the Holy Spirit

The Power of One

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1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV

At one time, God’s divine plan to establish the church as the household of faith was shrouded in mystery, but now that it had been revealed and begun to spread throughout the world, Paul was on a mission to ensure it lived up to its calling. As he continues his letter to the believers in Ephesus, he charges them to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they had been called.

As part of the ever-expanding church, they were expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the plan God had laid out for them. But when Paul mentions their “walk,” he is talking about a lifestyle, not physical fitness. The NET Bible translates the first two verses as, “I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called.” The calling each believer has received is the same; it is the calling of the Holy Spirit that allowed those who were formerly dead in their sins and blind to the reality of the gospel to hear and respond to the offer of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ.

Jesus quite boldly and matter-of-factly claimed, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44 ESV). The Greek word John used is ἕλκω (helkō) and it means, “to draw by inward power, lead, impel” (“G1670 – helkō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). It was God who had made it possible for those Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s audience to come to faith in Christ. He is the one who called, impelled, and drew them. It was He who placed them in the body of Christ. Now Paul wanted them to live up to that calling. In other words, he expected them to reflect their new nature and standing.

And Paul gets quite specific. He lists out humility, gentleness, patience, and love as four visible characteristics of those who have been called and set apart by God. Each of the four is other-oriented and takes into account those with whom we live within the body of Christ. Each requires a high degree of selflessness. Paul told the “called ones” in Philippi, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:3-4 NLT). Then he added: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5 NLT).

What was the attitude or mindset of Jesus? First, He was humble and willing to leave behind the glory of heaven and take on human flesh to provide redemption for mankind. Secondly, he had the mindset of a servant. Though He was the Son of God and worthy of honor, He put aside His royal prerogatives and lived among humanity so that He could serve those in bondage to sin and death. Third, He demonstrated patience as He willingly endured ridicule, rejection, taunts, false accusations, and, ultimately, death at the hands of those He came to save. He could have destroyed them, but instead, He died for them. Finally, Jesus exhibited unconditional love even for those who rejected Him. As Paul will point out in the very next chapter of this letter, we are to emulate Christ’s example by living “a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God” (Ephesians 5:2 NLT).

Paul wanted his readers to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3 ESV). There is a oneness and unity within the church, unlike anything else in the world. We have all been called by God, and none of us deserved that calling. We were all in the same place before God graciously drew us to Himself. We were lost and dead in our trespasses and sins. We were spiritually blind and separated from God. We were hopeless and totally helpless to do anything about it. Yet God called and placed us within the body of Christ. He unified us despite our differences, giving us a common bond and a shared responsibility to live up to our new status as His children and heirs.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 6:26-28 NLT

Paul told the Colossian believers that he constantly prayed for them, asking God to give them complete knowledge of His will and spiritual wisdom and understanding. As a result of receiving those things, Paul said, “the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:9-10 NLT).

The way they lived their lives would honor and glorify God, and that was Paul’s desire for the believers in Ephesus as well.

In verses 4-6, Paul uses the word “one” seven different times. His repetitive use of this word was to drive home a point. Those believers to whom he was writing all had one thing in common: their calling by God. But that calling was multifaceted. They were all called by one and the same Spirit of God. They were all placed in one body: the body of Christ. They were all called to the very same hope: their future glorification and the promise of eternal life. They all worshiped one Lord, as a result of one factor: faith. They had all experienced the unity of baptism. And all of it had been made possible by the one God and Father of all.

One God, one calling, one hope, one Lord, one church, and one response: To lead a life worthy of your calling.

Father, on the night He was about to be betrayed by one of His own disciples, Jesus uttered these sobering words: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you” (John 17:21 NLT). As He faced the reality of His pending death, He lovingly asked that You would unify all those who You were going to draw to Yourself. He knew His death was necessary and He was willing sacrifice His life so that sinful humanity might be redeemed and restored. He was alluding to His death when He said, “unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives” (John 12:24 NLT). Our unification with You and with one another was made possible by His willing sacrifice of His own life. Speaking of His own crucifixion, Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NLT). This was all Your plan and it was the only way that we could enjoy a restored relationship with You and the one-of-a-kind experiencing the harmony and diversity of the church. But even the unity of the church is impossible to maintain without the unifying power of Your Spirit. So, pour out Your Spirit in abundance, so that we might walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Spirit of Unity, Community, and Mutual Dependability

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13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? – 1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1-6 ESV

Now Paul begins to differentiate between the gifts. He is not necessarily making one more important or spiritually more relevant than another, but he is prioritizing them based on their particular benefit to the body of Christ. He has just spent an entire chapter emphasizing the importance of love.

