“By the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2Tim 1:14).
Do the “Paranormal Activity” movies absolutely scare the pants off you? Love the classic comedy “Ghostbusters” and can’t wait for the remake? Confession time. I do. Guilty as charged. I’m a sucker for just about any story where the house is haunted. Did you realize that Paul was not afraid of no ghost?
Okay, when I say “ghost,”. I’m NOT talking about some spooky disembodied specter that squirts ectoplasm. The apostle loves him some Holy Ghost. That’s what the King Jimmy Bible calls the Third Person of the Godhead. When it comes to the Spirit of God, lets just say Paul is a fan. A BIG fan! And why shouldn’t he be? The Holy Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus, guiding and empower each one of us.
In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle tells his pastoral apprentice, “By the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (v14). Our house is haunted. Haunted by God’s Spirit. With Him living in us, we can fight off any threat to our faith. Yeah, our house is haunted. But there’s no reason to freak out. It’s a VERY good thing.
Don’t forget where Paul is as he writes to Tim. He’s on Death Row at Rome’s notorious Mamertine Prison. This is no penal extended stay. It’s where the empire sends prisoners before execution. The apostle is a dead man walking and he knows it (2Tim 4:6-7). He desperately wants to see his buddy one last time (2Tim 4:9, 21). These are the last words Paul writes before his death. This note is his last ditch effort to reassure the young pastor of what God can do in and through Tim. Specifically through the Holy Spirit.
The apostle reminds us that every believer is empowered “by the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us” (v14). Just a quick refresher on the Spirit of God. The Spirit is a Who, not a what. He’s the Third Person of the Trinity, not some impersonal force mentioned by Yoda. Just as the Father gives the Son to save us, the Son gives the Spirit to lead us, and the Spirit gives us His gifts to serve others (Gal 5:22-23). The night before His murder, Jesus told His crew how the Spirit will encourage us and remind us about His truth (Jn 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14). The Holy Spirit gets the least ink of the Godhead but He likes it that way. His main role is to make our Savior famous, not Himself.
The Spirit of God doesn’t just swing by and stay for a long weekend. He “dwells within us” (v14). He doesn’t just do this for super saints and megachurch pastors. The Holy Spirit turns every single follower of Jesus into God’s temple (Rom 8:9; 1Cor 3:6; 6:19). God called His shot through OT prophets (Ezek 36:27; Joel 2:28-32). After Christ’s resurrection, members of the first church were hanging out together when the Spirit roared into the room and appeared as flames above each one of them (Acts 2:2-3). Talk about a house warming party!
God’s Spirit moves in for the long haul. Paul uses a Greek term here (Gr. enoikeo) which means to live inside, reside, inhabit, stay, or remain in a particular location longterm. It literally means “in house” or “in home.” The word describes living inside some place and having a powerful influence. In other words, this is an inside job. Jesus uses His Spirit to change believers from the inside out. But He’s no short-term tenant. He doesn’t use you like human AirBnB or VRBO. He “dwells within us” (v14). He makes Himself at home. He unpacks His bags.
Paul tells Tim how the Spirit doesn’t just move in and stay behind the closed door of the spare bedroom. He’s on the move throughout our whole being. Our house is haunted by the Holy Ghost. The only ones who need to be afraid of His haunting are sin, death, and Satan. And they should be totally spooked! This Spirit of God is same Person who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11). In the words of Jeremy Camp…
The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us
When the Holy Ghost haunts our house, the enemies of God get the willies!
With the Spirit of God setting up shop in you, Paul instructs us to “guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (v14). Do these words sound familiar? Well, they should. Just a couple of verses back the apostle tells Tim, “I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2Tim 1:12). In other words, Paul trusts in who Jesus is, what He has done and will do in and through him. Now he turns it around and commands his protege protect the eternal treasure God has committed to him. According to Alexander MacLaren, the apostle connects our Spirit-powered faithfulness to God’s supernatural faithfulness and protection.
Maybe you’re like me and would like to know what exactly is this “good deposit entrusted to you” (v14)? Google this verse and you’ll see that the internets are chockfull of ideas about what Paul is talking about. The original text here drops the word paratheke, which means something valuable given for faithful safekeeping. A treasure to be managed, protected, and defended.
Let’s not overcomplicate things, shall we? We can be pretty sure the apostle’s talking about the Gospel. Think of protecting this precious cargo in two ways. First of all, do everything possible to fend off attacks on your faith with the supernatural power of God’s Spirit. The faith of every follower of Jesus is under constant assault. From Satan. From the world. From our own flesh. We fight back with the truth of Who Jesus is and Who we are in Him. That’s why we can’t forget our spiritual armor like our faith shield, salvation helmet, and Spirit sword, AKA God’s Word (Eph 6:10-17). My trust in Christ is under threat of constant terrorist attack. God’s Spirit is the ultimate Homeland Security. He WILL protect this house!
The second idea here is to carefully guard the core of the Good News itself. Don’t compromise it. Don’t complicate it. Don’t add to it. Don’t subtract from it. As Tullian Tchividjian says, “Jesus+Nothing=Everything.” God has given Paul, Tim, and every other believer the privilege and assignment to tell the world about Christ. As the ultimate expression of love, God sends Jesus to us with the gift of eternal and abundant life (Jn 3:16). And in the most lopsided trade of all-time, our Heavenly Dad made His sinless Son take every ounce of our filth and disobedience so that we could obtain the complete and total righteousness of God (2Cor 5:21). It’s what folks like to call the Great Exchange.
We guard the Gospel by not letting anybody jack around with its simple and beautiful message of grace. God saves us. We can’t earn it so we shouldn’t get all cocky and talk smack about it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Once Jesus comes to my rescue, I don’t have to work to stay saved. He’ll finish the job (Phil 1:6). But as an expression of my overwhelming thankfulness and worship, I live obediently to His leadership and lordship. My only hope of doing that is through the rippling resurrection power of His Spirit living in me.
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