Understanding this article is very, very, very critical because it is the thermometer of your Holy Spirit health with God. It is sad to say but many Christians are so “spiritually blind” they would not recognize the Holy Spirit if they ran into Him in a wheelbarrow wreck!
(Eph. 4:20-32 esp. V.30) “And grieve (to cause grief and make sad) not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed (to stamp with a mark for security or preservation) unto the day of redemption (ransom in full).” (Eph. 1:12-14) “after that ye believed, ye were sealed (to stamp with a mark for security or preservation) with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest (part of the purchase price given in advance as security for the rest) of our inheritance until the redemption (ransom in full) of the purchased (acquired) possession (you),”
The meaning of this is: You are a Christian now because you got saved. The Holy Spirit living within you is your only security until you, the outward man dies, and you, the inward man, goes on to heaven. That is your day when the ransom fully takes effect and at that time the (1Tim.2:5-6) ransom (the price paid for you) is fully consummated. Remember (Matt. 10:22): “He who endureth (defined: Strong’s #3528: to subdue, conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory: SEE: Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, & 25 then 3:5, 12 & 21) to the end shall be saved.” Every church in the seven churches of prophesy is required to overcome to get to heaven.
Think about the above paragraphs this way. It is exactly like today’s shoppers lay away plan. A shopper pays a down payment (earnest) for an item and puts it in layaway. The shopper leaves the item where it is to pick up the item at a later date. The shopper picks up the item, consummating the deal, and takes it home with him. OR: Read (Heb. 6:4-6 esp. V.4 keyword: impossible): The shopper can decide the item is not what he wants. He can withdraw his down payment and refuse the item. The item does not go home with the shopper.
(Matt. 10:22) In other words; IT IS NOT OVER, UNTIL IT IS OVER. Think about it again. Jesus laid you away when He saved you. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is what preserves you (Eph. 1:13-14) because the Holy Spirit is the earnest (part of the purchase price) on your complete salvation. Jesus doesn’t collect (receive) you (His laid away item) until your lifetime here is over (1Thess 4:17) or the church is caught up (to take for oneself) into heaven.
(Rev. 3:16) If you conduct your Christian life in such a useless or sinful way Jesus decides He does not want you He will withdraw His down payment (the Holy Spirit) and leave the laid away item (YOU) where He found it. When you sin: Sin originates in the soul because of the soul’s carnal tendencies. (2Cor. 5:10) Self (soul) is the “dirty rat” that tells the body to sin thus the soul is sinful.
The soul tells the brain to order body parts to sin. Example: The hand does not tell the brain it wants to touch the forbidden thing. The soul tells the brain to have the hand touch what the soul wants to touch and the soul answers at the judgment seat of Christ for the things the soul does with its body.
Do not risk causing the Holy Spirit grief and sadness by sinning because God may withdraw His Holy Spirit. (1John 1:7-10 esp. V.9 this is written to Christians) Do not let unconfessed sin build up! Do not let your prayer life stagnate! (Rom. 6:11) Your relationship with Jesus and God is alive! Keep it alive by communicating! Pray! Pray! Pray! (Rom. 8:6-14 esp.V.9) As said before, several times, the Holy Spirit is how we know we are saved. There is no other way given in scripture to know that we are saved.
Jesus was teaching the disciples what they would teach and preach when they founded the church after Jesus left to go to heaven and the Holy Spirit came to live within Christians. Read your Bible and understand (John 14:15-23 esp. V.17-18, 20-21 & 23 then 1John 4:6-21 esp. V.16 keywords: God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him) Christians are supposed to GROW spiritually and eventually realize that little old worthless me and little old worthless you are in a personal, friendship, love relationship with the God of all glory the Creator of all things! WOW!
You are saved or you wouldn’t even know what I’m talking about! (Matt. 11:30) Rejoice in your burdens to work for God; (Rev. 2:1-5) even rejoice in your regret that you didn’t do God’s works and (Rev. 3:2) even rejoice in your shame because of your sin because that means (Rev. 3:1-2) you are still spiritually alive and these three things are evidence of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit within you and (Heb. 12:5-14 esp. V14 keywords: without which no man shall see the Lord) the Holy Spirit is rebuking, chastising, and calling you to repent.