He has described love as selfless and sacrificial. Those who practice this godly brand of love under the influence of the Holy Spirit put the needs of others ahead of their own. And the same should be true when they use their spiritual gift. Now, it seems that the Corinthians had so elevated the gift of tongues that it had become a problem within the church. And their practice of the gift was not in keeping with Paul’s admonition that love be the motivating factor behind all the gifts. For the Corinthians, the gift of tongues had become the most desirable of all the gifts. Evidently, they viewed that particular gift as more spiritual and therefore, more preferable. It was flashy and flamboyant, and to be able to speak in an unknown tongue was sure to be an attention-getter. But that was a big part of the problem with their prioritizing this gift over all the others.  Those who practiced it seemed to do so with a focus on self rather than on building up the body of Christ.

So while Paul encourages them to earnestly seek the spiritual gifts, he promotes prophecy over tongues, and his explanation is simple and direct.

For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. – 1 Corinthians 14:2 NLT

If no one understands what you are saying, no one benefits from your use of the gift, not even you. It will remain a mystery, known only to God. And while you may be speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, it will do nothing to build up those around you. However, as Paul points out, someone “who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them” (1 Corinthians 14:3 NLT).

The gift of prophecy was the Spirit-empowered ability to reveal truth from God that had not yet been revealed. It was a word from God intended for the benefit of the entire congregation. This gift was evident and necessary in the early days of the church because the Canon of Scripture had not yet been compiled. The Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) existed but were not always available to the new congregations springing up among the Gentiles. The gospels had not yet been written, and Paul, Peter, and James were still writing their letters, which would later be included in the Canon of Scripture. So, there was a desperate need among these fledgling and far-flung congregations to hear the truth of God. And those who had been given the gift of prophecy were to speak through the Spirit’s power for the benefit of the people of God. But tongues, at least as practiced by the Corinthians, was a more self-centered gift.

A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. – 1 Corinthians 14:4 NLT

The one who spoke in an unknown tongue may receive a blessing from knowing that they were being used as an instrument of God, but if no one could understand what they were saying, the body of Christ could receive no benefit. But when someone prophesied, everyone gained from the experience. In the previous chapter, Paul made the bold statement, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-2 NLT).

None of the gifts were of benefit if they were practiced without love. But tongues, because it involved speaking in an unknown language, was particularly troublesome. The first time the gift of tongues was manifested in the church was at Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” – Acts 2:1-8 ESV

The purpose of this manifestation of the Spirit of God was to communicate the gospel so that all could comprehend it. For this to happen, the Spirit enabled the disciples to speak in languages they did not know, for the benefit of the thousands of people from other countries who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.

There was no need for interpretation, because the hearers understood what was being said. However, in Corinth, the use of tongues had become self-centered and self-edifying. They were missing the point. At Pentecost, the people who heard the disciples speak in tongues, or foreign languages, were amazed. They said, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8 NLT). But look closely, and you will see that it was the substance of their message that got their attention, not the style. The very same people reacted, “‘We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.’ And all were amazed and perplexed” (Acts 2:11-12 NLT).

It was the content that was important, not the means of delivery. For Paul, the bottom line was the church’s spiritual edification. The question to ask is, “How will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching” (1 Corinthians 14:6 ESV). Speaking in a foreign tongue was of no benefit to anyone unless the message it contained was understandable and from God.

We tend to think of the gifts of the Spirit from a purely personal perspective. We seem to believe our gift was given for our own benefit and spiritual enlightenment. But the gifts are given to individuals for the benefit of the community. My gift is for you, and your gift is for me. The one who receives the gift is simply a conduit through whom God pours His blessings on others. As Paul told the church in Rome, when we practice our gifts in love, all will benefit.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. – Romans 12:6-10 NLT

Notice the other-oriented nature of Paul’s instructions. His emphasis is on the edification and encouragement of the body of Christ, not the individual. The gifts were never to be used in a selfish or self-promotional manner. They were never intended to elevate the recipient’s spiritual status. Instead, they were to promote a spirit of unity, community, and mutual dependability that edified all and glorified God.

Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. You didn’t have to provide us with His presence and power, but You did. And I am grateful that Your Son’s resurrection and return to Your side in heaven was accompanied by the coming of the Spirit. Without Him, we would be helpless and hopeless. Yet, we tend to operate as if He doesn’t exist or we’re tempted to use His gifts as if they only exist for us. But You have always been about unity and community. And, Holy Spirit, Your presence in my life was never intended to make me appear good to others or make me feel better about myself. My life is supposed to serve as a conduit for Your power as it passes through me to all those around me. The gift You have given me was never for my benefit; it was intended to bless others. We have all the gifts we need but, like the Corinthians, we need to learn how to use them for Your glory and the good of others. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Run, Don’t Walk

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18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV

The Corinthians were not taking their union with Christ seriously. Due to their dualistic approach to life, they seemed to believe that what they did with their bodies really didn’t matter. This led them to look on any sins they committed with their bodies as somehow separated from their spiritual lives. One can see the logic behind their thinking from the popular phrase they used.,

“All things are lawful for me.” – 1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV

This was a common expression among the Corinthians that was used to excuse their behavior. It had led them to commit all kinds of sin with impunity, including sexual sin. The very fact that they had refused to deal with the man in their church who was having sexual relations with his stepmother shows how skewed their thinking had become. But Paul is out to confront and correct their improper views of the body and its relationship with sin.

Paul commands them to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18a ESV). He uses the Greek word, φεύγω (pheugō), which means “seek safety by flight or to escape safely out of danger” (“G5343 – pheugō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). It is the same word he used when writing to Timothy.

But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from (pheugō) all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. – 1 Timothy 6:11 NLT

Paul had warned Timothy about those who have “an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy” (1 Timothy 6:4-5 NLT).

Paul told Timothy to flee from these things and, instead, to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. The word Paul used means “to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after” (“G1377 – diōkō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). It is not enough to simply run from something, but we must also run to something else. However, if the Corinthians did not see sexual sin as wrong and dangerous to their spiritual well-being, they would continue in it. That was unacceptable to Paul.

So he attempts to paint a vivid picture of the dangers of sexual sin by emphasizing that every other sin a person commits is “outside the body,” while sexual immorality is a sin “against” the body. The word he uses is a Greek preposition that is most often translated “into.” When committing sexual sin, a physical union takes place that sets this particular sin apart. All sin requires the use of my body. To lie or slander, the tongue is necessary. Stealing requires the use of the hands and feet. To murder another human being requires the mind to plan the deed and the body to carry it out. And while these sins are no less serious than sexual immorality, Paul’s point is that there is a difference. Sexual immorality is a blatant sin against the body, and that body, Paul stresses, “is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God” (1 Corinthians 6:19b NLT).

As followers of Christ, we enjoy a mystical, but real union with Him. His Spirit lives within us, and we take Him with us wherever we go. Paul told the Colossians, “Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory” (Colossians 1:27 NLT). So, when someone commits sexual sin with his or her body, they are dragging Christ into that experience. Paul asks the Corinthians, “Don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her?” (1 Corinthians 6:16a NLT). There is an intimacy and interconnection established, and this led Paul to ask, “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute?” (1 Corinthians 6:15 NLT). And just to clear up any possible confusion, Paul provides the correct answer: “Never!”

For Paul, union with Christ was an essential doctrine that needed to be understood and incorporated into every aspect of a believer’s daily life. John Murray wrote that “union with Christ is . . . the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. . . . It is not simply a phase of the application of redemption; it underlies every aspect of redemption” (Redemption – Accomplished and Applied, Eerdmans, 1955, pp. 201, 205).

We are one with Christ. We share His identity. We are progressively being transformed into His likeness. We not only share in His death and resurrection, and all that those things imply, but we also share in His righteousness. We have the capacity to live like Christ in this lifetime. The very same power that raised Him from the dead lives within us and is available to us. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:3-4 ESV).

He went on to emphasize their oneness with Christ.

 In him we have redemption through his blood – vs 7

In him we have obtained an inheritance – vs 11

In him you also … were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit – vs 13

We are in Christ. We are one with Christ. Sexual sin uses the body that belongs to Christ and re-purposes it for immorality. It takes what God has bought with the precious blood of His Son, our body, and uses it for ungodly purposes. In so doing, we degrade and desecrate the very temple of God. Which is why Paul ends this section with a call to “honor God with your body.” Why? Because “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT).

We belong to God – body and soul. Our bodies are no longer ours to do with as we want. Each believer’s body is the temple of God’s Spirit and is to be used to bring God glory and honor. Paul reminds us, “Give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable” (Romans 12:1 NLT).

All of this is in keeping with the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden on the night He was betrayed. As He prepared for his pending death, Jesus took the time to pray “for all who will ever believe in me through their message” (John 17:20 NLT). That includes us.

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” – John 17:21-23 NLT

The reality of our unity with Christ should motivate us to pursue righteousness in all that we do. We are His body and serve as the temple of the Holy Spirit. As individuals, we contain the indwelling presence and power of God. As a community of believers, we serve as His temple on earth and display His glory to the world around us.

