Holy Spirit

A man of faith

The growing pains of the early church led to an expansion of leadership and the appointment of seven men that were tasked with caring for widows in the body of Christ. One of the qualifications for the position was that the men had to be of good repute or to have a testimony, to be a witness for Christ. The men also had to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3). It says in Acts 6:5 that the twelve apostles chose Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”

Stephen’s faith was evident to everyone around him. When it says that Stephen was full of faith, it means that the presence of the Holy Spirit was visibly and consistently displayed in his actions. Stephens faith was abounding or you might say overflowing to those around him.

Hebrews chapter eleven gives us great examples of faith from Old Testament believers and frames these examples by first telling us, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1, NLT).

Luke said that Stephen was full of grace and power and was doing great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). Grace and power are like the engine and fuel in a car that make it possible for you to get somewhere. Without these critical elements, our faith doesn’t involve action and as James pointed out, it is useless to us (James 2:14-17).

The Greek word that is translated grace in Acts 6:8, charis (kharˊ-ece) refers to “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life…particularly that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification” (G5485). Paul said in Ephesians 2:5 that it is by grace that we are saved and later explained that grace is a gift from God. Paul told the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

The fact that Stephen was full of grace didn’t have anything to do with him being a good person or a model Christian, but about him being open to the influence of the Holy Spirit and being willing to act on the things that he was prompted to do. Stephen spoke out boldly about his faith in Christ and wasn’t afraid of the religious leaders who wanted to silence him (Acts 7).

The power that fueled Stephen’s work was miraculous power. The Greek word that is translated power in Acts 6:8, dunamis (dooˊ-na-mis) refers to “a spirit of strength, meaning manly vigor in opposition to a spirit of cowardice” (G1411). Dunamis is also “spoken of God; the great power of God, meaning His almighty energy.” When God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) on the first day of creation, it was dunamis that caused the light to begin shining.

Stephen’s appearance before the council in Jerusalem was the result of jealousy and envy among the religious elite. It says in Acts 6:12-14 that the elders and scribes seized Stephen and brought him before the council and set up false witnesses to testify against him. We know that God was with Stephen during this encounter because it says in Acts 6:15, “And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (To be continued)

Growing pains

The exponential growth of the first century church during its early stages brought both positive and negative consequences to Jesus’ disciples. After Peter healed a lame beggar, five thousand of the people who heard him proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead believed his message and became members of the church. It says in Acts 4:32, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” This radical, new lifestyle set the believers apart from the rest of society and called attention to the changes that were taking place in their lives. As a result, some people joined the church who were not true believers.

Ananias and his wife Sapphira pretended to sell their property and give all of the money to the church but lied and kept back part of the price of their land (Acts 5:3). Peter confronted Ananias asking him:

“Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God. (Acts 5:3-4)

The dire consequences that followed this act of sin (Acts 5:5-10) were intended to keep the church on course as the gospel spread quickly throughout Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. If left unchecked, “not only would dishonesty appear profitable, but the conclusion that the Spirit could be deceived would follow. It was important to set the course properly at the outset in order to leave no doubt that God will not tolerate such hypocrisy and deceit” (note on Acts 5:9, KJSB).

The high priest and all of the religious leaders who were loyal to him were filled with jealousy because of the success of the apostle’s ministry and the church’s sudden growth (Acts 5:17). Because of this, “they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison” (Acts 5:18). The next day, “they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought” (Acts 5:21), but an angel of the Lord had opened the prison doors and brought them out during the night (Acts 5:19). It says in Acts 5:26 that the captain of the officers went and brought the apostles back, “but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.”

Peter and the other apostles took advantage of the opportunity of appearing before the supreme Jewish court by proclaiming the gospel to the very men who were determined to stop them from teaching the people about Jesus (Acts 5:29-31). It says in Acts 5:33, when the men heard the apostles message, “they were enraged and wanted to kill them.” Gamaliel, one of the members of the council, cautioned the others about the possibility of them opposing God in their effort to stop the apostles from preaching the gospel. He told them, “if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it” (Acts 5:39).

