Is Christ Within You?

The nature of Christianity is quite unlike every other religion in several ways.  One of these significant differences, one of the genuinely unique ones at that, is that Christian believe that Christ Jesus is living within them.  And this phrase is not semantic and it is most certainly not a hypothetical proposition. No. One of the primary teachings of Christ is that upon His death and resurrection, He has sent His Self–His Holy Spirit–to live inside of them.

This 'living inside' means, among many things, that the Spirit of God is residing within the believer guiding, compelling, leading, encouraging, strengthening, empowering, convicting, sanctifying, and bringing them to deeper levels of grace and praise and worship.

Permit be to be quite direct: we want this.  We want more of Him in us.

This is our prayer, this is our purpose.

Amen.

1 John 2:23–The Son & Father Are Conjoined

1 John 2:23–"No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also."

This verse is an important assertion about the intimate relationship between two members of the Godhead, Jesus and the Father.  It is not unique in that it is affirmed and asserted throughout Scripture that one may not possess an honest belief in God the Father save through the Son, and vice versa.  The Son is the gateway to the Father (John 14:6), just as those who are in the Father must possess the Son as well.

Christmas, in reality, is a unique convergence between these two members of the Godhead, completed by the presence of the Holy Spirit who indwells Mary with a son, the Holy Son of the Heavenly Father.

We should not easily forget or neglect the real interconnected intimacy of the Godhead as we seek to worship God in His infinitude this season.

A Note About Internal Compulsion By The Holy Spirit

My wife wakes up at 4:15 am for work.  She does it without complaining and she does it with purpose. It really is admirable.  There is something inside of her, an internal thrust, that compels her to do what is right: to be a good and dependable employee despite the challenges of having to wake up so early.  I wish to use this as an analogy to understand the transformation that takes place when God takes root in our lives and the Holy Spirit has His way with us.

It is nearly impossible to transform one's self apart from an internal transformation that is caused by an external instigator.  True, one may, with great effort and time, change habits or preferences.  But it is another thing altogether to transform a person's very nature from one thing to another.  But this is precisely what God means to do to us.

He is not merely interested in 'better' versions of us: He is interested in new, perfect versions of us.  He does this not by changing our externals, like habits and appearances, but He goes about transforming us internally, dramatically changing our internal natures by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, God changes that which is propelling us internally in order to truly transform a person's nature, not merely modify one's appearance.

It is glorious and true to say that He changes a heart of stone to one of flesh, and eyes that are blind are given sight.  This is what salvation and giving one's self to Christ brings about.  Suddenly, the Holy Spirit become the internal One who compels us to bring God glory, to praise the name of Jesus, and to choose that which is good and righteous over our previous dead selves.

Amen and praise be to God for this wonderfully amazing thing!

2 Timothy 1:14–Guard the Deposit of Grace

2 Timothy 1:14–"By the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you."

Salvation is a gift, a promise of eternity spent with the Holy Lord Almighty.  And while this gift has with it present blessings it culminates in a future unwrapping when Jesus will descend and reign over the new earth.  Because of this, we have a incredible responsibility to protect this great gift of salvation.  This means, among many things, that we will strive to make Christ the focal point of our daily lives so as to ensure that we would maintain proper priorities and perspective. Additionally, it means that we will make Bible study an important part of our every day.  In this way we will guard the deposit that has been entrusted to us: the Holy Spirit and salvation.

A Day of Remembrance

Monday is Memorial Day in America.   This is one of the days of the year in which we, as a nation, memorialize those who have fought for this country.  It is a day of remembrance and reverence to that which we remember.  But through the Star-Spangled Banners and God Bless Americas, it is also a great day to remember Christ, the source of our utter freedom from sin.

Most of the Christian life is built upon the idea of memory: we remember the Lord.  This includes in the very least remembering what who God is and what He has done, most specifically what was done in Christ at His great passion on the cross.  We often think of this as the starting point.  But this would be a lopsided view.  This is everything.

Every single aspect of Christianity arises from the cross while also aiming toward the cross with a fixed gaze.  Christianity, in a sense, is a homemade pond with a waterfall: we take our nourishment from the cross of Christ as it circulates through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, continuing always to praise the Father for all that He is and has done.  Therefore, on this Memorial Day let us strive to make the most of remembering God for all that He is!

