Who is the one who has the Son of God, and who is the one who does not have the Son of God? The one who has the Son of God is he who truly believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The one who does not have the Son of God is he who either does not believe in the Son of God at all, or does not have true and living faith.
True faith, expressed in the fulfillment of God's commandments, unites one with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It makes the Lord Jesus dwell in us, or, by His boundless condescension, we are as it were clothed in Him. Jesus Christ says: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (Jn 14:21). Likewise: "If a man loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him" (Jn 14:23).
The Apostle Paul writes: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal 3:27). Both the indwelling of the Lord in those who love Him and being clothed in the Lord signify the gracious communion of believers with the Lord. "The Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom 8:9).
He who has the Son of God has life, but he who does not have the Son does not have life. What does it mean to have life and not to have life? Jesus Christ says: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (Jn 3:36). The Theologian said: "This life is in His Son" (1 Jn 5:11).
When man is separated from God, he is dead in spirit. Through faith in Jesus Christ he comes alive again in spirit. He is reborn into spiritual and gracious life by the power of the Spirit of Christ, and becomes an heir of eternal life in heaven.
The Apostle Paul unfolds this teaching when he says: "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. He raised us up with Him and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:4-6, 8).
But he who does not believe in Jesus Christ does not have the life of grace. The grace of the Spirit of Christ does not overshadow him, because through unbelief he withdraws from Christ the Savior. Apart from Jesus Christ there is no other Mediator or Intercessor through whom salvation may be received. "There is salvation in no one else," the Apostle Peter teaches, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11-12).
This life is called gracious because it is acquired not by man's merits or works, but through faith in Jesus Christ, according to His merits and the boundless goodness of God. This life is called spiritual because the Spirit of Christ dwells in the believer. He regenerates and renews the believer's spiritual nature and guides him, as the Apostle teaches: "If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Rom 8:13-14).
The Apostle depicts this life in Jesus Christ in the words: "The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17). The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the image of the regenerated man who lives the life of grace, of whom Jesus Christ says: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me" (Jn 14:21).
Truth, or righteousness, is the keeping of God's commandments. Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are the fruit of the Holy Spirit acting in the regenerated man, and the gracious reward for keeping God's commandments. Elsewhere the same Apostle unfolds in greater detail the inward state of the man who lives in Christ. "The fruit of the Spirit," he says, "is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Gal 5:23-24), because they fulfill their duties in the spirit of love.
This life in Jesus Christ is called eternal, as the Apostle says: "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 Jn 5:11). Jesus Christ also says: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life" (Jn 3:36). "He who believes in Me has eternal life" (Jn 6:47). Likewise: "He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life" (Jn 6:54).
It is called eternal both because it leads to the eternal life of the age to come, and because it is the pledge of that future eternal life, its beginning and foretaste. Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit will not cease with the end of this present life, if a Christian remains faithful to Christ the Savior until the end. They will be exalted and changed into eternal joy and gladness, into eternal blessedness in the heavenly mansions prepared for those who love God and keep His commandments.
THEOSIS