THE BLESSINGS OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
TEXT Romans 8:1-4
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Source
The scripture assures us that when we bear the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, no law can be against us. No law can be against us because by walking in the Spirit, one is fulfilling the law. The law is for transgressors and to measure transgression. “The righteousness of the law Is fulfilleq through Christ by those who walk by the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). As Christians, we are expected to live and conduct ourselves In such a way that we do not need any civil law to warn or restraint us. Our obedience to such law must be without compulsion.
Another blessing that a Spirit-filled life offers is that there is no condemnation for us (verses 1 2). We do not have to live all lives in guilt and fear. In Christ we have glorious liberty and boldness to come before the throne of mercy to receive grace. Living a Spirit-filled life, clothe us in Christ's righteousness and presented justified before God; as if it never happened. Only we should not misuse/abuse our liberty.
A Spirit-fIlled life means we are led by the Spirit. This makes God to delight in us and we are delighted in Him. This alone is a source of victory for children of God; for when are ways please or delight the Lord, He makes even our enemies to be at peace with us (Proverbs 16: 7). For the upright, there will always be a light rising up in the dark times of life (Psalm 112: 4). These are blessings that precious in man's life and cannot be quantified in physical and monetary terms. Holiness is surely beautiful (Psalm 29: 1).
Text: 2 Samuel 12:12-13
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
As Christians, to be responsible is to give right response to all situations wherever we are and doing things without being told this is what separates us from others. We are supposed to do things and interpret issues as a result of respect for God. King David showed this attribute when he was taken up by prophet Nathan in respect of his sin out at respect for God he confessed his sin immediately without any excuse. Responsible people judge themselves harshly before judging others (1Cor.11:31). They are not quick to judge others other than just doing what is right. That is, they don't look for excuses or wait for others to do what they are supposed to do on their part.
To give right response to situations, we should not compare one person with another because every human being is unique and gifted differently. Apostle Paul had to warn the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 10: 12 thus: For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. Poor response to situations on the part of the Corinthians can be seen in the lack 0f unity in the Church when they started comparing Peter, Paul, Apollo, and Christ with one another. A responsibie Christian is not affected by people's bad attitudes, so he doesn't give power to their wrong actions by giving the right response to every situation not allowing their behavior to affect him. Apostle Paul decided to give the right response to the bad attitudes of the 'super apostles' in Corinth who were underrating his apostleship due to ignorance. '
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight:
our problem is not the government, or our background, or the society at large, or whatever; our biggest challenge in life is our own self. If we feel that a situation is bad, we have the capacity to give it a right response. For we walk by faith, not by sight; faithful men and women dwell on faith to respond appropriately to situations as we can see in the life of Apostle Paul. All of us respond to situations and circumstances based on the condition of our minds; someone with strong faith responds better than others because he does not believe what he sees but only see what he believes. Faith makes us win or lose it determines what we think, say and do.
Challenges from people and situations can be handled by giving me right response to them. No one is a failure until he or she starts to blame others.
Faithful people look beyond things that are not working to see challenges as opportunities to make them have the right response instead of blaming people and circumstances. They act and talk in equal degree living a balanced life and aspiring to do more and talk less. Ordinary people like the 'super apostles' in the church at Corinth could merely condemn and complain with no action in the church to prove that they can do things better than Paul.
There's that feeling of accomplishment associated with living a spirit-filled life. Thanks for sharing on SteemChurch.
Upvoted & Resteemed
J8.
Fine explanations. There are definitely benefits of bearing the fruitage of the spirit. Some of the benefits can be seen now, while much more will become evident in the future. Writeups like this makes me more determined to serve God passionately while developing these beautiful qualities.
Sometimes we blame others for our predicaments and problems when we are supposed to sit tight and move on. I agree with what you said one of the major problems is our own self not the government, charity begins at home, when we make everything right at home people won't go into the world and misbehave.
The title of this study might well be called, ‘Every Christian’s Greatest Need’, for there is no greater need today than that every real Christian should be obedient to the command found in Ephesians 5:18, which indicates the necessity of a Spirit-filled life; it is not optional, for it is God’s command. Notice that:-
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is the CHRISTIAN’s greatest need. The subject has no reference to the person who is not a Christian.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is EVERY Christian’s need. It is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is every Christian’s NEED. It is not a luxury but a necessity for all.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is every Christian’s GREATEST need. Just as the greatest need of the lost is to be saved, so the greatest need of the saved person is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It will save us from very much confusion in connection with this subject if we lay hold of the simple but fundamental fact that: WHILE EVERY CHRISTIAN POSSESSES THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT POSSESS EVERY CHRISTIAN.
It is one thing to have the Holy Spirit indwelling the life; it is quite another thing to have Him filling and controlling the life. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit - look up Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:13; every Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit - look up Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. But every Christian should be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
As Christians, our great desire should be to be like our Lord. How can we be like Him? - only as the Holy Spirit reproduces His life within us. We can never be like Him by striving, straining and struggling. The Christian life is not imitation; it is the giving of His life to us, and the reproduction of His life within us, by the Holy Spirit; thus, the measure in which the Holy Spirit fills and floods our lives determines the measure in which we become truly Christ-like.
This is awesome @drumstix
The best way to identify a true christian is through the expression of the fruit of the spirit and the work of the gift of spirit. A christaian that is not filled with the spirit of God is a prey to the enemy and devil. A spirit filled Christian enjoyed peace of mind with assurance that he/she has the back-up of Almighty God.
It is also the spirit of God that will help in time of difficulties and challenges of life.
Keep the fire burning.
A Spirit-fIlled life means we are led by the Spirit. This makes God to delight in us and we are delighted in Him. This alone is a source of victory for children of God; for when are ways please or delight the Lord, He makes even our enemies to be at peace with us.
Abraham gave the right response to his son Isaac when he said God was going to provide a lamb for sacrifice.
In some situations, we must learn to alway look forward to the holy spirit to guide us so that we can always say the right things and all time, have the right response to different situations
@drumstix this is good topic to focus on, because people need to realise that being in the spirit is living an advantageous life.
A spirit filled life is a fulfilled life as it contains everything that entails a Christ-like life. Let us endeavour to get filled with the holy spirit, as it is the one through solution to our predicament. All we have to do is seek and we shall find.