God’s Holy Spirit is showing you God’s will. (Heb. 4:14-16) Humble yourself before Jesus’ throne of grace; that’s what it’s for. You don’t have to be in front of a bunch of nosey people; do it alone; it is all between you and Jesus anyway! Don’t let some stupidity or some weird pride knock you out of Heaven. Jesus died for you; don’t waste that!
Don’t believe some jerk if he says you are trying to get saved all over again; you are straightening out a bent relationship that already exists. Listen to that small voice within you; it is the Holy Spirit, it is God: “Come on my darling child, talk to Me, talk to Me, tell Me about it, come on, I know how to fix it.” Read what is written below and fall in love with Jesus all over again.
Please read (1John 1:1 thru 2:2) for a scriptural look at our relationship with God. (V.14) John establishes who and what he is. He is the John who walked with Jesus and he is writing to Christians. (V.5-7) John declares his message is from God and encourages fellowship among the Christian brotherhood. Then John plainly says if a Christian sins, (you, me, all of us) including himself, the blood of Jesus cleanses that sin from us. In other words; STAY IN THE BLOOD RELATIONSHIP.
(V.8-10) John twice says a Christian who says he doesn’t sin is a liar; and even worse, that Christian makes God out to be a liar. If we confess our sins “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 2:1) Ye are not supposed to sin, we are supposed to be obedient, we are supposed to do our level best, but God knows sometimes things just go haywire, we get the stupids, laziness leaves us a casualty in our easy chair, or passion runs away with us and we do sin.
Please read (James 3:1-18) about the tongue. If we do nothing else; old floppy that lives in the pie hole under our nose will get us (you, me, all of us) into sin. If you fire a word; you can take that word back and say you are sorry ten thousand times, but you can never change the emotional effect that word had when it went into someone’s heart (soul). (Prov. 18:7) “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” Our speaking apparatus takes the blame but God knows the mouth says what the soul is thinking at the time.
(1John 2:1 keyword: advocate) But, praise the Lord and praise God when we do sin Jesus IS our advocate (intercessor, like a defense attorney) with God the Father. When we pray and ask forgiveness through the Holy Spirit; Jesus, our advocate with the Father, speaks up for us at the throne of grace; “That one is mine, he is a Christian because he is under the blood, Father please cleanse him of this sin with My blood.” Think of the magnitude of that; what privilege you, me, all of us, enjoy as children of God.
(1John 2:2) This little verse of scripture divides the whole world. The first eight words are for Christians and the last fourteen words are for lost people (non-Christians). The first eight words: “And he is the propitiation (*atonement*) for our sins:” are for Christians.
Jesus made the atonement on the bloody cross at Calvary and His precious blood is in adequate supply for the sins of Christians. (1John 1:7-9) If we will recognize our sin, judge ourselves, confess our sin and ask for forgiveness He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. (Psa. 103:1-17) God is loving, kind, tenderhearted and forgiving toward His children.
(1John 2:2) The last fourteen words: “and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” are for lost people. All they have to do is accept Jesus’ as their Saviour to enjoy the same privilege we Christians enjoy. God hates sin, God is against sin, but God understands sin (Heb. 4:15) because Jesus was tempted exactly like we are.
(1John 2:2) The last nine words: “but also for the sins of the whole world.” are for lost people. All they have to do is accept Jesus’ plan of salvation to enjoy the same privilege we Christians enjoy. God hates sin, God is against sin, but God understands sin (Heb. 4:15) because Jesus was tempted exactly like we are.
God has made a way for Christians to be forgiven for our sins. You, and all Christians, must understand a sin does not break covenant with God; several sins do not break covenant with God; a whole wad of sins do not break covenant with God. (Heb. 8:12) When a sin is forgiven it is gone and you are brand new again; you have never sinned.
