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given unto us," says Paul in Romans
5:5. What is the love of God?
"Love is the fulfilling of the law"
is Paul's answer in Romans 13:1
O.
Love is a godly, spiritual force, im–
parted by the Holy Spirit, that chan–
nels the human will into obedience–
obedience to God's Jaw. lf you love
God, you will-by the power of God,
not by your human strength-be
keeping all His commandments- a ll
ten of them.
No one who continues to break
God's lawoflove has received theSpir–
it ofGod or has the power ofGod work–
ing in him! Thatmeans that millions of
deceived, but sincere, professing
Christians who have not surrendered
their wills to God and who do not keep
all the Ten Commandments have never
received the Spirit of God- they are
sti ll unconverted-and they never will
be converted until they yield to God's
spiritual lawof )ove.
The other fruits of the Spirit, men–
tioned by Paul in Galatians 5:22, am–
plify the attitude of love. Obedience
to God is not harsh and cruel and
unyielding- it is a joy, it is peaceable
and gentle, it expresses itself in self–
control. Self-control is the key to real
spiritual power. Most people cannot
be filled with spiritual power because
they have not been willing to exercise
self-control. Uncontrolled power is
worse than no power at all.
1 know that this is hard to believe.
Sorne of you probably were taught
tha t you cannot receive the Holy
Spirit until you work up your emo–
tions-until you reject God's Jaw.
Tha t deceptive teaching results from
hearing a different gospel than Jesus
pre¡iched. That is the way of Caín
who hated bis brother Abel. God's
Jaw of love has been His message
from the beginning
(1
John 3:11 - 12).
But men have refused it!
Why We Need the
Holy Splrlt
Man was born without the vital spa rk
that will enable him to Jive forever.
Man is mortal. Man is subject to
death.
Notice: "Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of bis.
And if Christ be in you"- living the
same life in us now by the Holy Spirit
as He lived by the Holy Spirit while
34
He was personally on earth-"the
body is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him" - the Fa–
ther-"that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he tha t raised up
Christ from the dead shall a lso
quicken your mortal bodies by bis
Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom.
8:9-11).
. How plain! The Holy Spirit im–
parts the power to commence eterna!
life. We inberited mortallife tbrougb
Adam. We became heirs of eterna!
life-heirs of God- by being begot–
ten through the Holy Spirit, wbich is
the life of God. " And tbis is tbe re–
cord, that God batb given to us eter–
nallife, and this life is in bis Son"–
not in an immortal soul. "He that
batb tbe Son hath life; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life.
These tbings bave 1 written unto
you," says Jobn, " that ye may know
that ye bave eterna) life" (1 John
5:11-13).
Eterna! life with unending spiri–
tual power is a gift of God. It is an
attribute of the Holy Spirit. " For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God ·is eterna! life" (Rom. 6:23) .
If
we already had it, it would not be a
gift; it would be inberited.
But tbe Holy Spirit does more
'than impart to us the possibility of
etemallife.
It
imparts to us the cbar–
acteristics of the Almighty, tbe all–
powerful God the Father.
Tbat portion of the Holy Spirit
which a person may receive, if he
asks God for it in conforming to His
will , may be compared to the germ or
sperm of physicallife. lt transmits to
us God's spiritual characteristics and
attributes.
The Germ of Eternal Llfe
First, notice that the Holy Spirit
- the germ by which we are begotten
-comes from tbe Fa ther. God has
masculine characteristics. That is
why we call Him "Father." We are
called the begotten children of God
(1
Jobn 5:1 ).
God, then, has the power to beget
us as His cbildren. He begets us by
His Spirit. Each portion of the Spirit
by whicb we a re begotten is termed
in the Bible a germ or "seed ." Peter
tells us we a re " [begotten] again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorrupti–
ble, by tbe word of God, which Iiveth
and abideth" (1 Pet. 1:23). Jesus
completes this by saying we must
fi–
nally be born again-at tbe resur–
rection- when we sball be spi rit
(John 3:5-8). Now we are only flesh
witb the spiritual germ of eternallife
impregnating us.
Second, notice that an attribute of
God's Spirit is perfect character. The
Holy Spirit, the germ of eternal Ji fe,
transmits tha t possibility into us.
It
is
the Spirit of obedience--of perfec–
tion.
Every begotten chi ld of God must
ask God for the power to resist sin.
We must let Christ live His life in us
througb the Holy Spirit.
If
Christ
abides in us through the Holy Spirit,
we have tbe power whicb enables us
to resist practicing sin. Notice what
P~ul
wrote: " ... for wbat 1 would,
that do 1 not; but wbat 1 bate, that do
l.
lf
then Ido that which 1 would not ,
1 consent unto the law that it is
good.... For 1 know that in me (tha t
is, in my flesb ,) dwelleth no good
tbing: for to will is present with me;
but bow to perforni tbat which is
good 1 find not" (Rom. 7:15-18).
Notice how weak and powerless to
resist sin Paul really was. He needcd
divine help-the same power tha t
was in Jesus Cbrist which enabled
Him to resist sin. Tha t power comes
from the Holy Spirit of God!
The Mind of God
Conversion starts with repentance.
Conversion means change. Repen–
ta nce means a change from the
wrong to the right.
It
is a change of
mind. But that change is not enough.
We must receive the Spirit of God in
order for that change to be perma–
nent. Our minds need to be developed
to become like God's mind. " Let this
mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). But how is
this possible?
Your Bible reveals tbere is a spirit in
man (Job 32:8). It isnot the man - it is
something in the man. Connected with
pbysical brain, it forms human mind.
lt imparts the power of intellect and
personality that no anima l can have.
This spirit in man is not conscious of
itself.
It
cannot know apart from the
brain. It is spi rit essence. l t is a human
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1979