Rather than killing the apostles, the Jewish council “beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go” (Acts 5:40). The effect of this severe beating, thirty-nine lashes with a whip (see note on Acts 5:40, KJSB), was that the apostles “left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus” (Acts 5:41-42).

The name of Jesus

Peter and John’s arrest after healing a man who was unable to walk resulted in them being interrogated by all who were of the high-priestly family in Jerusalem. It says in Acts 4:7, “And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?” The religious leaders already knew the answer to this question (Acts 4:2). The reason why the leaders asked Peter and John what name they used to perform the miracle was to see whether or not they were willing to associate themselves with Jesus and risk being punished by them as he was. Luke tells us that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he answered them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well” (Acts 4:8-10).

Peter’s boldness was a remarkable contrast to his earlier denial of the Lord (Luke 22:54-62). The filling of the Holy Spirit enabled Peter to say things that he might otherwise have held back because of fear. It says in Acts 4:13 that, “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” The religious leaders saw a similarity in the way Peter and John were behaving and the way Jesus behaved when he was on trial. Peter and John were uneducated, common men. The only thing that set these men apart and made them different than they were before was the filling of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in their hearts.

Peter’s statement about Jesus was a clear-cut declaration of the religious leaders’ rejection of Israel’s Messiah. Peter said, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12). Peter indicated that the name of Jesus is connected with people being saved and that there is no other name by which we must be saved. Name is “used to imply authority, e.g., to come or to do something in or by the name of someone, meaning using his name; as his messenger, envoy, representative; by his authority, with his sanction” (G3686). When Peter said there was no other name by which we must be saved, he was saying that there was no other authority for a person’s sins to be forgiven, and eternal life to be granted to him besides the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was a very controversial and dangerous statement for Peter to make, given that Jesus had been condemned and crucified by the men he was speaking to.

The religious leaders were reluctant to challenge Peter’s declaration about them because the man who was healed was standing right in front of them. They asked themselves, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name” (Acts 4;16-17). The religious leaders thought they could control the situation by preventing Peter and John from using the name of Jesus. “But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). The reality of what had happened was too much for Peter and John to contain.

After they heard about what had happened with the religious leaders, the friends of Peter and John prayed for the same boldness that they had displayed (Acts 4:24-30). At the conclusion, Luke tells us, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). The boldness of these believers was characteristic of a frank and fearless mind (G3954). They were so confident in the name of Jesus that they spoke freely about having a relationship with Christ.

Empowering of the Holy Spirit

The prophet Ezekiel spent a considerable amount of time warning God’s people about the impending disaster of Jerusalem’s fall, but he also encouraged them by talking about the future hopes and trials that were coming (Introduction to the book of Ezekiel). After pronouncing judgments on the surrounding nations (Ezekiel 25-32), Ezekiel said the Lord GOD would seek out his people “as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered” (Ezekiel 34:11).

The LORD’s concern for his reputation among the nations caused him to take action to vindicate his holiness by implementing a new covenant that would change the people of Israel’s ability to do what he wanted them to. God said, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Jesus promised his disciples the indwelling of the Holy Spirit before he was crucified. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Helper. The Greek word that is translated Helper, parakletos (par-akˊ-lay-tos) means “an intercessor” (G3875). The Holy Spirit helps believers do what God wants them to, to walk in his statutes and obey his rules (Ezekiel 36:27).

Just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told his disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). Jesus was talking about the empowering of the Holy Spirit (G1411), the work of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible for believers to obey Jesus’ commands and become more like Christ. “For Jesus, obedience is not optional. Jesus makes obedience the evidence of our love for him. Jesus knows, however, that obedience to his commands is so hard that it is impossible on our own. That is why as soon as he tells us we must obey as proof of our love for him, he promises a Helper in that obedience. One of the central functions of the Holy Spirit is to assist believers to obey Jesus (cf. John 14:21, 23)” (A Theology of Biblical Counseling, Lambert, p. 169).

