Sanctification: the Process of Perfection - The Holy Spirit: How He Does It

Over the last several weeks…months really…we have been looking at the Christian doctrine of Sanctification. I subtitled this study “the process of perfection”. By this point, I hope that you have begun to understand the significance of this idea. Sanctification is both a position granted by God at the point of our Justification…and at the same time, it is the process whereby the Holy Spirit weeds out the effects of sin in our lives. John the Baptist hit the nail on the head when he said “I must decrease that He might increase”.

The last few posts have dealt with getting a more scriptural and true look at the Holy Spirit. He is the power that drives the engine of Sanctification. In other words, He is the Sanctifier. While examining the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we focused our efforts at answering 3 questions: WHO IS HE, WHAT DOES HE DO, and HOW DOES HE DO IT? The question, WHAT DOES HE DO, was answered by developing a basic definition of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. Without going back into the teaching, let us just state the definition we arrived at.

THE JOB OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: TO EXPRESS CHRIST JESUS TO YOU, AND THROUGH YOU.

That sounds simple enough, but this process requires a life time of effort by the Spirit. In other words, Sanctification will never be completed while we are living here on earth. Yes, we will find ourselves vastly changed and retooled as the process of perfection is manifested in us, but it ultimately takes death to complete the work. Still, you can rest assured that our story will end in grandeur and glory…as our earthly progression finally meets up with our eternal position. The point where our progressive sanctification meets our positional sanctification is a work of grace called Glorification. One day we shall be GLORIFIED.

Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

                                                                                                                                                1 John 3:2

How fabulous is that? One day we shall see him (Jesus) as he is…in that day “we shall be like him.” We cannot begin to imagine how great a change that will be. Physically whole and well….just like God intended from the beginning. Mentally appropriate and stable…just like God intended from the beginning. Emotionally loving and patient…just like Jesus. Spiritually complete and free from sin…just like Jesus. The glory of GLORIFICATION; that will be a site to see, and an experience to behold.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

                                                                                                                                              1 Cor 15: 52-54

Okay, very good then, the end result of the process of Sanctification will be a GLORIFIED YOU!! However, we are not glorified yet. We are still trudging through this process. And we still have one “Holy Spirit” question to answer….HOW DOES HE DO IT? How does the Holy Spirit do the job of expressing Christ Jesus to you and through you? How does He take our sin burdened hearts and lives and systematically change us? How does He direct our paths to those divine appointments that make the big differences? How does He introduce the Bible in such a way that it impresses our mind and our hearts? How does He convince us to look beyond our pride and selfishness and see that God’s way is the only way? How does He teach us to turn from attempting to please God by living the Law? How does He take us from being a baby, feeding on milk, to a discipled mature Christian, feasting on the meat of the Word? HOW DOES HE DO IT????

ANSWER-------I HAVE NO CLUE!!!

There, I’ve said it…I don’t know. And the truth is….neither do you. In fact, nobody knows how the Holy Spirit does what the Holy Spirit does. In some ways we know “why” He does it, but we can’t begin to verbalize “how” He does it. Therefore,  I want to make two points that are VASTLY important to your Sanctification process. The sooner you realize and apply these truths, the better off you will be, and the more effective the Holy Spirit will be in your life. Pay close attention here….here goes….

POINT NUMBER ONE – There is a GOD….and you ain’t HIM!! 

It is the height of arrogance to believe that a man can fix the heart of another man…We can’t even change our own hearts. This is why the modern day approach and philosophies of humanistic psychology and psychiatry are so asinine and off base…..THEY DON’T WORK BECAUSE THEY CANT WORK. Let me put it this way, if we could DO anything to fix ourselves….we would not have needed Calvary. Jesus would not have needed to come to earth to be tortured and executed. The reason we need a SAVIOR is because we could not save ourselves. Here’s what the Bible says…

I do not nullify the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, Christ died in vain.

                                                                                                                                Galatians 2:21

It seems silly to have to bear out this point, but in today’s Christian world it is necessary. The Church does a great job in teaching that salvation is a gift from God. We can do nothing to gain this wonderful gift, we can’t earn it, and we sure don’t deserve it. However, when it comes to Sanctification, we somehow determine that we have the ability to perform this act on our own…or at best, we need to
“assist” God...to do our part. For after all, God helps those that help themselves. The problem is that the Bible doesn’t teach these ideas at all. The truth is that we are just as dependent on God to perform our sanctification as we are our salvation. It is a job that the Holy Spirit and ONLY the Holy Spirit can perform. This leads me to point number two.

 POINT NUMBER TWO – You can’t do it…so give up and let GOD!!

Let me ask you a question: Where in the Bible are we commanded to fight against or defeat our sin? Don’t think too hard…it ain’t there. God would never command us to do something that we simply cannot perform. For some of you, this should be a HUGE relief. You can’t beat your sin…you can’t win on your own…so stop trying…give up!
Think about it, isn’t that what Jesus did? Didn’t He come to break the power of the sin nature and atone for the collective sins of the world?

