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The Daily Word of Righteousness
One With God, #11
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:16,17—NIV)
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, dwells in each true Christian. The Holy Spirit performs the work of salvation in us. It is the Spirit who enables us to bear witness of the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us and enables us to overcome sin.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives and operates the gifts and ministries and builds the Body of Christ to the fullness of the stature of Christ.
Apart from the Holy Spirit we could not engage in or press forward in the many aspects of our salvation.
Any activities of the Christian churches that are not anointed by the Spirit of God are of no eternal significance in the Kingdom of God. It is the Spirit who is bringing the Bride to the Bridegroom.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18—NIV)
This is the same coming mentioned in the third verse of this chapter. It is the coming of the Lord to us through the Spirit to remove the sin from us and to create the Life of God in us. This is not the coming of the Lord in the clouds of glory, His historic coming. Rather it is a coming to the disciple to prepare him to appear with the Lord at His historic coming. This personal coming is taking place now, I believe, in a greater way than has ever been true in the Christian Era.
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19—NIV)
The personal coming of the Lord to His disciple will not be seen by the world. The purpose of the personal coming is that we might learn to live by His Life. This is what it is all about—to each day live more by the Life of Jesus Christ than was true of us the previous day.
But such substitution of His Life for our life necessitates a loss of our personal "freedom" to do as we please. We are becoming the servants of Christ.
Our country, America, was born in rebellion against European tyranny. Perhaps because of this there is a fierce desire in Americans to be "free."
However, we are not always clear as to what it means to be free. There is political freedom, but then there is spiritual freedom. These two freedoms are not the same.
It is better, as Paul said, if we not be the slaves of other people.
Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. (I Corinthians 7:21,22—NIV)
However, if you are a slave when you came to Christ, do not be troubled by this. You are the Lord's freedman. But if you are not a slave when you receive Christ, you become the slave of Christ.
To be continued.