We come to God as sinners. We accept Jesus as our savior and repent. We are baptized and receive the gift of the holy spirit (Acts 2:38). The holy spirit is God’s spirit, almost like a little piece of God that we get, which allows us to start seeing the world through His eyes and start to live righteous (sinless) lives.
God’s spirit is a gift we receive when we become believers. We are newborns in Christ then (1 Corinthians 3:1-5). As we seek God’s truth in His word, choose God’s way, and trust God and His will more and more, our faith increases and we begin to mature spiritually. Figuratively or literally, His spirit grows larger in us. We become more of God (spirit) and less of who we were (flesh). The more we allow God to grow in us, the more powerful He is in our lives. We will see miracles in our lives, for example, that we would otherwise miss; these come through faith. When we don’t believe that God can do something, he won’t (James 1:6-7). We limit ourselves. God wants us to be confident in Him and His power, and in His love for us; meaning that we know that He not only can do these things, but also that He wants to do these things for us (Matthew 7:11).
Likewise, the Father’s spirit was in Jesus while he was here on Earth, just like His spirit is in those who have been baptized in His name today. The difference is that God was able to be in Jesus fully (Colossians 2:9) because Jesus had been with God before he came to Earth (John 17:5), and no one knows the Father like the Son does. They have an intimate relationship, as the Son is described as being in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18) and sharing in His glory (John 17:1). Because of this deep connection that Jesus had with God before he came to Earth, he was able to have the kind of faith it takes to move mountains while he was on Earth. The Bible tells us that Jesus and his disciples were able to perform many miracles due to their faith. And when his disciples struggled with performing miracles, Jesus said the reason was that they lacked faith: “So Jesus said to them… for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matthew 17:20). If those who walked with Jesus lacked faith, how much more do we? Due to our lack of faith (and sinful nature) God cannot dwell in us fully like He did in Jesus. Jesus came from the father (and was sinless), and therefore God was able to dwell in Jesus fully and do amazing works through him. “You men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man pointed out to you by God by mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you” (Acts 2:22). God could live in us fully, too, if we were capable of the kind of faith that Jesus had, being the son of God. We, of course, are not capable of that level of faith. Nonetheless, the more faith we have and the closer we walk with God (following His commands, forming a relationship with Him through prayer, doing His will, trusting Him in all areas of our lives, etc.), the more He grows in us and we see His presence in our lives. He starts to use us to do His work and answers prayers (performs miracles) that may seem impossible to those who don’t know Him well. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” – John 14:12.
