changed from His perspective.

We're in fact placed in His Son. There's no condemnation of those who are in Christ Jesus. Even that lie you're going to tell this afternoon. Right? I mean, we're in Christ. That's secure and permanent. Stan, are you going to say something? I was just going to say, yeah, and when you ask that question about no condemnation, so when you quench the spirit, that doesn't mean that you are then under condemnation. Correct.

It's just a life that comes from the sinful nature, right? It's old man generated. Okay, but it's the sinful nature played out. That would go back to law and legalism. Absolutely. Well, and I think, too, what's interesting is The confession is really an acknowledgment on our part that we have sinned and that we recognize it.

But from God's perspective, we're still in Christ. It's never changed. It's from our perspective that we lose the fellowship, not from his perspective. You know what I mean? Because he's always there for us. He's in us. So it's really from our side that we've lost that fellowship, not from his side.

And what really frustrates me is if we truly understood by faith and accepted what he has revealed to us about being born again, there would be no room for pride. Because if you as a believer really understood the essence of being in Christ and the power that is resident within the person. I mean, not just, you know, in some little vessel inside of us, our heart or whatever, but actually embedded in our very being. I mean, an act of pride is actually... It is. It's a sin. Because it's saying we're better than the very power that inhales us. Well, what did John say are the three great sins for the body? How about that third one, Bud? That one's easy to dismiss, isn't it?

The pride of life. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life stand right along the line you just mentioned. So the pride of life really is something that we could have hours of time to discuss. What does that look like, the pride of life?

But yet the cross is ultimately humbling to all of us and we thank God endlessly for the price he's paid through great grace. An extension of a life that's in Christ in each one of us. We are members of his body, Romans 12, 5. We don't need to look at that. Other examples, we're a branch in the vine, John 15, 5. We're a stone in the building. Ephesians 2, 19-22. We're a sheep in the flock, John 10, 27-29. We're part of his bride, Ephesians 5, 25-27. And we're a priest of the kingdom of God, 1 Peter 2.

All of these aspects reflect the fact that we, in fact, are in the Son. All of these things that are related to Christ himself are all for us to partake. And finally, we're part of the new creation over which Christ as the last Adam is the head. So let's do turn to 2 Corinthians 5.17 and look at that verse. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

So us being in Christ is a new creation in Christ Jesus, something not true of the Old Testament saying. He or she was not in Christ. They were placed indirectly in Christ by their faith. But of course, this was a foreshadow of things to come, not cognitively made aware to the Old Testament believers. But those Old Testament saints still worked on the same principle, they believed by faith and the things that God had revealed. The Son is in the believer. John 14, 20, among many other verses, at that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. And in a sense, I in you could also be used to make the previous point about the believer is in the Son, right?

I mean, there's so many verses that kind of go both ways in this very special relationship. What day is this? That day that I'm in my Father, you in me, and I in you. What's he speaking to? Is this the end times here? Back to what Bill was saying earlier, what was the John 14 passage anticipating? At that day you'll know that I'm in my Father, you in me, and I in you. This isn't end time stuff, this is bringing saints unto himself. This is the church age in which we're living today. That's the day that Christ was speaking of here. How will you know that you're in him? Yeah, we're going to lead to that as we get into the Spirit. And that really is setting the stage for the next part of the lesson. The believer is in the Spirit.

Romans 8, 9, among, again, many other verses. But you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Ooh, pretty strong language there. So because you're saved, you're in the spirit. And if you don't have the spirit of Christ, your spirit of Christ, in fact, Stan, right here, spirit of Christ, Romans 8, 9, he is none of his.

Can we tell who is in the spirit or perhaps it's better to ask in spirit? I mean, in the spirit, kind of in my opinion, kind of reflects that in and out kind of thing. I think in spirit is a better permanence of that relationship we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not withdrawn, but you made that point.

We can choose to ignore the spirit, live by the power of the sinful nature and move on in our own path in the absence of God's leading, but we're still firmly in place in Christ Jesus and in the spirit. I like this. Can we tell who or perhaps it's better to ask who's in spirit? versus here who's not and this is where we come stand at the term quantity or fellowship.

So let's exemplify this by saying that we're in a crowd of people, it could be a public place. There are 37 people gathered and there's kind of open communication among the entire group. This could be at a work-related party. This afternoon, we're going to be surrounded by my lab at the university. As far as I know, no believers today. We're going to be in a world system. Maybe somebody got saved two days ago.

