Wednesday 23 December 2009

Christ begotten through the power of the Holy Spirit

Christ was begotten by the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Unlike human beings, He had no physical father. What we can glean from this event, however, is that the Holy Spirit is the means by which the Father begets His sons. Just as Christ was begotten by the Father, Christians also are begotten by Him. The only difference is that Christians are begotten outside the womb. We do not possess the Holy Spirit until after baptism (Acts 2:38). Once we are baptised and receive the Holy Spirit, we become begotten sons of God.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God teaches us: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, [it] shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). “Howbeit when [it], the Spirit of truth, is come, [it] will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13).

A mind without the Holy Spirit cannot comprehend spiritual things and has no hope of understanding God’s Word — the Bible. It is only through the indwelling of the Spirit that one is able to understand the mind of God. Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 2:9-16.

The above scriptures, including 1 Corinthians 2:9-16, can be summarized in the following way: Those who are being guided by the Holy Spirit can understand spiritual things, and those who are not being led by the Holy Spirit cannot understand — it is impossible! Just as you cannot know the thoughts and ways of another man, neither can you know the thoughts and ways of God. If one could somehow “project” his spirit into the mind of another person, then he could know that person’s thoughts. In a sense, it could be said that the “projection” of God’s Spirit into our minds is what allows us to comprehend “the things of God.”

The Holy Spirit also strengthens Christians in a number of important ways. It describes how God’s Spirit directly empowers — strengthens — those who have it: “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Ephesians 3:16-20).

Christ gives His servants the strength needed to overcome what could be called the three “S’s”—self, Satan and society, which are the three things that produce a fourth “S,” sin. All real overcoming is done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as Christ could only overcome by the Father dwelling within Him through the Spirit, it is through that Spirit dwelling within a person, that overcoming anything spiritual is made possible.

Clearly the Spirit is not a person, but it is the action and the power. You must be willing to admit that the realm of traditional Christianity (and the world in general) has remained ignorant of what the Holy Spirit is. Naturally, this has directly contributed to why the nature of God so completely escapes their comprehension.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Christus verwekt door de Kracht van de Heilige Geest

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