Cuando Dios Llega al Hombre

"If we live by the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit."  -Galatians 5:25

What on earth do these words mean to us?  

The Watchtower teaches that the holy spirit is a force emanating from God, which anoints and enlightens only a certain class of Witnesses, equipping them for heaven.  The Christian church teaches that the Holy Spirit, which is God, indwells every believer in Christ and begins immediately to equip him for a regenerated life.  

It is not the purpose of this article to debate which of these viewpoints is correct.  

At some point, I want to talk in more depth about the Holy Spirit, digging into the Scripture from an exegetical point of view.  I may save that for my next term paper, when I have the school library and a lot of good commentaries at my disposal.  

But for now, I want to bring to life a beloved passage in Galatians, a passage that I and millions of other Christians can apply to everyday life. 

Galatians 5:16-26: 

"¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

 ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

Although I'd read about the "fruits of the Spirit" in Sunday school, I never really paid attention to this verse until it became expedient.  

For one person I know, this truth turned her life around.  Having been raised in a Christian family, but not really knowing God personally, she got sucked into an immoral lifestyle, and developed an alcohol problem that haunted her into her adult years.  

"With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible."  I prayed for her, prayed with her, kept up our friendship, kept inviting her back to church in hopes that one day God Himself would come down and offer to help her personally.  He eventually did.  And she answered the call.  In a few months, she was living in completely different circumstances, living a radically different life.  It was truly a miracle evident to everyone who knew her.  

But alcohol was a stumbling block.  It was everywhere.  When you drive down the street, you see the places that are familiar for you; if you are a drinker, the places you used to drink stand out like blazing neon signs.  So do the people that are a snare to you.  On top of that, the physiological pull of the substance remains for a long time.  

The passage above turned out to be the key to her recovery.  "Live by the Spirit, and you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh."  My friend learned what it means to truly live by the Spirit, as she immersed herself in the Word of God and began to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit that led her to obedience, holiness, and the fruits of joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.  Today she is still a believer and does not suffer any of the ill effects that many devout members of Alcoholics Anonymous often struggle with for decades after recovery.  

Another friend of mine testified to the same thing.  Having gone through a couple of bad years, she too struggled with an addiction to alcohol.  One day, I felt moved strongly to pray for her.  She called me up later, and I could feel the peace in her voice.  

"I had a conversation with God," she told me.  "Basically He told me... just to seek him.  As long He is present in my life each day, I won't even want a drink."  God has been as faithful to her and more, even now, almost half a decade later.  

David Wilkerson, a country preacher sent to reach the gang culture in New York during the 1970's, recalled the struggles he had as a pioneer Christian helping heroin addicts overcome their addictions.  

The tremendous hold that drugs have on the human body cannot be explained in physical terms alone.  'Davie,' I was told over and over again, 'there are two habits you've got to kick if you are hooked.  The body habit, and the mind habit.  The body habit's not too much of a problem: you just stay in sheer hell for three days, put up with a little less torture for another month, and you're free.  But the mind habit, Davie... that's something terrible!  There's a thing inside you thatmakes you come back.  Something spooky, whispering to you.  We got names for this guy: either he's a monkey on our back, or a vulture on our veins.  We can't get rid of him, Davie.  But you're a preacher.  Maybe this Holy Spirit you talk about, maybe He can help.  (The Cross and the Switchblade, p. 151).  

Wilkerson began desperately to seek answers, when he realized that a warm bed and a caring heart weren't enough to keep these kids from relapsing.  He ended his search where his journey began: with a young convert named Nicky Cruz.  A former gang leader, Nicky had been heavily into drugs, as well as the occult, and had lived a dark, oppressed, and bloody life before God rescued him.  

I spoke to Nicky, who had been taking goof balls [barbiturates] and smoking marijuana.  I asked him when it was that he felt he had victory over his old way of life.  Something tremendous had happened to him, he said, at the time of his conversion on the street corner.  He had been introduced at that time to the love of God.  But it wasn't until later that he knew he had complete victory.  

"And when was that, Nicky?"  

"At the time of my baptism in the Holy Spirit."  

I called in David and asked him the same thing.  When did he feel that he had power over himself?  "Oh, I can answer that," said David.  "When I was baptized in the Holy Spirit."  

Again and again I got the same report.  I cannot describe how excited I was.  A pattern seemed to be emerging.  I felt that I was on the verge of something tremendous. (ibid, p. 154-155).  

To give a little context to the situation, Wilkerson comes from a branch of the church in which, citing the disciples' Pentecost experience, believers actively seek the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" that empowers Christians to live a life imbued with miraculous power.  But this is not a denominational experience.  Many believers describe this "baptism" as simply a time in which, having the Holy Spirit's presence from conversion, they ask Him to help them in a situation in which they have reached the end of their internal, human resources.  I have experienced this myself, several times in my life; based on that experience, I don't believe that it is a one-time deal, but rather an ongoing, dynamic relationship.  But others are entitled to their opinions and individual experiences.  (The Bible did speak of the first disciples receiving the Holy Spirit at a particular time, distinct from whatever moment they first believed.  The stories of many early Christians often include a distinct time in which either someone prayed with them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, as with Saul in Acts 9, or it happened spontaneously as in Acts 10, when Peter preached to Cornelius and his household, and those who believed the message they heard immediately received the Spirit and began to speak in tongues.  Both times this occurred before the believers' baptism.)  

