It is one thing to read about Jesus or Paul walking according to the Holy Spirit instead of according to the lure of the world’s systems, the flesh and/or the devil’s suggestions – like Adam succumbed to. And worse yet, we don’t start off as perfect humans like Adam and Jesus did. And to compound the problem, there are many misconceptions among believers on who the Holy Spirit actually is and why Jesus sends Him to live in our reborn spirit-self.
The purpose of this series is to address many of these questions and misconceptions so that each of us can become as comfortable and appreciative of Him as Jesus was. He isn’t here to be a judge or a policeman but as a wise counselor, guide, sanctifier and friend, supplying us with revelation knowledge, understanding and strength and, most of all, unselfish love – agape love – for Father-God and Jesus and for others. Jesus depended on Him all His earthly life and we can do the same as we learn to “walk according to the Holy Spirit” – instead of according to the many unprofitable alternatives that want to pull us in all directions. He lives in us to help us keep our eyes on Jesus! LR
Posted on January 7, 2016 by Paul Ellis // 55 Comments
Some Christians understand their union with the Lord but only half way.
“Sure, God is with us, but sometimes he isn’t. He comes and he goes.”
It’s true that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon certain people at certain times, but that was then and this is now.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit abides with us and makes his home with us (John 14:16–17).
By home he means home. You are not a motel room for the Lord. You are a walking, talking, living, breathing temple of the Holy Spirit. He is not going anywhere.
“Are you saying that the Holy Spirit is with me even when I sin?”
Yes! Christ’s love for you and his union with you is stronger than any sin.
Under the Mosaic covenant, sinning was your fast track to disunion. If the Jews sinned they risked being cut off from the people of God.
Jesus said if your hand or eye causes you to sin, get rid of it (Matt. 5:29–30). Why did Jesus preach self-amputation to those born under the law? Because under that covenant it made sense to talk about removing those parts of the body that might contaminate the whole.
Thank the Lord the Mosaic covenant is gone! We are not under law but grace, and this is good news for the members of the body of Christ.
When we sin, Jesus does not cut us off; we remain members of his body. This totally changes the way we look at sin. Under the Mosaic covenant, the Jews were restrained from sin through mortal terror. (Gentiles were never given the Mosaic Law by God. LR) But in the New Covenant, believers are now restrained by love.
Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! (1 Cor 6:15b)
Look at Paul’s warning about prostitutes. Behind the warning—don’t do it—there is a surprising and reassuring affirmation of union. Paul is saying it is possible, though not advisable, to unite the members of Christ’s body with prostitutes. ***
Do you see it?
Earthly marriages may break and fail, but your union with Christ is unbreakable.
Sin cannot break it.
Addiction cannot break it.
The stupidest decisions you might ever make cannot break it.
This should not be taken as a challenge to see what you can get away with but as a stunning declaration of Christ’s absolute commitment to love you and stick with you no matter what.
This is what changes us—not the weak influence of the rule, but the relentless and determined passion of his love for each of us.
The love of God is the greatest force in the universe. Sin wilts before it. When you encounter the undaunted and unending love of Christ, it changes you by a progressive renewal of you mind. You no longer want to sin. The passing pleasures of this world lose their appeal because you have found a love that is truer and better by far.
Extracted from The Gospel in Ten Words.
*** In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul declares “Everything is lawful for me but now everything is beneficial.” Later, in verse 17, Paul also states that “Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” The more you realize how dear and close you are to Father-God, in and through Jesus, you will have the desire and power from the Holy Spirit to resist the damaging cravings from the world system, the flesh and the devil – who is out to steal, kill and destroy the freedom blessings we have in Jesus. How? By making non-beneficial choices that are inconsistent with who we now are spiritually – God’s favored children.
life, that is, Jesus himself.