No More Wishes

It may seem an odd thing to say but we do not wish upon God.  He is not our wishing well.  Rather, we rely upon God.  We depend upon Him in faith, as sure footings depend upon rungs of the ladder or as deep canyon rely upon a bridge to traverse.  In fact, our lives are contingent solely upon His sustaining grace and the power of His Word, for truly, in Him we live and move and have our being.

A wish is a longing for fulfillment or contentment in circumstances or materials.  To wish is to gaze at the future with an eye of discontent at the present.  When we wish we are simultaneously indicating that a present predicament of want.  We are admitting that we are not content currently but that if our wish be granted then we would be fulfilled.  Truly this is a lie.

Conversely, in Christ our wishes our transformed into expectant hope.  But this hope is not in the determent of perceived deficiencies in the current climate.  Rather, our hope is in the goodness of God, in His steadfast faithfulness and His dependable love.  As our hope in God ferments, we are met with fruit in our lives.  This fruit is God depositing Himself within us.

All of this, ultimately, comes down to faith.  And there can be no grey area, no neutral ground at this point.  Either we are trusting in God or we are trusting in something other than God.  This trust encompasses everything from fulfillment to security, from love to relationships; not the least of these being the whole ordeal of salvation.

Either we trust that God will be our hope or we do not.  Therefore, we do not bring wishes to God; we offer Him no wish.  To do so would be a disrespect to who He is and all that He has done.  Instead, we come to God in faith and in love, made possible because of Christ and empowered by His Holy Spirit.  Let us then think differently as we talk about desire and as we bring theology to bear upon all our lives!

The Illuminator: the Holy Spirit

In one His final messages to His disciples, recorded in the Gospel of John, Jesus says:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."  (John 14:15-17).

"These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  (John 14:25-26).

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me."  (John 15:26).

Clearly, the Holy Spirit is important for Jesus.  Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper, the Spirit of truth, sent by the Father to bear witness about Jesus to teach all that Jesus has said and taught them.  In this way, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, illuminating Him in the hearts of believers, and applying  Jesus to the believer by faith.

This illumination is a shadow of the inspiration of Scripture, that is to say that the same Holy Spirit that has divinely-inspired the writing of Scripture is illuminating that Scripture to the believer.  In other words, the inspiration of Scripture is echoed in the inspiration of the believer for that Scripture and unto salvation.  The reality of this truth is awesome and profound.  If it does not compel us to repentance and faith, then we are not considering the reality of who God actually is.

To limit this view would be akin to diminishing who we think God to be as it pertains to salvation.  Let us, then, strive to think rightly about God and His Holy Spirit, for it is His Holy Spirit that illuminates and glorifies Christ in the welling up of our hearts unto faith.

Worship: Something Altogether Different

Worship, in that modern-day evangelical world, has become shorthand lingo referring to a musical genre or some sort formula for congregational services.  To be sure, this has been a centuries-long reduction of what it means to worship from an all-encompassing way of life shrunken to an hour long mass.  In the end, to think of worship as merely musical or to confine worship to an act of service would be to diminish worship and sever its theological density and meaning, rendering the worshiper confused, disjointed, and fractured, unable to worship truly for their lack of understanding.

At the introduction, the word worship immediately brings the limitations of language to bear upon the conversation.  Because worship, as it is commonly known, has generally been used as an adjective, i.e. worship music, worship service, worship time.  This betrays that worship serves, most fully, as a verb, as in, worship is an activity.  This is not to detract from worship being used to describe various activities or times, but worship should be thought of more than merely a type or form of an activity.

Think of music.  Because evangelicals have made worship a musical genre, the part of the active worship participator has been moved to the role preferential spectator.  Now worship has been deemed a taste.  As if the one who would be the active worship participator could actually choose if they wanted to worship or not like it was as common a decision as deciding whether they wanted italian food for dinner.  This is not to say that music is not a medium for worship, rather, it is to highlight the apparent deficiency in the minds and hearts of worshipers that has come about from a misconception.

Worship, at its irreducible base, requires body and head, Church and Christ.  This is one of those difficult things to understand: there is a unity, a communal requirement of worship.  Although it occurs on a personal, private level to a limited degree, it is primarily a community activity, requiring a lifting of one voice from many to sing with one accord that Jesus is Lord.  Worship is a word that describes an active worship.  The deficient focus, in the past, has spent to much time on the personal aspect of the adjective to the declension of the community verb.  In the end, though, these are not mutually exclusive ideas, far from it, for they are both necessary for worship to be.