I know your struggling with a sin issue…maybe several issues…we all are.  Addictions, anger, pride, lust, homosexuality, lying, and on and on....we ALL have besetting sins. While it is perfectly acceptable for you to recognize your sin issues, you were never intended to figure out a plan to overcome them. God doesn’t expect that from you. That’s His job.

I love the song that says:

Give up, let Jesus take over

Give up, let Jesus take over

Give up, let Jesus take over

And He’ll make a way for you

Very good then, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to do deal with your sin, to sanctify you and me.  Our job is to get out of His way; quit taking the job out of His hands, and let Him do what only He can do. Now that I’ve repeated myself over and over, I want to clarify one point. It’s not your job to fight sin…but you do have a job to perform…you do have a fight to fight. Paul commanded Timothy…

Fight the good fight of faith – 1 Timothy 6:12

We do have a battle ahead of us, a goal to strive for, and a fight to fight. However, it’s not the warfare we so often find ourselves fighting. Let the Bible explain the Bible…

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

                                                                                                                                                2 Cor 10: 3-4

Now, I want to pull out a very familiar passage, but I don’t want you to read it and do what most of us have been trained to do. Don’t read the following words and decide you are supposed to fight against the army of darkness. Read what it says…not what many preachers have tried to make it say. We have got to let the Bible say what the Bible says, not what we want it to say. Remember we are fighting the fight of faith, not like the world fights…it’s a fight that is “of the Spirit”. Now read the following…

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand, then stand.

                                                                                                            Ephesians 6: 11-13  

Now, what are we commanded to do here? Put on the Armor of God and then….stand. Stand still and pray (verse 18)…that’s it. You’re not commanded to beat up the devil or to defeat your sin issues or to war against the darkness. There are two reasons for this: Number one, YOU CANT WIN THESE FIGHTS. Number two, JESUS HAS ALREADY WON EVERY FIGHT YOU WILL FACE.

All we are called to do is fight to keep our FAITH centered on the fact that Jesus has already won the fight. Keep your faith centered on Christ. Let me summarize this again…

1.       You’re not God

2.       Give up trying

3.       Jesus has already won your battles on the cross

4.       Fight to keep your faith on His work…not your own

5.       When you do this, the Holy Spirit can work miracles in your life

Walk in the Spirit

It’s impossible to know how the Holy Spirit operates. That’s like asking a person to define God and give 3 examples. We may not be able to know “how He does it”, but we can rest in the fact that “He does it.” What we should be much more interested in is learning how to stay out of His way. Living in such a way that allows the Spirit to maximize His efforts, uninhibited by our meager attempts to fix what we cannot fix.

Kenneth Wuest said the following…

“…just as Jesus never saves a person until that person recognizes Him a Savior and by an act of his own free will puts his trust in Him, so the Holy Spirit is waiting for the Christian to recognize His ministry, and by an act of his free will trust Him to perform it.”

You and I need to pray for the wisdom it takes to surrender to the will of Holy Spirit. We need to learn how to recognize His ministry and allow Him to perform it. We have all heard the old cliché that God is a gentleman. He will not barge His way into our lives and take over. This is true of the Sanctifier also. If we should so choose to assume control of our lives, to war against our sin nature, to fend off the enemy; the Holy Spirit will step aside and allow it. He knows full well what the outcome will be, but He will graciously step aside…if that’s what we want.

The reason He is willing to do this is simple. Sooner or later, we are going to grow weary of struggling to roller skate uphill.  Sooner or later, we will realize we cannot win and we will give up trying, and let Him take over. This submission to His will is exactly what He’s waiting on. And it’s exactly what we need. It is the key to success in the Kingdom of God and the key to victory.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law                                                

                                                                                                   Galatians 5: 16-18

Paul pleads with us, “walk in the Spirit.” This does not mean…be spiritual. This is a command to walk in such a way that the Holy Spirit can be your power, your leader, your defender. Walk within the Holy Spirit. If we do this, an amazing promise is ours…”and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That’s powerful friend!

How do we “walk in the Spirit”? By fighting the good fight of faith. Keep your focus on Jesus and not on yourself. Give up trying and let God do what only God can do.

In conclusion, I want to share one more verse. Within this verse, we are given a hint on how we might
fight the good fight of faith.”

Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                                                                                                Romans 6:11

First of all, reckon yourself dead to sin. Reckon means to remember or recall….remind yourselves. At the cross of Calvary, Jesus destroyed the power of sin. You are dead to sin now…it has no power over you. Therefore, you do not have to live as its slave any longer….REMEMBER THIS!!! Secondly remind yourself that you are alive to God. Again, the Cross is the key. Because of the death of Jesus, you are now alive to God. Dead to sin, but alive to God. Dead to sin, but alive to God. If you remind yourselves of this daily, it will keep your faith in the right place…off of yourself, off of the world, and on Jesus Christ. This is how we win the fight of faith! Faith allowed God to save you, and faith will allow God to sanctify you. It is our faith in the finished work of Jesus that opens the flood gates of Grace in our lives.