The empowering of the Holy Spirit is necessary to know Christ and obey him. The Apostle Paul admitted his own lack of ability to do what Jesus wanted him to in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out…Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Romans 7:18, 24). Paul identified the root cause of every believer’s problem with obedience in his letter to the Galatians. Paul said, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). Paul indicated the solution to this problem was keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

Paul used the analogy of marching in military rank to illustrate the need for believers to conform themselves to the mind of Christ. Keeping in step represents submission of the heart to the Holy Spirit, the means of unity and harmony in the Church. As believers depend more and more on the Spirit, they are empowered by the Spirit to know more and more of the love and fullness of Jesus Christ himself (A theology of Biblical Counseling, Lambert, p. 171).

Dunamis, the miraculous power that the Holy Spirit imparts to believers, is “power in action” (G1411). Paul indicated that this power resides in the gospel and is what causes people to be saved (Romans 1:16). Jesus said his disciples would be his witnesses after receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. We see this beginning to take place in Acts chapter three when Peter and John healed a lame beggar (Acts 3:1-10) and then, preached the gospel to all the people who came to see what had happened. Afterward, Peter and John were arrested and asked the question, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7). It says in Acts 4:8 that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he replied, “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well” (Acts 4:10).

Peter and John’s boldness was a result of them being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Because Peter and John were depending on the Spirit to make them more and more like Christ, they were able to perform a miracle and to testify to the power of the Holy Spirit that was at work inside them (Acts 3:11-12). Paul understood that his own abilities didn’t do him any good when it came to telling others about Christ (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul told the Corinthians that God had intentionally made him suffer to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul said, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

Reaping what we sow

Paul’s letter to the Galatians was intended to establish the true means of salvation and to make it clear to everyone that faith in Jesus Christ is the only basis for having a relationship with God. Paul told the Galatians, who were some of the first Gentiles that were converted to Christianity, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:15-16). Justification by faith, one of the key doctrines of the early church, was essential for separating Christianity from Judaism, the belief system of the Jews.

Paul concluded his letter to the Galatians with an important lesson about being led by the Spirit. Paul argued that the freedom believers have to live their lives without following the Mosaic Law does not mean that they have no obligation to do what God wants them to. Paul encouraged believers to keep in step with the Spirit so that they do not fulfill the desires of the flesh because “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). Paul then reminded the Galatians of a principle that was demonstrated over and over again by the nation of Israel in their relationship with God. Paul warned the Galatians:

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:7-8, NLT)

Sowing and reaping was a common analogy that Jesus used in his messages about the kingdom of heaven. In his parable of the sower, Jesus identified several obstacles to sowing to the Spirit (Matthew 13:18-22). Jesus said the key to successfully sowing to the Spirit is “good soil” (Matthew 13:23) or rather, a heart that is receptive to receiving the truth of God’s word. “Jesus spoke in parables to explain spiritual truths, but those who had already rejected him did not have divinely enlightened minds with which to perceive those truths, and no amount of explanation would make them understand (1 Cor 2:14). They could watch and hear Jesus with their physical eyes and ears, but they were not capable of understanding the truth in their hearts because they had rejected him (2 Cor 4:3, 4)…People do not hear and see because their hearts are full of wickedness, consequently, they fail to understand the truth that has been given them. They are so opposed to God’s message that they harden themselves against it, lest they should understand it and ask forgiveness of God. Once they reject Jesus they also reject the possibility of understanding the parables that Jesus told (Isa. 55:6-8)” (note on Matthew 13:10-17).

King Ahab and his wife Jezebel are examples of people who reaped what they sowed in the Old Testament even though they thought they could get away with ignoring God’s word (2 Kings 9-10). King Ahab was killed in battle and Jezebel was “thrown from a window, trampled by horses and eaten by dogs” (2 Kings 9:30-37). “God ensures we receive our just desserts. Spiritual growth, therefore, means learning to think about where our actions will lead and acting accordingly” (What Goes Around Comes Around, The Spiritual Growth Bible, p. 359). Paul described this process as walking by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, and also living by the Spirit. The idea that Paul was trying to convey was one of dependence, the believer’s need for the Holy Spirit to show him which pathway to take.

Paul said believers should not “grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). The Greek words Paul used that are translated due season, idios (idˊ-ee-os) kairos (kahee-rosˊ) denote a personal or private appointment, “equivalent to a fixed and definite time or season” (G2450) “pertaining to self, i.e. one’s own” (G2398). This means that each individual person will have their own time or season for harvesting what they have planted. For those who have rejected Jesus, that time may not come until after the person dies, when he or she stands before the Lord at the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). For those who have sown to the Spirit, they will reap the fruit of the Spirit during their lifetime (Galatians 5:22-23) and eternal life afterward (Galatians 6:8). The key to getting there is not giving up. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Keeping in step with the Spirit

“The Holy Spirit is the eternal third member of the Trinity. He is the person who convicts of sin and who indwells Christians. He regenerates believers and empowers them to live the Christian life, to understand the Scriptures, and to worship Jesus Christ. He is the sovereign God who equips believers with gifts of service to do ministry in the church” (The Doctrines of the Holy Spirit, The Standards of the Doctrine of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). The Holy Spirit was present on earth at creation (Genesis 1:2) and was able to influence certain individuals in the Old Testament (Exodus 31:3; Numbers 24:21 Samuel 10:10; 16:13), but it wasn’t until Jesus’ ministry was completed that the Holy Spirit entered the world (Acts 2:1-4) and began to permanently indwell believers who were destined for eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples all things and remind them of the words he had spoken to them (John 14:26). Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth and said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit shows believers the way they are to go in their journey through life (G3394). Somewhat like a drill instructor who trains and commands every movement that his new recruits make, Paul tells believers in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”  

Paul was concerned for the Galatians because false doctrine had influenced them to become legalistic and to think that they needed something more than to be justified by faith in order to be truly saved. Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore and do not submit to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Paul referred to the Mosaic Law as slavery because it obligated a person to live a perfect life, something that was humanly impossible. Paul argued that a believer who was attempting to be justified by the law had fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4). Paul explained, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision not uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Galatians 5:5-6).

Paul made it clear that salvation is not something that we achieve. Salvation is a gift from God that believers in Christ do not experience the full effect of until they get to heaven. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the future effects or inheritance of salvation. Paul indicated that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until we acquire possession of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, we should be eagerly waiting for the justification we have received from God to take effect and not try to achieve righteousness on our own (Galatians 5:5).

Paul said the only thing that counts for anything in the life of a believer is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). Paul was talking about the fact that it is possible for believers to experience some of  the effects of salvation while they are still alive. The working or empowering of the Holy Spirit is the result of believer’s actions being guided by the truth of God’s word. When believers walk by the Spirit they are operating on what God says, the mind of Christ.

Paul said the reason why believers do not automatically operate on what God says is because, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). Paul indicated the works of the flesh are evident, a person knows immediately if he or she is walking in the flesh. It is not so clear when a person is walking in the Spirit, the evidence, the fruit of the Spirit is not typically produced right away. It takes time to develop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul associated the fruit of the Spirit with believers who have put to death the flesh with its passions and desires and are keeping in step with the Spirit in their daily lives.

The Greek verb that is translated keep in step, stoicheō (stoy-khehˊ-o) is in the present active subjunctive form suggesting that Paul was attempting to move his hearers to action, in a similar fashion to a drill instructor barking out an order to his recruits. The message that Paul likely wanted to convey was that keeping in step with the Spirit requires us to be alert, continually paying attention to the Spirit’s leading, and immediately responsive to the Spirit’s commands. Paul told the Corinthians, who were prone to walking in the flesh, “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34). Jesus used a similar approach in his letter to the church in Sardis. Jesus said, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you” (Revelation 3:2-3).

