Ephesians 4:30-Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
So, we have been talking about how the life of Christ is deposited or transplanted into our lives and how we can engage with the Risen Christ in our daily lives. The next level of understanding we need to have is that it is the Holy Spirit that makes all of that possible. How is the Holy Spirit involved in helping us experience the life of Christ?
- We are converted by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The word “converted” carries the ideas of change, exchange, being altered, having a change in nature, a change in purpose and a change resulting from a realization of the truth. When we talk about conversion to Christ, we are describing something we cannot do apart from the Spirit’s help.
This is part of the Gospel message we have to understand. We cannot change ourselves. We can believe, but we cannot be changed from the inside out, we cannot exchange our life for the life of Christ, we cannot be altered from sinner to saint, we cannot receive our God-given purpose, without the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit being enacted upon us. If you are saved, it is because you have received the Holy Spirit’s work in your life. It is initiated by belief, but it is received because the Holy Spirit is responsive to your confession. (Read John 3 for more study.)
“Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.” Don’t resist being converted. Don’t resist being born again. Don’t resist the work the Spirit is seeking to do in your life. Salvation, conversion, is the best possible thing that could happen to a person, and yet many resist it and sadly many refuse it. Believe on the Lord Jesus and receive the work of the Spirit in your life.
The first step is conversion.
- Being consumed or controlled by the Holy Spirit is the second step.
Being filled with all the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 3:19) means being filled with the Holy Spirit. When we recognize our need to be filled with the Holy Spirit we are saying, “We want the life of Christ to expand in us and to fully possess us.”
We don’t want to do anything to limit the Spirit’s work in our lives, anything that would keep the life of Jesus from expanding in us. Read through Ephesians 4 for a list of things that need to be removed from our lives so that they do not suffocate the life of Christ in us! They are things such as hard-heartedness, greed, lying, anger, stealing, unwholesome talk
bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
This stuff is grievous to the Holy Spirit. These attitudes and actions put a damper on the life of Christ in a person.
So, we are converted by the Holy Spirit, and we gain the life of Christ. Then, we are consumed and controlled by the Holy Spirit so that the life of Christ can expand to the point where it is what is demonstrated and seen and seen by others.
- We also need to cooperate with the person of the Holy Spirit.
Do you believe there are some places God wants to send you? Do you believe there are some assignments God wants you to complete? Do you believe there are some specific people you are meant to reach? In order to get those jobs done, you will need to have a submissive spirit, one that is open to the leading of the Spirit. People who are led by the Spirit give evidence, give testimony to the fact that, their will, has been crucified. They have died to their way and their desires and when the Spirit of God says, “Go here,” or “Go there,” and “Say this” or “Say that,” there is obedience.
This is where the adventure of the supernatural life takes off. This is where we enter into a partnership with Jesus that is other-worldly. This is the place where God communicates special knowledge and where you experience the power and wisdom of God flowing into and out of you for Kingdom purposes. This is the realm of miracles. This is where the life of Jesus truly takes over. There will be times you don’t even realize what you are doing…You won’t have the words or the boldness in a situation, but if you are cooperative with the Holy Spirit, He will take over and accomplish something profound, something phenomenal. We need to cooperate with and not quench the Holy Spirit.
Listen, everyone wants God to speak to them until He tells them to do something they don’t feel like doing. Everyone wants a miracle until the cost of the miracle requires an act of faith or a sacrifice that calls them from their comfortable status quo. When you obey the Spirit the blessing you receive will far outweigh any inconvenience or awkward moment. I’m sure glad Paul obeyed the Spirit. I’m so thankful that Peter obeyed the Spirit. I am forever grateful that Stephen and other New Testament powerhouses obeyed the Spirit of God. Oh, how the church was birthed, and the Gospel was moved along by the obedience of men and women who weren’t afraid to cooperate with the Holy Spirit! When the Holy Spirit speaks it is to provide direction or correction, and we need to respond obediently.
Have you been converted by the Spirit of God? Are you being consumed and controlled by the Spirit of God? Are you cooperating with the Spirit of God when He calls you, directs you, sends you or corrects you? Today’s bottom line is a bullseye, targeted, laser-focused admonition: Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.
