DEVOTION
03/24/06
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

Okay … we are finally done. We have studied about both the Father and the Son and are now complete. (I had just finished two other studies: Eternal Life is knowing God, the Father and Eternal life is knowing God, the Son). We can …. waaaaiiiiit just a minute, here!! We seem to be missing one equally important piece to the puzzle … The Spirit of God!! This part of God is the most misunderstood of all! The Spirit is in the business of sanctifying and teaching us; The Spirit’s job is to lead us into truth:

- “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

Instead, many people simply view the Spirit of God as the airplane ticket. As soon as the Son (the Train Conductor) returns, these people seem to think that all they need to do is hand the Conductor their “Spirit airline” ticket. (As if the Spirit was an object). However, the Spirit of God reveals the heart of God to His children; It is the Spirit of God that …

- … John 14:23 is possible … “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
- … we are able to shed the sin in our lives. It is the Spirit who is writing the Laws of God on our heart (not to avoid or to memorize, but to obey) … “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Hebrews 8:10b)
- … we are sanctified, which is the very proof that we are indeed saved by faith … “because from the beginning God chose you to be saved THROUGH the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

I pray that this devotion will bring new light to the reason why so many are returning to God’s Word and obeying what He has commanded us to obey through His servant Moses. Many seem to be fine with simply the “justification” part of the Messiah’s blood. Brothers and sisters, the following verse is not good news for those with such shallow belief. They risk insulting the Spirit of God:

- “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29) Those who say that we no longer need to obey God’s Laws (as His children … saved by faith), that mere belief (professing with words) in the blood of the Messiah is sufficient (no need for the sanctifying work of the Spirit) … in essence, are insulting the Spirit of God. By doing so, they are treating the “blood of the covenant” as unholy. To say we do not have to be sanctified (Obey God’s Laws) is eliminating the job of the Spirit of God … period. This is proving that they really do not believe (remember, Satan and his demons believe there is a God too … they do not want to submit to Him either!)

“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will NOT be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man (Our Savior) will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will NOT be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32) I see passage as being applicable to desiring the gift of eternal life (being justified by the blood), but not wanting the sanctifying work of the Spirit (I will do the work of sanctifying myself … my own rules and the way I want. In other words, “I will do the work of the Holy Spirit” … this is blasphemy!

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE GO HAND IN HAND (we cannot have one without the other):

How does someone show love to their spouse? We can say words like, “I love you”, but if we do not show her / him with actions … our words are meaningless and empty. We can say that we love God and dance and sing at our services … but if we do not obey Him, our words are meaningless, as well. We can NOT have a saving faith without the deeds (obedience) that follows our faith:

- “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” … ““But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” … “You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” … “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:14, 18, 20 and 26)
- Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31) (Because we are saved … we obey the Laws / Commands of God. Not vice-versa … like many were doing when our Savior walked the earth.)
- “You see that a person is justified by what he does and NOT by faith alone.” (James 2:24) (Many are avoiding God’s Law out of faith. This is clearly wrong. We are to obey it out of faith.)

This obedience that follows our faith is the work of the Spirit within us … “Writing the Law on our hearts.” … (Hebrews 8:10 again)

SANCTIFICATION (Is the hidden work of the Spirit of God):

Let us play a game. I will simply give you some of the many verses that reveal the work of the Spirit … see if you can identify the obedience that comes from faith, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit:

- “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.” (John 17:17) Your Word is TRUTH … not to be discarded. Remember … the gospels had not yet been written at the time John penned these words! So when you read “your Word”, it is referring to Scripture before the “New Testament”. Who is revealing the Word of truth? The Spirit of God as He writes it on our hearts.

- “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they TOO may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:18-19) Throw out that old saying, “Jesus obeyed perfectly, so that we don’t have to.” This verse is pretty clear … He did it … so we have an example and way to obey like HE did. The Spirit is HIS, so in essence, HE is going to help us because it is His Spirit within us.

- (Okay … read this next one very carefully. It is about us Gentiles and the Jews that were persecuting him. They were living in darkness (sin) … apart from the Law) “I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified BY FAITH in me.” (Acts 26:17-18)

- (Yes, we are justified by faith … BUT … we are to be sanctified by that same faith!! Justification is in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) … proof that our faith (Our claim that we “believe”) is real, is the sanctifying work of the Spirit of our God!) “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)

- “Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 4:8) Those who reject God’s instruction book, the Laws as given through Moses and the Prophets, reject God … not man.

- “May God HIMSELF (Remember … we are not doing this alone, instead, HE is doing it through His Spirit), the God of peace, SANCTIFY you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Yeshua (Jesus) Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) (What is blameless? It is without fault … see 1 Thessalonians 2:10 … holy and righteous, as well)

- Yes … “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified …” (1 Thessalonians 4:3a)

BEING HOLY = OBEDIENCE TO GOD (Again … this is the work of the Spirit)

First: What does it mean to be holy? (Since this is the Spirit’s goal for God’s children) Strong’s definition: sacred, pure, blameless, consecrated. We are to be “set apart” from what the world does. Devotion to the service of Deity, sharing in God’s purity and abstaining from earth’s defilement. Remember, it is the world that does NOT obey God … nor can it do so! “For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering (this is the justification part). And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit (this is all the sanctifying work of the Spirit!). Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit (we are under the supervision of the Spirit who is writing the Laws of God on our heart. They are no longer written on stone tablets, but hearts of flesh!), IF the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” … Romans 8:3-9

Okay … with the definition of Holy written out, let us examine God’s Law once more. The Law is important to the work of the Spirit. God’s Law is holy, righteous and good. It is the Law of God that we are being sanctified with; it is by obedience to God’s Law that we become holy, as HE is holy. Do we do this to gain eternal life? NOT AT ALL. It is an overflow of our faith / love for God. This is all the work of the Spirit of God! It is the Spirit of God who reveals the Law to us and makes us holy! Oh, and yes, it is all because Yeshua (Jesus) was the perfect Lamb of God without sin; It is all because HE was righteous and it is because of HIS righteousness that we can be also (for it is HIS Spirit doing it within us).

- “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12)

- “As OBEDIENT children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

- “… because by one sacrifice (This is the justification!) He has made perfect forever those who are BEING made holy (This is the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God within us).” (Hebrews 10:14)

Are you seeing the partnership between:

- The Messiah and His Spirit?
- Faith and obedience?
- Justification and sanctification?

You cannot have one without the other!

LAST THOUGHTS:

We have all heard the phrase: “The devil made me do it.” In this case, when we obey God’s Law, “The Spirit made me do it.” (We cannot take the glory, for it is to God’s glory!! He has done it within His children’s hearts!) … (Philippians 1:9-11)

In conclusion … why are so many people trying to avoid obeying God’s Laws? Are they not fighting against the very work of His Spirit? What is the proof that our faith is for real; that the claim of our lips that ‘we believe’ has been accepted by God as from our heart? If we are looking like the world and disobeying God like the world does … are we truly Spirit filled children of God? Isn’t it by our conforming to His image by our obedience that proves that we have our “Spirit airline ticket”?

- “Those who OBEY His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.” (1 John 3:24)
- “… because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit AND through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13b)

My friends, there are, no doubt, many “wana-bees” … but God knows the difference between lip service and sincere heart attempts to obey His Law and commands:

- “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. And He said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (Mark 7:6b-9)

Other verses that may help one realize … “I have been sinning against God” (I sure was convicted and convinced!) … go ahead … look them up: Romans 2:13, 15:18, 16:26-27, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 4:17-18, 1 John 5:3-4, Revelations 12:17 and more (just find them).

Wow … just something I was thinking about today.