Remember Jesus' words: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matt. 18:20).  Jesus is not undervaluing the individual in the slightest, however, He is laying out a community requirement of worship.  Often times this verse is employed for matter of prayer, but its context deals with binding and loosing, the very activity of worship needs to be focused on these elements.

In addition to the community requirement of worship, two other factors must be present, namely, Spirit and Truth.  Again we turn to the words of Jesus: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him." (John 4:23).  The truth is the Word, which is Christ.  The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, which is the indwelling within the hearts of believers.

The Truth is the content, the Spirit is the outpouring of emotion and energy, both focused on worshiping the Father.  In this way, worship engages with every member of the Trinity in their respective realms of influence and function.  The point, then, is not to designate specific activities or certain tasks as worship but, rather, to fulfill the greatest commandment in every posture, remembering the words of Paul: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col 3:17).

Our goal and intent, as worshipers, is to join together with one, unified voice to offer sincere praise, adoration, exaltation, and thanksgiving to the Father, through His Son, Christ Jesus, which is empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, who baptizes those whom He is pleased to call His own.  If we understand worship in this way, we would cease to lack evangelistic energy or mission or focus, and we would no longer think of worship as a common spectator activity.  Let us then join together in song so loud and unified that the foundations of the earth are shaken!

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

In reading through the Book of Acts today, there was a sequence of events in chapter 8 that caught my attention, sending my mind and heart reeling.  The story speaks of Philip evangelizing throughout Samaria.  The Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit, was making great strides throughout Samaria and many people were believing and being baptized into the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12).

The news of the Gospel's spread and affect in Samaria began to reach Jerusalem, prompting Peter and John to go and check out the buzz.  But, although the new converts had been baptized into the name of Christ Jesus, they had not received the the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-16).  What struck me today was that even though the had came to Christ in faith and been baptized into the name of Christ Jesus, for them to receive the Holy Spirit was an altogether other event.

The implications of such a discovery were and are staggering.  The people of Samaria were saved.  They had confessed their sin and professed their faith and commitment in covenant with God through the blood of Christ Jesus.  However, they had not received the Holy Spirit.  In other words, economically they were saved, but transformationally they still lacked the Holy Spirit's power.

I began to look around at my local congregation and the people who have professed their faith but still lack the fruit that is to accompany such profession and I wonder: have they received the Holy Spirit?  Have I?  This is not a flippant or intentionally provocative thought.  Instead, this is a serious inquiry into the state of my relationship with the Lord Almighty.  For if I am saved but have yet to receive the Holy Spirit, then I too will lack the power of God.

Essentially, I could have the Word but still not possess the Spirit who applies it to my life personally and directly in the matter of sanctification.  Therefore, I think it is still a necessity for Christians who cannot definitively say that they have received the Holy Spirit to pray that He would indwell their hearts and empower them miraculously!

Exhortation to Love

God is love and He has loved us.  Although every human was deserving of judgment and eternal condemnation for their sin, God has shown His love that while we were still in our sin, He sent His Son, Christ Jesus, to die and to pay the penalty of sin that was due all each of us.  Now, by faith, grace is received from God and He indwells in those who earnestly seek after Him in that faith and by the Spirit.

The question then becomes: what now?  Following salvation, which inaugurates and depends upon regeneration of the believer, the believer is commanded to continue in seeking after God.  This is the essence of discipleship as well as sanctification.  For as the believer seeks after God and studies His Holy Word, His mind is renewed and transformed so that he/she may be able to discern what is the Will of God.

But there is another, weightier aspect of Christian sanctification that should not be neglected for the pursuit of His Word: love.  Love is the essence of the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  And as we are redeemed by that Gospel and the Word of Christ begins to dwell in us all the more, we find in us a distinct call to love.  But who should we love?

The easy answer to the above question is everyone.  Christians who, by definition and nature, have been spiritually blessed with a new heart, a new mind, and a life that is led by the Spirit of God and not by their former fleshly nature, are called to love, especially those whom God has loved, aka. Christians.

