WBS.191
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE HOLY
SPIRIT - XI
Romans 8:14 For
as many as are led by the Spirit of IAUE, they are the sons of IAUE.
We do not have a generic spirit from
IAUE. We
have HIS Spirit; and He wants
fellowship with us.
I am regularly instructed by the Holy Spirit
to remind disciples that man was created for one principal purpose. Just as the things made by man have a
specific purpose (i.e., a toothbrush is made to brush teeth; a broom is made to
sweep floors; a car is made to provide transport) so are the things made by
IAUE designed for a purpose.
If a man-made thing is used for something
other than the purpose for which it is designed, it immediately becomes obvious
it is not what it was designed to do. If I asked you to sweep a dirty floor and
handed you a toothbrush for the tool to use, it would immediately become
apparent that the job would be virtually impossible to accomplish with a
toothbrush. It also would immediately become
apparent that sweeping floors is not the designed function of a toothbrush. So it is, in the eyes of IAUE, that a man’s
life is wasted doing that for which he was not created.
Man has a designed function; and it is in the performance
of that function that man finds his fulfillment and satisfaction. Man’s created
purpose is to do the will of IAUE. Man,
however, lost his ability to perform that function in the Garden of Eden. When
Adam sinned, he forfeited his righteousness, the moral perfection that provided
the foundation of his ability to choose to do that which is right in the eyes
of IAUE. That ability was restored to
man in the “new creation” (2 Corinthians
5:17) where righteousness is restored to man by the imputing of Yahushua’s
righteousness to the believer. Today’s post
is intended to explain the mechanics of how man’s designed purpose (to do the
will of IAUE) is functionally restored to him.
The Scripture tells us plainly that man
becomes righteous in the eyes of IAUE, not because man has become righteous;
but rather, because IAUE’s son has clothed the believer in his own righteousness. Therefore, the believer does not behave
righteously because such behavior is produced of his own nature, but rather,
because it is the nature of the Son of IAUE.
1 John 3:5 And ye know that he (Yahushua) was manifested to take away our
sins; and in him (in Yahushua) is no sin (no disobedience
to the will of IAUE).
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth
hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of IAUE was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of IAUE doth not commit sin; for his
seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he
is born of IAUE.
There are two ways in which the believer does
the will of IAUE. The first way
is by renewing the mind to understand what the will of IAUE is and then doing
that (Romans 12:1-2). Rev. Lester
Sumrall once said, “To know the will of God, read the Bible. To do the will of God, do the Bible.” The second way is by walking in the
Spirit, which leads us to do IAUE’s will instinctively. By walking in the Spirit, we are not always
even consciously aware of how we are fulfilling His will.
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Man does not become intrinsically righteous in
the new birth, the new creation. If he
did, he would not need to have his mind renewed. His mind would be instantly transformed by
the force of righteousness infused into his nature. Instead, man must rely on the leadership and
insight of that which IS intrinsically righteous. He must rely on the Spirit of
Yahushua and the Spirit of IAUE.
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is
enmity against IAUE: for it is not subject to the law of IAUE, neither indeed
can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please IAUE.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so
be that the Spirit of IAUE dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Messiah, he is none of his.
Many believers read right through this passage
of Scripture and miss what it is saying.
This is due largely to the doctrine of the Trinity. A Trinitarian will read these verses and fail
to understand that a clear distinction is being made between the Spirit of IAUE
and the Spirit of Messiah. When you don’t understand their distinction, you
cannot understand their roles in the life of a disciple. The confusion results
in ineffective results. Here Paul explains that it is by receiving the Spirit
of Yahushua Messiah that we enter into the family of IAUE…we belong to Him. We
are not even candidates for receiving the Spirit of IAUE until we belong to
IAUE. Once in IAUE’s family, we are to
receive the Holy Spirit; and what does that produce? “Ye are not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit.”
Being born again, alone, is not enough to enable
us to be successful at doing the will of IAUE.