(Titus 3:5) We were regenerated and renewed when we were saved and (Rom. 12:2) the process of renewing goes on as long as we are Christians in this thing called lifetime! (Matt. 10:22) “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Every Christian who has ever been, or will ever be, is a product of this “continuing work of grace.” Do you think God is keeping some past sin record of our forgiven but not forgotten sins; some, some, some exotic dossier of “I’ll get you for that when I see you Buster”? Give me a break! The concept of that is foolish; the Blood of Jesus does not work that way.
(Matt. 18:21-22) Jesus would not give us a commandment to do something He would not, or could not do! Peter asked Jesus; if my brother sins against me seven times am I supposed to forgive him? Can you picture Jesus’ face with His tender smile, patient eyes and loving voice; His wonderfully gracious (grace) attitude; Simon, Simon, if it is seventy times seven, forgive your brother.
(Rom.8:15-17) Get it planted firmly right in the middle of your mind (soul) you are a child of God, you are a joint heir with Christ and you are a brother or sister to Christ. Of course He will forgive you seventy times seven: and more if it is needed. Our dear Saviour’s blood is in plenteous supply. IT IS NOT GETTING SAVED OVER AND OVER AS SOME CLAIM; IT IS THE CONTINUING WORK OF GRACE! Think! Think and praise God for His tender, kind and loving mercy. HE KNOWS! HE UNDERSTANDS! (Eph. 4:14-15 esp. V.15, 1Pet. 2:1-5 esp. V.2 & 2Pet. 3:18 keyword in all: grow) All Christians are a work in progress!
Please read (Luke 15:11-24) about the prodigal son. Example: Think of how much you love your children; they will worry the hair right off your head, they will make you angry enough to wring their necks, they will break your heart a thousand times and cost you a million tears inside and out; but you won’t burn their blanket or break their plate!
They will come to you wounded and beaten down by life, sorry and ashamed of their choices and in need of help and love. Your throat will tighten up, your big old heart will swell to bursting, you’ll spread your arms, hug your child fiercely and tenderly to your bosom and love him, love him, love him. You’ll forgive; you’ll give yourself and all that is yours if necessary to help that child of yours you love so much.
(John 3:16 & 1John 4:13-19 esp. V.16 keywords: God is love) GOD IS LOVE ITSELF! GOD IS THE SAME WAY ABOUT US ONLY MUCH, MUCH MORE! JESUS IS SO MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN US! He defended us with His life; He shed His life blood for us. He died for us! Now magnify man’s puny little love a million times and it still will not measure up to the magnitude of God’s love for you and all the rest of his children.
There are several reasons to not sin: I don’t want to go to hell, fear. I don’t want God mad at me, worry. I don’t want to embarrass myself, pride. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, judgmental. (James 5:11 keywords: the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. Strong’s # 4184: pitiful is defined: extremely compassionate) (Mark 12:32) But the love and respect reason is best; (Eph. 4:30 keywords: grieve not the Holy Spirit) I don’t want to hurt God’s feelings (GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT) because He loves me so much and because I love Him.
Look what the Holy Spirit has done here, in this writing, look what the Holy Spirit is doing in your soul! Everything is through the Holy Spirit as set forth in scripture. Learn to know Him and recognize His work within you. You are the only you that will ever be; you, the incredibly precious you; YOU that are worth the life of the Son of God!
(2Pet. 3:9 keyword: longsuffering: defined: suffer, patiently endure AND Eph. 4:30 keyword: grieve: defined: to distress, to be sad, cause grief) These definitions should break any Christian’s heart because of the way we have treated God! Is it ever possible for God to be completely happy because of the way Christians as a whole group treat Him? (Psa. 145:3, Isa. 55:8-9, & Rom. 11:33-36) BUT, BECAUSE OF HIS UNFATHOMABLE LOVE:
God plows through His grief we have caused Him and He keeps trying. (Eph. 4:24-32) God wants us to be like Him and these verses of scripture tell the things that grieve Him. It hurts God and makes God sad when His children (V.25) tell lies, (V.26) let anger cause sin and then hold on to the rage, (V.27) listen to the devil, (V.28) steal, refuse to work out our living and fail to be generous, (V.29) curse, and refuse to honor God with our words.