This is far-from a merely dogmatic assertion towards the importance of love.  No, this is a practical, actual, self-sacrificial love that all Christians are to exhibit as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit indwelling in their hearts.  The essence of this discourse is, then, exhortation.  We, as believers in the True and Living God, are to love as He has loved us.  Not only because He has commanded us to do so, but for in loving form the supplies of God's indwelling Holy Spirit, we will be flowing in the Holy Spirit in the highest degree.  What could be more beautiful or desirable?  Let us then seek out opportunities to love and to sieze them! 

Rosa Parks and Preparing for Opposition

On December 1st, 1955, a young black woman refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to make room for white bus riders.  The woman's name was Rosa Parks and her famous act of civil disobedience became an emblem for the Civil Rights Movement.  Although history will remember Parks for her braveness in the face of vociferous racism and systemic segregation, history would be wrong to think that Parks' actions were flippant or whimsical.

For over ten years, Parks had been a leading member of the local NAACP chapter.  She had also been involved with many demonstrations and community events that pursued the end of segregation in schools and in public.  In fact, Parks had been studying other bus boycotts, even being arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana a year earlier.  Truly, Rosa Parks had dedicated and prepared for her momentous and historic act of bravery.

Rosa Parks had prepared for years to be brave in the face of her opposition, and when the time came for her to seize the moment and act, she did.  Parks is a great example of courage in the face of adversity, but her preparation is also a key to her protest's efficacy.  Similarly, Christians face an adverse and oppositional world.  How we prepare for the those times that require bravery can ensure that our acts of courage for Christ will not be in vain but will have their maximum effect.

The point is intentionality for purpose.  Training and preparation for Christianity means prayer, counsel, Bible Study, fellowship, and service.  This is the training regiment that will prepare us for maximum Kingdom effect.  Let us then look to the examples from history, like Rosa Parks, who stood for the right things in the face of certain opposition, but did so after study and preparation.

The Heavy Pack of Pride

There is a specific mountain northeast of Nepal that the over centuries has been dubbed, Shikhanah Benerkha, which is loosely translated as "the mountain of life".  For centuries, travelers have come to the  mountain to climb it.  The legend goes that if a man can climb the mountain with his burdens and sins on his back, they will be released from their troubles after they ascend to the highest peak and drop off their packs.

At the base of the mountain, before the ascent, the would-be climbers meet with their guides, fill their packs with their burdens, and consider their journey.  After the arduous hike up and down the mountain, the climbers, now freed from their burdens, would go home with a renewed sense of life.  A journalist had heard the reports of the mountain and went to report on what was going on.

For weeks, the reporter stayed at the base of the mountain and watched as people would come with their packs full of burdens, then climb the mountain to let them go.  The journalist saw people with packs full of coveting, others with packs full of greed or of lust, but one time a man came to the base of the mountain with a giant pack, far bigger and more stuffed than any other pack that he had seen yet.

The journalist walked over to the man as he was meeting the guides and the other climbers.  The journalist inquired, "Hey there, I've seen a lot of packs.  Your's is the biggest.  Your burdens and sins must be huge.  What are they? Lust? Greed?"  The man looked at the reporter and chortled, "Ha!  Greed, lust, covetousness, vanity, wrath--that's nothing compared to my problems!  Ha!  Get out of here and let me handle my business."

The man then turned back to his preparations.  The journalist shrugged at the man's rudeness and turned back to the shack at the base of the mountain.  It wasn't until the man had started his trek up the mountain that the reporter realized that his giant, heavy pack was full of only one thing: pride.  For pride is the heaviest and most destructive of all of man's sins.

The poison of pride seeps into every pore of a person.  It is the basis for every sin.  The essence of pride is the overvaluing of self to the undervaluing of everyone else.  Because of this truth, it has no place in Christianity.  Unfortunately, because pride is a sin disease that is common to all mankind, only through the powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit regenerating our minds and our hearts will we be able to overcome the destructive force of pride.  Let us then devote ourselves to laying down our burdens of pride and selfishness at the foot of the cross so as to follow Christ and love people truly selflessly!

Fireproofing our Love for God

There is a particular storyline from the film Fireproof that came to my mind today.  The main character, Caleb, is a firefighter who, due to the constant weariness of life, has become a hard working, though critical and unloving man.  Because of this, Caleb finds his marriage falling apart, even coming close to a divorce. It is then, when he is nearing the end of his wits, that his father challenges him to a daily devotional which is meant to encourage him to re-engage his wife over the course of forty days.

