Eternal Hope through Honoring the Spirit

by Russell Young

These passages dealing with the Spirit are from Romans 8 (NIV). They should inform the reader of his or her need for the continued ministry of Christ as Spirit in their life (Col 1:27) for the accomplishment of their eternal hope.

8:2 “through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
8:4 “[H]e condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
8:5 “those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires”.
8:9 “You are controlled…by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit he does no belong to Christ.”
8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.”
8:13 “[I]f by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
8:14 “[T]hose who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

The “suffering” of Christ has been revealed in Hebrews 2:18. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (NIV) Consider Hebrews 5:7: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (NIV)

8:23 “[W]e ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
8:26 “[T]he Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
8:27 “[H]e who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

Wording that refers to life in the flesh has been left out in order to bring clarity to the full and necessary ministry of the Lord as Spirit (2 Cor 3:17, 18). The reader can discern that a system of laws (“the law of the Spirit of life”) still exists and that the righteous requirement of the law can only be met by Christ as Spirit living through the believer. The law of the Spirit that is to be met is not recorded on paper; it is dynamic and is revealed by the Spirit according to the Lord’s desire and purposes as he transforms the heart and soul of the believer. Accordingly, believers become his “workmanship” (Eph 2:10 NIV) or, “masterpiece” (NLT)

In these passages, Paul makes it clear that the Spirit must be living in the believer; he cannot just be in the believer. The Spirit is not to be denied, quenched, or thwarted in his workings but must be honoured and obeyed. (Mt 7:21; Heb 5:9; 2 Thess 1:8; Rev 22:14 KJV) if the Spirit is to complete his work so that a person’s eternal salvation might result. (2 Thess 2:13; Titus 3:5─6; Rom 15:16)

Since the “misdeeds of the body” must be put to death by obedience to the Spirit, it cannot be accepted that the sacrificial offering of Christ on the cross completed the believer’s hope or his need; it is the continued transforming ministry of Christ as Spirit, and the believer’s submission to the Lord that is also required.

The passages above should inform the reader why Paul taught that baptism symbolizes death to self (Rom 6:5─7) and new life through Christ, as well as his revelation that he no longer lived but that Christ lived in him. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in–obediently following–the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20) They also teach that believers will not be adopted as a son of God until the body has been redeemed of its sinful interests and practices.

The Lord came to fulfill the law (Mt 5:17) for himself, and for the believer through his indwelling presence. The believer cannot be passive in his or her spiritual walk; it must be committed and intentional and requires “suffering” to overcome fleshly interests and temptations.

Deceptive teaching has allowed easy-believism; those who have fallen prey to such teachings will have their hopes dashed in the end when judgment by Christ is rendered for the things done in the body. Believers are to “work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12 NIV)

Joanna, A Disciple of Jesus

^{Luke 8:1} After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; ³ Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.  

# # #

^{Luke 24:1} But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ³ So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

⁵ The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man^[b] must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

⁸ Then they remembered that he had said this. ⁹ So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. ¹¹ But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.

Today’s reading is from Jeff Lucas; and first appeared in the UK bi-monthly devotional book Lucas on Life — an offshoot of CWR’s other subscription devotional, Selwyn Hughes’ Every Day With Jesus — in November of 2005.

What does a real Christian look like?  Is it enough to believe the right things, attend church regularly, read the Bible and pray — or should there be some more startling evidence that God is at work?  The letter of James insists that when God is really at work in us, then fruit can be seen.

We don’t want to be followers of “mere” religion that makes us feel good, but does nothing else.  S. H. Miller, dean of Harvard Divinity School, says, “Religion which is interested only in itself, in its prestige and success, in its institutions and ecclesiastical niceties is worse than vanity; it is essentially incestuous.”

For some answers we turn to a lady called Joanna.  She is only mentioned twice in the Bible — both times by Luke in his gospel.  But Joanna — a member of Jesus traveling band and one of the first to hear of the resurrection — is a heroine worthy of our reflection because her life was radically transformed by Jesus.  We’ll see that her priorities, her spending patterns, her domestic life — all were dynamically affected by the power of God that had either delivered her from sickness, dark powers, or both.

Let’s follow in her footsteps.

Jeff Lucas also adds as a reading for the day this passage in James:

^{James 2:14} What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

²¹ Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³ And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴ So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

²⁵ Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. ²⁶ Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

Scriptures quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT)