Spiritual Security

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"...He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." - Romans 8:11 (NASB)
   Security is a word that is being thrown around a lot today. For a moment I want to focus on the most important security aspect, spiritual security. In Paul's words above, he writes that our mortal bodies receive spiritual life through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Although no one every used these exact words, there was a false idea that I was given about salvation as I was growing up. It was my understanding that  salvation was something like a gift or possession, something that I could hold onto and keep as my own. It was mine, for the LORD gave it to me. Since it is mine, I get to hang on to it forever. Salvation is certainly a gift, in that the LORD offers it to us freely, but salvation is not something that we possess. He does not simply drop life into our bodies and then go His own way. 
   Salvation and spiritual life is the result of the Spirit dwelling in our lives. As we humbly submit our lives to God, both when we "got saved" and on a daily basis, the Holy Spirit dwells in our lives, giving us spiritual life. There are those in our world who have made the distinction between salvation and living as Christians. They testify about a "decision" they made to give their lives to Jesus back at sometime and someplace, but refuse to submit to Jesus today. My friends, we cannot live in rebellion to the LORD and have spiritual life. Spiritual life comes from the Spirit. 
   If this is accurate, then it begs an important question: When we deliberately and continually choose to rebel and disobey God, how can the Holy Spirit be within us? Well, simply put, He cannot be. We must follow the leading and direction of the Spirit in order to have life, but that choice is up to us. Spiritual security comes from the presence of the Spirit in our lives. It does not come from a decision we made "way back then." Be thankful for "way back then", for that is where your spiritual life began. But how well are you living as a disciple today? If you want spiritual security, then walk closely and daily with Jesus. Security that comes by any other means is false security.

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