It's sometimes odd how followers of Christ are reluctant to talk much about the Holy Spirit. We may talk about God and get a great deal of affirmative response. Many people have at least some concept of God. One could even say atheists have a concept of God—to say that something doesn't exist requires at least some thought on the subject. When we talk about Jesus Christ, the affirmation grows less expressive. Evidently, its okay to talk about God, but Christ is something best kept to ourselves unless we are with other believers. And then, when we talk of the Holy Spirit, well, now we've gone too far.
Paul Washer, author of
The One True God, states that the most frightening words in the Bible are "God is good." How can we conform the condition of our soul, covered as it is in such filthy sin, to that which is pure good. There is no way to do so ... save one. In his infinite wisdom, God graced us with a rebirth—a rebirth that simply cannot be accomplished without the Holy Spirit.
We need to be dipped in the Holy Spirit much as we can be dipped in water. Water and Spirit were closely allied in the Old Testament. When Ezekiel spoke to the Israelites, he was using water as a sacramental symbol of their new heart and spirit. So, like diving into a swimming pool and coming up sputtering, drenched in water, we need to literally drip with the Holy Spirit.
However, we must understand it is not the Holy Spirit that saves us or washes us of our sin. The Spirit is necessary only to direct us toward Christ. Like rain from above or wind that swirls out of nowhere and engulfs us, the Holy Spirit is sent by God and God alone to open our eyes and our hearts towards the living Christ. Only when we see Christ and bow to him as our Lord and Savior, can we ever hope to shed our sin and enter His kingdom.
Christ's sacrifice on the cross, and the blessing of the Holy Spirit, are gifts. All we need do is accept them and we will be born a second time as adopted children into his Kingdom ... this time with a pure spirit.
For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.–Ezekiel 36:24-27
Keywords: Christ, Rebirth, Spirit
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