The Indwelling: An Introduction to a New Relationship with God

By James Cardona

A Biblical study of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, comparing and contrasting it to both salvation and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Becoming saved, receiving salvation, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, receiving the Holy Spirit, Holy Fire, the unction of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, having a spiritual encounter or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: are they all the same thing? If there are differences then what are they?
Clearly, a new believer is not born again into a perfect state of being. Once a person accepts salvation and the saving blood of Jesus Christ, they are only taking the first step on a long journey. The walk with Jesus is a walk of change and development. The walk with Jesus is a walk toward perfection as believers grows into the image of sons and daughters of God.
Although it is clear that there is a broad continuum of progression toward perfection (if that is even achievable) the Bible indicates that there are three distinct steps, or levels of relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This has often been colloquially called "God above us, God with us and God in us."
Often people preach or teach about the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues or signs and wonders. Others emphasis the personal experience, change of life and development that comes when a person seeks after Jesus. Due to terminology differences, several of these experiences, relationships or steps are often crossed or mixed. This book compares and contrasts the indications and attributes of salvation, being filled with the Holy Spirit and being Indwelt with the Holy Spirit in order to clarify and distinctly define each one. If we know what they are, we can understand where we are and seek after one or more that we discover that we are lacking.
Too many people stop after the first step. Too many people stop after giving their lives to Jesus, being baptized with water, or receiving some form of confidence that they will go to heaven. There is so much more! Do not stop! This book shows the path to a higher plane, a higher walk. There is so much more than salvation or having some sort of Holy Spirit or Holy Fire experience.
Using direct references from the Bible and true personal stories, this book provides the necessary knowledge to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and maintain a Filling of the Holy Spirit (there is a difference between baptism and filling). Read this book to find out how!
God will only take you as high as you are willing to go. It is up to you. This book shows you the differences between these different experiences, relationships, steps or levels and the benefits of attaining a higher level. There is a closer walk with God, the indwelling of the Spirit, and it is available to you right now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Cardona
• Release date: Aug 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9780615136684

James Cardona

James Cardona has written five books as yet including two non-fiction works, two young adult science fiction novels and his first fantasy novel. He is planning on writing many, many more, including the release of the second installment of the NuGen series in 2014. For his fiction, James tries to make his words come alive by pouring his real-life experiences into his characters such that many of the details described in his books actually happened and are told from the perspective of someone who was there. He also enjoys integrating a hard science approach to his science fiction, feeling that all aspects of his story telling, although perhaps not currently possible, could actually happen once our technology evolves. James enjoys all things that can unleash the creative process including drawing, painting and creative writing and the not-so-typical such as robot design and writing computer code. He loves tinkering with computers, electronics and building robots and is the Lead Engineer for FIRST Robotics Team 316, a High School Robotics team operating out of Salem Community College. Additionally James helps organize and run the PSEG Nuclear Salem County Math Showcase which he created back in the year 2000, a math competition for students from grades four through eight, typically attended each year by approximately 500-600 students. James received his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Delaware with a minor in Religious Studies. He lives in Southern New Jersey and works as a Senior Test Engineer for the Laboratory and Testing Services group of the Public Service Electric and Gas Company.

Book preview

book 1 cover rev new rev 2_4 FLAT front cover

The Indwelling:

An Introduction to a New Relationship with God

ISBN: 978-0-9850284-4-2

James Cardona

_____________________________________________________

The following quoted works are used with permission from their respective copyright holders:

Nebula image in cover art courtesy of NASA/ JPL- Caltech.

© 2006 by James Cardona

_____________________________________________________

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CONTENTS

THIRD EDITION NOTES

INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

JUSTIFICATION

KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF

SPIRIT FILLED

GOD IN A MAN

LOSING IT

THE WILL

EVIDENCE

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

END NOTES

THIRD EDITION NOTES

This third edition of The Indwelling: An Introduction to a New Relationship with God is being released to coincide with the release of the new kindle and nook versions and the re-release of my second Christian nonfiction book, A Prayer Warrior’s Guide: How to Pray for People for Divine Healing, published in December of 2011 and my first fictional work, Gabriella and Dr.Duggan’s Secret Dimensional Transport Machine, published in February 2012.

In this edition, the content has remained mostly unchanged with the exception of a rewrite of the introduction and a reformatting of some of the text to increase readability. Additionally, most of the Bible quotes were changed from the King James Version to the New King James Version.

INTRODUCTION

The Christian walk is a continually evolving process. A new believer is not born again into a perfect state of being. Once a person accepts salvation and the saving blood of Jesus Christ, he or she is only taking the first step on a long journey of improvement. The walk with God is a walk of change and development. The walk with God is a walk toward perfection as the believer grows into the image of the Son of God.

