Mutual Indwelling and the Good Works that Glorify God
There is wisdom and ability that produces superior words and works, when one is indwelt by God. Jesus taught His disciples, on the night He was betrayed, that God the Father was in Him (Jn 14:10).
The interchange, leading to our understanding the doctrine of indwelling, was prompted by Philip’s imperative, wanting to see the Father (Jn 14:8). Jesus’ reply was that he who had seen Jesus Himself had seen the Father (Jn 14:9).
If we consider what Philip and the other disciples had seen Jesus do, we might marvel, along with Jesus that they could not see Jesus’ words and works being sourced in someone more than a man (Jn 5:20). Yet, they saw it was Jesus doing these things. The works of God were on display, when Jesus did a miracle, as when He gave sight to the blind (Jn 9:3–4). These works were done in the Father’s name (Jn 10:32), but many did not believe because of envy (Jn 10:25). The unbelievers did not believe in Jesus because they were of their father, the devil (Jn 8:44; 1 Jn 3:10), who had blinded their minds (2 Cor 4:4), from seeing the Gospel truth that set the elect, redeemed free (Jn 8:32).
Believe the works! The miracles Jesus performed, bore witness that Jesus had another dimension that other men did not have in themselves. For this reason, some people, even in Jerusalem, began to wonder whether Jesus was the promised Messiah to come. Some in Galilee already wanted to make Him be their Lord and King. Their motives were impure, however (Jn 6).
Instead of taking credit for His good works, done in the presence of individuals and multitudes, Jesus attributed His supernatural deeds to His union with the Father — a mutual indwelling (Jn 10:38; 14:10–11). It was God the Father, who sent His only begotten Son into the world (Jn 3:16; 10:36; 12:45, 49). It was God the Father, who had given all things into Jesus’ hands (Jn 13:3). It was God the Father, who commanded Jesus what to say, that is, to speak just as the Father told Him (Jn 12:49–50).
The eternal purpose, carried out in Christ Jesus (Eph 3:11), was for God’s name to be glorified (Jn 12:28). Jesus’ perfect words and works glorified the Father, and because Jesus was pleasing to His Father in heaven, God the Father glorified God the Son, Jesus Christ (Jn 13:31–32).
Now, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent (Jn 6:29). This is more than a mental assent, requiring some elusive leap on the part of the believer. Rather, “in Christ” is a legal and spiritual re-positioning, when God’s elect from before the foundation of the world (Rom 8:29–30; Eph 1:4–5), those whom Jesus came to save (Mt 1:21; Acts 20:28; Eph 5:25; 1 Pet 2:24), are transferred from the domain of darkness. They become citizens in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13). Being seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6) is only one half of our own mutual indwelling experience.
Just as the Father was in Jesus, so the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ indwells God’s elect, redeemed, who have been made alive in Christ (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). Positioned in Christ, with the Holy Spirit in them, the born again now manifest the good works, which God prepared beforehand that each adopted child of God should walk in (Eph 2:10). It is God’s will and work, in and through the Spirit-indwelt Christian, that accomplishes God’s eternal good pleasure (Rom 8:9, 11; Phil 2:13).
With the Holy Spirit positioned in our hearts (Rom 5:5; 2 Cor 4:6), and with Jesus Christ returning to God the Father (Jn 14:12), our economy is to ask of God, in Jesus’ name (Jn 14:13). The inspired prayers of a righteous man availeth much (Jas 5:16) because the Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5), the man, Christ Jesus is now positioned with all authority in heaven and earth (Mt 28:18), to accomplish what concerns us (Ps 57:2; 138:8).
Whereas, God the Father, in Jesus, did many great works through one Man, now, God the Son is in multitudes of Christians, by His indwelling Spirit. The advance of the kingdom of God is multiplied exponentially. No longer is there just One righteous Man, walking with God, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and doing good works.
God the Father is glorified in the Son because of what the Son has done with His inheritance. Jesus is now doing what His Father had done in and with Him. Just as Jesus asked of His Father, now, hundreds of millions of people are asking, speaking, and doing greater works in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:12).
Thank God that Jesus was received and enthroned in heaven. Praise the Father and the Son, for sending the Holy Spirit to finish the work of God (Jn 14:26; 15:26), in calling His elect people from every nation, tribe, and tongue and from every generation, to gather for worship, of God and the Lamb (Rev 5:9; 7:9).
Christian, you belong to Christ (1 Cor 3:23) because you have the Spirit of Christ in you (Rom 8:9), and Christ, who is the heir of God, belongs to God (1 Cor 3:23). So, we close with the exuberant and instructive words of the Apostle Peter, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so, as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Pet 4:11).”
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 27, 2022
