Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 30
God has called us to be changed into the image of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All the circumstances of our life are working toward this specific good. We must give all diligence to lay hold on our calling and election because it is possible to miss the mark.
If we do not attend to the things of Christ but rather occupy our time and affections in the filth of the present age, we may lose not only our crown (our authority as a king and priest of Almighty God), but our salvation as well.
The call of God to be a member of the royal priesthood is not to be taken lightly. We need to make certain, as Paul exhorted, that we grasp that for which we have been grasped. We must lay hold on that for which God has laid hold on us.
If we turn away and give our attention to other gods we will not attain the resurrection of those who die in faith in the true God. What a loss! Inconceivable! How foolish of us to trade our birthright in Christ for a "bowl of lentil soup."
If, on the other hand, we are diligent in the creating of righteous, holy, and obedient conduct in our lives, we never will fall away from Christ. "If ye do these things ye shall never fall."
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:11)
Our entrance into the Kingdom of God depends directly on the developing of the traits of character listed by Peter. If we develop godliness in abundance we will have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Christ. If we develop scarcely any of the traits of character we will have scarcely any entrance into the Kingdom of Christ.
If we develop none of these traits but rather bring forth the fruit of the flesh—adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, wrath, division, envying, gossip, slander, drunkenness, revelry, we will not enter the Kingdom of Christ whether or not we have made a profession of Christ.
It is as simple and certain as that.
Let us consider the three parts of the grace of God by which God is able to transform our personal conduct: The Word of God, both general and specific, ministered to our mind.
The body and blood of Christ ministered to our whole personality.
The energy of the resurrection life of the Holy Spirit ministered to our whole personality.
These three dimensions of God's Person are given to us. If we add to them the atoning authority of the blood that keeps on forgiving our sins, we have all that is necessary for our transformation into righteous, holy, and obedient conduct.
The Word of God renews our mind, transforming us. The Word of God, symbolized by the bronze Laver of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, keeps on judging our conduct and delivering us from lawlessness. We need to be cleansed daily by the Word of God. The Word is a lamp that guides us into the righteous ways of the Lord.
The Word of God comes to us both generally and specifically. It comes to us in general form as the Scriptures. By daily meditation in the Scriptures we grow in the understanding of the "law" of the Lord.
The more righteous we become the more we find ourselves contemplating the words of Scripture. Gradually our human mind, which always is the enemy of God, is transformed into the mind of Christ. Our delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law we meditate day and night.
The Word of God also comes to us specifically, either as a suddenly illumined verse of Scripture, or as a quiet voice in our consciousness, or in a sudden awareness, or in a dream, vision, or in some other manner. It is a specific guidance to us personally.
It leads us into the righteous ways of the Lord and points out to us the right path for our pilgrimage, or gives comfort or the solution to a vexing problem.
The Christian experience becomes dry if we do not receive an occasional word from the Lord to us personally. Sometimes we are required to endure long dry spells. Then He speaks and the shadows flee away.
The body and blood of Christ, which are typified by the Table of Showbread of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, keep on feeding us in the spirit realm. As we remain in the place where God can nourish us, by means of daily prayer, meditation in the Scripture, assembling with fervent disciples, exercising our ministry and being ministered to, faithful and consistent obedience to the Holy Spirit, confessing our sins, forgiving others their trespasses against us, then the Lord Jesus can keep on feeding our born-again inner nature with His broken body and shed blood.
Christ's body and blood become the Substance on which our new life is built. We are becoming the Wife of the Lamb because we feed continually on the Lamb of God. The Divine Nature in the body and blood of Christ creates in us the desire and the strength to choose righteousness of conduct. The more of Him created in us the more intensely we love righteousness and hate sin and rebellion.
In addition to the body and blood of Christ we must receive the resurrection life that proceeds from the Holy Spirit of God. It is the same authority and power that raised the Lord Jesus Christ from among the dead.
Day after day the circumstances of our life bring us down to the death of the cross. We continually bear about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Day after day the resurrection life of the Spirit of God lifts us up and we are able to fight onward.