Do you know what the Holy Spirit really IS?
Do you realize the POWER it can make available to you?
ARE YOU plagued with fears, worries and personal frustrations? Do you have bad habits which seem almost impossible to break?
Do you have an exciting, challenging PURPOSE in life? Or are you often despondent over the emptiness and boredom of the routine existence in which you find yourself?
The Christ of your Bible said: "I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it more ABUNDANTLY" (John 10:10).
Jesus also stated: "God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
Are you ABLE to worship God "in spirit"? Do you know what the Holy Spirit really is? Do you fathom the POWER that is available to bless and enrich your life through that Spirit?
These are vital questions you need to UNDERSTAND!
A Christian MUST Have the Holy Spirit
Speaking through the Apostle Paul, God says in Romans 8:9: "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is NONE of His."
In other words, if a man does not have God's own Spirit, he does NOT belong to God or to Christ, he is NOT converted, he is NOT truly a Christian.
Do YOU have God's Spirit?
Throughout this very 8th chapter of Romans, the Apostle Paul is contrasting the Spirit-led mind with the carnal, or natural physical mind of man which is basically in rebellion against God. Notice verse 6: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is LIFE and PEACE."
One who is carnal — CUT OFF in rebellion against God and His way, is going to end up in DEATH. But one who is truly spiritual experiences the blessings of life and peace — a type of full life and real peace of mind which carnal people are not able to fathom or understand.
Why does the carnal mind end up in death? "Because the carnal mind is ENMITY against God: for it is not subject to the LAW of God, neither indeed can be" (verse 7). Here, in plain language, God shows that those who are rebellious against obeying His LAW have "carnal" minds — minds HOSTILE and ANTAGONISTIC against the law and way of Almighty God.
A Spirit-led mind, then, by contrast, would be one that is submissive and obedient to the laws and ways of Almighty God the Creator. As this passage clearly indicates, it is led in that way by the Holy Spirit. And, as Paul states in verse 14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" — they are true Christians!
How to Receive God's Spirit
But if the true Christian is one who is OBEDIENT to God and His law through the Holy Spirit in him, how does he receive the Holy Spirit in the first place?
In the first inspired sermon of the New Testament Church, Peter showed the people that they had rejected God, His prophets, and killed the very Messiah. They asked: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)
"Then Peter said unto them, REPENT, and BE BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 'for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (verse 38).
To receive God's Spirit, one must completely REPENT of breaking God's Law! For baptism is performed "for the remission of sins," and the Bible states: "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4).
So to receive God's Spirit, you must REPENT of breaking God's law in the letter and in the spirit as it was magnified by Jesus Christ. Then you must be BAPTIZED in water as a symbol of your willingness to BURY your old self and rise up to walk in newness of life with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4).
Acts 5:32 speaks of the Holy Spirit, "whom God hath given to them that OBEY him." You must come to KNOW that God exists as the SUPREME SPIRIT PERSONALITY who sits at — tile controls of this universe — that His way is right and good, and gin to OBEY Him, before you are given His Holy Spirit.
God's Spirit BLESSES You
Now notice the direct blessings, guidance and strength that you can receive through the very Spirit of God. Jesus said: — "If ye love me,. keep my commandments and I will pray the Father, — and lie shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be IN you" ( John 14:15-17 ).
It is a spirit of TRUTH that we receive from God. It guides us to see and understand truth. It is also called a "Comforter." In this forlorn, loveless age, the comfort and PEACE that is given through a real knowledge of God and His Spirit is truly a wonderful thing.
Later, Jesus stated: "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (verse 23).
But HOW are Christ and the Father going to dwell within each individual Christian who keeps and obeys their inspired words? It is through the very Spirit of God — the Comforter — whom Jesus said shall come "that he may abide with you forever" (verse 16).
Christ continued: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (verse 26).
The Holy Spirit is to TEACH us God's truth and help us understand the PURPOSE of our lives and of human existence. It will help us remember the Bible and the spiritual lessons we should have learned.
In other words, God's Holy Spirit will help you UNDERSTAND the Bible, remember it, and LIVE it! It will also help you GROW in understanding of spiritual truth and of the amazing prophecies of the Bible that are now being worked out here below! "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you INTO all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but what so-ever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).
One reason more professing Christians aren't able to GROW constantly in grace and knowledge and understanding of prophecy is that they are not EMPOWERED by God's Holy Spirit to grasp and understand the Bible and to overcome themselves in living it.
The "Fruit" of God's Spirit
People today WANT the blessings that would come from God and His Spirit. But they want to get these blessings their own way! They fail to realize that only by SURRENDER to their Maker and God and through receiving His Holy Spirit can they have the deep inner happiness, peace of mind and joy' in life which everyone craves so much.
But if one has surrendered to God in REPENTANCE and BAPTISM, he is promised to receive the very Spirit of God — the very LIFE and NATURE of God which is placed in His begotten children.
Notice the wonderful "fruit" or RESULT of God's Spirit in the minds and hearts of human beings. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22-23).
The first and most important result of God's Spirit in the life of a human being is LOVE. This is a world based on competition, selfishness, greed and HATE. We are approaching the very epitome of hate — human annihilation through the next world war! The result of God's Spirit is exactly the opposite!
The love that we receive through God's Spirit is not just another form of human love, but, "the love of GOD is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). What is this divine love that comes from God?
The inspired answer is found in I John 5:3: "For this Is the love of God, that we KEEP HIS OMMANDMENTS: and His commandments are not grievous."