43006 Depend on the Spirit

God is serious when he declares that those who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Becoming new in Christ is not like an upgrade of your operating system. It’s more like changing your operating system from one kind to another (e.g. Microsoft vs. Apple vs. Google). It is like changing the engine of your car from a diesel engine to a gas engine. You are spiritually born again. If you try to live the way you lived before you placed your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will soon become exasperatingly frustrated.

You were transferred out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son, Jesus. It is like a polar bear transported to Sahara desert. Your native spiritual environment has completely changed. Jesus declares that you are the sons and daughters of light (John 12:36).

As a new creation in Christ, you have an entirely different source of life. That source is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Triune God.

The mark of being a true Christian is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in that person. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

It is an amazing truth that Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit when he walked on earth. The Gospel according to Luke records that “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4:1) and that “Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee” (Luke 4:14).

If Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit, how critical it is for us to learn to walk by the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus.

Walking by the Holy Spirit is a relatively simple concept, but to become good at living in his presence requires discipline and practice. It is an exciting life-long journey of adventure because it is relational. The Holy Spirit is trustworthy but unpredictable!

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