Over time, Caleb devotes himself to the Lord through prayer and Bible study.  As he grows in his devotion to the Lord, he begins to love his wife in a way that he never had.  The culmination of this is the apex of the movie.  For years, Caleb had been selfishly saving and hoarding money for his dream boat.  All the while, Caleb's wife's mother has been deathly sick and in desperate need of medical supplies.  So, in an act of pure love, Caleb quietly uses the money that he had been saving for years to pay for his mother-in-law's medical supplies. His love for the Lord expresses itself through his love for his wife and his mother-in-law.  This is one of the main points of the whole movie.

John the Elder, the disciple whom Jesus loved, has more to say about love than perhaps any of the other New Testament writers.  And while most remember that God loves us through Christ Jesus His Son, many neglect how we love God.  John answers that important and necessary question with this: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12)."  And again, "Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God (1 John 4:7)."

In truth, John is indicating that loving others is how we exhibit our love for God.  In other words, we love God by loving those whom He loves.  This should not be overlooked or neglected ever.  Although worship, praise, and thankfulness are the essentials of loving God, loving others is also a vital and necessary component of that mixture.

This plays itself out in very practical ways.  For as we love others with humility and sacrifice, we are loving and serving God in the very manner that He has asked from us, which means that we will love others as He has loved us.  To be sure, this is not an altogether natural thing unless we pursue the Lord, because only by His empowering will we be able to love others in the way that He asks us to.  In the end, loving others is such a huge part of the Christian life that if we do not love others we are failing to love Him!  Let us then press on to love truly as He has loved us!

The True Witness that Testifies about Christ Jesus

During a criminal trial, testimony will often be given either to prove the defendant's innocence or confirm his/her guilt.  The validity of the testimony is based upon the character and the integrity of the witness.  For if the witness is known to be untrue or it can be shown that their character may lack, their testimony could be deemed questionable on that basis.

Christianity is also based upon a testimony.  And, like in a courtroom, the power and truth of that testimony is dependent upon the integrity and character of the witness.  It is, in fact, this very truth on which all Christian faith is built upon, for our witness is God Himself, and He is truth.

John writes, "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life (1 John 5:11-12)."  The testimony is God, but He is also the witness of that testimony.  It is God Himself that acts as the guarantor of the testimony about His Son.  It is for this reason that the truth about Christ is ultimately trustworthy and perfect.

God supports the message of Christ Jesus through power and Spirit.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that he did not come with lofty words of wisdom, but with displays of the Spirit and of power so that the Gospel would not be based on the wisdom of man but on the very power of God (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

In the end, the testimony of Jesus Christ is made sure and valid because of its witness, which is the Holy Spirit, God Himself.  Christianity is not based upon man's ability to receive God, nor is it based upon lofty argument or smooth-talking preachers.  No!  The valid witness of Christianity is God.  Therefore, we, as Christians, should not ever fear spreading the Gospel, for in the end we are not the witness of God, He is the witness of Himself.  We are just to be obedient in passing on that message.  Let us then share the testimony about Jesus Christ for in so doing the Holy Spirit will be testifying about the Son through us!

Be Careful When Praying for Patience

A mentor of mine tells a story about a particular instance years ago.  He was a pastor in Chicago and, like most pastors, had a week filled with meetings and visitations to the degree that Saturday had come  with the Sunday morning's sermon still unfinished.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the sermon was barely started.

To remedy the situation, he locked himself in his church office for a couple of hours.  Yet despite his intentionality, he was distracted and struggling to stay focused.  Fed up with his lack of progress, my mentor went for a walk around the neighborhood to clear his head.  When he got back to the church, he went into his office, knelt down before his desk, and prayed: "Lord, please grant me the patience to do what I need to.  Lord, help me be patient.  Amen."

Just as he finished his prayer, there was a knock at his office door.  He went to the door and opened it to find the exact person needed for the job of distracting the pastor from writing his sermon.  Over the next two hours, the visitor chatted my mentor's ear off.  The whole time, my mentor was planning his escape and trying all the while to send his time-consuming visitor on his way.

