Jesus is speaking these words today to many of us Christians. We have, much like the teachers of law in Jesus' day, become suspicious, distrusting and even overtly derogatory of Holy Spirit. We are dividing God's kingdom within ourselves, our homes, our churches and in our ministry to the degree we hold the person of Holy Spirit at a distance, resisting his place in our lives and relationship with God. This is not an "all-or-nothing" issue. God will bless us even when we resist aspects of himself, but we must understand that we are significantly diminishing the power of God in and through us when God's kingdom in us is divided. We cannot have Father without Son, nor Son without Holy Spirit. God is not a menu from which we can choose that which we feel safe with while ignoring the rest. God is God. He longs that we receive all of who He is, the whole Trinity.
It should not be too difficult to accept the three-fold nature of God for we as humans, created in God's image, are also three-fold in nature. "Do not put out the Spirit's fire...May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:19, 23)." We, too, are like God - 3 in 1. God can no more deny a part of himself than we can. It is in our best interest that we consider how we may be resistant to this third part of God - Holy Spirit.
Are we familiar with what the bible says about Holy Spirit, his person, his presence, his power, his role in our lives and his role in the Godhead? Do we know that Jesus died, spilt his blood, so that we could receive Holy Spirit as a gift from Father, so that God could live inside us? Is it possible that we have not honored this precious gift appropriately? Is it possible that our Christian lives are frustrated largely because we have neglected to receive and/or nurture our relationship with God, Holy Spirit? We cannot expect to receive God's abundant promises for us when we have not received the first and most precious promise of Holy Spirit. "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the GIFT my Father PROMISED, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized you with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5)."
When Jesus spoke these words to the teachers of law, he was pointing at the same problem the people of God have faced in every generation. We naturally (carnally) prefer rules to relationship. Being baptized, sealed and regularly filled with Holy Spirit is the only way we can maintain the kind of relationship with God that he desires. Jesus demonstrated this Spirit-filled life and relationship with Father and now that same relationship is ours by the blood of our Savior. He purchased this gift for you and me. Holy Spirit, the presence and power of God, wants to dwell in us as the glory filled the temple of old. In this way, and only in this way, can we fulfill God's destiny for each of us on earth.
Jesus' prayer - "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be ONE, Father, just as YOU ARE IN ME AND I AM IN YOU. May THEY ALSO BE IN US so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21)."
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