That is not a beautiful word. It means that the corruption of sin has extended to all aspects of our nature, including our entire being. Because of that corruption there is nothing man can do to merit or influence in any way a saving relationship with a holy God.
The fallen person’s relation to a holy God has been radically affected. Because of the effects of the fall, man’s original relationship with God was broken and our entire nature was polluted. As a result of the Fall of man, no individual can do anything, even religious things, that will merit salvation, or eternal life, in God’s sight. There is nothing an individual can do to influence in a positive way a right relationship with God. No action that man does, no matter how good or religious can gain favor with God for salvation.
What was affected by the Fall? The mind (Rom. 1:28; Eph. 4:18), the conscience (Heb. 9:14), the heart or inner being were all corrupted spiritually (Jer. 17:9; Mk. 7:20-23).
We see the depravity of mankind most clearly in the rejection of Jesus Christ in John 1:11. “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
Spiritual depravity is demonstrated by the willfulness and spiritual blindness of everyone apart from the grace of God. The cross of Jesus Christ is the response of fallen man to the goodness of God (1 Cor. 2:14).
How far did man fall? The Bible tells us that when man fell into sin he fell all the way to the bottom and there he lies hopelessly lost, blind and spiritually dead, unable to help himself until God reaches down by grace, lifts him up and gives him spiritual life through the new birth (Rom. 3:9-18).
Left to ourselves we are not the least bit righteous. Sinful man has no ability to save himself (Jn. 1:13). We are corrupted by sin and in rebellion against God.
The apostle Paul tells us how our sinfulness affects a holy God. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). The wrath is revealed against us because we are without excuse (vv. 18-32; cf.1:18; 2:5, 8; 3:5; 4:15; 5:9; 9:22; 12:19; 13:4-5).
The reality and terror of the wrath of God is emphasized in both the Old and New Testaments.
The Bible places emphasis on the wrath of God as a strong and settled opposition to all that is evil. This holiness comes from God’s very nature. He is a holy and righteous God.
The wrath of God is that in His character that is in absolute opposition to all that contradicts His holiness.
God does not flare up with red hot anger as human beings do, but His wrath is described in the Bible as a firm, fearful, hatred of all wickedness that builds up and will one day result in eternal condemnation of all who reject His grace and mercy provided through the atoning death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Robert Haldane said, “The wrath of God was revealed when the sentence of death was first pronounced, the earth cursed and man driven out of the earthly paradise, . . but especially by the reign of death throughout the world. It was proclaimed by the curse of the law on every transgression and was intimated in the institution of sacrifice and in all the services of the Mosaic dispensation. . . . The whole creation has become subject to vanity and groans and travails together in pain. . . But above all, the wrath of God was revealed from heaven when the Son of God came down to manifest the divine character, and when that wrath was displayed in His sufferings and death in a manner more awful than by all the tokens God has before given to His displeasure against sin.”
Biblical Christianity is God reaching down to save perishing sinners, not men and women reaching out to Him. Jesus Christ died for those who deserve God’s wrath. His death is fully adequate to cover all our sins and depravity and to reconcile us to God (1 John 1:6-9; Rom. 3:21-26; 5:12-21).
Jesus Christ is our only hope. Be sure and read the label. There is a day coming when men are warned to flee the wrath of God (2 Thess. 1:6-10; 2:11-12; Heb. 10:29-31). The coming of Jesus Christ a second time will be suddenly and unexpectedly. Some will meet Him as their Judge and other as their Savior.
If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life I pray that you will right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved today from the wrath of God for all eternity.
The Christian's glorification describes their ultimate and complete conformity to the image of Christ Jesus.
It is the final link in the great golden chain of salvation and it is so certain that it is going to happen that the apostle Paul refers to it as having already happened (Romans 8:30).
