Interjecting the Truth

The following statement (in italics) was given by a Christian in response to a question about what is the "proof" a person is walking in faith. My thoughts on what was said have been interjected into the body of their response. I pray it encourages you.

"The Holy Spirit is the deposit or guarantee that we have "got it"." In 2 Corinthians 5:5 it reads, "Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." It is clear that the Holy Spirit of God is not the deposit or guarantee that we have "got it," whatever "it" is. The Holy Spirit is the deposit that guarantees we will one day be at home with the Lord, clothed with our heavenly dwelling. It is the promise of salvation and eternal life.

"As we die daily to the sin nature~> we start producing the Fruit of the Spirit." Christians do not produce the fruit of the Spirit. If we did it would be called our fruit. Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5)." It is Jesus, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who produces the fruit we bear. The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)." All of these attributes of the fruit of the Spirit are exactly those things that God exhibits towards us because of His love for us and our faith in Jesus Christ. We then share that which we are receiving with others. We die to sin by resting in what God has given us that sin cannot provide; His unconditional love and total acceptance.

"Of course, we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God; as well as snub Him. I know I have told the Holy Spirit of God that I was GOING to do what I WANTED TO DO; INSTEAD OF WHAT THE WORD SAID>>> BECAUSE I WANTED TO FULFILL THE LUSTS OF MY FLESH. Thankfully, there are some sins that we commit that does NOT cause spiritual death (sic)." Ephesians 4:30 says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."Christians do not grieve the Holy Spirit because of our sinning against God or because we "snub" Him. In context (Ephesians 4:25-30), we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not act in love towards each other. God is not holding our sins against us. Therefore, we cannot grieve Him for sins He is not holding against us. And since our sins are not coming between us and God, there are no sins that can cause spiritual death. If we could lose our spiritual life, then we can lose our salvation. And then we make Jesus out to be a liar because He said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28)." Our salvation is secure because of the promises of Jesus not because of our ability to avoid sinning.

"THANKFULLY~> we have an ADVOCATE who intercedes on behalf of us... and when we do sin>>> we can go to Him... and allow HIM to be our GO BETWEEN to our Heavenly Father. God cannot look upon me; when I sin....for HE IS A HOLY GOD. EVEN ON MY BEST DAYS~>" This is a misunderstanding of 1 John 2:1-2. "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." Notice how the individual answering the question states that when we sin "we can go to Him." However, the scripture says "we have" an Advocate. Jesus is already operating on our behalf before God the Father. He is not waiting for us to come to Him when we sin, which usually means we have to ask Him to forgive our sins. He has already forgiven our sins by His death on the cross. Furthermore, if God cannot look upon us when we sin, when does He ever look upon us? Hebrews 10:17 says, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." God can and does look upon us, even when we sin, because our sins are no longer separating Him from us.

"WHEN I DON'T JACK THINGS UP AND NOT SIN>>>>MY RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AS GOOD AS filthy rags before His eyes. " No, Christians do "jack things up" and sin, but it has no bearing on our righteousness. This person is correct in saying that our righteousness is as good as filthy rags before a Holy God, but we are righteous before God because of our faith in Jesus Christ not our ability to remain sinless. "And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead (Romans 4:22-24)." We are righteous because Jesus is righteous.

"Never do I want to get to the place where my heart is SO HARDENED that the WORD falls on deaf ears and blind eyes. If I start to turn away from the LOVER of my SOUL~> may He wall me up>>>and take all of my pleasures away so I cannot find fulfillment. May He get my attention and CRACK the hardened shell off my heart; so that it is a ♥ of flesh. May He take off the blinders from my eyes, so I see the WORD OF TRUTH. May He cause me to FEAR God~> then may He surprise me as He talks tenderly to me. May He love me with His everlasting love." Now, this may sound good to your average Christian, but I don't believe for one second this is a prayer said in honesty. If you notice in all that this person has written to this point, not once did they offer up any scripture to back up their assertions. In fact, when they say, "May He cause me to fear God," I say that they already fear God. And they should fear Him based on what they believe. When you believe God will not look upon you, that you can commit sins that cause spiritual death and that we have to go to God to seek His forgiveness, you are depending on your ability to get your flesh under control. And that will only lead to a person fearing God because they will never get their flesh under control or live up to His demands! Thus, they will never be able to rest in His love because "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 John 4:18)."

My prayer is that this individual and those like them will get their focus off of themselves and their behavior and on to Jesus and the rest He offers them through His finished work on the cross for them and His resurrected life in them.