Journey into Lightl

A few years ago I was listening to a pastor teach on the role of the Holy Spirit and how he helped us live the Christian life. The pastor taught that the Holy Spirit teaches, comforts, and convicts of sin. I thought to myself, “This is great! Now for the punch line – that he provides the power to live the Christian life”

But the punch line never came. He didn’t teach that the Holy Spirit provides the power to live the Christian life even though it’s a clear teaching of Scripture (Romans 8:13).

How did this happen? How can a respected and knowledgeable teacher of the Word of God miss teaching this important truth? Was it an oversight? Or was there something more going on here?

What could be going on here is that we Protestants have been strong in teaching that the Bible is our authority for life and godliness. We have also tended to emphasize the importance of evangelism. Where we have been weak is in focusing on sanctification. This is the process of how we cooperate with God in growing spiritually and living the powerful life that we have been called to.

Why We Often Lack The Power

One of the reasons we lack the power to live is that we try to grind it out in our own strength. For example, the battle cry for me in the past has been “Give me the biblical principles and I’ll do them.” But sadly I learned that I couldn’t. Having begun by depending on God, I was trying to grow and serve by my own fortitude (Galatians 3:3). We don’t let the Spirit lead, but instead try to muscle our way towards living and serving God.

We also don’t obey – and then we get mad because God’s power seems to be missing from our lives. We don’t seem to realize that the Holy Spirit in us is a Person and can be grieved and quenched when he is disobeyed. And without his presence we can’t accomplish anything that will stand the test of time (John 15:5).

Probably the most tragic reason for our lack of power is to know the truth without relying on it. We think that because we know God totally accepts us that we will be able to cope with rejection by others or ourselves. But how many of us worry more about what people think of us than what God does? And when we don’t depend on his perspective, he withdraws his power from our lives (Hebrews 11:6).

Living By This Power

We live in this power by keeping in step with the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives (Galatians 5:25). We need to develop sensitivity to his guidance. One of the key ways I discern the way to go is through experiencing peace, relying on God’s promise that “In all my ways I will give you peace” (Proverbs 3:17, paraphrased).

Another way we live by this power is to shed the lies that control us and embrace the truths. For example, it’s a lie that we aren’t important and don’t have major purposes in life. The truth is that “we are continually being made more like God in character and have specific purposes that he has made us to accomplish” (Ephesians 2:10, paraphrased). By shedding the lies and embracing the truths, he empowers us to change and accomplish the supernatural tasks that he has planned for us.