Aloha Dearest Family: Holy Spirit

What is the Holy Spirit? – Perfect Chaos

Several years ago many people had bumper stickers on their cars that had the word “COEXIST” on them with symbols of all of the religions of the world. Among the “religions” was a symbol of the cross; which signifies Christianity. I personally never liked this bumper sticker because, contrary to what society says, Christianity is NOT a religion. Religion is defined as what man does to try to get right with his god. Christianity is what God has done through His son to be the payment for our sin. Since the fall of man, sin had separated us from God, but He took care of this “sin problem’ by nailing all of our sins to the cross, in the body of Jesus Christ.

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (Colossians 2:14)

So what is the biggest difference between all of these other religions and Christianity? God’s gift of holy spirit. From speaking with many people, I found that there seems to be a question as to who or what holy spirit is. Holy spirit allows us to have continual fellowship and access to God Almighty. It allows us to have connection to the “power source” so that we can ask for (and expect) the impossible to come to pass. (It must be understood that God Almighty is Holy and He is Spirit-He is the Holy Spirit. What we are referring to in this sharing is God’s gift of holy spirit that is given to all who believe). It is vital for every Christian to understand the importance of holy spirit if we want to live extraordinary lives and please our heavenly Father. Since the scope of this topic is so big, I am unable to cover it in depth, but here are some of the most important points to know about holy spirit from God’s own Word.

-Adam and Eve were made “3-fold beings.” They were made body, soul and spirit. This separated them from all of the others of God’s creatures. All animals are born with body and soul (1. a physical body and 2. soul life, which makes them alive). Only man had the privilege of having been made with God’s spirit. This allowed him to communicate with God. When Adam sinned, he lost the spirit from God. This now made him just body and soul, and all others from his bloodline would be born with just body and soul (just like the animals).

-Now whenever God wanted to communicate with man, He would have to do so by supernatural means; like an angel or a miraculous sign like a burning bush. Or he could choose certain men and women to place His spirit upon to communicate with His creation.

-All of the great men and women in the Old Testament had spirit upon them. Notably Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Samson, David, Esther and Daniel all had God’s spirit. This spirit that was upon these men and women was not permanent. If they displeased God this spirit could be taken away. King Saul was a great example (I Samuel 16:14). In fact after David sinned against God, he begged God not to take His holy spirit from him (Psalm 51:11)

-John the Baptist had God’s holy spirit upon him from his birth (Luke 1:15). He was the only person to have this privilege.

-Jesus did not do any mighty works until after he received God’s spirit after he was baptized by John the Baptist.

It is obvious by studying these points above, that all people in the Old Testament recognized the importance of having holy spirit. This set you apart from all others and designated you as God’s anointed.

The day of Pentecost is historically recognized as the birthday of the church, because on this day, God poured out His holy spirit upon all mankind. The sign that they had received this spirit was that they “spoke in tongues”. Now anyone who confesses Jesus as their Lord and believes in their heart that God has raised him from the dead (Romans 1:9), receives this same holy spirit that the apostles had. Now we can ALL walk like Jesus Christ and do the works that he did (John 14:12). For we are sealed with holy spirit.

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. (Ephesians 1:13)

Now unlike the spirit that was upon men and women in the Old Testament, this holy spirit is permanent. It cannot be taken away like King Saul’s spirit was. When God gives this spirit, He does not take it back because we “born again” (born from above). This makes us children of God (Romans 8:16).

We now have another source of information to learn. Before salvation, all we had to rely upon to acquire knowledge was the five senses. Now we can receive spiritual knowledge that God can teach us. We have a distinct advantage over every other man or woman who are just body and soul, for God can teach us the mysteries hidden in His Word, the Bible. In fact you really can’t fully understand the Bible unless you have spirit.

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (I Corinthians 2:14)

This is why Christianity is NOT a religion. Religion focuses on man’s actions to try and ‘earn’ God’s favor. Christianity focuses on what God has done and the sacrifice that was paid to, once again, give us access to God. We have this access through His spirit that he has given to us.

“For through Him (Jesus Christ) we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18)

Christians today can live exciting, joyful lives with purpose and power. God has given us His holy spirit, making us “supernatural beings” with Christ living on the inside. What a glorious time to be alive!

Love Always, Ray

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (II Corinthians 2:21 and 22 NIV)