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Rules
& Regs OR Spirit Led?
It is the passion of
many Christians to find the complete series of rules and regulations of which
they can say, "This is how to be a Christian."
I'm reminded of the story of Paderewski (apocryphal, probably) in which
an admiring musician gushed, "Oh Mr. Paderewski!
How could I become a great violinist like you?"
"Be born again - this time with talent!"
We are in the same way: no
heap of rules, no mountain of regulations will do.
We must be born again - in the Spirit.
{9} However, as it
is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
‑‑ {10} but God has revealed
it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep
things of God. {11} For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except
the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the
thoughts of God except the Spirit
of God. {12} We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has
freely given us. {13} This is what
we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom
but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in
spiritual words. {14} The man
without the Spirit does not accept the things that come
from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. {15} The
spiritual man makes judgments about
all things, but he himself is not subject to any
man's judgment: {16} "For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But
we have the mind of Christ. ‑‑
1 Corinthians 2:9‑16 (NIV) There it is.
We are born of the Spirit. It
is now for us to discover what that really means. The Unlimited
Nature of the Spirit Jesus had, as best
the Scripture records, one significant conversation with a practicing, orthodox
Pharisee - a man who kept the Law in all detail. That man was Nicodemus, and the conversation is in John 3: {5} Jesus answered,
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit. {6} Flesh gives birth
to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. {7} You should not be
surprised at my saying, 'You must
be born again.' {8} The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with
everyone born of the Spirit."
‑‑ John 3:5‑8 (NIV) There are two great
principles here. First, in ways
which are not clear, the coming of the Spirit is associated with baptism.
More to our point now, the Spirit is not controlled by man.
Nor is the man controlled by the Spirit controlled by man!
This has tremendous implications for those of us in the Spirit
*
"Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go..." as the hymn writer put
it. There are no restrictions on
where I can go. Not just the
restrictions of fear; the restrictions of censure, too.
*
The world's ideas of what I can do or what I can be no longer apply.
With the mind of Christ (the Spirit) what is there that I cannot
accomplish - if God wills it? Bunyan was nearly illiterate and often in jail - and wrote
Pilgrim's Progress. Moody was a
shoe salesman. The Scripture is
full of such examples. Why then, do
we limit the Spirit? Indeed, the
Spirit is given without limit: For the one whom God
has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the
Spirit without limit. ‑‑
John 3:34 (NIV) This idea that the
Spirit is (as God indeed) without limit has some interesting implications.
In our search for the rules we sometimes miss things.
For example, people keep asking things like, "How can God be in
Jesus and in the Spirit at the same time?"
Foolishness! God is superior
to time and space; He created them. Proof? Consider
who was present at Jesus' baptism: As soon as Jesus was
baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him
I am well pleased."
‑‑ Matthew 3:16-17 (NIV) All three persons of
God are present. Indeed, we keep
trying to restrict the Spirit in our rules and regulations.
"The Spirit is given at baptism!"
"The Spirit comes later!"
"The Spirit comes before baptism!"
All three examples are given in the New Testament.
Acts 2:38 is used to justify "at baptism."
But here are two examples of "before" and "after." BEFORE {15} When they
arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit, {16} because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them;
they had simply been baptized into
the name of the Lord Jesus. {17} Then Peter and
John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
‑‑ Acts 8:15‑17 (NIV) AFTER {44} While Peter was
still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all
who heard the message. {45} The circumcised believers who had come with
Peter were astonished that the gift
of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on
the Gentiles. {46} For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising
God. Then Peter said, {47}
"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with
water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
‑‑ Acts 10:44‑47 (NIV) The Spirit goes
where He wishes - and so does the Christian.
The Spirit is not restrained by our ritual (even as it is commanded) but
rather He comes into our hearts and minds by belief: I would like to
learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by
observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying
to attain your goal by human effort? ‑‑ Galatians 3:2-3 (NIV) We have freedom in
the Spirit; freedom to become
everything that God intended humans to become. Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ‑‑
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV) The Law and the
Spirit The early church had
this same difficulty in dealing with the Spirit. They wanted to go back to the Law, slightly modified to
account for Jesus. Paul dealt with
this in the Roman church: {8:1} Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, {2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set
me free from the law of sin and
death. {3} 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. And so he condemned sin in
sinful man, {4} 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. {5} 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. {6} The mind
of sinful man is death, but the
mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law,
nor can it do so. {8} Those
controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
{9} You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the
Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives
in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Christ. {10} But if Christ is in you, your
body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of
righteousness. {11} And if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through his Spirit, who
lives in you. {12} Therefore, brothers, we have an
obligation‑‑but it is not to the sinful nature, to live
according to it. {13} For if you
live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by
the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
{14} because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. {15}
For you did not receive a spirit
that makes you a slave again to fear, but you
received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,Father."
