2009 – Day 105.Apr. 16 – Permanent Dwelling

2009 – Day 105.Apr. 16 – Permanent Dwelling

Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 16: 14 - 15 … 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you.

My Journal for Today: Today, Chuck Swindoll uses this short diversion into the life of Saul, during our time studying the life of David, to make a very important theological point. In today’s verses we seem to have biblical evidence that God, the Holy Spirit, can/will leave a believer who is disobedient of God’s way or will. And there are other instances where that seems to be the case, like with Samson in Judges 16: 20, which says, “He (Samson) did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” Or in Psalm 51: 10, where a repentant David pleas to God, “Take not Your Holy Spirit from me.” This would seem to surface a fear that God, the Holy Spirit, having inhabited the being of a believer, could or would leave that person, allowing for salvation to be lost because of disobedience or sinfulness.

And I agree with my devotional writer, Swindoll, that this is a point which must be clear for the New Testament Christian. It is true that God, the Holy Spirit in the times before Pentecost (see Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the newly established Church), as we have documented in the Old Testament, quite often came upon and into the life of an OT believer, usually to allow that person to carry out God’s will for a specific purpose or task. However, in instances like the ones documented above with Saul or Samson, God’s Spirit could depart, leaving that person without the Spirit of God and having to deal with life in the flesh. As we read for Saul in today’s passage, God’s Spirit departing that person could produce emotionally troubling times; and with Samson we know that his strength to resist sin or deal with the world left him until God’s Spirit returned at the end of his life to show forth God’s power and victory over evil. But if you are a Christian today, we need not fear that occurring in our now saved lives.

The promise of God from the age of grace, in which we Christians now live, is a forever sealing of God’s Spirit once we surrender our lives at conversion to be baptized (not physically, but Spiritually) in Christ. So, once I gave my life completely in repentance to Christ and received Him as Lord and Savior of my life, that was and is a FOREVER deal. God’s Spirit is in me, which makes my body and life a Temple for the Spirit of God to reside – FOREVER [see 1st Cor. 3: 16]. There are a myriad of New Testament Scriptures to support the doctrine of “once saved – always saved;” but let me just cite one which is very familiar to most all Christians, John 3: 16, which don’t I probably don’t need to quote here because of its familiarity believers in Christ.

But I will quote it after all, to make my point. It of course says [NKJV], For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, if one took the position of God’s Spirit leaving a saved person after he/she were saved, causing that person to lose salvation, the phrase “everlasting life” in John 3: 16 would be sham. It would be meaningless. Everlasting is FOREVER, not just for as long as one is obedient. As Swindoll rightly points out from Ephesians 4: 30, linked for you here - once saved, we are sealed by God’s Spirit until “the day of our redemption,” which is, of course, when we die. Jesus said it from the cross, when He died, Satan’s power over our lives is “finished;” and we, who are in Christ, can know that we are saved FOREVER and have God’s Spirit residing FOREVER in our souls.

Now I know that Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit and our witness can be dampened by our sin choices and our disobedience. However, this does not mean, as happened with king Saul, that God’s Spirit can or will leave our souls. Salvation in Christ is a FOREVER deal; and we need to hold on to that truth and live, as Paul wrote in Romans 12: 1-2 [linked] as “living sacrifices” for our salvation, “… proving what is that good and perfect will of God” for our lives.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You live in me; and I live for You. Amen