Of all of the topics the apostle Paul addressed in his writings to Christians, the topic of the indwelling Holy Spirit was one of his most prevalent. Consider the following verse, which he wrote to the Christians of the city of Rome:

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

The teaching of this verse is clear: If you do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you are not Christ’s. In other words, you are not an authentic Christian. Also notice the verse’s references to the fact that God is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). In one portion of the verse, the Holy Spirit is described as being “the Spirit of God” but in a later portion He is described as being “the Spirit of Christ.”

Here’s another verse from Paul, this one to the Christians of Corinth:

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Unfortunately, it has become a common phrase for the nutritionist, the dietician, the fitness guru, the workout leader, or the bodybuilder to say, “My body is a temple.” Actually, however, the only person who can truthfully say, “My body is a temple” is the Christian. Why is that? It’s because the indwelling Holy Spirit is God, and wherever God dwells that place can be called a temple. Therefore, the Christian’s body is a temple.

But Paul wasn’t the only New Testament writer who taught that God the Holy Spirit literally dwells inside the Christian’s body. The apostle John taught this same truth. First, he gave us 1 John 3:24, which says of God:

Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Second, he repeats this thought in 1 John 4:13, when he says:

By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

And then there is Jude, who described the lost apostate teachers of his day by saying in verse 19 of his book:

These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (N.I.V., emphasis mine)

You see, what we have in all of these passages (as well as others like them) is basic Bible doctrine. God the Holy Spirit really does dwell within the true Christian. Even Jesus Himself refers to this awesome truth when He says in Revelation 3:20:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

How does Jesus come in to the Christian? He does it via the indwelling Holy Spirit. As I noted earlier, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one.

And so what am I saying? I’m saying that we Christians need to start recognizing the indwelling Holy Spirit for who He is. He’s not Casper the friendly Ghost. He’s not the wind. He’s not a vapor. He is a person. He is GOD.

The Trinity is not God the Father, God the Son, and God the Bible. Jesus isn’t talking about the Bible when He says in John 14:26:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (N.K.J.V.)

Likewise, He isn’t talking about the Bible when He says in John 16:13:

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…. (N.K.J.V.)

Of course, I’m not trying to set the indwelling Holy Spirit against the Bible. The fact is, the Holy Spirit takes the Bible and helps us understand it and apply it. I’m simply saying that we need to get the Holy Spirit back to His rightful standing in our lives. Christian, the Holy Spirit is God, living inside you, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He has a mind, a will, and a voice, and His voice is the voice that you need to start listening for and obeying.