Abiding Promise: The Spirit in His People

Review

John 16:7-11

John 16:7–11 ESV

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

We asked of this exchange between Jesus and His disciples, why not. Why would the Holy Spirit not come unless Jesus went away?

Jesus goes on to make clear that He will send the Spirit to them and in verse 8, Jesus tells His disciples what the Spirit will do. The Spirit will convict the world concerning:

sin - because they do not believe in me

righteousness and - concerning righteousness because I go to the Father

judgement- because the ruler of this world is judged

And we noted last week that one of the effects the death, resurrection and ascension has on the world is that they demonstrate the world is guilty. The Holy Spirit’s work is to make that clear through His ministry of conviction.

And of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says:

John 16:14 ESV

14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit will glorify the Son. That’s what He will do when Jesus sends Him. This is what He was sent to do and this is what He does now.

Another question: How? How does the Holy Spirit glorify Christ?

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

So, those who belong to Christ behold His glory and are being transformed, and all of this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

We’re answering the question, how does the Holy Spirit glorify Christ. He reveals the glory of Christ to those who belong to Christ. But where do we see this? What can we see that brings this idea of beholding the glory of Christ into more concrete terms?

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

This is what Satan does. What he does is in direct opposition with what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit reveals the glory of Christ and Satan seeks to keep people from seeing the glory of Christ. But note the additional detail Paul provides us: Stan seeks to keep people from seeing the light of the gospel. I think that’s another way of saying that Satan seeks to keep people from believing the gospel. He desires that people persist in their unbelief.

So, knowing what Satan seeks to do, we can further understand that the Holy Spirit’s work of revealing the glory of Christ is to reveal the gospel to people. That is to say, the Holy Spirit opens the minds of people to believe the gospel, and as He enables people to believe the gospel, He glorifies Christ.

If the Holy Spirit came to glorify Christ, and He does this by enabling people to believe the gospel, then when we understand why it was necessary for Christ to depart before the Holy Spirit came in the way that He did on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus needed to dies, rise and ascend first so the gospel message could be believed. Man cannot believe the gospel and be saved without the enabling of the Spirit, but the Spirit cannot enable anyone to believe a message that was not yet complete. The Holy Spirit has come in this new way to glorify Christ and because Jesus completed His work of redemption.

And now, the people of God have the Holy Spirit.

BFC Article 5-2 - The Holy Spirit

5-2 The Holy Spirit indwells all true believers, baptizing them into one body, of which Christ is the head. He, the divine Comforter, Intercessor, and Advocate, empowers the believer for service.

We have the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit indwells believers. We could have taken the class to consider that that means. I want to use the rest of our time to address what I will call a more pastoral concern. But we will consider the indwelling nature of the Spirit briefly.

The Spirit Indwelling

A distinguishing mark

Rom 8:9

Romans 8:9 ESV

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

The possession of the Spirit is the distinguishing mark of a Christian. In other words, only Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Observe that the Spirit and Christ go together: if we have Christ for our Redeemer, then we have the Holy Spirit for our Indweller. But if have not the Spirit, we are not Christ’s.

The Spirit and Christ go together

The Spirit belongs to Christ (Heb 1:9; Rev. 3:1)

The Spirit proceeds from Christ (John 1:33; 15:26; Luke 24:49)

The Spirit is sent by Christ as Mediator (Acts 2:33)

The Spirit proclaims Christ (John 16:14)

The Spirit indwells the redeemed

Lev. 14:14,17

Leviticus 14:14 ESV

14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.

Leviticus 14:17 ESV

17 And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.

The oil, which I think can be understood the represent the Spirit, was placed on the blood. The idea here, I think, is that the atonement is the ground or basis for the Spirit to take up residence.

The pastoral concern is the ongoing ministry of the Spirit in light of the fact that we are in a battle. A battle between the Spirit that indwells us and our flesh. I want to talk about the battle and then discuss fighting the battle.

The Battle

Gal. 5:16-18

Galatians 5:16–18 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Walking by the Spirit

led by the Spirit (18)

It does not say, if you follow the Spirit, you are not under law. Paul is emphasizing the Spirit’s work, not ours.

So, to walk by the Spirit is to remain hooked up to the divine source of power and go wherever the Spirit leads.

Bearing fruit (22)

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

bearing fruit of the Spirit emphasizes the work of the Spirit not ours. This is essentially what Jesus said in John:

John 15:4–5 ESV

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

So, we could also add the idea of abiding in the vine to our understanding of what it means to walk by the Spirit.

Walking by the Spirit is essential

Not gratifying the flesh (16)

The promise in verse 16 is that when we walk by the Spirit, the desires of our flesh are overcome.

What is the flesh?

Flesh is the “I” who tries to satisfy me with anything but God’s mercy - John Piper

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:24 ESV

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In Gal. 5:24, those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In Gal. 2:20, what is said to be crucified? I have been crucified with Christ.

I suppose this may be where John Piper got the idea that the flesh is the I who tries to satisfy me with anything but God’s mercy.

And notice in Gal. 2:20, that since the I has been crucified, a new I lives, and this I lives by faith.

So if we go back to Gal. 5:

Galatians 5:17 ESV

17 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.

It is no surprise that there is a war between our flesh and God’s Spirit.

We’re talking about the battle Paul describes in Gal. 5. In this battle we are to walk by the Spirit, and we need to know that walking by the Spirit is crucial. Something else we must know

The Spirit always wins

The struggle is real

Christians experience struggle within. Christians experience sinful desires, but they experience them on a battlefield.

What’s worse than war within us in this world is no war at all.

We will fight a war within in this world, and we will not in the next.

What we can see in verse 17 is that the Spirit has been given to us to do battle.

Victory

So, I think the main point of verses 16-17 is that the Spirit will be victorious of the flesh.

Verse 16 makes clear that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not let our fleshly desires prevail.

Law-Fulfilling Fruit

We still fulfill the law

Gal 5:13-14; Rom 8:3-4

Galatians 5:13–14 ESV

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Romans 8:3–4 ESV

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

What does not being under law in verse 18 mean then?

Not being under law means that when we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the burden of the law because what the law requires, the Spirit produces.

It’s interesting to note that the part of the fruit of the Spirit that is mentioned in Gal. 5:22 is love, and verse 14 makes clear that love fulfills the whole law.

And notice how Paul ends the list of the fruit of the Spirit in verse 23:

Galatians 5:23 ESV

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The burden of the law is gone because the Spirit is producing the things the law ultimately requires.

How to Fight the Battle

Another way to ask this, how do we walk by the Spirit?

Through faith which produces love (Gal. 5:6)

Galatians 5:6 ESV

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Genuine faith always produces love. As we noted, Gal. 5:22 says that love is the fruit of the Spirit. So if faith is what faith produces, and love is the fruit of the Spirit, then the way to walk by the Spirit is to have faith. This is the starting point.

Hear by faith (Gal. 3:5)

Galatians 3:5 ESV

5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith

The Spirit does His work in us and through us only by hearing by faith. We walk by the Spirit by hearing the promises of God.