Finally, the visitor leaves and my mentor is left alone, no closer to completing his sermon than he had been hours before.  Dejected at his progress, he sat down in his desk chair, trying to sink as far into the leather upholstery as he could.  It was now nearly dinner time and he still no sermon for his effort so he simply closed his eyes and breathed.  At this moment, he realized what just happened.

He had prayed for patience, expecting for God to instantly transform him into a man of patience.  Instead, God sent to him the very person to exercise his patience.  The visitor was the very thing God used to test and grow his patience.  My mentor understood this as a revelation from God, checked and confirmed it with Scripture, and the sermon was written in under an hour.

Patience is a tricky thing.  It is kind of like filling a bathtub as full as it can go but instead of pulling the drain plug, you keep the faucet on while the water flows over the side of the tub and pools into puddles on the tiled bathroom floor.  Being patient requires something or someone for us to be patient of.  For instance, you need patience when dealing with a long business deal, when handling difficult people or situations, and when overcoming illnesses.  Understanding that patience is how God would have us deal with difficult situations is key to recognizing when patience is needed and when we need to pray for God to help us.

Paul includes patience in his list of fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  This is an important distinction for two reasons.  The first is that the Spirit is the source of patience, and as such when we need patience, what we really need is the Holy Spirit.  This equates to prayer and devotion.  Secondly, fruit is different than a gift in that gifts are given ready for usage whereas fruits need to be grown over time.  Because of this, when we pray for patience, like my mentor, we should not be surprised when we suddenly find ourselves being tested.  Let us then seek after God to grow our patience just as He provides opportunities to be patient!

Understanding the Holy Spirit

Throughout the Church, there seems to be much teaching and doctrine about the Father, and certainly the Son, but the work of the Holy Spirit is oddly neglected.  To be sure, it is challenging. For however many and eloquent words we might employ to depict and discuss the Holy Spirit, we are inevitably left using material and human words to describe an altogether un-human being.  This leaves us inclined either to dig deeper into the Scriptures for clarification or simply to ignore teaching about the Holy Spirit entirely for fear of doing Him injustice.  Needless to say, the latter is unacceptable.  Instead, we should look at the opportunity to learn about God, His Holy Spirit, with joy and energy.

At the onset, the Holy Spirit is unique to Christianity.  Only Christianity teaches that God Himself, in His Holy Spirit, will actually descend upon and indwell believers.  This should excite us to know that God desires to indwell us with His very person so as to guide, to teach, and to grow us from the inside-out.  Because we are discussing a Spirit, we should be sure to consider a couple of points of clarification: we are referring to the Spirit not a material substance; we are talking about One who indwells within believers not everyone; and there is an emphasis in the New Testament, particularly Acts, for a baptism of or being filled by the Holy Spirit.  These three basic assertions form a trifecta of foundations supported and supplemented by the Word, specifically the New Testament.

While the Holy Spirit plays a major role in nearly all of the New Testament works, none more so than that of the Gospel of John and Acts.  More than any other writing does John chronicle Jesus specific teaching about the Holy Spirit.  For starters, people are to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33), which equates to be born of the Spirit (John 3:5).  This can seem both odd and confusing, and has sparked much debate over what amounts to this baptism.  Luckily, Jesus does not leave us without reference about this, as chronicled by Luke throughout Acts.

In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, "He said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'"  Jesus, quite clearly, tells the disciples that, though they had already been baptized with water and were believers, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, just before Jesus ascends, in His final words to His disciples, He says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8)."  The event Jesus prophesied is Pentecost (Acts 2:4), accompanied by the physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit, namely speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Much destructive and unbiblical teaching has been done on this subject, to the effect that the Church seems polarized.  In an effort to keep true to the Scripture and reserved, we can point out a couple of clear things about this.  For one, believers are to be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit.  These being two things, they do not necessarily mean two separate occasions; they could be simultaneous.  Secondly, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God.  If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we could believe all the right orthodoxy but never bear fruit.  In this far-too-normal scenario, we need to earnestly pray to receive the Holy Spirit who guides, counsels, teaches, helps us grow spiritual fruit and is the medium of worship (John 4:23; 14:15-18, 25-26; 16:4-15).

The other, and most controversial, aspect of the Holy Spirit that should not be neglected for fear of disrupting our denominational doctrines or sensibilities is in reference to the "sign" gifts: healing, miracles, prophecy, visions, and tongues.  In an effort to let the Word determine theology as opposed to the dire case of the reverse, it must be said unambiguously that these gifts are still in effect today.  We still live in the age of grace, and God still empowers believers who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit with these gifts and He still works in these ways today.

