1 Corinthians 12:3b “…and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is the so essential to Christianity, He is the one that opens up our capacity to understand the concept of Salvation, or anything Spiritual for that matter. Many times the scriptures make mention of the fact that the wisdom of God is not even comprehensible to man, and that he thinks it foolish. The same goes for God, “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God…”(1 Cor. 3:19a). As the opening verse states it is only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit that we can even know that Jesus is Lord.
I had never thought of it before but after reading True Evangelism, by Louis Sperry Chafer, my eyes were opened to the fact stated above. It is truly amazing to think about all the things the Holy Spirit does for us. As an unbeliever He helps us to understand that the seemingly impossible to fill hole in our lives can be filled by God, and God alone (John 16:7-11, 15a). As a believer, He Indwells and fills us, giving us eternal security (John 10:28-30) and fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). The Spirit will continually reveal things unto us. Through the Spirit we are all made equal in our second birth, for you see, the Spirit came to All who believed (1Cor. 12:13). The Spirit also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26,27). If we live by the Spirit and not the flesh we are given the fruit of the Spirit, “…which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). What more could we need to make this life easier than these nine attributes? Notice also the wording of this passage, that it is the Fruit not fruits, meaning that all of these are imparted upon the believer who is filled with the Spirit.
After observing all that the Holy Spirit does for us, it’s understandable why Jesus referred to Him as the Comforter and a Helper (John 16:7, 15:26). Without the Holy Spirit the Christian life would be an impossibility, just think about it, if Jesus left to be with the Father and the Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to this world, nobody would be able to understand the things Jesus taught, even the disciples were clueless as to a great many things He taught until the Holy Spirit was imparted unto them. (John 13:7).
Now we can Grieve, or Quench the Spirit(Eph. 4:20, 1 Thes. 5:19) by trying to take our lives back into our own hands, or when we return to our sinful ways, taking the “old man” off of the cross and living by his standards rather than putting on the “new man” and renewing our minds by the Spirit of God.(Eph.4:17-24) Every moment of everyday we have the choice to live this life for ourselves or for God. It has been my experience since coming to this realization that there is absolutely no lasting joy in living for myself, but every day and moment I give to the Lord, every time I make myself available to Him, whether it be my hands to work with or my mouth to speak with, there is an indescribable joy that fills me, that feeling that I am right where I was made to be, In Christ. Just like Major Ian Thomas said, “All that God is, is available to the man, that is available to all that God is.”. For man was created to have daily fellowship with God, Adam walked and talked with God daily in the Garden of Eden up until he sinned and lost that direct fellowship with God, but Jesus came that through His death burial and resurrection we might be forgiven the Sin of Adam that has passed on generation through generation. And when He ascended into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit into the world that everyone might have the chance once again to have fellowship with their Creator.
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