Keep Seeking the Truth

DAVID

Sanctification: the Process of Perfection - The Holy Spirit: What He Does 2

Our previous installment in this study of the doctrine of sanctification dealt with a question that is extremely important to the day to day success of each and every Christian. This question is primary because it involves the basic, fundamental ministry of the Holy Spirit. The question is:

What does He do?

Most Christians can give a handful of answers that may or may not be an appropriate response. Some such answers might be:

·         He heals us when we are sick

·         He protects us from the enemy

·         He teaches us the Bible

·         He guides us in the path of right vs. wrong

·         He causes us to speak in tongues

·         He grows the fruit of the Spirit

·         He convicts us of sin

While all of these could be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit…as they are all scripturally based answers…this is not what we are referring to with the question; what does He do? For the purpose of this study, we are attempting to boil down the ministry of the Holy Spirit to its lowest common denominator. We desire to build a basic definition that will outline the true ministry of the Holy Spirit.  In regards to the bulleted list above, I contend that these answers are not examples of the ministry of the Holy Spirit at all. Instead, they are obvious effects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit is free to perform His “good work” in our lives, many of the items in the list above will be realized on a regular basis. In themselves, they are not His ministry…they are the results of His ministry.

In the last post, we looked at the inner workings of a verse from the great book of Galatians. One of the sweeping themes from Paul’s epistle is the idea that the way in which we position our lives in regards to the Holy Spirit determines how much liberty He can take in our lives. The activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian is that of sanctification. In other words, He is the Sanctifier. What most Christians don’t understand is that we can drastically alter the Holy Spirit’s ability to function in our lives. This is recognized in the Bible as “grieving or quenching the Spirit” (1Th 5:19, Eph 4:30). This can also be seen in the idea of “frustrating grace” (Gal 2:21). Or, in my opinion, in the concept of “falling from Grace” (Gal 5:4).

The verse we reviewed in the last post, Galatians 4:19, allows us a look under the hood of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We determined from Greek word study that one of the aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work is in “outwardly expressing Christ through you”. When the Spirit is free to perform His sanctifying work in the life of a believer, the characteristics, attitudes, and power of Jesus Christ are beamed out of that Christian into a dark world. However, as Paul points out, the inverse is also true. If the Spirit’s ministry is quenched in a believer’s life, then Christ cannot be expressed from that person. In this case, as it was with the Galatian believers, the on looking world sees a professing child of God that is exhibiting a greater likeness to the world than to the family of God.

All of us have seen this played out in the lives of people around us. We can all recall people that have claimed to be a Christian, but lived a life that portrayed just the opposite. Or perhaps you can remember the family member or friend that gave their life to Christ and then lived for the Lord for a period of time…even years…only to find themselves drawn back into the life they use to know.

 Even now, I think of a certain Christian brother that did many great things for the cause of Christ. He even pastored a church for years.  Recently, as I began to inquire about him, I’ve been told by multiple sources that he has gone back to a life of drugs and hard living. In a case like this dear brother’s, many well meaning church members would say, “He was never really saved to begin with.” I suppose this is a possible scenario, but it’s not the only plausible scenario. There is also the great possibility that my friend, through a series of life struggles and bad decisions, found himself in the position of “quenching the Spirit and frustrating grace”. If this is true, Jesus is no longer being expressed out of Him…and to those looking at his life; he portrays the appearance of a non-believer.

Paul gives two well known lists in the book of Galatians. One list is called “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5: 22-23). This list includes: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. When the Holy Spirit is uninhibited in the life of a Christian, these characteristics are projected. After all, these are the characteristics of Jesus, and part of the Holy Spirits job is “to outwardly express Christ through you.”

 The other list is called “the works of the flesh” (Gal 5:19-21). This list includes: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and the like. When the Holy Spirit is handcuffed in the life of a believer, these are the kinds of works that are projected. In these cases, the person in question looks anything but holy or Christ like.

The last point I want to make is this….both lists are attributed to BELIEVERS…not the unsaved!!

Here’s the bottom line, if the Holy Spirit is not projecting Christ from you and me, then it is just a matter of time before our flesh begins projecting the works of sin. THERE ARE NO OTHER OPTIONS!!! There’s no THIRD choice. It’s SPIRIT or FLESH…period!

I realize this is a rarely described ideal in today’s church. Very few preachers/teachers understand the truth, and fewer still are actually speaking the truth. Very good then, one of the basic aspects of the Spirit’s ministry is to “outwardly express Christ through you.” Now, let’s take another step in forming our basic definition of the truth ministry of the Holy Spirit. What else does He do?

