By Stu Schaefer
Faith… in what? In most spiritual and even in agnostic circles, you can hear folks talk about having faith. This puzzled me when I was younger, because I was told and encouraged to have faith. Yet I had no idea what that meant, much less what it meant to I should do.
Now that I am a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, that has begun to take on more meaning. Have you ever heard the words: “Faith Journey”? Although not quotable from scripture, it seems to have relevance, since it does seem each of us, as fellow believers in Jesus, we are on a journey, following Him not only in practice - but also to where He is leading us, to serve Him now on this earth and to ultimately serve Him in Heaven!
Ok, that’s the journey part, but what about the faith part?
Is having faith that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten son of God, that His substitutionary death on the cross paid for my sin, and thus I am saved…is that all I have to have faith in? What makes me sad it is to see so many that call themselves Christian stop there and feel like that is enough.
To me there is WAY more to being a follower and having faith than that. That is just the beginning! Take for example the Holy Spirit. I have a sense that for most so-called Christians, they serve and worship a dual God, and not a triune God. They may pay respect to the idea that there is a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, but they don’t really spend any time getting to know or trying to understand the Holy Spirit. Do we have faith in the Holy Spirit?
So…How optional is the Holy Spirit?
Let’s take a peek into a few things that are mentioned in that thing called “The Word of God”.
Ephesians 5:18: "Don’t get drunk with wine, because it makes you lose control. Instead, keep on being filled with the Spirit."
(This sounds like we need to keep drinking in the spirit, rather than “spirits”.)
Ephesians 4:21-24, 29-32: "21If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Jesus is truth, 22then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires; 23and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed, 24and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth. . . . 29Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30Don’t cause grief to God’s Holy Spirit, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you."
(This sounds like we are to take off something called our “old nature” and then put on the “new nature” so as not cause God’s Holy Spirit to grieve.)
1 Thessalonians 5:4-11, 19-24: "4But you, brothers, are not in the dark, so that the Day should take you by surprise like a thief; 5for you are all people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We don’t belong to the night or to darkness, 6so let’s not be asleep, like the rest are; on the contrary, let us stay alert and sober. 7 People who sleep, sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us stay sober, putting on trust and love as a breastplate and the hope of being delivered as a helmet. 9For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, 10who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. 11Therefore, encourage each other, and build each other up — just as you are doing. . . . 19Don’t quench the Spirit, 20don’t despise inspired messages. 21But do test everything — hold onto what is good, 22but keep away from every form of evil. 23May the God of Shalom make you completely holy — may your entire spirit, soul and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. 24The one calling you is faithful, and he will do it."
(This describes what is called our “new nature” in more detail, and mentions if we don’t put that on, we can quench God’s Holy Spirit, rendering Him ineffective in our lives.)
There is more, but this is enough for now…
Based on the instructions given to us from God, it seems that He is not recommending, but actually commanding us that, if we are to follow Jesus and do what God wants us to do, then we NEED to:
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit
- Do not grieve the Holy Spirit
- Do not quench the Holy Spirit
So, are you seeing that According to God, as revealed in His Word... the Holy Spirit is NOT optional for Christians?
Have you already found that to be true in your life?
In the very first book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is referred to by Luke as something you can get immersed into, they way that John the Baptist immersed folks into water. Then in Acts 2 the record shows that while they were all gathered together a sound like a mighty roaring wind filled the house, then what looked like tongues of fire came to rest on each of their heads, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit!
Peter then raised his voice and announced that what had been recorded hundreds of years before by the prophet Joel was happening then:
Acts 2:15-21: “15 These people aren’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:
17-21 ‘Adonai says: “In the Last Days, I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my slaves, both men and women, will I pour out from my Spirit in those days; and they will prophesy. I will perform miracles in the sky above and signs on the earth below — blood, fire and thick smoke. The sun will become dark and the moon blood before the great and fearful Day of Adonai comes. And then, whoever calls on the name of Adonai will be saved.”’
I find it interesting that once again being filled with the Holy Spirit comes with a referral to being drunk. As you dig into more and more of what God says, you will find that God says that the Holy Spirit is NECESSARY! Necessary for what? (especially since so many so-called Christians are running around without Him!)
Gods instructions make it clear that we NEED the Holy Spirit to be about to give real worship!
- We need the Holy Spirit to enable real worship within and thru us.
- He makes it possible to serve by giving us supernatural gifts of supernatural abilities that are to be used to serve others in love and at the same time, simultaneously, serving God in love. These gifts are called spiritual gifts, because they have their origin and derive the power from the Holy Spirit. These gifts include Godly wisdom, knowledge of things you would otherwise not know, faith to believe in God and to trust He will do as He says even when everything seems impossible, and even healing the sick. There are even other gifts, as expressed in 1 Corinthians 12-14. that enable us in various ways.
- The curious thing is that several of these gifts, such as administration and preaching, can be done with or without the Holy Spirit. Others are much harder if not impossible to do without the Holy Spirit, such as healing and miracles.
- The Holy Spirit actually produces and sustains spiritual life. Without the Holy Spirit, the spiritual life of a Christian would fall back into spiritual deadness. Another way to see this is a Christian without the Spirit of God, is still born.
My hope would be for all Christians to be filled with and walking in the Holy Spirit. The reality is that many are not, and many have never heard of the Holy Spirit. Others have been told that the Holy Spirit no longer operates in these ways. To those that have either ben taught that or worse are teaching that, I would say that my own experience in the mission field (which includes the USA) I have personally witnessed the Holy Spirit operating in all the gifts stated. And while those things were happening, Jesus Christ was being lifted up as God, and people were being saved and lives transformed. That hardly sounds like the work of evil.
SO… back to FAITH. It takes faith to believe that God would send His Holy Spirit to us. It takes Faith to believe that God would want to use YOU in a supernatural way to show His Love to them in some way. It takes Faith to to step out of your natural life and into God’s supernatural life He has for you. Without such faith, you will remain in your old nature and either grieve or even quench the Holy Spirit in you.
Be encouraged though… No matter where you find yourself today, the power of God can change you. You just have to really want to change and ask Him to do it! You can open yourself up to the filling of the Holy Spirit. You can even ask God to help you with your unbelief or your lack of faith.
Could you put your hope in God and ask Him to do whatever He wants in and thru you?
Could you offer your life up to Him as a living sacrifice, that He can do whatever He wants with your life?
Do you think these things are too much?
How do you sense God is leading you?