Did you know that you could do all the right things according to the Christian life and still not be accepted by God?  You could serve the Lord with great love and passion, teach truths from Scripture, faithfully pray for the lost, and still be as lost as all you pray for!  You may even surround yourself with sound and true teachers and preachers and remain separated from God.   What is alarming is I have described the majority of what is called ‘the Church.’   Some people claim they are blood-bought saints of God that no one would ever question because of their godly conduct.  They lead a life that they and others believe to be what constitutes being one of God’s children.  Where in truth, they are deceived and deceive others and are in danger of being separated from God forever!  They are so close, but yet so very far. How can this be?   They may have been taught the things of God – by His Spirit and even be surrounded by His Spirit in the groups and teachers they listen to. Still, they have never surrendered to God, so He would fill them with His Spirit.

When a person has the Holy Spirit in them, they will differ from the one who has relied on the Holy Spirit, through another’s work and relationship with God, and one whose life can be described as in Proverbs 4:18:‘But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

God will grow them from the inside out, and their lives will reflect this.  And the other will continue to stumble in sin.  They may appear to be godly, but will not bear the fruit of His Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Gal 5:22-23a

According to what God calls us to, those who are filled will strive to love.  Paul describes this kind of love:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails. 1 Cor 13:4-7a

If we profess to be saved, we should desire to know and walk in this kind of love.  By looking at our closest relationships, we see if we walk in this kind of love.

We often assume that one is filled with the Spirit of God just by association rather than looking for evidence of Christ in them.  One of the traits we will have is a continual need to ‘stir one another up unto good works’ – Heb 10:24-25, and we will be drawn to fellowship not because it is what is expected but because Who is in us calls us together!

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 2 Cor 13:5