Father, we live in a world that is obsessed with sexual sin. It is everywhere and the enemy is constantly tempting us to not only participate in it but to accept it as normal and natural. Our children are being exposed to its allure and lies at increasingly earlier ages. The gift You created has been turned into a cheap substitute for love and offers a self-obsessed pursuit of personal pleasure at all costs. It is destructive and antithetical to the selfless and sacrificial life we have been called to live. Open our eyes to the danger of sexual sin and give us the strength to pursue righteousness at all costs — for our own good and Your glory. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Time to Sow

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6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. – Galatians 6:6-10 ESV

For the apostle Paul, the body of Christ was to operate in a spirit of mutual love and reciprocity. There was no place for selfishness or a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude. The model Christ left us was one of selfless sacrifice and love for others. Paul has already talked about coming alongside a fellow believer who has been caught up in sin. He has encouraged that they pursue restoration, rather than practice exclusion. No one was to practice a kind of spiritual elitism, considering themselves better than anyone else. The Christian life was to be marked by a sense of interdependence and a desire to put the needs of others ahead of their own.

This spirit of harmony and communal care was to influence every area of the Galatian’s lives, including the way they provided for the needs of those who taught them the Word of God.

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. – Galatians 6:6 ESV

This wasn’t Paul’s way of lining his own pocket; he was simply encouraging the Galatians to properly provide for those through whom God had shared the good news of Jesus Christ. In those days, pastors and teachers like Paul were not on the payroll of the local church, so their livelihood was dependent upon the gracious, free-will gifts of the congregation to whom they ministered. As an itinerant evangelist and minister, Paul knew firsthand how difficult it was to survive without a steady source of income. which led him to bring up this topic repeatedly in his letters.

Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!” – 1 Timothy 5:17-18 NLT

Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink?…Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. – 1 Corinthians 9:11, 13-14 NLT

Paul’s point is that the body of Christ has been equipped by God to care for itself. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul emphasized God’s divine design for the spiritual well-being of the family of faith.

And he [God] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV

There are roles and responsibilities within the church that are designed to provide for the well-being of those who make up each local fellowship. Paul says that those who have received the word of God should be willing to share what they have with those who taught it to them. In that day and age, those who served as apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, often did so without any form of financial remuneration. Some even became itinerant teachers, traveling from city to city, to minister the word of God to local congregations. Paul, as one such individual, encouraged believers to provide for the needs of these people.

In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul elaborated on the common expectation among believers to care for those who taught them.

Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? – 1 Corinthians 9:4-7 ESV

Paul went on to ask them the question, “If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?” (1 Corinthians 9:11 ESV). Even though Paul claimed to have never demanded this God-given right to provision from the churches to whom he ministered, he said, “…those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14 ESV).

For Paul, this all seemed to boil down to the unique, God-ordained nature of the body of Christ. There was to be no lack and no need unmet. God would graciously provide teachers to proclaim His Word and bless the hearers so they could provide for their physical needs.

But Paul warns against cultivating a selfish mindset that might disrupt this God-ordained plan of provision. He uses the agricultural metaphor of sowing and reaping, describing someone who “sows to his own flesh” (Galatians 6:8 ESV). This was Paul’s way of warning against giving in to one’s sinful nature and allowing the desires of the flesh to override the will of the Holy Spirit. This kind of attitude would produce negative consequences, with the sower reaping corruption rather than blessings. Paul bluntly states, “You will always harvest what you plant” (Galatians 6:7 NLT).

It would have been easy for the Galatians to view the prophets, evangelists, and teachers as lazy because they “refused” to work. They could have viewed these individuals as freeloaders and withheld any form of compensation for their efforts. Others could have taken the attitude “what is mine, is mine.”

In some of these communities, people had a hard enough time just making ends meet. The thought of having to give away your money or food to someone else would have been a difficult burden to bear. But Paul encouraged them to “not grow weary of doing good” (Galatians 6:9 ESV). Man’s sinful nature will always encourage selfishness and self-centeredness. Isolation and independence are normal human inclinations, but Paul knew that the success of the church was dependent upon its members sowing to the Spirit. In other words, they were to invest their time, energy, and talents into those things the Spirit was directing them to do. If they did, they would reap the kind of fruit only the Spirit can produce: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Living according to the Spirit is unnatural. It is a supernatural, divine enablement that is in direct conflict with our old natures. There will always be a part of us that will resist obeying what the Spirit tells us to do. We won’t want to give or share what we have with others. Our natural inclination will be to hoard and protect what we have. The normal response of the flesh will be to resist putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

But Paul tells us, “…as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10 ESV). As long as we live on this planet, we will have opportunities to do good. It is in the here and now that our generosity, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control are needed. There will be no need for patience when Christ establishes His Kingdom on earth. In the eternal state, there will be no one with unmet needs. There will be no sin, so it will be unnecessary for us to respond to hatred with love. We will not be required to return harsh words with words of kindness, anger with gentleness, or temptation with self-control.

