November 18th, 2009 As “Born Again” Christians We Must Not Grieve The Holy Spirit
Though our sins have been washed away with the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (John 3:16), we must not use this very special gift that Jehovah God has given to His children through the suffering and death of His only begotten Son as a license to do evil without fear of condemnation (Romans 3:8).
Apostle Paul stated, “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him” (Hebrews 1:2,3).
To receive salvation and to be entrusted with the Holy Spirit is truly a loving gift that is far greater than life itself; to receive salvation is to be delivered from death and eternal damnation and share in the prospects of spending eternity with Christ Jesus and Jehovah God the Father. And to help us do the work that Christ has called us out to do, God has graciously sent His “Holy Spirit” to dwell within us; teaching, instructing, guiding, and comforting the servants of the Most High God (John 14:26).
However, we as servants have a responsibility to be obedient to the commandments, precepts, and statues that Jesus gave us to follow. When we willfully sin and stubbornly refuse to submit to Christ’s teachings, we endanger our salvation and can even sever our relationship with the Father and the Son unless we repent and discontinue that unholy conduct and follow Christ (John 1:6).
When we lived as sinners Christ continued to reach out to us because of His love for us; even though He had already died an agonizing death on the cross, which was preceded by an unmerciful beating that ripped open the flesh on His back; nevertheless, He continues to plead with us to accept His free gift of salvation and receive eternal life from heaven. Only love can do something like this; not only was He beaten and put to death for our sins, He has to plead with us today to accept the free gift of salvation–-it almost seems unreal.
The righteous pleading with the unrighteous to accept the free gift of salvation that He purchased with a horrible beating–-”through His stripes we were healed” (often men died from the beating itself), and then the crucifixion (reserved for the worst criminals) on the cross. We should be ashamed and disgraced for neglecting so great a gift that Jehovah God and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has given to mankind.
That is why the apostle Paul could say, “If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26,27), and in another place he went on to say, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace? For we know Him that hath said ‘vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord’. And again, ‘The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:29-31).
Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9), and have chosen to follow Him must be careful as we work out our salvation, and avoid falling back into our former ways of conduct; all the while side stepping pitfalls that have been strategically placed by the enemy–-Satan the devil to cause our spiritual downfall and eventually our spiritual death. We must remain ever vigilant and pray without ceasing in order to stay clear of satanic traps and satanic schemes that are elaborately designed to bring about our demise–-both spiritually and physically.
Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Not withstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:18-20).
Jesus has equipped us to go forth in His name preaching repentance and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And He stated that He would be with us until the very end (Matthew 28:19,20). We have the assurance from Jesus that He will never leave us alone, or abandon us–-never. So let us go forth in Jesus name carrying the gospel in our loins; preaching and teaching the word of God as we are lead by the Holy Spirit.
Yes, as disciples of Christ and servants of the Most High God, we must seek to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and avoid any and all behavior and conduct that is contrary to the will of God, but not only that, we must guard our thoughts as well because we can allow demonic (spirits) influences an opportunity to infect and control our mind, thereby rendering us ineffective as a disciple of Christ.
Satan is the master of deception; the prince of darkness; the author of lies, and he can cleverly lead any human being that is not under the blood and walking upright in Christ down a deep dark tunnel that leads to eternal damnation and everlasting destruction. We must always remember that Satan was completely defeated by the work Jesus did on the cross and His resurrection.
Satan has no power over Jesus or Jesus’ disciples unless we choose to give it to him by sinning against God and willfully practicing sin. At that point we not only allow him (Satan) to come in, but we are actually extending an open invitation to him, thereby grieving the Holy Spirit and jeopardizing our salvation.
All men sin and fall short of God’s grace, but to willfully practice sin can lead to eternal separation from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We must make every effort to stay in prayer without ceasing and seek wholeheartedly to follow the commandments that Christ taught us to follow. Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and I abide in His love” (Matthew 15:10,14).
When we stumble and fall in our walk with Christ, faithfully seek forgiveness and continue pressing to the high calling which you have been called.
is a forgiving God who understand our weaknesses and sinful nature, that’s why He so lovingly sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16) into the world to die for our sins–-He (Jesus Christ) was without sin.
Through His blood that was shed on the cross our sins have been blotted out, and we are now under grace and mercy all because of Jesus’ unselfish love that He has for all of God’s children. But make no mistake about it, this is not an excuse for us to purposely sin and commit evil; if we do, our salvation and eternal life with Christ is in serious trouble.
In closing, let us walk upright and holy before the great God Jehovah and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ until that wonderful and glorious day when Christ return for His disciples (1Thessalonians 4:13-18). May Jehovah (Yahweh) God creator of heaven and earth be with you and keep you until we meet again. Amen and amen.
Note: All scriptures were referenced from the Original King James Bible, Thomas Nelson (c)1990; the New King James Version Bible, Thomas Nelson (c)1980; the NIV Study Bible(c)1978, and the NIV Life Application Study Bible(c)1991
(c) copyright 2009 by Donald Thomas
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