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The prophecies that were given to the Jews before they were taken into captivity did not have any effect on the people. There was a lack of faith among the people of Israel, and in particular, they did not want to hear Ezekiel’s prophecies about destruction. “The only visions that were accepted were those that promised peace and were proclaimed by false prophets (cf. Ezekiel 13:2-10, 16)” (note on Ezekiel 12:21-25). God described the people of Israel as a rebellious house, “who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

God had a radical transformation in mind when he promised that he was going to change the Jews attitude toward him. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The promise that God was going to put within the Jews a new spirit was mentioned again later in Ezekiel’s ministry. In the latter instance, God said he was going to put his Spirit within the people, and this would cause them to walk in his statues and to be careful to obey him (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated within, qereb (kehˊ-reb) “is utilized abstractly to describe the inner being of a person. This place was regarded as the home of the heart from which the emotions spring (Psalm 39:3[4]; 55:4[5]; Lamentations 1:20). It was also viewed as the source of thoughts (Genesis 8:12; Psalm 62:4[5]; Jeremiah 9:8[7], which are often deceitful, wicked, and full of cursing. Yet wisdom from God can reside there also (1 Kings 3:28). This inner being is also the seat of one’s moral disposition and thus one’s affections and desires” (H7130). When the Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here; or , lo there: for behold the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21, KJSB).

The idea that the kingdom of God could exist inside a person shifted attention away from the physical realm where the nation of Israel existed to the spiritual realm where the church that Jesus said he would build existed. Jesus declared about the church, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus indicated the key to the church’s success would be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6).

The Holy Spirit’s power is necessary for change to occur in a person’s heart (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit helps people to overcome the effects of sin, but He only dwells within believers. The Spirit’s presence causes the believer to be dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:5), meaning that the person has the ability to turn away from sin and decide to do what is right. This is evidenced by the person’s conscience being activated by the Word of God (Hebrews 10:22). Throughout the Old Testament we see that the people of Israel never changed. It wasn’t until the twelve apostles and other believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) that people were able to turn away from their sin and could do what God wanted them to. Paul indicated that the power of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is what gives believers eternal life. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

A stubborn heart

The prophet Ezekiel was taken into captivity during King Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17). Eleven years passed from the time of the first deportation of Jews until the fall and captivity of Judah (2 Kings 25:1-2), Ezekiel’s prophetic call took place in the fifth year of the Jews captivity. Ezekiel wrote, “…as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1). God warned Ezekiel that he must say everything the Lord told him to even if the Jews didn’t listen. God said:

“Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 2:3-5)

God referred to the Jews as a nation of rebels, who had rebelled against him. The Hebrew word that is translated rebellious in Ezekiel 2:5 is mᵉriy (mer-eeˊ). “A masculine noun meaning obstinacy, stubbornness, rebelliousness. The term consistently stays within the tight semantic  range and most often describes the Israelites’ determined refusal to obey the precepts laid down by the Lord in His Law or Torah. This characteristic attitude was a visible manifestation of their hard hearts” (H4805).

The Lord focused on the condition of the Jews’ hearts when he explained to Ezekiel why the people were not going to listen to him. God said if he sent Ezekiel to foreigners, they would listen to him, “But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart” (Ezekiel 3:6-7). The heart is the seat of one’s inner nature and it encompasses things like the mind, the will, and a person’s emotions. A person with a stubborn heart is someone who is harsh and cruel, violent or fierce in their behavior toward others (H3820/H7186).

God told Ezekiel that all of the house of Israel had a stubborn heart (Ezekiel 3:7). There was no one who was godly left among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. In spite of this, God told Ezekiel, “’Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks for they are a rebellious house.’ Moreover, he said to me, ‘Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God,” whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezekiel 3:9-11).

Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the task that God had given him, but the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 2:2) enabled Ezekiel to do what God wanted him to. Ezekiel said, “The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days” (Ezekiel 3:14-15). Ezekiel was angry and resistant to doing God’s will. It took him seven days to recover from the shock of being transported against his will to the location where God intended his ministry to be launched.

Ezekiel was assigned the role of a watchman for Israel. God explained to Ezekiel that he was being made responsible for the lives of everyone he was commanded to speak to. God said, “Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19). As a watchman for Israel, Ezekiel didn’t have a choice about who he spoke to or what message he delivered. It was Ezekiel’s responsibility to warn the Jews of their impending doom, but that was all. If the people did not heed Ezekiel’s warning, he would not be held accountable for their death.

God’s discipline

God sending the Israelites into captivity was an act of discipline that was intended to correct their problem of idolatry. The prophet Zechariah said, “’And on the day,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten’” (Zechariah 13:2). The prophet Jeremiah recorded the details of the fall of Jerusalem, indicating that the city was completely destroyed (Jeremiah 39:8) and “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city” (Jeremiah 39:9).