I don't know that they did, but let's just say, for instance, how would we know in fact, whether they're a believer. Let's look at Koinonia and define it. I kind of like Thayer in a way that apparently Thayer was not a believer, but yet he spent much of his time identifying the correct interpretation of the Greek language as it relates to scripture. In a sense, that puts him kind of in this objective position, if you will, and you can criticize that statement if you'd like, but Thayer says Koinonia Fellowship consists that in the fact that Christians are partakers in common as the same mind of God and Christ and of the blessings arising therefrom. That's a direct quote from Thayer. Let's look at that. Consists that in the fact, okay, fact, truth, that Christians are partakers of the same mind of God and Christ. and of the blessings arising thereof.

So let's look at these verses and this is relevant to how we in fact can identify whether we're in fellowship or not with an individual based on their faith. Now remember, we're not going to measure evidence of faith by a metric such as human performance. I can assure you, as I'm sure you will agree, you will see many non-believers do a lot of good things. So that's not fellowship. That's good works.

So make sure we understand that distinction. So 1 John 1, 3 and 4, who has that? That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you may also have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son. So what's the fellowship based on? It's what they had seen and heard and declared, right? What had they seen and heard? The Lord Jesus Christ, right?

And that fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. So in my opinion, that reflects that unless you have the fellowship of the Father and the Son, there's no fellowship of one and another. So there's a bond there that goes beyond just a set of good works, saying how wonderful I am that I did good works.

Let's look at the next verse, Acts 2, 42. I'll read that. Verse 41 says, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. This is the beginning of the body of Christ, right? Verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. That fellowship seems to be based on something, doesn't it? It is based on the fact that they were baptized in the Spirit. Alright, so they share the mind of God in Christ. And now they can communicate on that level. Fellowship. Right.

2 Corinthians 6.14. Do not be unequally guilty together with unbelievers. Ooh. Keep going.

For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? Remember last week we talked a lot about light, some about darkness. We think about this as a believer marrying an unbeliever, but we can think about that in business relationships and other contracts we might form. If we're citizens of a heavenly kingdom and are simply down here on a temporary address assignment, ultimately the things we do here need to reflect who we are, not what we are or what we're doing. So who we are is bonding with a world system that we should be seeking out those relationships that are guided by light, not darkness. So marriage, we know that marriage between an unbeliever and a believer sometimes can work out ultimately to sanctify the unbelieving spouse, but ultimately bring him or her to a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, but that's not encouraged by scripture, is it? Fellowship is something people share that gets at the root of human existence. Fellowship, again, the mind of God in Christ, sharing that in the way of koinonia and making us understand whether we're a believer or an unbeliever.

Next, Galatians 2.9.

Anybody? That's the second bell. Is that the second bell? Yeah. It's a first bell. No, it's the second bell. I don't think you close the first bell. All right. Spirit is in the believer. We'll skip over those additional verses. I encourage you to look at those because they're, again, evidences of fellowship as it reflects the body of Christ.

So 1 Corinthians 2.12, now we've received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know things that have been freely given to us by God.

So how incredibly important is this? What or who is the spirit of the world we could have discussed? What are the things freely given? And I think you can read on your own 1 Corinthians 2, 13 through 16. And I was going to, you know, we had too much discussion earlier perhaps, but why is the spirit of God so poorly understood? And that's a fun topic because this is really relevant to what the Christian life is all about. How would you describe him? So the point I was going to leave you with is we're all together indwelt by and in the triune God. In this last diagram I pulled from the internet, it's nice.

These verses connect the Father to the Son, the Father to the Holy Spirit, and the Son to the Holy Spirit, and I encourage you to take a look at those too. I'm just sorry we ran out of time, but we're in the middle of all this. So, you know, this triune God that ultimately is what our faith is towards and based on ultimately is including us now as the body of Christ. So, as I said at the beginning, wow, what a topic, united the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is something that could demand months of study. but I think we hopefully attempted to capture these relationships here today and see how relevant they are for our belief in our life in the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ being led by the Spirit.

Stan, close us in prayer, will you please? Thank you Father for this church and the many churches that we have in this country today. I just lift up the country as a whole and I thank you for providing a place that we can become Christians and live out our lives in a Christian manner. I thank you for Bob who taught the class today and on this very critical topic of the triune God and how it indwells our very being.

And Lord I just ask that your spirit this week would empower each and every one of us to become more fruitful in our lives and stronger in our faith as we deal in the world situation and particularly with Bob this afternoon when they have the meeting relative to his lab. I ask all these things of you this evening. Amen.