Living with Tozer's God

Blogpost #12:

The Holy Spirit - God's Divine Enabler - Pt. 2

We finished last time thinking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit under the Old Testament Covenant. It is clear that His ministry is one of empowerment and enabling. In the O.T., He 'came upon' a person to enable them to fulfill some divinely appointed task. While the results of His empowering could often result in miraculous victories, it is equally true that His departure before the task is finished can also be devastating! King Saul is a case in point. Once the 'Spirit of the Lord departed' he was just a mess!

The point is, you simply can't do 'God's work' without God's Spirit. It simply can't be done. It was never intended to be done any other way. If we ask 'why', the answer is simple. If we could do it without God, then He would have to share the glory with us... and that isn't going to happen.

But, something even more amazing did happen. God wants us to share in His glory. Of that there is no doubt in Scripture. These verses testify to that reality.

"...you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you

 as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy

of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."

1 Thess 2:11-12 NASU

" It was for this He called you through our gospel,  

that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. "

 2 Thess 2:14 NASU

"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you

 to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 

 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen." 

  1 Peter 5:10-11 NASU

"And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory".

1 Peter 5:4 NASU

These are truly amazing verses. They reveal a 'plan' which, as Paul rightly says in I Cor. 2, 'has not even entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him'. Who could have imagined that God's plan would be to take sinful, rebellious man and not just allow him to see His glory, but make him fit to share that glory! It is truly mind-boggling!

The Final Preparation

The appearances of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament are unique and often dramatic; they are also fairly rare (considering we're talking about at least 4000 years of history in the O.T.). But, He literally permeates the pages of the New Testament. There is a reason for that as we will see.

The answer is contained in a favorite phrase in Paul's letters which describes this. It's used about 90x in the New Testament (over 150x if you include the variations). The phrase is 'in Christ' (or 'in Him'). It describes what Jesus promised in John's Gospel...and later in Acts 1 where He told them they would soon be 'baptized in the Holy Spirit'. They could not know all that this would mean, but it would changing everything. Jesus said...

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 

 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you ." 

  John 14:17 NASU

The Divine Solution to ALL our Problems: The New Birth

Nicodemus scratched his head. He knew Jesus was for real and He had answers for all the 'buts' that his lifetime of theological training had ingrained in him. Jesus had wisdom and understanding that simply overwhelmed him. So, when he came by night to talk to Him, he was totally mystified when Jesus took him to the next level and told him that he could never see heaven unless he was 'born again'. His response was predictable.

"Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"  Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you,

 unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

   " That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

  "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again .' 

 John 3:4-8 NASU

His response was predictable...it sounded like nonsense! What would you have thought? You know, nothing has changed. It's still true for us today. What did Jesus mean by 'born of water and the Spirit'?

In Scripture, water is normally used to describe washing, cleansing, removing spots and blemishes. The burden, guilt, defilement of sin has to be dealt with, atoned for; the past must receive due justice if it is to be put away. But, this is only the first stage of the 'new birth' experience. We may be forgiven and the penalty for our sins may have been paid and we are 'reconciled' to God, but we still have a huge problem. We still have a sin nature which will just start sinning again unless something in us is changed. We still have a heart attitude toward God that is not.....well, god-like. It's still a rebel-heart, selfish and self-centered. It has no power to be anything else! At least not yet.

That's why the second part is so crucial...and why the Holy Spirit is really the primary divine force in this age. He is the one who brings God and man together 'in Christ'. What is he describing? What does this mean to us practically?

There are a number of descriptions, but I think one of the clearest (startlingly so!) is the one found in

2 Peter 1. Have you ever stopped and let these verses sink in? Can this really be true? Who do you know that when you look at them, at their lives, your thought is... 'they have become partakers of the divine nature'...'I see God in them'. That's what it means when we say a person is 'godly'. They are like God. Let these verses sink in for a moment.

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, 

through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises,  

so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature , 

having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." 

  2 Peter 1:4 NASU

By divine decree everything pertaining to life (real life, eternal life, life in the Spirit) and godliness (the spiritual potential to become conformed to the character of the Son of God Himself)...it's all been granted to us 'in Christ'...so that we can literally, not mythically or even mystically, but literally become partakers of the divine nature. This all happens because the Spirit of God has come to dwell in us...at the moment of our 'new birth'... and it's not temporary, it's for eternity.

Rightly did Paul say that this mystery was hidden from past ages and generations (clearly we would never have thought of this!), but now God has 'willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you (by the Holy Spirit) , the hope of glory.' Col 1:26-27 NASU

Paul is right, it is rich. God is in you. You are no longer 'in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you'. He is the 'enabler' of all those 'precious and magnificent promises' that make it possible for us to share the divine nature of our God and Savior.

"We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." (1 John 3:24 )' But the converse is also true, 'if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him'. (Rom 8:10). It's just that simple. He is the means of our salvation. The fulfillment of everything in the New Covenant in us depends on Him...and, since He is God, He will and can not fail! Paul sums it up for the Thessalonians:

"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, 

because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation 

through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 

It was for this He called you through our gospel,

 that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

 2 Thess 2:13-14 NASU

Obviously...

Obviously, we can only start down the path of understanding who this person is and what He is doing in this New Covenant Age. If you're hungry for more, try getting out your Bible concordance and look up phrases like, 'in the Spirit', 'by the Spirit' and 'through the Spirit'. It's an amazing study. The Holy Spirit is truly the key to the Christian's new life...and crucial to what Tozer means by 'right thinking' about God.

Next time we'll deal with the 'incomprehensibility' of the person of God. How do you know someone who is beyond your comprehension? We'll see...