Another great promise is given to us in Philippians 1:6. “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
God makes us like His Son. To be glorified is another way of saying the believer will be "conformed" to the character of Christ which is God’s ultimate purpose for the Christian. No longer will the Christian "fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
God’s great plan of salvation reaches from eternity past to eternity future, and He will accomplish it perfectly. God’s plan is going to succeed. There is always the now and the yet to be in regard to our salvation. We are saved and we will be saved. We are justified and one day we will be glorified. The apostle Paul speaks of a reality that has come and the promise that it is to come.
The apostle Paul was absolutely certain that one day every believer in Jesus Christ would be completely like Christ in character. That great fact should influence the choices we make and our behavior every day. There is no greater encourage for daily living than the fact that we already share the glory of God. Moreover, there is an eternal weight of glory accompanying the believer when he gets to heaven. The more suffering here, the more glory there.
In the great golden chain of salvation, not a single person is lost. Called, justified, glorified. Our glorification is so certain that in God’s eyes it is as good as done.
The election, effectual calling and justification have already taken place in the believer's experience, but the glorification is yet to take place in the future.
However, the apostle Paul speaks of it as having already taken place. Bible scholars have asked why then, does Paul use the same past tense when he speaks of glorification as he does for the other acts of God? Many scholars suggest Paul is using the Hebrew idea of the "prophetic past" by which a predicted event is marked out as so certain of fulfillment that it is described as though it had already taken place. The Christian has not yet been glorified because it is yet in the future, but their glory is so sure in the eternal purposes of God that Paul can say, "them He also glorified."
J. B. Phillips says, God “lifted them to the splendor of life as His own sons.”
What a wondrous thought that God cares so much about His children that He allows us to participate even now as we will more fully when the great consummation comes (1 John 3:1-2).
We share the glory of God, the blessed hope of Christ’s return. Therefore, nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Since God is for us, all things work together for our good and His glory. The eternal purpose of God is constantly moving toward the fulfilment of that one goal (Rom. 8:17-23, 30; Col. 3:4; 1 Pet. 4:13; 1 Cor. 15:49; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2)
The conformity of the believer to Christ comprises the transformation of the body of our humiliation to the likeness of the body of Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21). Paul has in mind the conformity to the image of the incarnate Son as glorified by His exaltation. However, keep in mind the glorified Christ does not cease to be the eternal Son and it is the eternal Son who is the glorified incarnate Son.
Christ is preeminent among many brethren. He is the "firstborn" among many brethren. Christ is not ashamed to call us his brethren. "For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters" (Hebrews 2:11, The NET Bible).
The glorification of the Christian has no meaning without the manifestation of Christ’s glory. Our glorification is bound up with the coming of Christ in His glory. And then we shall be like Him.
The Bible teaches us that it is certain that one day we will be with Jesus Christ and completely like Him. We will not become God like the cults teach, but we will be like Christ in His communicable attributes of love, joy, peace, patience, mercy, wisdom, faithfulness, grace, goodness, self-control, etc. Are you becoming like Him today?
"Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1, The NET Bible). That is the best preparation for our coming glorification.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We see here in 1 Timothy 6:12 that the Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to
"Fight the good fight of faith." But Paul appears to also have been writing
to himself because he says later in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." Paul encouraged
others and exemplified in himself what we find in Luke 8:15 when Christ explains
the parable of the seed sown on the good soil. He says, "And the seed in
the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and
good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." This is
the Christian fight. It is to hold the truth fast with perseverance. It is
to endure to the end in the inward life of the soul.
Perseverance is a difficult work in the Christian life. It really is a fight
and it is unattainable without a great effort. Perseverance implies victory
over sin and this can only be accomplished in and through Christ. In the
end, only Christ is victorious over sin and we, through His redemption and
shed blood applied to our lives, only experience victory over sin through
His atonement. Think how often Scripture talks about the difficulty of attaining
eternal life. We are told to enter by the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13). We
are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
Our Christian life is compared to a race (1 Corinthians 9:24) and, in the
verse we started with, a fight.