Why is this? It is because
without the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives, our capacity to do the will of
IAUE is restricted to the areas in which our minds have been renewed to
understand what the will of IAUE is. In all other areas, we are still walking
in the flesh; and “they that are in the flesh
cannot please IAUE.” Solomon
tells us that “There is a way that seems right to a
man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25) This is what an unrenewed mind produces. It is not the will of IAUE. Paul teaches us, however, that if we have
received the Spirit of IAUE, the Holy Spirit empowers us to cease walking in
the flesh. How is that? It is by
empowering us to “walk in the Spirit,” thus enabling us instinctively to do
that which is the will of IAUE. If we
are led by the Spirit of IAUE, we are doing the will of IAUE.
This brings us wholly back to our study of the
Holy Spirit. Let’s look at some of the
remaining attributes of the seven-fold Spirit of IAUE (which we have not yet
discussed in prior posts).
Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of IAUE shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel
and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of IAUE;
The spirit of wisdom
(chokmah – skill/insight/wisdom)
The spirit of understanding (biynah –
understanding/intelligence/insight)
The spirit of counsel (etsah – counsel/advice)
The spirit of knowledge (daath – knowledge,
from which is produced cunning and discernment)
We know from Paul’s teaching on the gifts of
the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, that the Holy Spirit manifests Himself
through the believer through the gift of the word wisdom, and the gift
of the word of knowledge. These are specific impartations of wisdom and
knowledge that are intended to aid the disciple as he does the work of the
ministry; but they are also things that are implanted in our mind by the Holy
Spirit as we are simply living our lives day by day…things which direct our
paths into the will of IAUE.
Notice in our verses above in Romans 8, that
the objective of the Holy Spirit is to replace a carnal mind with a spiritual
mind. When we are walking in the Spirit,
He is influencing the very thoughts of our mind. He is imparting His knowledge, His counsel,
His wisdom, and His understanding to us.
He makes us more than we are without Him. Most disciples have never even contemplated
how the Holy Spirit is momentarily (moment by moment) involved with WHAT we are
thinking. When they hear someone say that we are to be led by the momentary inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, that idea is usually waived off as an unrealistic
expectation. This is because they do not
know who they are. They do not think of
themselves as new creatures in Yahushua Messiah. They do not understand that they are the Sons
of IAUE, and that life is not supposed to be what they are used to experiencing
in the past. Those days should be behind
us. We are to walk in the authority of
the King and in the power, revelation and inspiration of the Holy Spirit at all
times. This is our heritage. Anything less is beneath the dignity of a Son
of IAUE.
Wisdom, understanding, counsel and
knowledge. Four out of seven cardinal aspects
of the Holy Spirit deal with the mind.
Wisdom, understanding, counsel and knowledge are all attributes of the
mind. They are in their essence, just
information lined up in such a way as to help us to know and to do the will of
IAUE; to overcome a carnal mind.
We are to learn what will of IAUE is; then we
are to do the will of IAUE. We are to accomplish
that in both ways available to us. When
we approach the Scriptures to renew our minds; it is the Holy Spirit who
teaches us the Scripture. It is the Holy
Spirit that reveals the Word of IAUE to us.
It is the Holy Spirit who shows us in the Scripture what is the good and
perfect and acceptable will of IAUE. He
does that for one primary purpose---that we might DO the Bible; that we might
DO the will of IAUE.
The Holy Spirit is also the infuser of wisdom,
understanding, counsel and knowledge to us as we abide in Messiah and walk in
the Holy Spirit’s direction. He makes
His thoughts to become our thoughts. He
makes us instinctively to do the will of IAUE.
We may have no idea how, when we felt the need to turn left at an
intersection instead of going through it, we accomplished the will of IAUE; or
how giving some money to a stranger because we just sense it was what we needed
to do may have changed his life or the life of hundreds of people. When we choose to walk in the Spirit, the
carnality of our unrenewed minds is superseded by the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Doing both (walking in the Spirit AND studying the Scriptures to renew our
mind) is what changes us from glory to glory as the righteousness of Yahushua
and the power of the Holy Spirit conforms us to the image of our Father.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
No comments:
Post a Comment