{16} The Spirit himself testifies
with our spirit that we are God's children. {17} Now
if we are children, then we are heirs‑‑heirs of God and
co‑heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. {18} I consider that our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory that
will be revealed in us. {19} The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. {20} For the
creation was subjected to
frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope {21} that the creation itself will
be liberated from its bondage to
decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. {22} We know that the whole creation has been groaning
as in the pains of childbirth right
up to the present time. {23} Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we
wait eagerly for our adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies. {24} For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who
hopes for what he already has? {25}
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. {26} In the same way, the Spirit helps us in
our weakness. We do not know what
we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. {27} And he who
searches our hearts knows the mind
of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in
accordance with God's will. {28} And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who
love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
{29} For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
{30} And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also
justified; those he justified, he also glorified. {31} What, then, shall
we say in response to this? If God
is for us, who can be against us? {32} He who
did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all‑‑how
will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things? {33} Who will bring any charge
against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. {34} Who is
he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who
died‑‑more than that, who was raised to
life‑‑is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for
us. {35} Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? {36} As it is
written: "For your sake we
face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." {37} No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who
loved us. {38} For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
{39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. {9:1} I
speak the truth in Christ‑‑I am not lying, my conscience
confirms it in the Holy
Spirit‑‑ ‑‑ Romans 8:1‑9:1 (NIV) (Please note that
this discussion really applies to mature Christians; see Romans 14 for the distinction applied to the immature
Christian) The chapter is well
worth the reading. Note please two
major points:
*
The Spirit gives life. This
is an explicit reference to the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of
Christ. We have it now and we will
have it then.
*
The Spirit intercedes for us. Indeed,
what else? The Spirit is God in us;
who else could possibly intercede for us, the priesthood of believers? With such life, with
such intercession, how could anything succeed in condemning us?
In this writing, Paul soars. Here
we see life in the Spirit, amplified! This life in the
Spirit is completely opposite of "freedom" as we know it today
(actually, license). {16} So I say, live
by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the
sinful nature. {17} For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the
Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in
conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. {18} But
if you are led by the Spirit, you
are not under law. ‑‑
Galatians 5:16‑18 (NIV) So we see it:
life in the Spirit is not rules and regulations, nor is it total license.
It is being what God designed us to be.
This is a radical change from the Old Testament.
Where did such a change come from? The
Cross! Whoever believes in
me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water
will flow from within him." By
this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to
receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had
not yet been glorified.
‑‑ John 7:38-39 (NIV) But I tell you the
truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I
go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him
to you.
‑‑ John 16:7 (NIV) The Cross indeed set
us free to become what God intended for us. What then, is the purpose of this radical change? Purposes of the
Spirit Several purposes of
the Spirit are mentioned in the New Testament.
Some of these include The Spirit as
"Seal" And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who
is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those
who are God's possession‑‑to the praise of his glory. ‑‑
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV) Here the Spirit is
given as evidence to us that we indeed are saved; and that we will be raised at
the second coming of our Lord. The Spirit as
Credential "As I began to
speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the
beginning. Then I remembered
what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
‑‑ Acts 11:15-17 (NIV) In this passage
Peter is justifying his speaking to Gentiles about Christ.
His argument is simple: If
the Spirit comes on them, then God says they're OK - right?
The Spirit continues to do this today - for God will not allow His church
to remain in error. Spirit speaking
through the Apostles for it will not be
you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
‑‑ Matthew 10:20 (NIV) Indeed the entire
range of inspiration of the Scriptures is also the work of the Spirit.
But for most of us, the primary purpose of the Spirit is given in these
passages: {8} When he comes,
he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment: {9} in regard to sin, because men do not
believe in me; {10} in regard to
righteousness, because I am going to the Father,
where you can see me no longer; {11} and in regard to judgment, because
the prince of this world now stands
condemned. {12} "I have much more to say to
you, more than you can now bear. {13} But when he, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his
own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. {14} He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it
known to you. ‑‑ John
16:8‑14 (NIV) Verse 8 gives us the
key to one of the puzzles of the New Testament: the unforgivable sin. 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 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 (NIV) How can someone sin
against the Holy Spirit? The logic
is fairly easy, actually. Look at
it this way: forgiveness of sins is
a process. The first step in that
process is to be convinced that a) there is such a thing as righteousness; b)
you don't have it; c)the judgment of that sin is too great for you to bear.
Once convinced, you cry out to God for help - who provides it completely
at the Cross. But if you will not
accept that first step (a, b and c) - how can you possibly be saved against your
will? You cannot be saved!
To reject that first step is the sin against the Holy Spirit. In summary, we have
it this way: The Spirit goes,
without limits, where He wants to go. The result of this
is that we are free from law, rule and regulation - but free to be what God
intended us to be. The mechanism of
this freedom is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has His
purposes: primary among these is
the conviction of sin and judgment and righteousness. For those outside Christ, this is to produce repentance
leading to salvation. For those in
Christ, this conviction leads to repentance and a deeper relationship with
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