Spirit of God

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.  “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.  Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.  Matthew 12:30-32^(NLT)

And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.  John 16:8-9^(NLT)     

These two passages say a number of important things, not only to the church, but to all people.  If there is such a thing at all as sin, being forgiven is of such importance anyone in his right mind would move heaven and earth to discover how to be forgiven! 

Blasphemy is sin against the Holy Spirit of God (rejection of what the Spirit says is sin and what the Spirit says is holy).  Among the list of what that includes is, chiefly, when people reject what Jesus did, dying our death penalty, so that our sins can be forgiven.  Matthew, the tax collector-turned evangelist, says that Jesus said a person who rejects Jesus the Son is rejected by the Father in this world and the next.  Sobering thought!

Another important message about the Holy Spirit’s ministry in John’s Gospel is that the chief purpose of the Spirit moving and working among humans is to reprove, or convict us of all which separates us from God...namely, our sins; and chiefly…our unbelief!

If you mention the Holy Spirit in a church crowd you can get mixed reaction.  There are those who don’t want you to mention the Spirit…ever!  Among those leaning to the charismatic (gift-centered) side, when you talk about the Spirit there will be a knowing smile of all that knowledge about how the spiritual gifts work; they just can’t get enough about all the gifts being operational in their own life and in the life of their church.  And then, In true 21^st century-style human combativeness there are plenty of people on the other side of that fence who will gladly defend against all that loving-the-gift-better-than-the-giver stuff!  There is, after all, nothing we love better than fighting over who God loves most!

What’s ironic is that arrogant, combative, brother-separating-from-brother attitude is exactly the issue to which the Spirt came to speak conviction into our hearts.  After all, was it not a brother who first picked up a stone and separated himself from his brother permanently?  When Jesus ascended back to the Father in Heaven, and the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, it was so that we could have our blinded eyes opened to how much God truly does love us; it was so we would understand that God’s invitation to come close to Him is in spite of our weakness, not because of any goodness or strength we possess.  God’s love is for anyone who will lay down that nonsense of human independence and recognize our need in Christ, and our need to love and trust each other.

For You Today

You will have an opportunity today to go in one of two directions.  One direction will be to resist the Holy Spirit, and that will include such things as anger, pride, jealousy, envy, lust, or one of a thousand other ways to separate you from God’s love. 

The other direction is to listen to the ways His Spirit leads you into righteousness, how He teaches you to give control of all you do, say, and even think, to the Spirit who wants to stay closer to you than that arthritis you live with.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: By Ziko-C (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

To Repent is to Turn

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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  Acts 3:19^(NLT)

Everything God did in sending prophets, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, his miracles, his teaching, his crucifixion, and resurrection, point to this sentence Peter speaks…repent of your sins and turn to God!  This is the theme of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

The words “repent” and “turn” are so tied together it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.  Repent (in Greek) means to have a turning in the mind – a change of thought, so as to act differently.  Turn is a Greek compound of two words indicating a conversion from what is to what once was. 

Peter is encouraging the listener to do what is impossible, twist time back to where they left-off their relationship with God.  To “repent” is to come back to God in mind AND actions.

Years ago I saw a cartoon drawing of a young George Washington, head-down in shame, holding his axe, and standing next to the cherry tree he’d just chopped down.  George’s dad was speaking to his young son:  George, I’m glad you can’t tell a lie, but if you don’t stop cutting down these trees there won’t be a cherry left on planet earth.

Repenting is an inward feeling of remorse for having travelled the wrong pathway, but is also accompanied by a change of heart to do right in the future.  It is a turning away from your old life’s direction; it’s like when a soldier does an about-face to turn around 180° to face the other way.  It’s not a dance – it changes the soldier who has been marching East back the other way; he now travels West.

And that is the nature of repentance – a heart and mind change that leads to a change of actions, which eventually reforms the character and habits of the person.

A few centuries ago the church mourner’s bench was a familiar sight; these days it is largely gone with the horse, buggy, and 8-trac tapes.  The bench was a place where newly repentant persons sat in church, as a sign that their heart and mind had changed.  It was there they sat before being allowed to join the church membership, as a testing ground to make certain their conversion process would “take”.

We have seen it over and over in nearly forty years of ministry – a supposed conversion in the emotional moment of revival; the weight of sin is convicting, the Spirit is moving, and an invitation is given by the preacher to come down to the front and be saved.  The next night the new believer is baptized and in three weeks’ time they’re serving on six committees, teaching Sunday School and nominated for the Board of Elders.  Another two months pass, and you wonder why they don’t come to church anymore.

Fact:  Many “conversions” are head and heart genuine, but, as easily as you can repent, or turn…you can also repent again, turn back away from God. 

John Wesley called it backsliding, and it is as real as original sin.

Seasons of revival are necessary for the Christian, and for the church.  Church folk may indeed be saved, but we are far from perfect in our character and actions; we need times of refreshing to turn back to God.

Don’t forget, Peter’s sentence, now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away, was spoken to good church people, leaders of Israel, not the criminals.  They had lost their way…and it led to Christ’s crucifixion.  God help us!

For You Today

When you consider the words repent and turn today, don’t tune them out; take them in!  And…

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

[i] Title Image: By takomabibelot (Repent (National Mall: Washington, DC)), via Wikimedia Commons