Hebrews 12:6 tells us that God “disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. The writer went on to say, “It is for discipline that you have to endure” (Hebrews 12:7) and then, explained that God uses discipline to bring his children into submission so that he can bless them (Hebrews 12:9-10). Hebrews 12:11 states, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

God’s discipline is about learning to do things his way, understanding the difference between what we want and what God wants to accomplish in our lives. God’s ultimate objective for mankind is holiness, which is a byproduct of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Greek word that is translated holiness in Hebrews 12:10, hagiotes (hag-ee-otˊ-ace) means “sanctity” and is used in Hebrews 12:10 to refer to “sanctity of living” (G41). Hagiotes is derived from the word hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) which is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint” (G40).

Hagios is used throughout the New Testament of the Bible to refer to Christians (Acts 9:13, 14, 32, 41; 26:10; Romans 1:7; 8:27; 1 Thessalonians 3:13) and is “spoken of those who are to be in any way included in the Christian community (1 Corinthians 7:14)” (G40). The way that Christians become holy is through a process called sanctification. The term sanctification means “to make holy” (G38) and is first used in the Bible in the book of Exodus, where God told Moses to “sanctify to me all the firstborn…both of man and of beast, it is mine” (Exodus 13:2), so we see that something that is sanctified belongs to God. With regard to Christians, this is true, because they have been redeemed or purchased for God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). The Greek word that is translated redeemed, exagorazo (ex-ag-or-adˊ-zo) means “to purchase out, to buy up from the possession or power of someone. In the New Testament, to redeem, to set free from service or bondage (Galatians 3:13; 4:5)” (G1805).

It says in Hebrews 12:8 that all have participated in God’s discipline, otherwise “you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Both Christians and the Israelites are considered to be God’s children (Romans 8:14, 19; 9:26; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 3:26: 4:6, 7; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 21:7). The common bond between these two groups is having faith or believing in God. It says of the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11:39-40, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Sanctification results in believers being made perfect in the sense that they have completed the process (G5048). The last step in the process of sanctification is glorification, which happens when we receive our resurrection body (1 Corinthains 15:50-57).

God’s discipline produces submission in us in that it causes us to trust in and rely on him more and more as we mature in our faith. The Greek word hupotasso (hoop-ot-asˊ-so) in the passive voice means “to be brought under the control of someone” and can also refer to “voluntary submission…we are encouraged in Hebrews 12:9 to submit ourselves to God’s control” (G5293). In this sense, yielding ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit is a form of voluntary submission. It says in Romans 6:12-14 that believers are not to let sin reign in their bodies, but to present themselves “to God as instruments for righteousness.”

God’s discipline can be painful because it sometimes involves physical suffering. Jesus endured a tortuous death and was abandoned by those whom he had trusted the most. It says because of Jesus’ suffering, in Hebrews 12:3-4, that we should, “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Resisting sin is a struggle for humans because our sin nature causes us to naturally rebel against God (Isaiah 53:6). It says in Romans 5:1-5, when we are justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Jesus’ example of enduring the suffering of the cross should encourage believers because of the result that it produced. There is always a purpose behind God’s discipline. It is meant to train us, not to cause us to give up (Hebrews 12:11-17). It says in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus endured the cross because he knew there was something afterward that would bring him great joy. He explained to his disciples shortly before his death that the reward for their obedience would be abundant joy. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:9-11).

The love of God

The love of God is talked about throughout the Bible, but it is the main focus of the gospel message that Jesus taught his disciples, and that the Apostle Paul proclaimed to the Gentiles. Jesus stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus later told his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The Greek word that Jesus used to describe his love for his friends was agape (ag-ahˊ-pay). Jesus used the same word when he told the Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you” (John 5:39-42). The love of God or of Christ “means the love which God or Christ exercises toward Christians. The love that is derived from God (Romans 5:5; Ephesians 2:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:5)” (G26). John stated in his first letter, “God is love” (1 John 4:16), indicating that God is the source of love. Any love that we experience in our lives comes from God.

