2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The author of 1JN waned us to know the difference between the Spirit of truth and that of error. He takes up this subject in today’s passage, 1JN 4: 4-6. “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world. Those false prophets speak about matters of the world, and the world listens to them because they belong to the world. But we belong to God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This, then, is how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error.” It seems to me that the message about God having greater power than the adversary has been repeated many times. This raises the question in my mind: why don’t we accept that? The only time the devil can defeat us is when we let him. We need to look at what the Scriptures tell us about this power we have been given for having true faith.
PHIL 4: 13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power Christ gives me,” Paul writes. Notice that he said “all” conditions. Look at EPH 6: 16, “At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the evil one.” He goes on to further revelation of this truth in EPH 6: 17-18, “And accept salvation as a helmet, and the world of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.” Take note of what Paul reveals to us about the Spirit’s power in GA 5: 16-18, “What is say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do. If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law.” This latter phrase does not mean you no longer have to obey the laws of the land. What it means is that the Holy Spirit directs you to be under God’s law when there is a conflict between God’s law and man’s. When you are “in Christ,” you live in a grace economy, not a law economy. You have the choice to let the Spirit win out in a conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. This is further explained in GA 5: 24-26, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. The Spirit has given us life; He must also control our lives. We must not be proud or irritate one another or be jealous of one another.” JN 16: 33, [Christ speaking] “I have told you this [I must leave for the Spirit to come. You will have victory in Me over the world], so that you will have peace in being united to Me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”
Was that last paragraph a long one? That was on purpose, so that you could see just how many Scriptures are available to us with the message about the power over the adversary that the Spirit indwelt in believers gives us. Once again I must ask you to reread MT 4: 1-11, the story of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. That story shows us this power as Christ used it. It’s the same power that we have been given. Be comforted and encouraged by MT 4: 10-11, “Then Jesus answered, ‘Go away, Satan! The Scripture [DT 6: 13] says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him!’ Then the devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.” If we become tired after doing spiritual warfare, I believe we can have faith that angels will come and help us too. Why do I believe this? First, RO 6: 5 tells us, “For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him by being raised to life as He was.” Secondly, the message of 2 COR 1: 5 is, “Just as we have a share in Christ’s many sufferings, so also through Christ we share in God’s great help.” That help, Dear Ones, is the Holy Spirit. In case there is any question in our minds about this, note JN 15: 26, [Christ speaking] “The Helper will come-the Spirit, Who reveals the truth about God and Who comes from the Father. I will send Him to you from the Father, and He will speak about Me.”
PRAYER: O Lord, We have been told that we are saved when we repent and accept Christ as our personal Savior. We have also been told that when we are “in Christ,” the Holy Spirit Who gives us the power to defeat the adversary and his evil has indwelt within us. Why do we have so much trouble accepting that the work of our salvation has been done by Christ’s Atonement and that we have the power to be victorious in spiritual warfare? We ask You this question, because that is what You want us to do. You want us to ask it, so that we will quiet down our complaints about the pain we feel and listen to the answer You convey to us through the Holy Spirit. You love us so much that You have supplied us with more Scriptures that I have cited today to remind us that You are there for us and won’t let our faith be in vain. Through Paul in RO 8:1, You have told us that, ”There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” We offer you our humble thanks, praise, adoration, honor, and worship for caring so much about us that You want us to know that with the Holy Spirit in us, we will emerge victorious in our battles with the adversary and his followers of the world. We are richly blessed, because You are our consistently present Companion, Teacher, Encourager, Parent-truly the Lord of our lives! In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will continue with this intimate examination of the vital messages of 1JN by beginning a section on God is Love, 1JN 4: 7-12. Each day that I write about this little book, I am brought to realize that no person who lives “in Christ” ever has to feel alone or abandoned. What a gift of His grace we have in knowing that when we are in pain or we are frustrated, we can turn to our loving Abba Who speaks to us through the Holy Spirit for advice, encouragement, and consolation. Peter and I both send you our love today too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn