One of the most serious errors in the minds of many people concerning the Holy Spirit is that He is simply a principle or influence. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit is as much a person (individual existence of a conscious being) as the Father and the Son:
a. The personality of the Holy Spirit; The Bible speaks of the mind (Rom. 8:27) and will (1 cor.12:11) of the Holy Spirit. He is often described as speaking directly to men in the Book of Acts. During Paul's second missionary journey, the apostle was forbidden by the Spirit to visit a certain mission field (Acts 16:6,7) and then instructed to proceed toward another field of service (Acts 16:10). It was God's Spirit who spoke directly to Christian leaders in the Antioch church, commanding them to send Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:2).
b. The Deity of the Holy Spirit; He is not only a real Person, but He is also God. As is God the Father, He too is everywhere at once (Ps. 139:7). As the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son. This is seen during the baptism of Christ (Math. 28:19,20).
There are also three wonderful works performed by the Holy Spirit in preparing unsaved people to become Christians:
a. The work of the Holy Spirit restrains; Satan would enjoy nothing more than to destroy people before they make their decision to accept Christ as Savior. But the Holy Spirit prevents this from occurring (Is. 59:19).
b. The work of the Holy Spirit convicts; Humankind's sin and righteousness are exposed by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). There are two well-known examples of sinners being convicted by the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. Felix, a Roman governor, actually trembles under conviction as he hears Paul preach (Acts 26:28). The other case involves King Agrippa who responds to a gospel message by saying: "You almost persuade me to become a Christian" (Acts26:28).
c. The work of the Holy Spirit regenerates; When repenting sinners accept Christ as Savior, they are given a new nature by the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus carefully explained this ministry of the Holy Spirit to Nicodemus (John 3:3-7).
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Serving
God intended that the Christian life should be dynamic, not static. We should sit under the teaching of the Word of God, understand and apply it's meaning and implications, and serve God and our fellow believers. The spirit of God has given us spiritual gifts, but those are worthless unless they are put to use in the service of God and his church.
Paul often uses the figure of the human body to show the dependence of the members of the body upon one another and the importance of each member serving the other (Rom. 12:4,5; 1 Cor. 12: 12-31). While some members of the body have prominent places of service than others, all are equally important. The worst thing that can happen to the human body is for one of it's members to become nonfunctioning. Paralysis, sickness, deterioration, and sometimes death occur when a body member ceases to serve the other members of the body in the particular way that God intended.
To maintain strength, health, and vitality, every member of the body must function and serve all the other members of the body. This is also true of the spiritual or new life. We will grow in the new life, become strong, and maintain good spiritual health as we use the talents and abilities that God has given us to meet the needs of the other members of the body.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Cor. 9:8). There is no better indicator of growth in Christ than in the area of giving of one self. The attitude one should have in giving-it should be cheerful. When giving is cheerful, it will also be generous.
Paul often uses the figure of the human body to show the dependence of the members of the body upon one another and the importance of each member serving the other (Rom. 12:4,5; 1 Cor. 12: 12-31). While some members of the body have prominent places of service than others, all are equally important. The worst thing that can happen to the human body is for one of it's members to become nonfunctioning. Paralysis, sickness, deterioration, and sometimes death occur when a body member ceases to serve the other members of the body in the particular way that God intended.
To maintain strength, health, and vitality, every member of the body must function and serve all the other members of the body. This is also true of the spiritual or new life. We will grow in the new life, become strong, and maintain good spiritual health as we use the talents and abilities that God has given us to meet the needs of the other members of the body.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Cor. 9:8). There is no better indicator of growth in Christ than in the area of giving of one self. The attitude one should have in giving-it should be cheerful. When giving is cheerful, it will also be generous.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sharing our faith
Sharing our faith is a combination of spontaneous conversation about God and about premeditated ideas about the gospel. The following is a set of practical steps to take in witnessing for Christ.
a. Regularly talk about God. Sprinkle your ordinary conversation with occasional references to God's activity in your life. It is much easier to share your faith when your friends know God is an important part of your affairs.
b. Prepare your testimony. Learn to describe your pre-Christian life, your encounter with Christ, and the order of changes in your life in less then 5 minutes. If you became a Christian as a child, focus on the impact Christ has had on your adult life.
c. Learn a brief summary of the gospel. If you have never learned how to present the gospel, ask a friend who you consider to be mature in the Lord, a good witness and experienced in sharing his or her faith. I remember years ago when working for Juvenile probation, I was assigned by my supervisor to be trained by three seasoned co-workers separately, when I first began. Each gentleman had a gift and talent for working with juveniles and getting the job done. I borrowed what they had and applied them as my own, after a while my own style was formed though practice.
When you have opportunity to share Christ with someone, be sensitive to that person's spiritual readiness. Go as far as you can in moving forward with talking about the Lord, telling your story of faith, presenting the gospel, and attracting a commitment of faith in Christ. Often you will sense that your friend or whoever is listening at the time has heard all he or she wants to. When you stop, be sure to mention that "maybe we can continue this conversation about the Lord another time". Try to keep the subject open.
