Page 19 - Contact Spring 2021

Notice that we’re not condemned for our Recognising this danger, a number of modern
unholiness because we are in Christ and
because the Spirit of life has set us free.
The Spirit dwelling in us is a sign that we’re at
peace with God. Not only that, but as Paul goes
on to write, ‘those who are led by the Spirit of
God are sons of God…you received the Spirit of
sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God’s children’ (vv. 14-16).
There is no greater peace in this world than
the peace that comes with knowing that we’re
children of God, adopted into his family
(Gal. 4:5). In every instance where adoption
language is used by Paul it’s in reference to
the work of the Spirit. He has been sent into
our hearts to cause us to cry out to God as
our ‘Abba’ (our intimate and loving Father) and
it’s through the Holy Spirit that we experience
God’s love – ‘God’s love has been poured into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has
been given to us.’ It was the Spirit who gave us
rebirth and renewal (John 3:5; Titus 3:5-6), the
Spirit who comforts and counsels God’s people
(John 14:26) and the Spirit who produces the
fruit of peace in our lives (Gal. 5:22).
The Power of
the Holy Spirit
Imagine for a moment that you have just
bought a new sailboat. It’s equipped with all the
latest technology and is extravagantly decorat-
ed. The sails are made with expensive space
age fabricates and your boat is the envy of
everyone who sees it. You decide to head out
on the sea one day but nothing happens. You
just float there, occasionally drifting with the
current. What’s the problem? It’s a perfectly still
day with no wind. No wind means no power.
Your expensive, state of the art sailboat is
rendered no better than an oversized floating
box. And what’s true of the sailboat is often
true of the church as well. We can have the
best building, the most incredible music, and
first-rate intellectual preaching, but without the
power of the Holy Spirit our churches are
nothing more than empty shells.
churches have tried to address the problem
by actively seeking the power of the Spirit.
However, the right diagnosis has not always
been accompanied by the right motivation.
The power of the Spirit is often sought for the
sake of a personal experience or what has been
called a ‘power encounter’. But that is not what
the Bible means by the power of the Spirit.
Throughout the New Testament the power
of the Holy Spirit is most often given to God’s
people to enable them to be God’s witnesses.
Not only is this reflected in Jesus’ teaching in
the gospels (John 15:26-27; 20:22-23), but also
in his promise to the disciples before his
ascension: ‘You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
The Spirit empowers God’s people to witness
to the truth of God and his redeeming work in
Christ. And the power that we receive is tied to
the fact that Jesus has ascended to the throne
in heaven and is ruling over the nations,
building his kingdom on earth. The evidence
of Jesus’ enthronement in heaven is the
outpouring of the Spirit on earth. On the day of
Pentecost, when Peter preaches in the pow-
er of the Spirit (resulting in some 3 thousand
conversions) he declares, ‘This Jesus God raised
up and of that we all are witnesses. Being
therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and
having received from the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that
you yourselves are seeing and hearing’
(Acts 2:32-33). The same Spirit who empowers
our witness is the one who gifts God’s people
for acts of service (1 Cor. 12:4-7). Without him
we would be lifeless and ineffective.
Therefore, let’s be a people who are serious
about the Holy Spirit - the personal presence of
God, the peace of God and the power to live for
him.
Keith McIlroy