But as long as the Lord delays His return and we remain in this life, we will have untold opportunities to live out our faith and display the fruit of the Spirit for the benefit of all those around us. We must sow while the season is right but what we sow is of utmost importance. If we sow fleshly, self-centered desires, we will reap the deeds of the flesh. But if we sow the spiritual seed of the Spirit of God, living according to His power and in submission to His will, we will reap the fruit of the Spirit. And one day, we will reap the final reward that comes from a life lived in faith.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. – Romans 6:22 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Life-long Faith.

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O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 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? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith — just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? – Galatians 3:1-6 ESV

You can sense the frustration in Paul’s words as he begins his theological defense of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. From his perspective, it is as if his readers had been cast under a spell. His previous efforts, while living and ministering among them, seem to have been in vain. He had gone out of his way to convince them of the grace of God made available through the cross of Christ alone, but now they were allowing themselves to be ‘bewitched” into believing that more was necessary. They were buying into the lie that circumcision was an added requirement to salvation. Paul’s problem was not so much with the rite of circumcision as it was with the problem of legalism.

Jesus Christ had died a gruesome death on the cross in order to provide a means of salvation for men and make possible their justification before God. He did for humanity what humanity could not do for itself. He satisfied God. His death was the propitiation for our sins. He fully satisfied the righteous wrath of God against the sins of mankind. And yet, here were the Galatians allowing themselves to be convinced that His death had not been enough. They needed to do more!

Paul was not against good works. He was not propagating a life of moral, ethical and spiritual complacency. Paul’s issue is with works being tied to and made a requirement for salvation and justification. Jesus paid it all. His sacrificial death on the cross was fully and completely sufficient to ransom men and women from their sins and restore them to a right relationship with God.

The message of false teachers will always fall into one of two categories. Either you have not done enough to be truly saved or now that you are saved, you don’t have to do anything. Theologians refer to these two extremes as nomism and antinomianism. We might recognize them as legalism and license. One promotes a doctrine of salvation based on religious rule-keeping. The other can result in a rejection of any moral requirements altogether. In essence, it teaches that we are no longer obligated to keep God’s moral law because we have been set free from it. And while there is a degree of truth to that assessment, it can easily lead to a justification of sin and a life of moral ambiguity. Both legalism and license share the same root problem: Self-centeredness. One places self at the center of man’s redemption, making human effort the key to salvation. The other promotes self to the point of making salvation all about self-gratification. Rather than holiness, license preaches happiness. Instead of encouraging death to self, license promotes a life of self-satisfaction.

Both of these extremes are dangerous. And Paul was constantly having to deal with both. In the case of the Galatians, the greater threat was legalism. They had placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, but now they were being convinced that there was something missing. Which is why Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2 ESV). The answer was obvious. As Gentiles, they had done nothing in the way of keeping the law of Moses. And yet, they had come to faith in Christ and had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. None of them had done anything to deserve this incredible gift of grace from God. And Paul took it a step further, asking them, “After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3 NLT). In other words, Paul was asking them if they thought their salvation was up to God, while their sanctification was up to them.

The issue Paul was raising was regarding their sanctification. Not only are we saved by faith in Christ, we are transformed or made Christ-like by the very same process. We can no more sanctify ourselves than we can save ourselves. God doesn’t save us, then leave it up to us to perfect ourselves. Again, Paul is not discounting the role of good works in the life of the believer. He is simply emphasizing the source from which those good works are to flow. Paul told the believers in Philippi, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ESV). Later on in this same letter to the believers in Galatia, he will write, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22 ESV). God not only saves us, He sanctifies us. Paul told the Corinthians, “And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). We don’t make ourselves more like Christ, that is the Spirit’s job. Our role is to remain submissive and obedient to His activity in our lives. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13 ESV).

For Paul, the entire process of salvation, justification, and sanctification was the work of God. At no point does the responsibility for redemption fall on man. The only thing we are required to do is trust. We are to submit our lives to His will and relinquish our right to self-autonomy. Paul stated his position well back in chapter two: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NLT). Faith isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime event, it is a life-long pursuit. Faith is a lifestyle, a way of life, and the key to our salvation, sanctification and ultimate glorification.