Try to share your faith as much as possible till it becomes second nature to you. Practice, practice, practice. The apostle Paul shows us how this should be done. He witnesses everywhere, in a prison at midnight (Acts 16:25-31), and even on a sinking ship during a dark and stormy day (Acts 27:20-25).
a. Regularly talk about God. Sprinkle your ordinary conversation with occasional references to God's activity in your life. It is much easier to share your faith when your friends know God is an important part of your affairs.
b. Prepare your testimony. Learn to describe your pre-Christian life, your encounter with Christ, and the order of changes in your life in less then 5 minutes. If you became a Christian as a child, focus on the impact Christ has had on your adult life.
c. Learn a brief summary of the gospel. If you have never learned how to present the gospel, ask a friend who you consider to be mature in the Lord, a good witness and experienced in sharing his or her faith. I remember years ago when working for Juvenile probation, I was assigned by my supervisor to be trained by three seasoned co-workers separately, when I first began. Each gentleman had a gift and talent for working with juveniles and getting the job done. I borrowed what they had and applied them as my own, after a while my own style was formed though practice.
When you have opportunity to share Christ with someone, be sensitive to that person's spiritual readiness. Go as far as you can in moving forward with talking about the Lord, telling your story of faith, presenting the gospel, and attracting a commitment of faith in Christ. Often you will sense that your friend or whoever is listening at the time has heard all he or she wants to. When you stop, be sure to mention that "maybe we can continue this conversation about the Lord another time". Try to keep the subject open.
Try to share your faith as much as possible till it becomes second nature to you. Practice, practice, practice. The apostle Paul shows us how this should be done. He witnesses everywhere, in a prison at midnight (Acts 16:25-31), and even on a sinking ship during a dark and stormy day (Acts 27:20-25).
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Empowered by God and walking in the Spirit
One of the most common excuses for not becoming a Christian is the fear of failure to live the Christian life. Besides overlooking the fact that people cannot be saved on the basis of good works (Titus 3:5), this objection ignores the truth that God provides the power to live the Christian life. Before Christ was crucified He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to help believers (John 16:13,14). The order of events of the Book of Acts supply ample evidence of the fulfillment of this prophecy (Acts 4:7, 33;6,8).
The power of the Holy Spirit was not designed soley for the first-century church. Rather, all Christians are indwelt by the Spirit and thus have His power available (1 cor. 6:19). However, living the Christian life under the Spirits power must not be thought of as simply allowing the Spirit to take control while the believer does nothing. Believers still must live the Christian life, though they do it through the Spirits power. Rom. 8:13 says, "if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live".
Christians who struggle in their own strength to live the Christian life will fail. We must by faith appropriate daily the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4,5). To describe in a practical way, this means that believers trust the Holy Spirit to empower them in specific instances such as sharing their faith with others, resisting temptation, being faithful, and so on. There is no secret formula that makes the Holy Spirit's power available. It is simply a reliance on the Spirit of God to help.
Often the Christian will doubt his/her salvation simply because he/she does not feel saved, not understanding that the basis for that salvation is the promise of God and not emotional feelings. In fact, the entire Trinity is involved in this.
To be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit and is therefore crucial to successfully living the Christian life. How can someone be filled with Spirit? Unlike the indwelling of the Spirit, filling is a repeated experience. Christians who were filled more than once (Acts 2:4; 4:31). Just as important, we must observe that filling is a command to be obeyed not an option.
How can someone be filled with Spirit? Prior conditions are simply confession of sin and yielding to God. The believer who chooses to obey in these areas is filled with the Spirit and enabled to manifest Christ-like character. This obedience may be accompanied by prayer but is not necessarily so.
The certainty of being filled with the Spirit may be confirmed by the believer's faith and life. The believer must of course, believe God's Word that meeting the conditions will result in the filling. The Spirit-filled person will exhibit the Christ-like character described in (Gal. 5:22, 23) as the fruit of the Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit was not designed soley for the first-century church. Rather, all Christians are indwelt by the Spirit and thus have His power available (1 cor. 6:19). However, living the Christian life under the Spirits power must not be thought of as simply allowing the Spirit to take control while the believer does nothing. Believers still must live the Christian life, though they do it through the Spirits power. Rom. 8:13 says, "if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live".
Christians who struggle in their own strength to live the Christian life will fail. We must by faith appropriate daily the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4,5). To describe in a practical way, this means that believers trust the Holy Spirit to empower them in specific instances such as sharing their faith with others, resisting temptation, being faithful, and so on. There is no secret formula that makes the Holy Spirit's power available. It is simply a reliance on the Spirit of God to help.
Often the Christian will doubt his/her salvation simply because he/she does not feel saved, not understanding that the basis for that salvation is the promise of God and not emotional feelings. In fact, the entire Trinity is involved in this.
To be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit and is therefore crucial to successfully living the Christian life. How can someone be filled with Spirit? Unlike the indwelling of the Spirit, filling is a repeated experience. Christians who were filled more than once (Acts 2:4; 4:31). Just as important, we must observe that filling is a command to be obeyed not an option.
How can someone be filled with Spirit? Prior conditions are simply confession of sin and yielding to God. The believer who chooses to obey in these areas is filled with the Spirit and enabled to manifest Christ-like character. This obedience may be accompanied by prayer but is not necessarily so.
The certainty of being filled with the Spirit may be confirmed by the believer's faith and life. The believer must of course, believe God's Word that meeting the conditions will result in the filling. The Spirit-filled person will exhibit the Christ-like character described in (Gal. 5:22, 23) as the fruit of the Spirit.
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