Wednesday, October 9, 2024

The Holy Spirit in You

 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5:48 NIV

There are several Bible verses where you can find the expectation that we can be completely free from sin, and must be without sin.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1 NIV

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom 6:1–2 NIV

Sin poisons your life. We must never lightly appease or tolerate sin.

But the Bible also warns us that we will never completely reach the goal of sinlessness.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 Jn 1:8–9 NIV

The apostle Paul experienced a painful inner struggle against sin and guilt.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Rom
7:24–25 NIV

As the apostle John wrote (above), we will never be 100% without all sin, but if we focus on our faults and sins, we will live a miserable life.

An empty glass may not be completely empty, just as a good life is not completely sinless. An empty glass is full of air.

How can you get rid of the air? If you pour water or coffee into the glass, the air has to come out.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Gal 5:16 NIV

You can never obey God through virtuous exertion. It is impossible.

You can only satisfy God by living in a close personal relationship with the Holy Spirit every minute of every hour of every day.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Eph 5:18–19 NIV

Paul says that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again and live in loving fellowship with God and other Christians.

In this way we will live in God's light, and God's light reveals what is evil and casts out darkness.

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