God's Indispensable Gift

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Jesus set us free from the curse and opened the way for us to receive the promise (the blessing) of Abraham. According to this passage, the blessing of Abraham includes the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we might say that Jesus died and became a curse so that we might receive the promise (gift) of the Holy Spirit!

Moreover, the promise of the Spirit is not just a privilege given to the believer; it’s a necessity!

The Indispensable Gift

When we begin the Christian life we need help from the Spirit (, )!

According to this passage, it is not the receiving of the Holy Spirit that saves, but rather the renewing of the Holy Spirit that saves.

The same Spirit, however, that is needed to begin the Christian life, is needed to finish it ()!

Fulfilling All Righteousness

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The Holy Spirit is needed to fulfill all righteousness. We may have received Christ and His righteousness, but that righteousness must still be lived out. But, you cannot do this apart from the Spirit.

Think of any fleshly sin you presently and habitually keep committing. The only way to gain complete victory over that sin is to walk in the Spirit.

I’ve recently taken up the game of golf. However, I’m not all that interested in perfecting my game. I just want to look like I know what I’m doing (i.e. play well enough not to embarrass myself). So, rather than learn the “right” way, I try to find “hacks” to help compensate for my mistakes on the course (i.e. turn my body more to one side, shorten my backswing, use an off-set club, drop balls until I hit one I like).

In the same way, there are individuals looking for ways to “hack” the Christian walk. These ‘short-cuts’ we attempt to use are really just works of the flesh. Moreover, we soon realize that no work of the flesh is acceptable with God (, ). Notice that we don’t have to ‘cheat’ our way through life (walk in the flesh) if we would just learn to incorporate the Spirit in our Christian walk!

That reminds me, I was out golfing with Bro. MacArthur and he kept telling me, “Pastor, you can’t really do that…Pastor, that’s not really allowed.” I started referring to him as the Golf Pharisee.

Working with the Spirit

So, what can we do to improve our Christian walk? Although there are no “hacks” to improve our walk, God does offer us His Spirit ().

One of the things I’m learning is that the Christian life is a lot like golf. In the game of golf you have to let the club to do the work. In fact, I believe that the “club” is to golf what the Spirit is to the Christian life!

You can have the right club, but that’s no guarantee you’re going to play right. Similarly, you can have the right Spirit, but that’s no guarantee you’re going to live right. To live right you must learn to cooperate with the Spirit.

One of the things that has helped me realized the importance of working with my club is my recent string of injuries. I realized that if you continue to swing the golf club improperly (bad technique), over time it will lead to strain on your ribs and other muscles. For example, ‘jerking’ the club on my downswing can result in pain or injury to my back other muscles. Also, if my knuckles and hands are constantly sore, then I’m probably squeezing the club too tightly.

The same is true wit the Christian life. Whenever you walk in flesh and do not cooperate with the Spirit, you will eventually begin experiencing “pain” in their life. Some people interpret this pain as a sign that they can’t live the Christian life. Not true. Your pain (trouble) is probably a sign that you are utilizing the poor technique and not cooperating with the Spirit ()!

I should add that walking and working with the Spirit won’t eliminate ALL pain (suffering) from your life. Just like in the game of golf, you can do everything right and still feel a little sore. The reason being because you’re using muscles you don’t normally use. In the same way, you are still going to experience a little difficulty even with the Spirit. But, I’m referring more to the serious pain (trouble). If you finding it difficult to do “normal” things Christians should be able to do, then you’re probably doing something wrong.

Some of you have already concluded, “I don’t know why Pastor is making such a big deal about receiving the Holy Spirit? I’m don’t find and I’m not really sure if I even have the Spirit.” My response to you is that you may think you’re doing find, but continuing to walk in the flesh will eventually expose you to trouble (, ).