To answer this, I want to turn your attention to the words of Jesus, himself. In the 14th-16th chapters of the Gospel of John, we have, in effect, the farewell address of Jesus to His disciples. A great part of this speech centered on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the followers of Christ. Personally, I do not believe the disciples understood this “Holy Spirit talk” very well at all, at this point. The reason is simple, they had not yet experienced what Jesus was teaching, and therefore the concept was foreign to them. However, in a little more than 40 days, His simple words would take on a complex reality when the Spirit fell on Pentecost.  But for now, the disciples listened in wonder as their Master described the One that would soon come to take His place.

I want to turn your attention to John 16:14. For in this short verse, Jesus gives us another great clue as to the basic ministry of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:14 – He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and show it unto you.

First, I want to point out the obvious. The word “He” is a demonstrative pronoun that is better translated “that one”. Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit, with no doubt. In essence, Jesus is saying “the Holy Spirit will glorify me”.

Now let me point out something that may not be as obvious, but is no doubt implied. Jesus has just declared an absolutely exclusive statement. An absolutely exclusive statement is one that includes the point being made, and at the same time, excludes absolutely all other options. Allow me to say it another way. In John 16:14, Jesus states that the Holy Spirit will glorify me. At the same time He is also stating that NO BODY ELSE WILL GLORIFY ME APART FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT. That includes you, me, and every other person on earth. At the same time, it also includes Jesus, himself. Yes, not even Jesus will glorify Jesus. I can prove this from another place in the Bible. Just before Jesus died on Calvary, he cried out “it is finished”. He was declaring that His mission was accomplished and His work was done. When He ascended, the Book of Hebrews tells us that “He sat down at the right hand of the Father”. Again this signified that the work of Jesus was finished. This is why Jesus told the disciples “I will not glorify myself”? Because His work is done! The glorification of God the Son is the job of the Holy Spirit.

Now then, the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus…very good…but how? Let us examine the remainder of verse 14 for the answer…”for He shall receive of mine, and show it unto you”. The word “receive” is very telling. A Greek study lets us know that this word is describing an ACTIVE acceptance…not a PASSIVE acceptance. When an object is received PASSIVELY, it is more or less delivered into the hands of the receiver. On the other hand, when an object is received ACTIVELY, the receiver takes it out of the hands of the giver. If you are the parent of children, you have seen this played out many times...when one child snatches something from the other. And we all know what follows such a snatching….hollering, lots of hollering!

Thankfully, there is no sibling rivalry between the Spirit and the Son. In fact, Jesus is glad to have His “stuff” taken by the Holy Spirit. You see Jesus knows that the Spirit is taking His “stuff” and giving it to YOU…in the very moment that you need it. Please allow me to paint a hypothetical situation to illustrate my point.

Imagine that you are on the job, working diligently, when you are unexpectedly called into the boss’s office. After hearing what he has to say, you become aware that some jealous coworker is trumping up false charges against you. An anonymous letter has been sent to the higher ups pinning you as unsafe, negligent, and a hot head. The claims are strong and pointed. You know that you are innocent of all charges, but you have no evidence to the contrary…apart from your word. The boss is staring at you, letter in hand, waiting for an explanation.  What do you do? How do you react?

SCENARIO ONE

If you are a child of God, but you are walking in the flesh, you probably become defensive and angry. You begin talking…defending your honor, standing up for your rights. The more you talk, the more enraged you become. Soon four-letter words are mingling into your rant. Then names begin to come to mind and you start pointing fingers at potential accusers. A bad situation is now boiling over and you have begun substantiating the claims in the trumped up letter. The boss is beginning to believe that the charges in the letter may be true. You are ruining your reputation and your Christian integrity. Your boss tells you that an investigation will uncover the truth. You are told to take the rest of the day off. Beginning tomorrow, you will be working under direct supervision. You are not allowed to speak to the other employees you have accused. You storm out of the office and head home. On second thought, you may just head to the bar.

SCENARIO TWO

However, if you are a child of God, walking in the Spirit, a very different situation unfolds. Before your boss even begins reading the false charges, the Holy Spirit has already made a bee line for the throne room. There sits Jesus Christ, and in His possession are amazing things like: peace, patience, discernment, and wisdom. The Spirit rushes to His side, takes the characteristics of Christ, and beams down into the difficult situation you are standing in. Then, with amazing effectiveness He applies those things to your heart. Suddenly, you are overcome with peace even though you are sitting on the hot seat. Then, patience that you can’t explain overwhelms your mind. Surprisingly, you are able to sit quietly as your boss reads the letter to the end. As you consider what he is saying, Godly discernment allows you to see through the emotions and realize the truth of the situation. Finally, divine wisdom is expressed through words as you answer the charges in such a way that all naysayers are effectively quieted. As you leave the office and return to your work space, you are reminded of the many times the Pharisees brought false charges against Jesus. You recall the way he responded with peace, patience, discernment, and wisdom. It’s almost as if Jesus was living through you in your boss’s office. You say a prayer of thanks, and go back to work.