Divine Protection.

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We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. – 1 John 5:18 ESV

1 John 5:13-21

The possibility of committing sin is an ever-present reality for believers, as much as it is for the lost. John made it clear earlier in his letter, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 ESV). It is essential to remember that John was writing to believers in Jesus Christ, those who had placed their faith in Him as their Savior and sin-substitute. Jesus had died as the propitiation for their sins, completely satisfying a just and holy God by paying in full the penalty due to God for the sins of all the world – for all time. But while our sins are paid for and there is no longer any condemnation or death sentence hanging over our heads, we still have the capability to commit sin. Which is why John went on to say, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). In John’s understanding of the doctrine of salvation, there is no doubt that he believed in the complete effectiveness of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. He knew and believed that Jesus “appeared to take away sins” (1 John 3:5 ESV). In fact, “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 ESV). With His death, Jesus made it possible for those who believed in Him to live their lives free from the control of sin. He set them free from slavery to sin. Jesus made a life of righteousness not only possible, but the expected norm for His followers.

John gives us the encouraging and comforting news that “everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (1 John 5:18 ESV). Sinfulness is no longer the normal behavior for believers. Before Christ, our entire lives were marked by sin. It was our only nature. All that we did was done in rebellion to and in defiance of God – even our best efforts and most righteous behavior. Prior to placing our faith in Christ, we followed “the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3 NLT). We were driven by the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). We couldn’t stop sinning. But all that has changed. We have received new natures. We have been given the Spirit of God to indwell and empower us. God has provided us with a new capacity to live in keeping with our new identity and standing. We are righteous, because of the righteousness which was imputed to us by Christ. On the cross, He exchanged our sin for His righteousness. Jesus, the one “who was born of God protects him” – the one who has faith is Jesus (1 John 5:18). Not only does Jesus save us, He protects us – preventing the evil one from touching us. On the night on which He was betrayed, Jesus spent time in the garden praying to His Father. One of the things He prayed was, “I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17:14-15 ESV). It was His desire then that we be protected from Satan, and it is still His desire today. While “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19 ESV), we are protected by God as we continue to live in the midst of it. Praying on our behalf, Jesus asked the Father, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth” (John 171:17 ESV). Why, because we are not of this world any more than He was. We don’t belong here. We are in enemy territory. We are surrounded. But we have divine protection. From sin and Satan. We know that, because we are born of God, we are no longer children of this world. We are no longer slaves to sin. “We know that we are from God” (1 John 5:19 ESV) and “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he was been born of God” (1 John 3:9 ESV). God’s DNA has been implanted within us. We have been rewired from the inside out. As God’s children, we are loved by Him, and because He loves us, He protects us. He watches over us. He will not leave us or forsake us. And He has His best in store for us.

Listen Carefully.

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They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. – 1 John 4:5-6 ESV

1 John 4:1-6

John made a fairly bold claim when he wrote, “We are from God.” He was telling his readers that he could be trusted because what he wrote, he had received directly from God. He was making it up. It wasn’t his opinion or his fading recollections of how things had happened. John had received his message directly from the Spirit of God, just as Jesus had promised. “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26 NLT). John had special help and assistance. So did Paul and the other writers of the Old and New Testaments. Paul made a similar claim when he wrote the church in Corinth, “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths” (1 Corinthians 2:13 NLT). Paul and John both believed that what they were writing, teaching, and proclaiming was the very Word of God. Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). And Paul was not just referring to the Old Testament. The authors of what would become the New Testament believed what they were writing was from God. Peter said this of Paul, “just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures” (2 Peter 1:15-16 NET). These men were penning the words of God. They were prophets acting on behalf of God. Listen to what Peter claimed:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,i with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:16-21 ESV

Peter was confident that what he wrote was from God, given to him by the Holy Spirit. So what they taught concerning Jesus was God’s words, not their own. That is why they were so adamant that their readers, those who believed in Jesus, not be deceived by any other messengers who might teach a different Jesus, a different gospel, or a different Spirit. Paul and the other New Testament authors wrote under the divine influence of the Spirit of God. They were not just motivational speakers coming up with their own version of the truth or their own take on spiritual life. Paul wrote, “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:4 NLT). He claimed, “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths” (1 Corinthians 2:!4 NLT). The things of God are impossible for the non-spiritual to discern or understand. “But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT). But they can understand the things of the world. The non-spiritual, those who do not know Christ, are susceptible and receptive to falsehood, because they don’t know any better. But believers have the Holy Spirit, who helps us discern the difference between truth and fiction, the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. But we must learn to listen carefully to what He is saying. We must spend time in the Word of God in order that the Spirit of God can educate us and equip us for life in this sometimes very confusing world. We have the truth, as revealed in the Word of God. We have the ability to understand God’s Word because we have God’s Spirit. And we have the promise that “the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4 NLT). 

