Submitted to the “Questions and Answers” Column

Answer 1. Christ dwells in our heart through faith; but when a person has no faith, then He obviously does not dwell in their heart. It is evident that Christ cannot enter a person’s heart in any other way, because without faith it is impossible to please Him, (Heb. 11:6) and we know that there is only one faith (the faith of the Son of God, Jesus Christ) because Jesus is one person, and one person can only have one faith; as it is written: one Lord, one faith. Eph. 4:5. When it concerns the meaning of “the days of the apostles,” we know that God is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

2. Eph. 1:13 “. . . . in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” From this we can see that we were sealed the moment we believed; but we know that He is the author and the finisher of our faith. The Spirit is able to lead us into all the truth; but the fact that we do not possess all the truth immediately is demonstrated when it is written that we are to to grow up to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of Christ, so that we would no longer be children, etc. Eph. 4:13. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ; this is the “fullness of the Spirit,” and this is the fullness that we are to grow up into, in all things; which means to become like the Master, and that is sufficient for us.

3. Since Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith, we realize that there is an enormous work to be done between the start and the finish. As long as the heir is a child, there is no difference between him and the slave, despite the fact that he is the master of all things. Gal. 4:1. Christ Himself was born under the law, in the days of His flesh, so that He could redeem those who were under the law. Gal. 1:4-5. There are many today who believe in Christ, but they do not know about the Spirit yet. The law is now no longer written on stone tablets, but on tablets of the flesh, that is, of the heart; because the Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Many believed in Him in the beginning, but after a time they stopped believing because He spoke the truth. Some people receive the word with joy; but the devil immediately snatches it away because it has no roots. That is why Jesus says in John 8:31, immediately after telling that parable, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” The point is to remain in the word of God and not run away.

4. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; in other words, the Word is Christ or the Mediator; but the Mediator is not only for one but God is One. The word kills and the word gives life. When the word kills, it is called the letter, because the flesh which is to be killed, is unable to comprehend the things which belong to the Spirit of God. But when we are killed and are dead with Him, then we believe that we shall live with Him. Then the last Adam, who has become a life-giving Spirit, is able to begin to give us life.

5. In Christ, the only thing that avails anything is a new creation, and in this new creation the old things have passed away, and all things have become new. This is the New Testament, Hallelujah. As such, we are dead to all flesh, because we are an aroma of death leading to death to everyone who is perishing, but an aroma of life leading to life to everyone who is being saved.