God’s relationship with the nation of Israel was unique in that God thought of Israel as being married to him. The prophet “Hosea was called to exemplify the relationship between God and Israel through his marriage to a harlot” (Introduction to Hosea). It says in Hosea 3:1, “And the LORD said to me, ‘Go again and love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Israel’s unrepentant idolatry resulted in God declaring “I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more” (Hosea 9:15), but the LORD’s love for Israel kept him from permanently abandoning his chosen people. Hosea’s book ends with a promise that God will again bless his people after he has purged them of their apostasy. God said, “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them: (Hosea 14:4).

Paul compared the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and the church in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul wrote:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Ephesians 5:25-30)

In this passage, Paul used the Greek word agapao (ag-ap-ahˊ-o) which means “to love (in a social or moral sense)…as referring to superiors and including the idea of duty, respect, veneration, meaning to love and serve with fidelity (Matthew 6:24; 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 16:13; Romans 8:28; Sept. 1 Samuel 18:16)” (G25).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (John 14:17). Paul said we have obtained access into the grace of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and, “not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). Paul connected suffering with the love of God and made it clear that God’s love is meant to counteract the negative effects of believers living in a fallen world.

The love of God is a strong force that overcomes the unbeliever’s sinful human nature and causes him to turn to God for salvation. Paul said, “For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). Paul experienced this personally when he was converted on the road to Damascus. Luke tells us:

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (Acts 9:1-6)

Paul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and asked him the question, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul’s response indicates he didn’t recognize the voice, but Paul knew that the person speaking to him had absolute authority over his life. Rather than striking Paul dead or berating him for his bad behavior, Jesus commissioned Paul into his ministry (Acts 9:6, 20).

Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Paul explained Jesus’ commandment in his letter to the Romans. Paul said:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Paul said that love is the fulfilling of the law in the sense that if you love someone, you will not want to harm that person. Loving people prevents you from doing something wrong to them. Jesus took this one step further when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Jesus realized that love doesn’t come naturally to human beings and he doesn’t expect us to give something to others that we haven’t first received from him. Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you…If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:16-17, 23). Paul talked about God’s everlasting love in the context of our future glory. Paul asked:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Paul said that believers are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37). The Greek word that is translated more than conquerors, hupernikao (hoop-er-nik-ahˊ-o) means “to vanquish beyond, i.e. gain a decisive victory” (G5245). Paul indicated the things that Christians are able to more than conqueror are “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword” (Romans 8:35), therefore, it can be assumed that the love of God enables believers to overcome any and all negative circumstances in their lives.

We know that Peter’s denial of Jesus was a devastating circumstance for him because afterward “he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). John’s gospel describes an encounter between Jesus and Peter after Jesus’ resurrection. John said, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these”’ (John 21:15). The word that Jesus used for love was agapao, suggesting that Jesus wanted to know if Peter thought of himself as being faithful to the Lord even though he had recently denied three times that he knew him (Matthew 26:69-75). Peter responded to Jesus, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you” (John 21:15). Peter didn’t use the word agapao for love, but rather phileo (fil-ehˊ-o), which means “to be a friend to” (G5368). Phileo specifically refers to “a kiss” and is used in Matthew 26:48 where it says, “Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” The love of God is not like an affectionate kiss that is based on sentiment or feelings that can disappear overnight, but rather “the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety…it is an unselfish ‘love,’ ready to serve” (G5368). John tells us that Jesus asked Peter a second, and then a third time, “Do you love me?” (John 21:16-17). John said, “Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love (phileo) me?’ and said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (phileo) you’” (John 21:17). Peter loved Jesus, but not in the same way that Jesus loved him.

Peter’s ability to love others as Jesus loved him likely increased after he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). In his first letter, Peter said about Jesus Christ, “Though you have not seen him, you love (agapao) him” (1 Peter 1:8). Paul associated the love of God with spiritual strength and prayed for this in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. According to Paul, our ability to comprehend God’s love is dependent on our spiritual maturity or strength. As we grow in our knowledge of God, we will be able to grasp more and more how truly amazing the love of God is.