That’s the Spirit!

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By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. – 1 John 4:2-3 ESV

1 John 4:1-6

That’s the Spirit. Or is it? Eight times in these six verses, John uses the Greek word, pneuma. And like a lot of Greek words, this one has a variety of meanings. It can refer to a breeze or movement of air; the soul of a man; the source of any power, affection, emotion, or desire; or it can be used when talking about the Spirit of God. The definition is established by the immediate context, including the words around it. But not only do we need to determine which pneuma John is referring to, he wants us to know how to figure out the difference between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist.

Not only does John repeatedly use the word, pneuma, he keeps bringing up the topic of confession. He does so in a variety of way, referring to prophets, hearing, speaking, confessing, and listening. In other words, John puts a high priority in these verses on communication. Prophets, by definition, were to speak on behalf of God. They were to be His mouthpieces, declaring the words of God to the people of God. When they spoke, the did so on His behalf. But John also puts a lot of responsibility on those who hear. They weren’t just supposed to listen, but they were to be discerning. Why? Because not every pneuma or spirit is from God. Not every influence or power that appears to be spiritual is from God. The Old Testament had some clear indicators as to whether a prophet was speaking truth or not. You couldn’t just go by what he said or did. You had to dig deeper and look at the root of his message. God gave the people of Israel the following standard:

“Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the Lord your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the Lord your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.” – Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT

If they dreamed dreams and talked about signs and wonders, but encouraged the people of God to worship false gods, they were false prophets. And the penalty for their deception was death. Pretty serious stuff. In the book of 1 John, the apostle gives a similar warning to test the spirits or spokesmen declaring to be representing God. And the criteria for the test was simple: What do they say about Jesus? Do they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? Was He the Son of God? Was He the Savior of the world? “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3 ESV). It is the lie of Satan. People can claim to have the truth, know the truth, and speak the truth. They can claim to speak for God. But if they do not confess Jesus as the Son of God, sent by God to pay for the sins of man, they are not of God. They are from the world, John says. Not only that, they speak from the world, and the rest of the world listens to what they have to say. But John made it clear that he and the other apostles were from God. They spoke on behalf of God, because they confessed the same Jesus that God confessed. And they spoke to those who were also from God. The children of God recognize the voice of God. Over in his gospel, John recorded an incident that occurred in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus found Himself surrounded by a crowd who demanded, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (John 10:24 NLT). Jesus responded, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one” (John 10:25-30 NLT). John follows this up in his letter with the declaration, “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NLT). We have the Spirit of God within us. We have the power of God available to us. We have the truth of God made known to us. All because we believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the sole reason we have a right relationship with God the Father. And anybody who teaches anything else is dead wrong.

Staying Power.

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So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. – 1 John 2:24 NLT

There are always going to be reasons for believers to lose hope and doubt their faith. The enemy is real, his attacks are relentless and the pressure to doubt God is ever-present. John knew that those to whom he wrote were faced with all kinds of questions regarding their beliefs. They were having the very foundation of their faith shaken by those who claimed to be their brothers and sisters in Christ. Their fellowship had been rocked by the recent departure of a group who no longer believed what they believed. They had a different view about Jesus. At first glance, their perspective probably hadn’t sounded all that different, but over time it became clear that they were espousing a radically different doctrine regarding the identity and role of Jesus. Evidently, they had come to believe that Jesus was nothing more than a man. He was not the Son of God. He was not God in human flesh. In other words, they were rejecting the very idea of the incarnation. And it seems clear from John’s letter, that they were even doubting their need for a Savior, because they were denying their own sinfulness. John called this “the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3 ESV). Their views regarding Jesus were more than just opinions, they were heresy, dangerous and destructive teachings that undermined the very foundation of the faith and denied the Word of God. John called them what they were: liars. “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” (1 John 2:22 ESV). To deny that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah and Savior of the world, was to deny that He was God. It was to disagree with what God said about Jesus and what Jesus claimed about Himself. It was to reject the teaching of the apostles, like John, who had been eye-witnesses of not only His earthly ministry, but His death and resurrection.