No doubt, you can relate to both scenarios. We all can. There have been times we have left a situation full of regret. Other times we walk away from a situation full of gratefulness. What’s the difference? How do we determine the end result? It’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In one circumstance we are left to the works of the flesh, in the other the work of the Spirit.

Through the lesson of John 16:14, we find the second half of our definition of the ministry of the Holy Spirit…to inwardly express Christ to you. Now, without belaboring the point, I want to restate something that I brought out earlier. If we are walking in the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is able to perform this work uninhibited. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to miss out on one thing that the Holy Spirit desires to bring me from the hands of Jesus Christ. I need every bit of Jesus that I can get. But the truth remains, if we are walking in the flesh, the Holy Spirit’s ministry is hampered…and we are forced to operate on the abilities, skills, and talents we were born with. And Brother, if those things were good enough, Jesus has died in vain…we wouldn’t need a Savior.

Now, let’s conclude. I want to return to our original question. WHAT DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT DO? Over the last 2 posts, we have built a very workable definition; one that outlines the basic truth concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Ready, here goes…

THE JOB OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: TO EXPRESS CHRIST JESUS TO YOU, AND THROUGH YOU.

Sanctification is the Holy Spirit’s specialty. In the previous posts we have discussed WHO HE IS. Most recently we have dealt with WHAT HE DOES. With that accomplished, the last question to tackle remains….HOW DOES HE DO IT?

Sanctification: the Process of Perfection - The Holy Spirit: What He Does (pt 1)

In the previous installment of our study on the doctrine of sanctification we began examining the Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit. There is an unfortunate disconnect for the average believer when it comes to understanding the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. These misunderstandings often result in the believer accepting extremes where the Spirit is concerned. Some denominations/congregations/believers have very little involvement with the movement of the Holy Spirit, believing that the Holy Spirit’s “hay day” ended with the Apostles. In contrast, others are so overboard in what they believe that they hyper drive the Holy Ghost into some kind of circus side show act, expecting Him to perform outlandish tricks. In truth, the ministry of the Spirit resides somewhere in the scriptural middle.  I contend that one cannot successfully live for the Lord, or experience the fullness of the sanctification process if one does not have a firm grasp on who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and how He does it.

The previous blog post dealt with the question: Who is the Holy Spirit? We concluded by saying that the Holy Spirit is the dynastic successor of Jesus Christ. Where Jesus guided, trained, and commissioned the disciples , the Holy Spirit now guides, trains, and empowers the Church. We learned from John 14:16 that the Holy Spirit is the parakletos that Jesus was referring to. He is the “one who is called to another's side to aid him, as an advocate in a court of justice, a helper, a councilor”. Also, we pointed out the word “another” referred to “one of the same kind”.  In summary, the Holy Ghost is the 3^rd person of the Holy Trinity who leads the Church, just as Jesus led the disciples.

Now that we have reviewed WHO HE IS, let’s move forward. Let’s take a look at WHAT HE DOES.

In essence, this question involves uncovering the basics of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I agree that the ministry of the Spirit is multifaceted. However, to build a house, we must start with the foundation. If we were to boil the work of the Spirit down to a simple definition, what would it be? In order to arrive at the lowest common denominator where the ministry of the Spirit is concerned, we can’t include every single thing the Word says concerning the Spirit. We can’t include the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit and the conviction of the Spirit and things of such nature. The truth be told, these are not the basic ministries of the Spirit, they are the EFFECTS or the RESULTS of the Spirit’s ministry in the life of a Christian. The Church tends to maximize the effects of the Spirit, and miss the fundamental purpose behind WHAT HE IS DOING. When we live in the effects, and miss the point, we end up existing in extremes, as was stated earlier. So then, our purpose now is to arrive at a simple and straight forward definition of the basic ministry of the Holy Spirit.

With this in mind, turn in your Bible to the book of Galatians. Paul’s letter to the Galatian church is a detailed examination of the spiritual direction that the church had taken. Paul teaches that Christians must order their lives in such a way that the Holy Spirit’s ministry remains fully active and completely effective. When Paul left the churches of Galatia to continue his ministry elsewhere, they were a thriving, functioning, ministering body of Christ. However, sometime later, Paul received word that these churches had strayed from the true Gospel of Grace, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and began following the gospel of a group of false teachers that Paul called Judaizers. The gospel of the Judaizers, which was no gospel at all, was based in the Jewish faith. They taught that a gentile could come to Christ, but they must become a Jew first. In other words, they could come to the cross, but they had to come through the gateway of Judaism.  The Judaizers were attempting to convince the Galatian believers that they needed to obey the Old Testament laws, keep the Old Testament festival days, keep the Old Testament Sabbath, and if they were male, they must be circumcised. After a Gentile became a Jew, then they could continue into Christianity. This line of thinking was in direct opposition to the Gospel of Grace through Faith that Paul had preached to the Galatians.

