Four Benefits of Unity with God – Part 3

For The Kingdom: Joy-Filled Living In Difficult Days | Day 16

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Philippians 2:1-2

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit commune together in perfect unity. This doctrine of the Trinity is built on the notion of a “Tri-Unity” of the three “persons” of God operating as one. While we may find it beyond our mind’s finite abilities to comprehend, we are invited into a spiritual unity with God that mirrors the internal unity of God. Let us consider the third benefit of unity with God that Paul mentions in the introduction of Philippians 2.

4 Benefits to Unity with God –

1. Encouragement in Christ: Do you need to be comforted or spurred on? (See Day 14)
   
2. Comfort from His Love: Love is not the absence of expectations, but the absence of strings. (See Day 15)
   
3. Fellowship with the Spirit: When we begin our new relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. While a child may inaccurately, “ask Jesus into her heart,” it is actually the Holy Spirit which enters into us upon salvation. Paul explains, “When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, (you) were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14. (parenthesis added)
   
   The Holy Spirit is God’s seal of salvation. He is God’s “proof of purchase” in the life of every true believer. All who have come to faith in Christ have the Holy Spirit. ”Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” 1 Corinthians 6:19. The Holy Spirit is not a separate gift that only a few receive. He is not a separate baptism or gift. He is present in every true follower of Christ and desires to have fellowship, or, a relationship with us. We can speak to the Holy Spirit and He will speak to us. When we humble ourselves to the Spirit’s leadership, wisdom and counsel, we will begin to enter into a conversational intimacy with God that puts feet to the directive to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). A “Spirit-filled” believer is one who has learned to walk in the blessing of fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The true evidence of the Holy Spirit is the growing presence of the “fruit of the Spirit” in a believer’s life (see Galatians 5:22-23).

Since the Holy Spirit lives inside of all believers, He is the one who is able to bring us all together. This is the secret to Christian unity- We are not unified by merely external agreements, but by a triune spiritual bond. We are adopted into the same family through God the Father. We are united in one body under Christ the Son. We are bound together in unity by one Spirit.

Are you growing in fellowship with the Spirit? Speak to the Holy Spirit and surrender yourself to Him daily. Invite the Spirit into every aspect and moment of your life. Experience the intimacy of God through the fellowship of the Spirit.