"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then ... joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16,17).
Do we look to the law for righteousness, even after we have been brought to Christ? Where do we look? In the face of Jesus Christ. There "we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).
Then don't you see how the righteousness of God and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand? When we obtain the righteousness which is by faith of Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit cannot be kept away from us. The two belong together. Then He says we have a right to ask for the Holy Spirit.
He came "to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts" (Gal. 4:5, 6). He does not want to hold it back. He sends it into the heart. It is a free gift.
It is impossible to keep the righteousness of God and the Holy Spirit separate. So then, "transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord," when the image of God in Jesus Christ is found in us, what then? There is the impress, the seal of God.
By looking into the face of Jesus Christ and there alone, we receive the righteousness of God which is by faith in Him. The effect of looking into His glorious face is to change us into the same image, and restore it in us by the working of the Spirit of God upon the soul. And when that is done, then the same Spirit of God is there to affix the seal of the living God, the eternal impress of His own image. [1]
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