Ephesians 4:4-6, One Spirit, our Helper.

October 22, 2020

 

One Spirit:

 

The Holy Spirit is a Person and is God. He is involved in creation (GEN 1:2). He is the inspirer and revealer of Scripture. He is the empower of divine action in believers.

 

The Holy Spirit is sent by the Son and goes forth from the Father. He is obedient to the Father and Son as the Son is to the Father, but in no way inferior.

 

The Holy Spirit was the agent of the virgin birth of Christ.

 

During the incarnation, the Son of God relied upon the Holy Spirit to guide, empower, and instruct. Jesus’ use of the Holy Spirit is the prototype for us.

 

The Holy Spirit is also responsible for making the written word known to man in a way that he can apply it to certain problems and situations.

 

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in the age of the church, and from there He sanctifies those who are dedicated, undefeated, dependent upon, and obedient to Him.   

 

EPH 4:22-5:3

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

 

5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

 

3 But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints;

 

We are to be so separated from immorality and any impurity or greed that we don’t even speak of them. We are to be imitators of God.

 

Immorality, impurity, and greed are the life of the unregenerate.

 

EPH 4:17

and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

 

Eph 5 continues throughout to command us in the way of God. Such a life cannot be realized without dedication and dependence upon God in all aspects of our lives.

 

To allow the Holy Spirit, by faith, to direct every part of our life, which is the humility of dependence, obedience, and dedication is to admit our limitations. Apart from Me, the Lord said, you can do nothing.

 

Self-dependence is self-love. Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a man deliberately turns his back on all help in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost.

 

EPH 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

Humility says that I have to completely depend upon God, submitting to all His will. I can do nothing without Him, and why would I want to do nothing?

 

Our own resources will fail eventually, making all of us, more or less, subject to discouragement and despair. Despair is the ultimate development of a pride so great and so stiff-necked that is selects the absolute misery rather than accept happiness from the hands of God and thereby acknowledge that He is above us and that we are not capable of fulfilling our destiny by ourselves.

 

Remember, you possess the Spirit of God within you because of the love of God. The purpose of God, redeeming us and drawing us to Himself, in Himself, and transforming us into the image of Christ, is to bring us into an intimate walk with Him that is the summit of life. The way to the union is a pure and selfless love from God that empties the soul of all pride and annihilates it in the sight of God, so that nothing may be left of it but the pure capacity for Him.

 

We must remember that God, the Trinity, is a Person. When sometimes we use the expression to “desire God” we reduce God to the status of an object, as if He were a something that could be grasped and possessed the way we do riches or things. And though it is true that we are bound to hope for the fulfillment of our deepest needs in the vision of God, yet at the same time very dangerous to think of God mere as the satisfaction of all our needs and desires; that He is a means to an end. He is the end, and of course, the beginning.

 

Like drawing into a relationship with any person, there is faith and discovery. We approach Him through His word and by faith we discover God’s goodness and holiness. We also discover His promises that take our fear away, as for us to approach His holiness is a fearful thing. The end is not things, but God Himself in rapturous relationship delight. We trust in Him more, we believe more firmly His goodness, and we become more faithful to our relationship to Him.