Living By The Holy Spirit

 

 

One of the first things that comes to mind when Christians think about Jesus is His morally perfect character. When Jesus overcame the devil’s temptation, He entered the wilderness “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), and forty days later he emerged from the wilderness “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14). As a result, Jesus “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22). Likewise, the Spirit helps us today to overcome temptation and sin in our own lives.

We can choose to give in to temptation and engage in “sexual immorality... hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition... envy, drunkenness... and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

But the Spirit works to instill...

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. — Galatians 5:22–23 NLT


When we exhibit self-control and are kind to someone who stabbed us in the back, we are following the lead of the Spirit. When we are patient with our spouse, even though they are driving us crazy, we show signs of being Spirit-filled. And when we are gentle with those who sin against us, we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit and holiness in our character.

Whenever I talk about character, holiness, and avoiding sin, some people automatically get concerned that I’m being legalistic. Legalism usually refers to rules people, rather than God, set in order to gain God’s approval, as though we are saved by our actions rather than grace. While God certainly does have ethical expectations for us, legalism is problematic because it promotes slavery to law rather than freedom from sin. Another problem with legalism is that rules don’t change us — the Spirit does.

When we are shaped by the Spirit, we don’t do what is right only because those who live according to their sinful nature “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). Instead, as the Spirit is poured out upon us like water to cleanse our hearts, the Spirit moves us from having a sense of duty to do what is right, to having delight in obeying God (Psalm 119). Overall, when we exhibit holiness, or the character of Christ, and avoid sin, we are the kind of person that the Bible calls spiritual (Galatians 6:1 NASB).

 

~From Simply Spirit-Filled by Andrew Gabriel

 

Stay Encouraged and Be Blessed!

What Spiritual Means In The Bible

 

 

In the Bible, the word spiritual isn’t a generic word used to refer to the nonphysical world or to a “religious” person. Rather, spiritual means specifically something that is related to the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, the Bible refers to people who make up the church as “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5) since the Spirit dwells in the church (1 Corinthians 3:16), salvation is a “spiritual blessing” (Romans 15:27) because a person is born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:6-8), and one can sing “spiritual songs” as they are “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18-19 ESV). Again, spiritual simply means having to do with the work of the Holy Spirit.

This definition of spiritual implies that to be Spirit-filled is not the same as being emotional. Certainly, the Spirit may be experienced in a way that stirs the emotions and leads a person to exclaim, “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14:25). Nevertheless, when the Bible mentions experiencing the Spirit, it rarely discusses what the experience was like or the emotions it might have aroused. Instead, the focus is placed on the life-changing results of the experience.

Biblical spirituality refers first and foremost to the ways in which the Spirit shapes us to become more like Jesus Christ.

After the Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism, Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), even “without limit” (John 3:34). As a result, Jesus cast out demons “by the Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:28), and He engaged in all kinds of ministry “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).

All Jesus was and did when He walked on earth, then, indicates what it means to be spiritual. 

~From Simply Spirit-Filled by Andrew Gabriel