Living the Christian life is a fight. Notice, however, that Paul calls it
a "good fight." This is because the Christian fight is not a fight about
power, money, honor, or anything else that is tied to this world. Rather,
the Christian fight is a good fight because it is a fight for holiness. Our
fight is centered and grounded in the gospel of salvation. Our faith is
strengthened by the internal workings of the Holy Spirit but is practically
grounded in the Word of God. It is in God's Holy Word that we learn of the
gospel. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the faith to have faith in the
gospel, but we know of this gospel through God's Word. Christ's Righteousness
is therefore imputed to us. It is a work done to us and in many respects
we are passive agents in the work. But it does not stop there. This is where
our good fight begins. This is where it all starts. And our fight against
sin is waged in response to the grace of Christ which has been granted to
us.
We do have enemies in this good fight. One is an attachment to the world.
I hope here to give you maybe a new way to think about worldliness. To be
attached to the world is simply to obey the world rather than Christ.
Heavenlymindedness is a neat word, but the concept of the antithesis of
heavenlymindedness might even be more powerful. We ought to think that being
obedient to the world is to be the world's slave. To obey the world is to
seek to serve, fear, and agree to the world. It is quite contrary to fighting
the good fight.
As Christians we really have a choice it seems. We are admonished in 1 Timothy
6:12 to "Fight the good fight." There are times in life when it is good to
walk away from a fight, but not in living the Christian life. We must press
on in the Christian fight.
A long time ago an Indian shared a poem with a Christian missionary. It was
thus:
"Go on, go on, go on, go on,
Go on, go on, go on,
Go on, go on, go on, go on,
Go on, go on, go on."
Go on is exactly what we must do in our Christian practice of fighting the
good fi
Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength.” The above is only the first part of the verse, but there is enough here for meditation upon. This is because, in ourselves, what we have is weakness. It is all we know. How encouraging it is when we get a sight of God's perfect strength. We have trials, and they are real, but God gives us His strength which is greater than the greatest obstacles we encounter. In our deepest struggles, let us say with the Psalmist, “The Lord is my strength.”
This is a verse that should be very personal to the follower of Christ. The Lord is his or her strength. What happens if we take the personal out of the promise? The Lord is a strength. Certainly, this a true statement, but so what? If the Lord is a strength, but not to me, it is at best a neutral consideration, and possibly something that could work against us. What good is it, if the Lord is the strength of my co-worker or neighbor, if He be not my strength? It would be of little use. However, that is not what we find here. The Lord is my strength. It is a precious promise to those who follow the Lord.
Notice also that our comfort is not in anything that we have been given. We are not here admonished to look anywhere but to the Lord. God gives us many graces in Christ. His providence usward is beyond our grasp. We know that He ever cares for us and loves us as His children. We do not trust in all the mercies we have received at the hand of the Lord. We do not look at all the things He has blessed us with, to find our strength. We look to the Lord Himself. He, Himself, is our strength. It is not the Lord's faithfulness to us that is our strength, yet it is His faithfulness to us that is a manifestation of how He is our strength. The Lord is our strength. We look to Him. We trust in Him (Psalm 2:12, 4:5, 5:11, 7:1, 9:10 - only scratches the surface of those passages that admonish us to trust the Lord.).
The man or woman who can say that the Lord is their strength is rich beyond riches. You may not have much pocket change, but you have possession of real, lasting riches. You have the Lord, if He is your strength. You might own estates, gold beyond viewing, pennies beyond counting, but it is the one who has the Lord as their strength that is rich. Jesus tells us a parable (Luke 12:16-21) about one who was rich in things but not rich towards God. What do we learn? We learn that, in truth, the so-called rich man had nothing, because he was not rich toward God. If the Lord is your strength, you have lasting riches. When the Lord is our strength, Heaven is ours, forgiveness of sin is ours, peace of conscience is ours, Christ is ours!