(V.31) To act out bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor (loud and noisy), evil speaking and malice, (V.32) refuse to be kind to each other, refuse to be tenderhearted and refuse to forgive one another for God’s sake just like God forgave us for Jesus’ sake. God does not give up. He digs right in and fights for Christians, you and me, within us, teaching and correcting, by His word, through the Holy Spirit.
(Rom. 6:12) The situation that breaks covenant is when sin reigns in your mortal body. If sin reigns then sin is your king and Jesus is not your king; it is that simple. Only you and God really know if your sin is repulsive to you. Only you and God really know if you are genuinely sorry and fully intend to repent; commonly called “do better.”
Only you and God know if you really want forgiveness when you pray. God and you both know when you are coasting down to not caring and your prayers are just “lip service.” Both you and God know when you are grasping at excuses to miss church; “Man I hope it snows so they’ll cancel church”, when you don’t read your Bible anymore; “Whew, I’ve got a terrible headache I’ll watch TV instead of reading the Bible”, e-mails, texting, face book, bowling, sports on TV–the list is endless.
AND: Only God and you know when something is more important to you than God. BUT: If you care you’ll examine yourself along the way. God examines you too and you can feel Him pull back from you. When that happens, you’d better turn around from where you’re headed and go back to God, (Rev. 2:5, 16, 21, 3:3 & 19 keyword in all: repent) it’s called repentance.
(Heb. 11:25 keywords: to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season then John 12:48 & Rev. 3:13-22) Sure, Christians can do “fun things”; it’s the value of “fun things” verses the value of “God things” that makes you a winner or a loser in God’s judgment, it’s your call. God and you both know when you hit rock bottom and you just don’t care anymore.
For Your Sake Please Read (Heb. 10:19-31 esp. V.26-29). Both you and God know when you start to consider God, His ways and His expectations a nuisance because He is in the way (Rom. 6:12-16 esp. V.12 keywords: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body) of the new king that reigns in your life; KING SIN. Both you and God know when you make a new covenant with king sin. (Heb. 6:4-6 esp. V.6) You can sin to a point that God will not accept your repentance.
Christians and sinners continually look at the outward man’s Christian walk with God. They look and wonder and make judgments but only God and the individual know what is going on in the inward man. You can fool man but you can’t fool God. (V.29) “and hath done despite (insult) unto the Spirit of grace.”
In this very sad and very real scenario of Christian backsliding given above how many times do you think the Holy Spirit was grieved and insulted before it was finally over? (Eph. 4:30) “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
The word flesh can mean (Acts 2:30) the physical body (the outward man). The word flesh can also mean (Rom. 8:6-8) (human nature with its frailties and passions) which is part of the soul (the inward man). (1Cor. 3:1-5) Paul told these brethren they still had carnal tendencies. The word envying (jealousy) in (V.3) happens in the soul.
Envy is a product of pride and is expressed in jealousy and anger. In these scriptures these human nature emotions gained control of the soul, the soul ordered the brain to order the body to talk and act and that caused strife and divisions among the members of that local church.
In any scripture where the word flesh is used you must carefully dissect God’s word to understand if the scripture is referring to the outward man or the inward man. WHY: The inward man is where sin originates and the outward man commits the act of sin.
UNDERSTAND THIS: The inward man (soul) and the outward man (physical body) are bound together in our life on Earth that we called lifetime. The inward man commands sin or righteousness, the brain is the transmitter and the outward man accomplishes what is commanded.
That is why the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to work in man’s soul; #1 to eradicate a Christian’s carnal tendencies and #2 to build up a Christian’s Godly tendencies such as love, kindness, and etc. (2Cor. 5:10) We will be judged by the things we do in our body whether it is good or bad.
GOD BLESS YOU.