In the end, understanding who the Holy Spirit is, how He is received, and what He does within believers is essential teaching.  Certainly, it is challenging teaching that can convict and push us in unforeseen ways but this should not allow us to neglect it.  In closing, Paul indicates that the Holy Spirit "seals" our inheritance in the Father, and is a "guarantor" of our eternity (2 Cor.21-22; Eph. 1:13-14).  The purpose of this article has not been an exhaustive or comprehensive teaching on the Holy Spirit, but just a taste of the more important things that Christians need to be aware of.  Let us then pray to be baptized by the Holy Spirit so as to be empowered by God Himself!

Overcoming the Holy Language Barrier

In preparations for my freshman year of college, like everyone else, I was required to take a number of placement exams to ensure that I was placed in the proper courses.  One such exam was for language and because I had completed two years of German in high school, German was the exam I choose to take. Due to the fact that the material was fresh in my memory and that reading a language is far easier than speaking or hearing it, I tested quite well.  More accurately, I tested well beyond my ability and was placed in a course accordingly above my head.

The first day of class, actually my first college class, I confidently strode into my advanced-level German course to a shock.  The professor greeted me in German, handed me the syllabus, and motioned for an open desk.  For the next ninety-five minutes, the professor spoke exclusively in German, going through the syllabus that was written in German, and explaining the first assignment due next class period in German.  Needless to say, my confidence was not bruised but shattered as I sheepishly snuck out of the door and straight the the Registrar's office after class to drop the course and, hopefully, to never be in that situation again.

Although I had met the entrance requisites for the class, because I lacked the necessary capacity to receive the different language, I was wholly unable to understand little if anything of what was said by the professor.  Because of my deficiency, communication was nullified and the barrier was so distracting that any potential for understanding also voided.

Unbelief and sin resigns all of humanity in a state much like I was in my German course: unable to understand or comprehend the voice of God because of our deficient inability to hear His Spirit due to the effects of sin.  Though God constantly speaks to us, we are left unable to hear Him.  This what Paul indicates, that the things of God are as a foreign language to the fleshly man, and He is not able to understand them and His frustration at this barrier will cause derision and disdain for the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14).

Towards the end of Jesus' life accounted in the Gospel of John, there is an episode that expresses this (John 12:28-43): a voice from heaven came down and spoke but the crowd present was not sure if it was thunder or the voice of an angel; they couldn't understand.  In the next set of verses John indicates that these people cannot see the things of the Lord because they are blind to Him.  

Only the regenerate heart can discern and understand the things of God.  Only the repentant person is able to hear God's voice with clarity and comprehension.  This should compel us to bend our knees in faith to the Lord, knowing that only when we seek Him in humility will we be able to receive and comprehend His voice.  Let us then turn to HIm in repentance and faith so as to hear and to understand God!

No Groupthink for God

Groupthink is a dangerous phenomenon.  It occurs most profoundly in teenagers who, because their ability to think critically and rationally remains still undeveloped, are susceptible to behaving in odd if not outright hazardous ways.  The pressure of the peer is overwhelming to the individual and they will succumb to the whims of the group, despite the inherent danger, legal ramifications, or sheer stupidity of the specific act espoused.

Say in the case of a gang of boys: the group may head to a river bridge and after some aimless loitering they will collectively decide that between the herd of thought, the best idea available would be to jump off said bridge.  Perhaps some gentle prodding may be required to garner all of the groups' allegiance to the ploy, but before long each boy jumps from the bridge into the river below only to discover that the river is far-too shallow for such a leap and two of the boys become seriously injured in the foray.

While this may be a common example of the kind of groupthink that dominates many teenagers and young adults, it seems even more dangerous when portrayed in adulthood.  This concept of groupthink can be seen at any age and can be caused by a number of factors.  Perhaps the most prevalent in our society are voyeurism, immorality, covetousness, greed, rampant secularism, and numerous other forms of idolatry.  And, unlike the aforementioned bridge-jumping example, these swaths of groupthink can have disastrously eternal consequences.

