A Sure Pathway To Living An Overcoming Christian Life.
The Expected Christian Life and Description
Bible Text: JH 16:13, ROM 5:5, ROM 8:16.
INTRODUCTION
Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit to His disciples with these words: “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come” John 16:13
The work of the Holy Spirit is the means by which all that Christ accomplished comes to benefit the elect. The Holy Spirit does (at least) seven things in and for our salvation.
1. The Holy Spirit Convicts.
The word convict is used in John 3:20 with the sense of bringing sins to light: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light.
The Holy Spirit acts like a giant searchlight, exposing the world’s wickedness, calling people to repentance, and convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8–11).
2. The Holy Spirit converts.
As Jesus famously told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Titus 3:5 calls this work “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
There is no Christian life without the converting work of the Spirit. He enables us to understand and spiritually discern the things of God (1 Cor. 2:12–14).
He grants us repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18). He pours God’s love into our hearts so we can be assured that in Christ God is for us and not against us (Rom. 5:5).
The Holy Spirit enables us to believe in the promises of God (John 1:12–13; 3:36; 6:63–65).
3. The Holy Spirit Applies The Benefits.
The Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually unites us to himself – Romans 8:9–11.
When we have the Spirit, we have Christ. And when we have Christ, we have the Spirit. The Holy Spirit applies to the believer the benefits won by Christ, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.
4. The Holy Spirit glorifies.
“He will glorify me,” Jesus told the disciples, “he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14).
The Holy Spirit is a serving Spirit. He speaks only what he hears (John 16:13).
He declares what he is given (John 16:14b).
His mission is to glorify another (John 16:14a).
We cannot worship Christ without the work of the Spirit. And the Spirit does not want to be magnified except insofar as he points to Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to Christ by taking what is his—his teaching, the truth about his death and resurrection—and making it known.
5. The Holy Spirit sanctifies.
The Spirit gives the believer a new position in Christ—set apart in Christ and sprinkled with his blood—and a new power in Christ (Eph. 3:16).
The Spirit works in us “for obedience to Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2).
Peter elsewhere says that through God’s precious and very great promises we may “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).
The point is that we can share in the qualities that are characteristic of God himself.
6. The Holy Spirit Equips.
By the work of the Spirit, believers are given gifts for ministry. Sometimes called “service” or “activities,” the purpose of these gifts is to build up the church. The manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good and the edification of the church -1 Cor 12:7, 1 Cor 14:12, 26.
7. The Holy Spirit promises.
Ephesians 1:13–14 states that in Christ we “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.”
All three elements are probably in view here. The seal of the Spirit authenticates us as true believers, secures our eternal safety, and marks us out as belonging to God.
CONCLUSION
The Spirit is our guarantee (2 Cor. 5:5), like an engagement ring prior to the wedding, or like a down payment on a house before the final move-in date (Eph. 4:30).
The sealing is, first of all, a declarative fact, true of every Christian.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16, Rom 5:5
Where will you and I be if not for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
We cannot claim to love Jesus outside living in the benefits of his resurrection
Embrace it – Believe it – Rejoice in it and Celebrate it
Live only in its power and benefits
Dwell with the shepherd, for that his the summary of the benefits of his resurrection to us. Ps 23:1
