The ministry of the holy spirit and our responsibility

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daniel- Sep 20, 2005

Hello,my name is Daniel, I am from Germany.Sorry for my bad english :)Lately I have been thinking a lot about this wholeissue, Christ in us, what the holy spirit is doing and so on.I'm struggling with different paradoxons.This is at some points very theorethical and you maybe wont understand what I am thinking about but sometimes I think over and over about an issue till the answer is given.First a few statements, I believe you all would agree with this:When we give our live to jesus, we are born again,and the holy spirit is given to us.the bibel states clearly that CHRIST IS IN US.So, what does this mean to you? Is Christ in us the Holy Ghost or is it the potencial of Christs charakter? How would you describe this?The bible says that flesh of men doesnt do anything good.So, what exactly is the flesh?I mean, there are non christians giving their lives for someone else and doing good things, obviously there "flesh" can do good things.I understand that we are sinners and so we are innaceptable in the eyes of god till we have the perfect rightouesness of jesus christ.But is in flesh for example my charakter, my personality included?I mean, many non christians have a gentle charakter (sure they and we all have very bad things, too in our personality)So, is being born again something different from charakter and personality?What does it mean to you?next issue, we all agree when we say that we cantsanctify ourselves, we cant live according to gods will in our own strength.we can try and maybe have sucess for a time but its all failure in the end.So, we need to kill our flesh let the holy spirit do the work of building christs charakter in us.But, this doenst mean I can sit here and do nothing, my part is to surrender my whole life to Christ and let him take control. I have to feed my new life in Christ and be IN HIM, be in fellowship with him daily.But somehow this is paradox to me.We cant do gods will in our own strength.But then we have to be an active part and discipline us, search him with all our hearts and so on?I mean, somehow that is doing something in my strength...So, we have the responsibility and on the other hand cant do it?We cant do it but shouldnt sit around.You may not understand fully what i am thinking about, its a complex issue in my head. And somehow, until I dont have the answer I have no peace.I believe the holy spirit slowly is teaching me what all this means but i'd like to hear your opinion.God bless youDaniel

sermonindex Sep 20, 2005

Wow, God Bless you daniel-,These are Fantastic questions. Unfortunately, we don't hear these questions often enough.Usually we just "get saved" and start trudging along in our own strength, and that leads us to all sorts of 'self-glory' and 'brain power' ... Lord help us.Your first question is about Jesus being 'in' us.God is ONE, and The Holy Spirit is called, in the Bible, both The Spirit of God and The Spirit of Jesus .... so yes, we can say Jesus is in the inside .... Thank God He is :-)Your second question is basically, What is "flesh".Flesh is 'anything' that is from 'us'.... good or bad. You ask, then how do we serve God, if not by our 'flesh'...Rom 8 and Gal 5 tells us to "Walk in the Spirit".Problem is we don't ... problem is it's not 'natural' to us to do so ... problem is, it's Not Taught, except by some of the Classic Authors, that you'll find on this Website.Is it hard to walk in the Spirit ? ... Yes and No.Basically, what you would be doing if you were walking in the Spirit, is being 100% Dependent on the Spirit of God to lead you, speak through you, guide you in what to do next or now, ask His help in understanding the Bible, pray constantly and "TRUSTING" that He 'will' guide you and lead you and speak to or through you.It's a minute by minute "dependence" on Him to do what He (The Spirit) was sent to do.Whatever is done by the flesh, no matter how honorable or Great it may seem, will receive no glory in the time to come.God gives us time to grow into Him though... so don't think that I mean, we must not try on our own at the first to please God in every way we know possible, by what we're told to do or not do in the Bible ... but as we all are maturing (until He returns), we trust more and more in Him and less and less in our own power, strength, brains, etc. etc..This way, For Sure, it WILL be HE Who gets all The Glory when we see Him, for no flesh shall glory in His presence.Hope this helps, and it is really refreshing to have you posting such relevant discussion questions. Next to salvation itself ... you've actually asked the next most important question in our lives. The Big #2 :-DGod Bless you richly.Annie

sermonindex Sep 21, 2005

daniel-I meant to give you this yesterday, but got side swiped. :-Dwww.watchman.netClick on "read" or "listen" and also can sign up for daily quotes from some of the Messages.Lord Bless you !!!