So John gives his struggling flock two ways for staying strong in the face of unrelenting attacks on their faith. The first was that they must remain faithful to what they had been taught. They must consider the source. John wrote, “So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father” (1 John 2:24 NLT). The Message paraphrase puts it this way: “Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father.” Where did that original message come from? The apostles. They had been the messengers sent by Jesus to spread the good news regarding the gift of eternal life made possible by His death on the cross. They had brought the message of forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God that Jesus’ death and resurrection had made possible. And their message hinged on the reality of Jesus being the sinless Son of God. He was NOT just a man who lived a good life and died a martyr’s death. He was God’s own Son, and He had taken on human flesh, lived a sinless life, died a sinner’s death, as a payment to satisfy the just penalty required by a righteous and holy God. That is what the apostles had been taught. That is what they had shared. That is what the recipients of John’s letter had originally believed, and it had radically changed their lives. So John was encouraging them to remain faithful to what they had heard. There would be plenty of other opinions about God. There would be other views regarding Jesus and the way of salvation. But Jesus had said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). He had boldly claimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25 ESV). And John, who had personally seen Jesus in His post-crucifixion, resurrected state, had written, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 ESV).

But there was one more thing John told his readers to remember. “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you” (1 John 2:27 NLT). They had experienced the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had promised. When they had believed what the apostles had taught, it had been confirmed by the filling of the Spirit. John reminded them that because the Spirit of God lived or remained within them, they could know that what they had been taught by the apostles had been true. They didn’t need any “new” teaching. “…so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ” (1 John 2:27 NLT). This did not mean that they were omniscient or all-knowing. It simply meant that they already knew the truth regarding Jesus and His claim to be the Son of God. The very presence of the Holy Spirit within them was the proof. Just like those to whom John was writing, we have the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We have the testimony of the apostles and the presence of the Spirit. We know the truth. We know Jesus – the way, the truth, and the life. He is who He who claimed to be. The Word of God declares it. The apostles gave their lives to defend it. And the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God makes it impossible to deny it.

Our Spiritual Lie Detector.

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But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. – 1 John 2:27 NLT

Jesus called Satan the father of lies. Paul, when confronting a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, called him “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10 ESV). In the days immediately after Pentecost, Peter had to confront one of the new converts for falsely claiming to have sold land and given all the proceeds to the church. “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” (Acts 5:3 ESV). Paul had to warn the Colossian believers, “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ” (Colossians 2:8 NLT). Peter made it clear that false teachers would be a constant threat to the church. “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered” (2 Peter 2:1-2 NLT). The reality is that, as Christians, we are surrounded by lies and constantly tempted to buy into the subtle deceptions of the enemy. It can become increasingly more difficult to tell the difference between what is true and what is false. But we have been given a reliable resource for determining right from wrong and truth from fiction. Jesus promised that when He left, He would not leave us alone, but would send the very Spirit of God to fill us and help us. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NLT). John reminds us that the Holy Spirit lives within us, and He is not only our comforter and helper, He is our source of all truth. He can help discern what is a lie of the enemy and what we can trust as a word from God. We have not been left defenseless. We have been given the Spirit of God and therefore, we can understand the will and the mind of God. “For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NLT). 

John reminds us that we have the very Spirit of God living within us. He indwells us. He is our resident lie detector, providing us with the ability to know what is true and what is false. But we have to listen to Him. We have to seek His help and want to hear what He has to say. But the temptation is to ignore His promptings and to refuse to listen to His voice. One of the primary tools the Spirit uses to speak to us is the Word of God, the Bible. As we read it, He helps us understand it and apply it to our lives. He gives us the capacity to hear the voice of God through the written Word of God. But if we don’t read it, He can’t speak to us through it. It is impossible for Him to apply the truth of God’s Word if we refuse to take it in. The temptation we all face as Christians is to allow the philosophies of this world to fill our minds and deceive us with a reasonable sounding variation of the truth. Our sinful flesh, always at battle with the Spirit within us, constantly urges us to listen to its selfish demands and give in to its subtle suggestions. And unless we are filling our minds with the Word and listening to the voice of the Spirit, we will find ourselves deceived and distracted by the lies of the enemy. So Paul tells us, “let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (Galatians 5:16-17 NLT). As John warned earlier, we are constantly faced with the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of our possessions and accomplishments. We need the Holy Spirit to see the danger we face and to give us the strength we need to stay in step with the truth. Left to our own devices, we will fail. But with the Spirit’s help, we can live discerning and disciplined lives. “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25 NLT). God didn’t leave us defenseless. But we must learn to live dependent upon the Spirit if we are going to live powerfully and profitably in this life.