January 24, 2010

• the Holy Spirit and Life

  So many people can quote John 3:16:

  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
  that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life...

  But how does anyone come to believe in Jesus Christ in the first place?

  Look back at Jesus' earlier words in John 3...

  3 Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
  4 Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

  
   "Studies of Embryos" [1]

  5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

  And then look at the apostle Paul's words...

  II Corinthians 4:4 the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
  
  I Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
  

  Apart from God's Spirit, we are all dead and lifeless.

  Apart from God's Spirit, we are all blinded and cannot even see the Kingdom of God

  None of us, no not one, has any capacity to believe in Jesus Christ apart from the work of God's sovereign Spirit.

  Christianity is not a religion we follow,
  Christianity is not a belief system we choose to take up,
  Christianity is a life, God's Life, which comes into our souls
  like the wind blowing..
  to birth us from death to life,
  to open our blind minds to see.

  Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
  carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

  
  4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...

  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
  (Romans 8:14)
  
  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
  (Romans 8:9b)

  Have you been born again?
  Have you been born of the Spirit?
  Have you received the Spirit of Christ?
  Have you been led by the Spirit of God?
  Have you been made alive together with Christ?
  Are you truly a son of God, born again of the Spirit of God?

  If you have been born again, are you now trying to live apart from the Spirit who gave You life?

  Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
  (Galatians 2:2-3)

  In order to know the life of Christ in our souls, we must know the death of Christ...

  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that,
  just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
  (Romans 6:4)

  ---

  Related posts:
  

  • Is your religion true religion? (Henry Scougal)
  • The Essence of Being a Christian, part 1: Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • Why preach the Gospel? # 1: Bad men need Good News!
  • Why preach the Gospel? # 2: Dead men need Life!
  • Things To Look for in a Church...God's Sovereignty in Salvation
  • So THIS is Christmas!...But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son...
  • First Sunday after Christmas...Are you trusting in the Babe alone?
  • With the New Year Come New Resolutions, but How Can We Become Entirely New?

  [1] Photo credit: "Studies of Embryos"  by Leonardo da Vinci  (Pen over red chalk 1510-1513) Photography by Luc Viatour

  Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  • 4:15 PM
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