Holy Spirit
What part do I have with the Holy Spirit doing His work in my life? Am I just a passive vessel, or is there something I should be doing as well?
The Faith Factor
"So," you ask, "what about all this new potential I have? How does all this potential power that now indwells me interface with my behavior? What brings together my inadequacy with His adequacy? How do I get His power involved with my weakness?"
Before I answer, let me ask you a question. What allowed you to hook up with God to begin with? What was the means by which you—a sinner—entered into a relationship with a holy God? What brought the two of you together? Was it dedication on your part? Was it a result of your unceasing effort? Of course not. You entered in by faith. And nothing has changed.
"Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3)
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed." (Colossians 2:6-7, emphasis mine)
"And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God." (Galatians 2:20, emphasis mine)
These verses attest to the fact that we are not the first generation of Christians who have tried to take matters into our own hands. The early church had the same problem. It's part of fallen human nature to want to maintain control, to do things ourselves. But when it comes to righteousness,whether for salvation or for living,we must allow God to do the work. Producing righteousness falls outside our job description.
The Spirit-filled life is a life of faith. It started by faith, and it runs on faith. It is faith from start to finish.
Then we believed that Jesus was our Savior from the guilt of sin, and according to our faith it was unto us; now we must believe that He is our Savior from the power of sin, and according to our faith it shall be unto us. Then we trusted Him for forgiveness, and it became ours; now we must trust Him for righteousness, and it shall become ours also. Then we took Him as a Savior in the future from the penalties of our sins; now we must take Him as a Savior in the present from the bondage of our sins. Then He lifted us out of the pit; now He is to seat us in heavenly places with Himself.
The Bible never makes a distinction between the faith that saved us from the penalty of sin once and for all and the faith that saves us from the power of sin daily. It is all the same.
Faith Defined
Faith is believing that God will do as He has promised. Faith is not a power. It's not something we are supposed to drum up inside ourselves. Faith is trusting that God will honor His promises. That is all there is to it.
Our part in the faith process is fairly simple. We are to go about our lives, making decisions, handling crises, raising our families, and so on, as if God is really going to do what He said He would do. That is what it means to walk by faith.
A Big Lesson
One of the best examples of how this works is also one of the most familiar stories in the Old Testament: the story of David and Goliath. The armies of Israel were lined up on one side of the valley, and the Philistines were on the other side. Every day Goliath would walk down into the valley and taunt the armies of Israel.
Then young David arrived on the scene with a fresh outlook on the situation. Notice what he said when he heard Goliath's threats: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26)
David didn't see Goliath as merely the enemy of Israel. He was coming against the armies of God! He was God's enemy. And David knew that God could take Goliath out of the picture with no problem. So David acted on his faith.
There were hundreds—maybe even thousands—of trained Israelite soldiers who were much more qualified to do battle with Goliath. But their response to his threats was paralyzing fear. Stress. Frustration. Get the point?
David, on the other hand, didn't seem to be upset at all. Why? Because it was God's battle, not his. Apart from the Lord, he knew he didn't stand a chance. But with the help of the Lord, he was confident that everything would turn out all right.
Do you see the contrast? Neither party had the ability to do battle with the giant. But while one party focused on its inability and panicked, the other party, David, focused on God's provision. The only difference was focus, or what each was trusting in.
So what did David do? Exactly what he knew how to do—while trusting God to do the rest. That is what living by faith boils down to, living as if God is really faithful to keep His word. David gathered a few stones . . . walked down into the valley . . . carried on a short but rather heated exchange with Goliath . . . loaded and fired. Those actions were not out of the ordinary for David. But once that stone left the sling, God stepped in to do what only He could do. And Goliath went down. |
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