When Paul realized what was happening he became distraught over the spiritual condition that the Galatian believers had fallen into, and at the same time, he became incensed over the crafty misdirection and false guidance of the Judaizers. In the book of Galatians, Paul is pleading with the Galatians to recall where they came from, and what set them free to begin with. He spends time teaching them about grace and law and re-teaching them about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which had been halted in a drastic way due to the path the Galatian church had chosen to follow. With this in mind, let us turn our attention to one particular verse that will help us formulate the beginnings of a definition of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 4:19 says:

My little children, for whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

The phrase “my little children” is not one of condescension. Paul is not calling them childish or immature. Instead, this is a term of endearment. It is better translated “my born ones”. Here, Paul is revealing his heart where the believers in Galatia are concerned. When Paul looks at them, it’s as if he is looking at his own children. This parent/child theme is carried over into the next phrase of verse 19… ”for whom I travail in birth again”. Paul is painting the picture that these groups of believers are in effect his own spiritual children that he both birthed and raised in the faith. Most of us have some level of understanding when it comes to the pain and labor of child birth. There is a very obvious reason why this process isn’t called “leisure”…no, it’s called “labor”…and that is an understatement, if you ask me. These are passionate words the great apostle is using. He is in effect saying that he had already gone through the travail of birthing them into the kingdom before, and now he was in agony over the prospect of having to go through this arduous task again. It is important that the emotional and spiritual connection between Paul and his “born ones” be understood, for in the proceeding 6 words of verse 19 Paul will elaborate on why he is so distraught.

I realize that when you read this simple verse, you see no references to the Holy Spirit, or His ministry. On the surface, this is true. However, if you will take the time to digest the following paragraphs, I believe you will find there is more to this verse than meets the eye. So put your thinking cap on….we are about to speak in Greek!!

The words “be formed” are very important and deserve some fleshing out. First of all, the Greek language is much more descriptive than our English. In verse 19, “be formed” is better translated…to give an outward expression of one’s inward character. In other words, to let the thing on the inside be seen on the outside. For our study, I will replace “be formed” with “be expressed outwardly”. So our verse would read…”until Christ be expressed outwardly in you”.

Now, allow me to illustrate this so that it becomes clear. Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of this generation. Whether you are a golf fan or not, it would be interesting to watch Tiger Woods give an exhibition of his golfing skills. Personally, I would enjoy observing anyone who is considered the best performer in their craft. So, if you and I were allowed a private moment to watch Tiger Woods hit golf balls, the following conversation might take place…

                            ME:      Whoa! Did you see how far that ball flew?

YOU:    Amazing, and he makes it look so easy.

ME:     He can practically make the ball land exactly where he wants too, I’m  jealous!

YOU:   Okay, be quiet, here comes another swing.

ME:     Wow, he has amazing form.

Amazing form…we all know what that means. When we observe an athlete or dancer or performer at the top of their craft, we say they have good form. This is pointing to the idea that all the skill and training and understanding and talent and drive that is bottled up inside them, is expressed outwardly in a precise, articulated motion. What is on the inside is expressed on the outside…good form. Okay, you got it? This is the point Paul is making to the Galatians. Due to their leaving the Gospel of Christ to follow the gospel of the Judaizers, Jesus was no longer being expressed outwardly from them. They were saved; Paul had seen to that when he was leading them in person. They had Jesus on the inside, but he was no longer being expressed on the outside. This fact was grieving the heart of the great apostle, and no doubt the heart of God also.

Now, let’s go deeper into this verse, it’s about to get a bit technical, but I’ll explain so don’t tune this part out…here’s where the Holy Spirit comes into play.

In the Greek language, the word “formed” is written in a grammatical type called the PASSIVE VOICE. When a word is written in the PASSIVE VOICE, we must identify the subject of the verb. Let’s look at our verse again and identify the subject of the verb “formed”

”until Christ be formed in you.”

The verb is formed…so what is the subject of our verb? If you said Christ, you are absolutely right. Christ is the subject of the verb formed.

Okay, when a verb is written in the PASSIVE VOICE, the subject of the verb is identified as PASSIVE or INACTIVE. In other words, THE SUBJECT DOES NOT PERFORM THE ACTION. This means that Christ is the one being expressed outwardly; however, Christ is not the one performing the expressing. Christ is passive, He is not expressing Himself. So, the obvious question that a good Bible student would ask at this point might be…“if Christ is not expressing Himself…then who is expressing Him?”

And the correct answer is?????                 THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!

Great! So we have built an expanded translation of Galatians 4:19. Let’s put it all together…

My born ones, concerning whom I am again striving with intense effort like unto child birth, until the Holy Spirit outwardly express Christ in you again.

