24 september, 2023

THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER(2)

(Growing in Faith, in Truth & in Spirit: GFTS 13)

Every true believer in Christ has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him/her. We are “born of God” through the Holy Spirit into God’s Family when we believe in Christ and receive Him into our lives as our Saviour and Lord (John 1:12-13; 3:3-5). He is “the Spirit of Adoption through Whom we cry ‘Abba, Father’ and He bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom.8:15-17). How thankful we should be, that unworthy sinners like us can become children of the Most High God! What a great privilege to be able to call God “Father” when angels are not allowed to call him that!

The Holy Spirit is also called the “Seal of our Redemption” (Eph.4:30), which guarantees us that we belong to Christ and will be assured of Heaven when we die (2 Cor.5:5). Let us look at this more closely: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation; in Whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise, Who is the Guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the Praise of His Glory” (Eph.1:13-14 – NKJV).

Notice the condition for receiving this “Seal”: “In Him (Christ) you also trusted, after having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise”. After we believed and trusted Christ, the Holy Spirit is given to us as God’s Gift. He called the “Spirit of Promise” because He was promised by Father God (Acts 1:4; John 14:26). The Seal is the “Mark of Ownership” which means we belong to God and Christ and to let the devil know who we belong to and he cannot touch us if we are faithful to God and live a holy life (1 John 5:18-19). This Seal also guarantees that one day we will be with the Lord in Heaven, which is our “Inheritance” and that we are the “Purchased Possession” of Christ. We belong to Him forever because we are redeemed by His Precious Blood (1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

This means that we have a responsibility to live for God and not for ourselves. We have been “bought” with the price of God and we belong totally to Christ. The Bible tells us that: “You are not your own; you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor.6:20 -NKJV). As the Apostle Paul said, “Not I but Christ lives in me” because he had “crucified” himself with Christ (Gal.2:20. This is what Christ commanded all His followers to do: “to deny yourself and take up the Cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Hence the Bible further says, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rom.14:7-9).

May we always grateful to God for what He has done for us and live for Christ! 

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