The Positive Ministry
of the Holy Spirit
Most
people have been led to believe that self-doubt,
self-condemnation, feelings of unworthiness,
and conviction for individual sins are the
work of the Holy Spirit. But it's just not
true!
Those
of you who are familiar with this ministry
know that I spend a great deal of time teaching
on the unconditional love and grace of God.
That is what changed my life. But I can
tell by the questions and comments I get
that many people still don't get it.
Because
of that, years ago I asked the Lord to give
me a way of expressing His grace that people
can't miss. That is when He gave me one
of the most important revelations I have
ever had about the positive ministry of
the Holy Spirit. Not everyone likes this,
but they understand what I'm saying.
The
devil's favorite tool, religion, has done
a great job of convincing the body of Christ
that the Holy Spirit is the source of negative
feelings. He has believers convinced
it's the Holy Spirit showing them they are
unworthy and have to "clean up their
acts" if they ever want to receive
from the Lord.
The
truth is, it's your heart or, more specifically,
your conscience that is condemning you,
not God. That is not the work of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is never the
source of any of your guilt or condemnation.
He is not the One that makes you feel bad
when you sin.
Your
conscience is the part of you that condemns
you. And if you are feeling unworthy it's
almost impossible to receive from God.
First
John 3:19-21 says,
"And hereby we know that we are of
the truth, and shall assure our hearts before
him. For if our heart condemn us, God is
greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us
not, then have we confidence toward God."
This
verse makes it very clear: Your heart
can condemn you even though God is not.
What a radical truth, which comes as a complete
shock to most Christians. We've just assumed
that it is always the Holy Spirit who is
condemning us.
Then
John said in verse 21,
"Beloved if our heart condemn us not,
then have we confidence toward God."
If
you can reach the point where your conscience
is not condemning you, judging you, and
causing you to feel unworthy to receive,
then you will have confidence toward God,
which has great recompense of reward (Heb.
10:35).
Most
Christians never reach that place. Most
know that God can answer their prayer; they
just don't have the confidence that He will,
because they feel unworthy. They aren't
willing to stand in faith, because feelings
of guilt and unworthiness, which they believe
are coming from the Holy Spirit, shipwreck
their faith.
" "Holding faith, and a good
conscience; which some having put away concerning
faith have made shipwreck" (1 Tim.
1:19).
Our
conscience is not something we can or should
ignore; it can be trained for our benefit,
but it is not the Holy Spirit. The best
way to deal with the conscience is to, as
much as possible, not give it any occasion
against us. It can't condemn you if you
aren't giving it a reason. However, no one
lives a perfect life and ultimately you've
got to purge your conscience from dead works.
Hebrews
9:14 says,
"How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?"
In
Hebrews 10:22, the Bible says,
"Let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience."
And
in Hebrews 4:16, we read,
"Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need."
The
ministry of Holy Spirit is just the opposite
of what many Christians think. In John
14:16 read how Jesus describes the Holy
Spirit:
"And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he
may abide with you for ever."
Notice
that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the
'Comforter," not the afflicter.
It also says that He will send "another"
Comforter. "Another" means one
of the same caliber, the same kind. Jesus
was and still is a comforter; He didn't
condemn people during His earthly ministry.
John
3:17-19 reads,
"For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved. He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he
that believeth not is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this
is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deed were evil.
"
John
14:26 says,
"But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name..."
In
John 15:26, Jesus said,
"But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father..."
And
in John 16:7, Jesus continues to say about
the Holy Spirit,
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth;
It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will
not come unto you; but if I depart, I will
send him unto you."
There
can be no doubt that the ministry of the
Holy Spirit is not one of condemnation;
it's one of comfort. Jesus said that
it was expedient for you that He go away
and the Comforter comes. The word "expedient"
means "to your advantage."
Jesus is saying that it's better to have
the Holy Spirit ministering to you than
it is to have Him present in His physical
body. What a statement!
I
know someone is thinking, What about
John 16:8:
" And when he is come, he will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment."
Well,
first of all, there is a huge difference
between conviction and condemnation, but
let's set that aside for now. Look at the
next verse. Jesus knew people would impute
things to the Holy Spirit that He wasn't
doing. So, Jesus explained very clearly
just which sin the Holy Sprit would convict
us of. It is the singular sin of not believing
on Jesus.
John
16:9 says,
"Of sin, because they believe not
on me."
The
Holy Spirit doesn t convict us of lying,
stealing, adultery, murder, etc; He convicts
us that we aren't trusting in Jesus. That's
the root of every sin.
Technically,
people don't go to hell for their individual
sins; Jesus has already forgiven all
of them (1 John 2:2). People go the hell
for the single sin of not making Jesus their
personal Savior, the complete and only payment
for their sin.
Even
after receiving salvation, it's not our
actions (sins) that are the problem but
the heart attitude of not trusting Jesus.
That is the root of all sin. The reason
people do dope and alcohol is because they
are turning to something other than Jesus
to dull the hurt inside.
When
we lie, it's because we don't trust Jesus
and feel we have to manipulate others. That's
what all sin comes down to: not trusting
Jesus. That's what the Holy Spirit convicts
us about.
Most
Christians have not truly understood this
positive ministry of the Holy Spirit. We
have made Him the source of our feelings
of guilt, condemnation, and unworthiness.
Because of that, we haven't really let Him
do His job, and we are missing the benefits
and power of a relationship with Him.
The
Holy Spirit should be your best friend.
He was sent here to encourage you and constantly
assure you of God's love. He is the most
important and most powerful person in your
life. If you haven't been thinking correctly
about the Holy Spirit,
it 's time to change your thinking.
End
Notes:
You
will never be able to relate to God correctly
until you understand this positive ministry
of the Holy Spirit.
My new and expanded series, The Positive
Ministry of the Holy Spirit, will help
you make this change in your thinking. The
Holy Spirit is the great Comforter, but
His positive ministry goes far beyond that.
If you want power in your life, you'll
have to know and understand what I teach
in this series.
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