THE SOURCE OF POWER
The Holy Spirit is a source of power as these scriptures tell us:
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
How many people, even in their old age, are still afflicted by the memory of sins and bad habits that caused serious harm in their own lives as well as those of their partners and children?? Too often we lack the guts to acknowledge and confess these shortcomings to ourselves and others! We all know that the very first step towards salvation, cleansing and sanctification is the act of confessing. Confession is of the utmost necessity to clear the air between ourselves and God and between ourselves and our loved ones. A tender and honest “Please forgive me!” can heal many ugly wounds – but oh, how difficult to day these words! Once we have surrendered to the power and love of God’s Spirit, however, we will be able to jump over this obstacle set by the flesh. Fear of rejection should not be present in a Christian marriage; we have a claim to forgiveness – after all, we are commanded to forgive one another. By applying self-restraint, however, many instances of (unnecessary) confession will be redundant – which is, of course, the ideal.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
To try to avoid sin through the power of human flesh is just as impossible as to make an elephant jump on the trampoline! Victory in this area is only possible through the power of the Spirit living within us. These two verses from Ezekiel say
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezekiel 36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
This promise is dependent on baptism with the Spirit, which only happened after the suffering and resurrection of Christ, and it does apply to every Christian. It is clear, therefore, that God guides us towards obedience through His Spirit – and we receive concomitant forgiveness.
USING THE POWER
But – how can I make use of the power of the Spirit? I have certainty about my salvation, but in spite of it I still keep on making the same mistakes time and again. Most probably you are judging yourself according to the wrong standards and are trying to obtain the victory through your own abilities. The following is a test based on the Scripture through which to ascertain the Christian’s conducting his life:
THE NEW LIFE
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
FAITH
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
SPIRITUALITY
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
CONSISTENCY
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called
LOVE
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
CAUTION
Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
IN THE LIGHT
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
AS JESUS
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
INHERITANCE IN THE SPIRIT
We can now declare with certainty that God, in His mercy, gave us the Holy Spirit as a source of power from which we can draw our strength to conquer sin, because He knows that we in our flesh are incapable of doing so. An estate may contain many benefits for the children of the deceased, but if they do not claim that inheritance, it will go to the Master of the Supreme Court. Thus we should claim in faith that which Christ left us as our inheritance in the Spirit, and we should make it completely our own possession.
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from Make your Stand, authored by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