Admittedly, I cannot tell my audience like an expert exactly what formula governs this "baptism in the Holy Spirit."  But I can tell you that it works.  

How exactly does one "walk in the Spirit"?  

An analogy I recently heard in a sermon well illustrates what it means to be led by the Spirit: 

Do you know the "scientific way" to shoot a rubber band?  If you stretch both sides equally, as it flies through the air, the band will expand and contract as it flies through the air, exerting force in the opposite direction of its trajectory.  This resistance causes it to fall short.  The trick is to stretch one side tight, and leave the other side almost slack.  When you let it fly, the band will spin or "roll" through the air.  Since it cuts the air efficiently, it may fly more than twice as far.  

"For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law."  -Gal. 5:17-18.

Like the rubber band, which fights against its trajectory as it wobbles through the air, human beings living under spiritual law are in a constant battle against our flesh.  The nation of Israel constantly struggled with idolatry and immorality; theirs was a jaded history despite their promising beginnings.  Today, anyone who follows in their spiritual footsteps is building a life protected by a fence of rules and restrictions.  

But one cannot easily fence out the desires of the flesh.  The human heart is desperate and deceitful; who can understand it?  The good we want to do, we neglect; instead, we do that which we loathe.  Those of us who consider themselves the "best" are often more productive in good talk than in good works.  We are experts at forming high-sounding mission statements and buzzwords, but often failures at the grind of daily life according to the Scriptures.  

Unless we have a new heart, and the help of our Comforter.  

A Treasure in the Field

As I was preparing this study in the Holy Spirit on Monday night, a remarkable thing happened.  My friend, Igor, prepared a lesson on exactly the same subject for Tuesday night Bible study!  Actually, I am not at all surprised, because this sort of thing occurs with uncanny regularity--whatever topic has been on my heart, or whatever God has been teaching me in a given week, is predictably the topic of the next sermon on Sunday.  Anyway, it was a good discussion, one to which we could all relate.  

Something Igor said at the start of the lesson, I think, illustrates the mentality that Christians have toward this idea of walking in the Spirit: "I don't want to be the only one talking, so please let's have a lot of discussion.... The Holy Spirit isn't just on the person presenting, but upon each one of us in this room.  So we all have things that He's been teaching us that we can share to help each other grow spiritually."  This is coming from an 18-year-old who lately has had a knack for bringing to the table a topic that touches on whatever we've been struggling with during the week.  He, too, recently went through a crisis where he decided to seek God actively, and apparently God found him.  In the last 5 months or so, I have been pleased to meet a different Igor, an Igor motivated by love that supercedes his own desires, an Igor who overflows with a contagious joy, an Igor who seems to have realized that his day-to-day life has a purpose.  It is an Igor that I am convinced has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which one can recognize a true believer in Christ.  

The Scriptures he brought up really speak volumes about life by the Spirit.  Read and enjoy... and I pray that the Holy Spirit speak to you as well.  

Romans 8:1-11:  

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 

⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.⁶The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; ⁷the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Galatians 3:19-25

¹⁹What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. ²⁰A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.²¹Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²²But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.²³Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. ²⁴So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.²⁵Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Ezekiel 36:24-32

" '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. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.²⁸ You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ³¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. ³² I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!"

Hebrews 8:6-13

⁶But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

 ⁷For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. ⁸But God found fault with the people and said: 
   "The time is coming, declares the Lord, 
      when I will make a new covenant 
   with the house of Israel 
      and with the house of Judah. 
 ⁹It will not be like the covenant 
      I made with their forefathers 
   when I took them by the hand 
      to lead them out of Egypt, 
   because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, 
      and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 
 ¹⁰This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel 
      after that time, declares the Lord. 
   I will put my laws in their minds 
      and write them on their hearts. 
   I will be their God, 
      and they will be my people. 
 ¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor, 
      or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' 
   because they will all know me, 
      from the least of them to the greatest. 
 ¹²For I will forgive their wickedness 
      and will remember their sins no more."

 ¹³By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear."  

This "New Covenant" in Jesus' blood is the contract by which we are living today.  Rather than being fenced in by a law to govern our conduct, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us personally.  He equips and empowers us to live a righteous life--something completely contrary to our sinful human nature.  The evidence, then, of a Spirit-filled life is a person whose nature is changed to one walking in holiness.  Ultimately, love is the driving force in a Christian's life... a kind of love that defies all human reason or understanding.  

Love is what generates the Mother Teresas of this world.  Love is what allows the Church to welcome outsiders with open arms... even when those people may turn out to be KGB spies (it happens.)  Love is what turns our hearts to help our enemies; the Geneva Conventions and the International Red Cross were united because a group of Christians decided not to let the wounded die on the battlefield, no matter what side they were on.  Love is what prompted Christians like Corrie Ten-Boom to hide their Jewish neighbors, even at the cost of life and liberty... and to forgive those who abused them in camps like Auschwitz.  

Love is what prompted Jesus Christ to walk into the arms of torture and death, knowing that His suffering would liberate us from the bonds of sin that enslave us.  Love is what allows us to be reconciled to God, and love is what causes Him to follow us, seek us out personally, and often journeys to the ends of the earth to bring us safely back home.  

God is love.  And everyone that loves as He does is born of God, and knows God.  This is how we know that we are children of God--because we love one another.  Even when it's hard...especially when it's hard!  Once the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, he becomes a new creation.  And that creative power is the witness from heaven, that God Himself is at work among men.