The Holy Spirit Teaches Us
Why then does the majority of Christendom not know this deliverance from the power and penalty of sin? Why are they walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit? Why is every excuse given for the old flesh and the false gospel of carnal Christianity? My friend, the answer is because they have missed Holy Spirit conviction; for if they had ever been under Holy Spirit conviction, they would have known the bondage of sin and, therefore, deliverance from it. They would have been taught by the Holy Spirit in conviction the things that are so humbling to the flesh.
And what are these things that He teaches which are so humbling to the flesh? (1) That you and I are destitute of any righteousness or good works that the Lord will accept (Isa 64:6). (2) That in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing (Rom 7:18). (3) That you and I are by nature vile, wretched sinners before God (Job 40:4; Rev 3:17). (4) That you and I are destitute of any spiritual wisdom (Rom 3:11), therefore full of vanity and pride (Psalm 39:5). (5) That we are destitute of any spiritual strength (Rom 5:6), therefore unable to do anything good of or from ourselves (John 15:5). (6) That you and I are destitute of freedom (Isa 61:1), therefore sold under sin (Rom 7:14).
Further we are taught that we are the bondslaves of our lusts (Titus 3:3), walking after the counsel of the devil who takes us captive at his will (II Tim 2:26) because we are by nature of our father, the devil (John 8:44). This is what God shows us under conviction, and with this knowledge we are humbled before God in repentance.
You see, my friend, under the convicting power of His Word, the Holy Spirit lets the light of the glorious gospel of God shine into our hearts, giving the glory of Christ Jesus to us, and thereby turning us from darkness to light-taking us completely out of the kingdom of darkness and putting us into Christ and His kingdom. This is our position in Christ by virtue of His cross work in us, and this we experience by faith as the Holy Spirit teaches us from His Word. It is then that we understand by faith those blessed words spoken by our Lord in John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Yes, having been in bondage to sin (yes, its bondslave!), now in salvation in Christ we are shown by the Holy Spirit through His Word and accept by faith that we have been delivered (freed) by the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
How is this effected in us and how do we understand this? It is by the operation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to work repentance in us, so we stand guilty before God with a hatred for the sins which we have committed against God, and for the sinner we see ourselves to be before Him. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that we believe unto life and know that God, in His mercy and grace, has pardoned our sins, putting them away under His precious blood; and has given us a new heart and nature, thereby enabling us to now walk in a way of righteousness and true holiness.
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