The apostle Paul speaks of this danger in 1 Cor. 15:33, "Bad company corrupts good morals."  Paul is speaking of the possibility of cancerous activity or deceit that can spread infectious sin in a community and destroy even believers; a little bad leaven ruining the whole lump of good dough (1 Cor. 5:6).  In a real sense, those around us who we choose to invest in and to be apart of our lives can either be sources of growth and encouragement or weights that hold us back from our potential in Him.

This is why we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14-18).  Believers should take this seriously.  It is not as though we completely sever relationships with unbelievers, rather, we should be discerning and guarded about who we allow to influence us.  If they are evil or sinful influences, then we need to remove ourselves from their radius of influence so as to be the most effective in preaching to them the Gospel.  However, if it is clear that no area is outside of a person's blast area, then severing ties may be the correct solution.

Paul is clear, "do not be partners with them (Eph. 5:1:14)."  We are, first, accountable to be godly and obedient to the Holy Lord and, second, responsible to relate to other humans.  If at any point other humans are hindering our devotion or drawing us away from God, we are already committing idolatry and must repent so as to turn utterly towards God.  Then we will be in a far better state to help or to encourage the other person(s).  Let us then take heed the Word of God and not fall pray to the dangerous whims of groupthink towards the Lord!

Flying on the Holy Wind

Birds are the perfect aerodynamic beings.  Their hollow bones and lean muscle structures make them the organic pilots of the sky, biological fliers that sail upon the thrusts of the wind.  The best and fastest birds use their bodies as an effective sail to fly with the wind, using it as the driving force that propels them.  However, occasionally a bird can be seen struggling against the wind, so intent on the direction they have chosen that, despite the unfavorable winds, they trudge against the opposing gales.  Eventually, the bird must concede to the current, either to turn around or simply wait until the wind changes course.

The Greek word for wind is pneuma, which, strangely enough, is actually the word for Spirit.  In a real sense, the language of the New Testament speaks of believers as empowered by indwelling of the Holy Wind.  Humanity is like a flock of birds either choosing to be empowered to fly by the power of the Holy Wind or struggling against it in unrepentant pride.

Truly, we should strive to ride the wind of the Holy Spirit, letting Him direct our flight paths and allowing His force to guide our lives.  Therefore, when we take a sincere and humble look into our lives, the directions that we are traveling, we should spend time thinking through whether we are flying by the power of the Holy Spirit or we are fighting His guidance and trying with all are might to fly against His perfect gale force current.

If we, after honest assessment, agree that we are fighting the Holy Spirit's thrust, the proper response for realigning with His perfect breeze is repentance and devotion in faith to our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Only when we draw to Him in faith can we turn in repentance with the wind and fly to the heights of blessing that God has intended for us.  Let us then be empowered to soar by ridding ourselves of pridefulness and turning in faith towards God!

Spirit Tenderizes Hearts

When preparing a nice steak sometimes the meat needs to be tenderized.  Because the best pieces of meat are filets of muscle fiber, those internal fibers can become bunch and taunt, making the steak tough.  In order to compensate for this, the piece of meat is beaten, smashed, or cut so as to loosen up the bunched muscular fibers and make the steak more tender to eat.

A hardened heart is much like un-tenderized steak.  It is tough and taunt, unfit for use and in need of tenderization.  Moreover, a hard heart affects every aspect of a person, body, mind, soul.  This is particularly true in regards to the intellect that is directly affected by a hardened heart.  Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, speaks directly to this.

Paul indicates that a hardened and calloused heart breeds futility in the mind (Eph. 4:17-18).  Logically, this makes sense.  If God is who He is (merciful, eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, faithful, transcendent, supernatural, true, and gracious, et al), then a heart that is hardened to God would be hard to His traits, meaning that life would seem utterly futile, vain, and barren.

Luckily, God, through His Son and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, has made a way to tenderize hearts that are tight and hard.  Additionally, when our hearts become tenderized through the process of sanctification it similarly affects are whole person: we will think differently, behave differently, and relate differently.

As Paul says, believers should put off our old self, in its futility of thinking, and put on the new self that is being renewed in its mind so as to think the thought of God (Rom 12:2; Eph. 4:20-24).  This is a beautiful proposition, that God would tenderize our hearts so that we be transferred from futility to eternity and to transform our minds.  Let us then press on in humility and repentance to let the tenderizing of the Spirit breakdown the callouses of our hearts so as to sanctify us in God!