Christian how strong you are when the Lord is your strength. You may be weak yourself, and you might as well come to terms with it. In ourselves, we are weak. To be weak is our condition, but have you ever considered that to know that we are weak is a sign of God's grace? We are weak by nature, but to know we are weak, to have come to understand that we are weak is a work of grace. Our natural inclination is to think we are strong, but when we know our weakness, and that our strength is in the Lord - this is grace. How powerful is God's strength? Can it be determined? I submit that it cannot. There is nothing which the Lord cannot do. Think just of God's actions in Joshua 10. In response to the prayer of Joshua, the Lord extended the day, and the sun did not set until all the Israelites desired to do was accomplished. How much strength is all strength? He made the heavens and the Earth. How much strength is that?
In the days that we struggle, in those times when we feel despondent - in all our cares, desires, worries, frettings, and agonizing - let us latch onto the Lord as our only strength. He alone can sustain us through the battle. He alone is a strength sufficient for all our needs. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God and dwells inside every Christian. Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ The Spirit gives the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and insight. The holy spirit is given by the Holy Father and it reveals the things of God, the things of Christ, future and Directs in the way of godliness and into all truth.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 1 John 4:2
But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 1 John 4:3
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1 John 4:6
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7
Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy Revelation 19:10
They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. Revelation 16:14
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:22
Which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. Ephesians 3:5
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6:17
Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:8
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline 2 Timothy 1:7
He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will Hebrews 2:4
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart Hebrews 4:12
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God. Hebrews 9:14
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 1 Peter 3:4
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you 1 Peter 4:14
For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. 1 Peter 4:6
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father. Galatians 4:6
Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Galatians 3:5
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2 Corinthians 7:1
Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:5
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts 2 Corinthians 3:3
For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:2
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:3
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1 Corinthians 6:19
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us 1 Corinthians 2:12
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned 1 Corinthians 2:14
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11
But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God 1 Corinthians 2:10
I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Romans 15:30
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit? Romans 15:13
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. Romans 15:5
But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Matthew 12:28
Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." Mark 3:11
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit John 3:5
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit John 3:34
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:31
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him Acts 5:32
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:38
God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. Acts 15:8
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Romans 8:16
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. Romans 8:27
God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day Romans 11:8
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life Job 33:4
They would not be like their forefathers? a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him Psalm 78:8
And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it Ecclesiastes 12:7
The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit? a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God. Isaiah 54:6
The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me Ezekiel 11:24
I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. Daniel 5:14
Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD. Hosea 5:4
Of my people. They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God. Hosea 4:12
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. Malachi 2:15
I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. Malachi 2:16
And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts Exodus 31:3
'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:31
God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. Judges 9:23
The Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. 1 Samuel 19:20
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God and dwells inside every Christian. Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ The Spirit gives the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and insight. The holy spirit is given by the Holy Father and it reveals the things of God, the things of Christ, future and Directs in the way of godliness and into all truth.
It is a dirty word in our day. We are all like little children; no one wants to obey anyone else. The words “obedience” and “submission” are a constant reminder of our indwelling sin. But whether we like them or not, they get to the heart of our problem of living a holy life.
Jesus said, “If you love Me you will obey Me.” It is our responsibility to obey Him. We cannot obey Him unless we submit to His sovereignty. There can be no holiness in our lives if we do not obey Him. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him,” said Jesus in John 14:21.
Obedience is the road to holiness.
Over the years we have developed habitual patterns of disobedience. We have patterns of sin in our lives. Am I willing to give up these habits that keep me from being all that God wants me to be?
Every time we sin we make it easier to keep on sinning. We reinforce these patterns, or habits, until we make a commitment to make a new habit not to sin. Have you made it your aim, goal, passion, not to sin? Have you made it a commitment to live a holy life?
The only way to break old habits is to make a commitment to start forming new ones. God cannot do that for us. It is our responsibility.
In Romans 8:13 the apostle Paul brought out the contrast between a habitually dominated pattern of living according to the flesh, and an obligation to habitually, under the power of the Holy Spirit, be “putting to death the deeds of the body.”
The responsibility of the Christian is to yield to and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in putting to death or destroying the strength and vitality of sin as it tries to reign in our bodies.
The old venerable theologian John Owen observed, “Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness is the soul and substance of all false religion.” In fact, it is a pretty good description of legalism.