This is a great revelation that points to a foundational aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let’s put it bluntly, what is the Holy Spirit’s job? To outwardly express Christ through you!!! When the Holy Spirit is free to perform His work in your life, Jesus Christ will be expressed out of you like a great spot light shooting out of your heart, into a darkened world. However, the inverse is also true. If the Holy Spirit is not given this freedom, Christ cannot be expressed out of you. Evidently, this is what happened to the Galatian church. They had “quenched the Spirit”, they had “frustrated the Spirit”, and to the outside world, Jesus was no longer being seen through them.

I spoke earlier of the fruit of the Spirit that Paul also teaches about in the book of Galatians (5:22-23). Now we can draw a direct line between the true ministry of the Spirit and the results that abound when that ministry is being carried out. If the Spirit is free to work, then the fruit of the Spirit is evident. What is the fruit of the Spirit? It can easily be said that the fruit of the Spirit is the characteristics of Jesus Christ that is being expressed outwardly from the believer. If this is not taking place in a believer’s life, the only alternative is that the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) are manifested through the life of the Christian. This was the case with the Galatian church, and this is the case with all believers that do not allow the Holy Spirit to perform His work. Christ is no longer expressed and the flesh is. When this is taking place, to the on looking world, we no longer look like a child of God…instead we look like a child of the World.

Ok, take a deep breath. That’s a lot of teaching. But through it, we have begun to develop a definition of the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. WHAT DOES HE DO?: the Holy Spirit expresses Christ through you. In the next installment, we are going to continue building this definition. We are going to expand a step further on the question...WHAT DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT DO?

Sanctification: the Process of Perfection - The Holy Spirit; Who He Is

We have come to a crucial segment of our teaching on the process of perfection in the life of a believer, the process of sanctification. At this point we have just begun to get into the mechanics of this important topic, in other words, how it works. If we consider sanctification as an automobile, one might ask about the engine. After all, the engine is the power within the machine. Without it, we may have a structure that looks like a car, but it cannot act like a car. So it is with many modern day Christians. The very word Christian means “little Christ”. This gives the connotation that we should be a replica of the original.

Not only should we look Christ-like on the outside, but we should operate Christ-like on the inside. Many church goers have the appearance of Christian automobiles, they have a religious exterior, but if we were to lift the hood, what would we find? What is powering most Christians today? The more important question would be: Is the engine that powered Christ under the hood of your life...or are you running on a self made knock off?

The last installment of our survey of the doctrine of sanctification ended with a bold statement. The statement was as follows:

In the time between the ascension of Jesus and His return to rapture the church, the activity of God on earth and in the lives of man will only be carried out by the Holy Spirit. He and He alone is the hand of God on earth. Therefore, we must learn WHO He is, WHAT He does, and HOW He does it. Otherwise, we will miss God all together.

If this statement is true, and I believe it is, then we have a divine mandate to seek after a functional understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is the hand of God on earth, then we MUST have His operation in our lives. We cannot ignore the importance of His ministry and we MUST continue to learn how to position our lives in such a way that He can do His all important work.  Moreover, a mere understanding is not enough; we also must be able to live out what we know. Or, more appropriately, allow the Holy Spirit to live out His ministry through us.

Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest made a significant point that alludes to the need for a Christian to seek understanding where the Holy Spirit is concerned.

“…just as Jesus never saves a person until that person recognizes Him a Savior and by an act of his own free will puts his trust in Him, so the Holy Spirit is waiting for the Christian to recognize His ministry, and by an act of his free will trust Him to perform it.”

As I stated in the previous blog post, most Christians have a misplaced understanding of the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. These misunderstandings range from believing the Holy Spirit’s job is to provoke emotional outburst to ignoring Him all together. Both of which are wrong and neither of which result in allowing the Holy Spirit to actually affect the lives of said believer. Meanwhile, the Sanctifier is patiently waiting for the believer to recognize His true ministry and allow Him to perform it.

In the next blog posts, I want to deal with three questions. The answers to these questions will help build a basic understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The questions are as follows: WHO is He? WHAT does He do? And HOW does He do it? In the following few paragraphs, we will approach the first question.

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT

The short and obvious answer….HE IS GOD!

The Holy Spirit is not a lesser part of the God head. He is not the most important part of the God head. He is as equally God as the Father and the Son. He is all powerful, all knowing, and all present. He is limitless and He cannot be diminished. He is bound by only one factor…the laws He has set for Himself. He is truth, He is love, and He is sovereign. As a part of the God head, the Holy Trinity, He has a specific/particular role or personage that He fulfills. This gives the Holy Spirit individuality, but it does not place Him in a pecking order…for HE IS GOD!

Now, most of you have learned nothing by what I’ve just stated…because most any Christian would hear these words, and agree with them. However, most Christians don’t really grasp the concept of the role of the Spirit. So let’s discuss WHO He is from a different angle…let’s talk about Moses and Joshua…let’s talk dynastic succession.

