Right throughout the Old Testament, the Bible
reveals one major problem in man that God
continually came up against:
''The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond
cure . . . '' Jeremiah 17: 9.
In all his dealings with mankind, people would
inevitably rebel against God, and through Jeremiah
and many of the other prophets. God identified the
root cause of this as the heart of man - his nature
of sin. But God also gave a special promise that
would remedy the problem forever:
''I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees . .
. '' Ezekiel 36,:26-27.
God's Power Within
''I am going to send you what my Father has
promised; but stay in the city until you have been
clothed with power from on high'' Luke 24:49.
When the Holy Spirit was outpoured on the Church, He
fulfilled every detail of the Father's promise in
Ezekiel 36. The Spirit's infinite power was given to
the believer so that he could live a life pleasing
to God. This the Spirit does by:
1. Setting Us Free from Sin's Power
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me
free from the law of sin and death'' Romans 8:1-2.
2.He saved us through the washing of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out
on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
so that, having been justified by his grace, we
might become heirs having the hope of eternal life'
' Titus 3: 5-7 (see also 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2
Thessaloniahns 2:13).
3. Giving Us Instant Access to the Father
''For through him we both have access to the Father
by one Spirit" Ephesians 2:18 (see also Hebrews
4:16).
4. Empowering Us
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your
inner being . . . that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God . . . who is able
to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us''
Ephesians 3:16,19-20 (see also 1:19-20; Colossians
1:10-11; 2 Timothy 1:7).
Now, with the Holy Spirit living inside, the
believer has ALL power - out of the treasure house
of God's vast "riches'' - to live the way God
wants him to live (2 Corinthians 4:7). But there is
also something required of the believer to do: We
are encouraged to APPROPRIATE what the Holy Spirit
has given us.
''You were taught, with regard to your former way of
life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new
in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new
self, created to be like God IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS
AND HOLINESS" Ephesians 4:22-24 (see also
Romans 12:2).
Walking in the Spirit
''So l say, live by the Spirit and you will not
gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the
sinful nature desires what is contrary to the
Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the
sinful nature . . . '' Galatians 5:16-17.
We have been given the Holy Spirit, but He is only
released to do His work in our lives as we allow Him
to. We are not only to "receive the Holy
Spirit" (John 20:22), but are to ''walk in the
Spirit'' (Galatians 5:25, KJV) - to live under His
canopy and allow Him to have full infoluence over
our daily lives. This ''walk" in the Spirit is
also described as:
1.''If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk
in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the
truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every
sin'' 1 John 1 :6-7 (see also Ephesians 5:8-10).
2. Walking in Love
''Therefore be imitators of God . . . And walk in
love . . . as Christ loved us and gave Himself up
for us . . . " Ephesians 5: 1-2 (Amp).
3. Walking in Faith
"For we walk by faith . . . not by sight or
appearance'' 2 Corinthians 5:7 (Amp).
''Those who live according to the sinful nature have
their minds set on what that nature desires; but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have
their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind
of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled
by the Spirit is life and peace" Romans 8:5-6
(read also verses 7-8; Galatians 6:8).
The Holy Spirit works in the believer by prompting
and encouraging him toward the kind of life He wants
him to live (1 Thessalonians 2:12; 4:1-8). If we
respond, the Holy Spirit is released to do a work of
change in our lives, so that we grow to be more like
Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). If, however, a person
deliberately chooses to resist the Spirit's
promptings, he can, in successive stages, end up:
Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
Quenching the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Insulting the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:29).
God said in Genesis 6:3: "My Spirit will not
contend with man for ever . . . ", and if,
after continual pleading on the Holy Spirit's part,
a person still refuses Him, He will then ''give him
over'' to what he really wants (Romans 1:24,26,28; 1
Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20 - in the hope that
he will eventually ''come to hisb senses'' and
return to the Lord (read Luke 15:11-32; 2 Timothy
2:26).
''For the grace of God . . . teaches us to say 'No'
to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives . . . to
purify for himself a people that are his very own,
eager to do what is good'' Titus 2:11-12,14.
Life in the Spirit
The Holy Spirit birthed us into a new life in God,
and now it is the Spirit who helps us live that
life. As we live in Him we experience the "life
and peace'' (Romans 8:6) that we were created for,
and it is as we walk under his covering that the
fruits of the Spirit, as well as His gifts, begin to
operate. The secret to the Christian life is found
in the Holy Spirit, for He is:
" . . . able to keep you from falling and to
present you before his glorious presence with out
fault and with great joy . . . '' Jude 24.
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