Gospel of John [Joh 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 7. Rom 8:12-17; .

Title: Gospel of John [Joh 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 7. Rom 8:12-17; .

 

 

Many of the titles referred to as indicating His attributes also connote His works. We have already noted several of these.

 

In the discussion of the titles revealing His attributes, it may be noticed that:

 

Spirit of Glory(1Pe 4:14) engages in a work to bring the saints to rest in the midst of persecution.

 

Spirit of Life(Rom 8:2) is the agent of regeneration.

 

The Spirit of Holiness (Rom 1:14), the Holy Spirit (Mat 1:20), and the Holy One (1Jo 2:20) is our sanctifier.

 

The Spirit of wisdom (Eph 1:17), the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord (Isa 11: 2) speak of the several ministries of God in teaching, guiding and strengthening the saint.

 

The Spirit of Truth (Joh 14:17) has a similar idea.

 

The Spirit as one who manifests grace is revealed in the titles, Spirit of Grace (Heb 10: 29), and the Spirit of Grace and Supplication  (Zec 12:10).

 

In addition to these, two other titles are given the Holy Spirit, affirming His works.

 

The Spirit of Adoption (Rom 8:15) has reference to His revelation of our adoption as mature sons.

 

Rom 8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation [bound to a duty], not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 

 

Rom 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

 

"Living" is in the present tense and so it means habitual living.

 

The unbeliever lives habitually according to the flesh and he dies the second death and never experiences the life of the Spirit in time, which is the life that God desires for all. Yet we see that at this juncture of the letter, Paul is writing to the brethren. The point is that the believer will never partake of the second death and so he is under obligation or bound to a duty to life by means of the Spirit. When Paul says, "you must die," he may be referring to the sin unto death for the believer [which is physical death under discipline by God], the ultimate discipline, but it is likely that he is also including the path towards that end, which is a life of a believer who habitually grieves and quenches the Spirit. Eventually, to a believer who has experienced this misery long enough, physical death, though fearful to him, will actually be a blessing of relief since he has made his life full of perpetual inner conflict.

 

And notice that it is by the power of God the Holy Spirit that we put to death the deeds of the body or the deeds of the flesh, which is sin and evil. In fact, it is only through Him that we can do it.

 

Gal 5:16-17

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another

 

This is not a feeling or an emotion but a trust in the Spirit's teaching, leading, and empowering to suppress the power of the flesh as the believer sets his mind on application of the word of God.

 

God the HS is not to glorify Himself in this dispensation of the Church, but He is executing a behind the scenes ministry where He glorifies Christ by teaching, leading, and empowering the believer to know the mind of Christ, follow the cross of Christ, and to execute the life of Christ within himself. Therefore, we trust the Spirit to fulfill His ministry as we set our eyes on Christ. Throughout our day, as often as necessary, we privately and quickly evaluate ourselves as to whether we are trusting in or yielding to the Spirit or ourselves.

 

Trusting ourselves and not Him is quenching the Spirit. Continuing in sin is grieving the Spirit.

 

We are born into this world with the life of the flesh, and may continue to lead that life and none other in a wretched, debased existence both now and forever. But those who have passed out of death and into life are living the life of eternity within the confines of time, even though not all who have received life understand what has happened to them and what the possibilities of that life are right now.

 

So the real question becomes,

 

"How does the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body?"

 

Well, first, at salvation, He identified you with Christ, which is the baptism of the HS. You were identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. This is why your obligation or duty has changed.

 

But what about personal sinning after salvation? No believer will ever become sinless, but what about victory over sin and over a sinful lifestyle? If it were all the Spirit and had nothing to do with the volition of the believer then we'd all be sinless. If it were all the believer and the Spirit was waiting for us to conquer all sinful areas of our lives before He filled us. then all the glory would go to the creature. God will not violate the free will of man to choose for or against Him.

 

Experience in time: Desire to live godly and God the HS will teach, lead, and empower you to do so. You go after it and place your faith in Him to do it in you and through you.

 

This is not an assent to want to live godly while secretly really wanting to live for the flesh. People might be fooled but God is not. "If you love Me, you will keep My commands," said Christ. This means that you have a motivation, an attitude, an assertion, or a priority in life to do the will of God. If you do, God the HS will teach, lead, and empower you and God promises that you will succeed in a way that you could never have imagined. Naturally this includes a recognition of sin in a believer's life, which is unavoidable, and an acknowledgement, confession, etc., call it whatever you want, but it is an agreement with God that it is sin and that he, the believer, is in no obligation to it. It has been forgiven forever, yet the believer recognizes it in his life, and with the power of God the Holy Spirit continues to put his flesh to death, or rather, reckon it dead through the work of Christ. In this he would not continue in the pattern of sin, because he is looking forward to the things of the Spirit, for one cannot do both simultaneously. Dealing with personal sin is in reality the smallest part of this. The attitude of humility in the believer to desire the will of God and through the Spirit to suppress sin and evil in his life and to express divine good is the real walking. The sin is falling. Get up! But don't just stand there, get going and walk in a manner worthy of your election, worthy of who you are in Christ by walking by means of the Spirit of God. We don't describe the way we walk by how we fall and get up. When the Jews at Capernaum asked Christ how He got there so quickly from the other side of the sea, if He did answer them, He wouldn't have said, "Well first I stood up from a seated position." He would have said, "I walked across the sea on the water."