MOSES and JOSHUA

In Deuteronomy chapter 31, a landmark event took place in Israel’s history. Moses, the great leader of the people, the mediator of the old covenant, the law giver, addressed the people. To the utter shock of the Israelites, I’m sure; Moses made an announcement that would change things entirely…He would not be entering the Promise Land.

1 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. 2 And he said unto them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

This announcement must have been earth shattering to the masses. I imagine it brought both fear and confusion. Moses represented so much to the nation…leadership, provision, council, protection, wisdom. He was the one that sought the very face of God on behalf of the people. He had been used by God to open the doors of Egypt, to part the sea, to provide food and water, to bring the law, to defend against the enemy, and heal them from the poison of the snakes. Now, he was telling them that he would not lead them into the very purpose for which they had stuck out over 40 years before. They would be crossing the Jordon into the Promise Land without him.

Verses 1 and 2 of Deuteronomy 31 were Israel’s worst nightmare come true. Verses 3 and 6 proved once again that in the midst of confusion God always has a plan.

3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.

6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

God’s plan for the nation was Joshua. And with Joshua at the helm, the children of Israel would begin a campaign of victory that claimed the land they were predestined to indwell. Moses had a specific purpose and role that he was called to by God. He accomplished and represented more in the Old Testament than perhaps any other person therein. However, it was Joshua’s divine calling to lead the conquest of Canaan. In the 31^st chapter of Deuteronomy, we see the passing of the torch, so to speak, as Moses announced to Israel that He was stepping away, and that God had appointed a new leader. Now the people would look to Joshua as he fulfilled the same responsibilities that Moses had once performed. He would become leader, protector, guide, councilor, general, and judge. This changing of the guard is known as dynastic succession: the replacement of a dynasty’s supreme leader with his/her successor.

 JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT

Now turn in your Bible to the 13^th chapter of the book of John, and flash forward several hundred years to an upper room as a landmark event is taking place in the lives of 12 men. Jesus, the great leader of the disciples, the mediator of the new covenant, the grace giver, addressed his followers. To the utter shock of the disciples, I’m sure; Jesus made an announcement that would change things entirely…He was going away.

33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.

36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

This announcement must have been earth shattering to the disciples. I imagine it brought both fear and confusion. Jesus represented so much to these men…leadership, provision, council, protection, wisdom. He was the one that sought the very face of God on their behalf. He had been used by God to open their hearts to ministry, to calm the sea, to provide spiritual food and water, to fulfill the law, to defend against the enemy, and heal them from the poison of the sin nature. Now, he was telling them that he would not lead them into the very purpose for which they had stuck out over 3 years before. They would be crossing over into the world wide evangelism of the Gospel without Him.

Verses 33 and 36 of John 13 were the disciple’s worst nightmare come true. Verses 16 and 17 of chapter 14 proved once again that in the midst of confusion God always has a plan.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

God’s plan for the disciples was the Holy Spirit. And with the Holy Spirit at the helm, they would begin a campaign of victory that claimed the spiritual land they were predestined to indwell. Jesus had a specific purpose and role that he was called to by God. He accomplished and represented more than any other person in history. However, it was the Holy Spirit’s divine ministry to lead the Church. In the 13^th-16^th chapter of John, we see the passing of the torch, so to speak, as Jesus announced to the disciples that He was stepping away, and that God had appointed a new leader. Now the people would look to the Holy Spirit as He fulfilled the same responsibilities that Jesus had once performed. He would become leader, protector, guide, councilor, general, and judge. This changing of the guard is another example of dynastic succession.

PARAKLETOS

I want to tie this all together by making one more point. I want to give attention to a particular word in John 14:16. Jesus said, “and he (God) shall give you another Comforter.” The word “Comforter” is the Greek word parakletos. It means one who is called to another's side to aid him, as an advocate in a court of justice, a helper, a councilor. Notice the word Comforter is capitalized, giving it the notation of deity. As I said before, the Holy Spirit is God. Jesus is saying that God would send another one to take his place, and the replacement would stand beside them in the same fashion that Jesus had. Also, notice the word “another”. In the Greek this word states that the one coming would be the same kind as the one being replaced. In short, Jesus was leaving, and the Holy Spirit was coming to pick up where He left off, to assume the same position Christ held for the disciples, with one obvious difference. Jesus said in verse 17, “for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” Jesus led the disciples while dwelling “with” them, the Holy Spirit leads us while dwelling “in” us.

Now back to the original question: WHO is the Holy Spirit?

Answer: He is the dynastic successor of Jesus Christ. He is our paraclete. As Joshua was the successor of Moses, and the Old Testament paraclete appointed by God to lead the people as they conquered the Promised Land of Canaan. So the Holy Spirit is to you and me. He is the one that will lead us as we conquer the Promised Land of Christian sanctification.