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Gery Sep 21, 2005

Dear Daniel,Thanks for the post. As GrannieAnnie rightly said: these are important questions.Even though we are born again, the Gospel and the life IN Christ remains a mystery. People love to pin things down in doctrines or creeds, but unless it is truly revealed to us by the Spirit of God, it remains the letter and is dead, as the Apostle says. On the question of "Is Christ in us the Holy Spirit?" I think GrannieAnnie answered well.On the question of Character and Personality I would like to add this. God does not take our personality out or away. Personality is the stamp of individuality that you were given at birth. If God would take out our personality we would all be robots or zombies. But this should never become an occassion for the flesh/sin. Our character He will work on and make holy and make more like His Son, Jesus Christ. The flesh will always be there in this life. It is the self-life and is always at war with the life of the Spirit in us. Daily it is a choice, whom you will serve. The flesh and the Spirit is always contrary to eachother and the one you give attention or feed, will live and grow stronger. If you have a dog and a cat, and only feed one of them, which one will survive?It is God's grace when we have a desire to seek Him. The Holy Spirit desires for us to live daily in the Spirit, and so we overcome the flesh. We need to make that descision everyday. Yes it all starts at conversion, but the test is in the fruit, do we bear them, and what fruit do we bear? (Galatians 5) (Matt 7:20)Dear brother, ask the Lord to reveal His ways to you. Believe not only if or when you understand, for "we walk by faith, not by sight" (1 Corin 5:7) and "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29)It has been a blessing to me to think on these things. May our patient Lord keep and guide us. May He help me to live in Him daily, our Rock and our Salvation. AmenIn His unending love for us,Gery

sermonindex Sep 22, 2005

That was beautiful Gery.I'm so happy you brought out the "individuality".No two snowflakes are the same. No two flowers, etc.etc.I really think God is heavy into "Variety". :-DI see the walk, as a minute by minute thing, and it's made it seem to make more sense to me, than to hit it day by day.That was too big of a bite for me to do. ha.I would get scared that "tomorrow, I'll try to give to God" and then when it came and I messed up, I saw the whole day as blown.So now, I live minute by minute in this "dependence" walk.So if I blow some minutes, I feel I've got plenty more minutes left that day, to make up for the mess-up.Thank you for bringing out some beautiful/needed points.Amen !!

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letsgetbusy Sep 23, 2005

"So, what does this mean to you? Is Christ in us the Holy Ghost or is it the potencial of Christs charakter? How would you describe this?"It is the Spirit of Christ...Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."1 Peter 1:11 "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."...yet after salvation, we have the potential to be more intimate with Him, thus more like Him. Salvation is the surrending of our sins to Christ, but then there is the will. Many do not surrender their will."So, what exactly is the flesh?"Anything within us that perverts something God has given us. Sex: within marriage is a gift from God / outside of marriage it is a sin of the flesh. Money: used properly can help the poor / once exalted above God it is an idol to the flesh. Power: used in accordance with God's will can bring blessings to others / abuse of it is feeding one's own flesh. Notice everything on earth can be perverted by the flesh, or used properly when we are led by the Spirit. So there is the stuggle: self, or flesh vs. God's will."But is in flesh for example my charakter, my personality included?"Yes, but He will use your personality to do His will...if you let Him."So, is being born again something different from charakter and personality?What does it mean to you?"You have the new nature at spiritual birth, but you drag the old nature around with you. We must put the old nature, or the old man, to death.Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."1 Corinthians 15:31 "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."Ephesians 4:22 "put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts"Colossians 3:9 "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds""We cant do gods will in our own strength."Right. You must come to the point where you realize all the works of your flesh, will produce fleshly results. You need to ask God for the the Holy Spirit, in His fulness.Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire"Luke 11:13 "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"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."Acts 19:2 "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.""But, this doenst mean I can sit here and do nothing, my part is to surrender my whole life to Christ and let him take control. I have to feed my new life in Christ and be IN HIM, be in fellowship with him daily."Amen to that, but the works you do are not the dying of the old self, the works you do will be a reflection of whether or not your will has been surrendered. Works in flesh produce limited results, the works of the surrendered flesh are limited only by His will. The fruit of your works will depend upon your surrender. God can use a Christian, but much more a Christian with a surrendered will.Don't trust me, read the Scriptures, and ask the Spirit to guide you in all truth. He will, if you are willing to be obediant.Acts 5:32 "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."