The only way we can put to death sin in our lives is by submission to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our inner being.
It is our responsibility to obey Him. “The Spirit alone is sufficient for this work,” said Owen. “He is the One who gives life and strength to our efforts.”
How do we break these old habits of sin? How do we destroy the powerful grip of sin?
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). It is in the heart that the changes must take place. “The heart is the center of the inner life of the person where all the spiritual forces and functions have their origin”
That is where the commitment to an obedient life must begin. If I love the Lord God I will obey Him. I will seek to please Him if I have settled the love of my life.
The world system seeks to squeeze us into its mold by the constant bombardment of temptations to indulge in our sinful nature.
Have you made a once-and-for-all commitment to the Lord to live a life that is pleasing to Him? That is where every true born again Christian must begin. “Lord Jesus I give you my life. I thank you for dying for me on the cross and giving me eternal life. I thank you for forgiving me of all my sins, and cleansing me in your precious blood. I thank you for the indwelling presence of Your Spirit. Lord, I give myself to You and I ask that You enable me to live a holy life.” Make a personal commitment to Christ today.
Commit every day to the Lord. Begin your day with a renewed commitment to live God’s kind of life. “Lord, I want to please You today in everything I do. I give You this day, come and live Your life in and through me.”
Keep your heart sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Spend some time in God’s Word so you will know what God’s will is for the Christian. Living the Christian life will not come automatically. It is your responsibility to love and obey your Master.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . .” (Ephesians 3:17).
A man asked , “Do you feel you are adequately experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit?” That is a probing question every Christian should pause and consider.
I firmly believe that every born again believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but not every believer is yielded to His control. Our experience of His divine presence depends upon our yielding to Him moment by moment. If the Holy Spirit is to have a larger part of our lives we must make a deliberate choice and allow Him to take control.
The Spirit wants to fill our lives so that Christ may settle down and make Himself feel completely at home as a permanent resident in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). Our prayer should be that Christ would settle down, even now, in our hearts and take control as the rightful owner.
Imagine what it would be like to experience the “fullness of God” (v. 19). Paul was praying that we may be filled up to or unto all the fullness that is in God Himself. That will not take place until we stand complete and perfect in the likeness of Christ at His coming, but it can be our prayer and vision now. Paul was praying that we would be filled and filled and filled and filled forever, as God out of His infinite resources increasingly pours Himself into His redeemed people.
David Brainerd wrote in his diary April 21, 1742, “O My sweet Savior! Who have I but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” Then he added, “If I had a thousand lives, my soul would gladly have laid them all down at once, to have been with Christ. My soul never enjoyed so much of heaven before; it was the most refined and most spiritual season of communion with God I ever yet felt.”
Oh, for a mature, intimate love relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit always points us to Him and in that a felt presence and power that is wholly beyond man.
It is from that inner resource of “the riches of His glory” that we are “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts and through faith. . .” (3:16-17).
The filling and control of our lives by the Holy Spirit is not automatic. We are baptized once when we believed on Christ as our savior, but filled many times. It is a deliberate choice we make each day. This empowering presence of the Holy Spirit within us enables us to live an abundant spiritual life.
“Do you feel you are adequately experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit?” Why did you respond that way?
When He is in control, our minds are set on the things above (Rom. 8:5).
Do you have a richer, fuller desire to know the Lord Jesus Christ and fellowship with Him? That is the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
Who is in control of your life? Have you made a conscious deliberate choice to let the Holy Spirit be in charge of your life? Is He a dynamic, shaping, controlling presence in your life today? How can He become an ever-present reality in your daily life?
Will you make a conscious decision to let Jesus Christ rule your life from this day onward? From that moment on begin each day with a solemn commitment to let Him take control of your life through out the day.
“Lord Jesus I give this day to you. I make myself available to you to live Your life in and through me. Take these hands and feet, this tongue and these eyes, and let them express a heart full of Thee. Here, come live in and through me this day. I yield myself to You.”
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