As we embark on a new year for our nation, after a remarkable 50th birthday celebration, let us ponder on the significance of opening our hearts to Christ as our only saviour.
Bible Reading: Romans 8:1-39
When a person becomes a Christian the Holy Spirit comes and makes His home in that person. That is the beginning of an amazing journey as we allow the Holy Spirit to have the control of our lives.
One of the most remarkable pictures in Scripture is Paul’s struggle with sin and trying to be holy as recorded in Romans chapter seven. In the following chapter we discover how he experienced victory over sin. What has made the difference between these two chapters? It is the Holy Spirit. Paul only mentioned the Holy Spirit once in chapter seven but in chapter eight the Holy Spirit is mentioned twenty-one times.
People who try to please God by obeying His law will constantly battle with sin and will fail. The one time Paul mentions the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter seven he writes, “…we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” [Romans 7:6]. Here is a major key to living a holy life – to live and walk in the Spirit. Then we will be more than conquerors” [Romans 8:37]
What does it mean, “to serve in the new way of the Spirit?” It means to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to obey God. Formerly we were “controlled” by our old sinful nature, but now we are to walk in the Spirit. Literally, the Holy Spirit now fills the believer with an internal desire to serve God.
God’s promise is that the Christian who walks in the Spirit will not gratify the desires of the flesh [Galatians 5:16]. The power of the Holy Spirit is available today to turn our eyes away from our own performance and toward Jesus, and in so doing enable us to live victorious and holy lives.
Question:
- Do you struggle with sin and have done your best to overcome it but feel that you have failed?
- Would you today ask the Holy Spirit to come and give you the power to live the way that Jesus has called you to live?
Something to Do:
Read Romans chapter 8 and underline or note every time the Holy Spirit is mentioned. Then write down exactly what the passage says about the Holy Spirit.Taken from Pastor Michael Ross-Watson’s PURE series.