Too many people stop after the first step. Too many people stop after giving their lives to Jesus, being baptized with water, or receiving some form of confidence that they will go to heaven. There is so much more to gain in this walk! Do not stop!

So far, so good. Not many would argue with that. But one of the things that has inspired me to write this book is that many argue about what and how much does and can happen. How close to perfection can a person come before death? How do we know where we are? Is the progression gradual or are there step changes or mile markers along the way?

The reason that many disagree (including theologians) is that there are Bible scriptures that seem to be contradictory. One theologian claims that we are saved when a confession of faith is made, another when we are baptized in water, another still when we receive the Holy Ghost, and yet another says all these happen at the same time. And all the while they have a variety of scriptures that prove their individual points. Can they all be right? Can they all be wrong?

It is my firm belief that the problem lies in most theologians reliance on a two step process: salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit and when they associate tasks, results or experience with each, a Biblical contradiction always seems to crop up somewhere.

Praying on this very topic for several years back in the early 2000’s God gave me a revelation: there are not two steps, but three; first, a conversion experience that most call salvation; second, being filled with the Holy Spirit, what most call the unction or the anointing; and finally, being indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

This book outlines these three great events and baby-steps through the differences between each, what to expect from each, and why it is desirable to pursue a higher walk with God.

So many have these three all jumbled up, thinking that because they once stood at an altar call ten years ago that all is well and their salvation is secure. Is it? Others think because they felt something once, maybe having some form of experience with the anointing power of the Holy Spirit that they are now guaranteed a spot in the rapture, should it happen. Are they? Well, in this book we will sort this out, starting with a simple and basic explanation using the example of three fictional people who have attained these three different levels. We will compare and contrast these three different events and show biblical examples and scriptures to support the claims. We will also lightly caress the touchy subjects of whether or not a person can lose his or her salvation and what exactly is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit.

We will be comparing and contrasting three types of people who we will call Andy, Bobby and Charlie, who each have attained different levels in their spiritual walk as Christians. We will look at the differences between each and use the scriptures of the Bible to show these differences. We will show what promises are given to the believers who seek them.

I pray that you find this book as rich and rewarding as I found it in writing it. God bless you as you begin your journey.

OVERVIEW

In this overview chapter, I will be making many general statements that will be covered in more detail in later chapters. This general overview should give the reader a feel for the entire book and where we are headed.

We are going to speak of three different people and make it as simple as A, B, C. We are going to talk about Andy, Bobby and Charlie, three fictional people who will represent three basic types of people and three different walks with God.

Andy

Andy is a believer. Andy had a conversion experience, Andy is saved. Andy realized that he was lost without God and under a deep conviction of sin; he gave his life to God. He confessed, Jesus is Lord. Andy is born again. He has received a new spirit, a new heart. He is not the same man that he once was. He made a confession of faith and is justified.

Andy has been made just in the eyes of God by becoming a true Christian. He is just in a legal sense; he is on the right side of God’s law. Andy has been found not guilty by God because God sees Jesus in the place of Andy. He has been made righteous by faith in the saving blood of Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Andy is saved by God’s grace, not by any good works that he may have done. Salvation is what God does for him. Salvation is a free gift from God and Andy accepts this free gift. Faith is the channel that Andy uses to connect to God. Andy is justified.

This is a wonderful first step and every believer must make this first step. Some people call this being born again, giving your life to Jesus, or being saved. In this book, I will refer to this first step as justification.

Andy never moves any higher than this first step, but he never retreats either. Andy holds on to his faith until the end. On his deathbed, Andy still believes. After he dies, he goes to heaven. Andy is a believer, he is justified by faith. God judges Andy as righteous, because when God looks down at him, he does not see Andy, a man covered with filthy sin. God sees Andy, a man covered with the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

Bobby

Bobby is another believer. Just like Andy, Bobby also is justified; he gave his life to Jesus and is a new creation. He has a new spirit inside of him. This new spirit is not the Holy Spirit; it is a new heart and a new spirit. Bobby is saved, so when he dies, he will go to heaven. Like Andy, Bobby is also justified.

After a time, Bobby has another experience, an experience with the Holy Spirit. Two new things happen. First, Bobby starts going through a sanctification process. Bobby was still knee deep in a world of sin when he was saved and still has many bad habits and wrong ways of thinking. In this sanctification process, the Holy Spirit convicts Bobby of sin and he can pray for the Holy Spirit to not only forgive him of the sin, but also remove the sin nature, the