Ephesians 4:30(NLT) “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”
When we soak in the reality of what God tells us in Galatians 3:14(NIV), we should be forever changed. This verse says, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Do you see this? Absolutely breathtaking, the brilliance of our God. He doesn’t do anything randomly. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that there’s a reason and season for everything under the sun. There’s no such a thing as an afterthought with God. He knows the end at the very beginning, and He knows the beginning and everything in between at the end. God made a covenant with Abraham, and He knew the blessings of that promise would land on an innumerable amount of people. God’s covenant with Abraham accomplished everything He wanted for Abraham’s generation and every generation after. It resulted in manifold blessings that we are still benefiting from today. This demonstrates the extraordinary magnificence of God’s plan and the perfection of His grace.
Galatians 3:14 specifically says that God blessed Abraham one time, and that one time was all it took. Through His covenant with Abraham, God accomplished what He had wanted all along. He wanted humanity to be redeemed through the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive His Holy Spirit. So, the covenant with Abraham had an eternal quality because it continues the legacy of God’s love and grace. The Jews were God’s chosen people in Old Testament times, and He chose to lavish His blessings on them in order to demonstrate His love, grace, power, and goodness to us. During earlier biblical days, Gentiles did not worship God, but it was always God’s plan to bring them and us into the fold, and again, He accomplished this through the promise He made to Abraham.
His plan all along was to save us. It was to redeem and restore us to the place of holiness that Adam once knew in the Garden of Eden. It was to give us access to His matchless and powerful Kingdom, and to accomplish this and more through the sacrifice and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Our blessed Redeemer made it possible for us to receive the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38(NLT) tells us, “38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is our best friend. He’s our Teacher, Leader, Guide, Helper, and Comforter. He delights in helping us and Jesus Christ tells us in John 16:13(NLT), “13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.” The Holy Spirit helps us to live a successful Christian life, and we wouldn’t be able to do this without his help.
1John 4:13(NLT) tells us, “And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.” Praise the Lord! The Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’ or an abstract essence. The Holy Spirit is more of a person than we could ever hope to be, and he lives inside every born-again believer. We desperately need his strength and power, and we can lean on him through our faith, because He cannot fail.
Ephesians 4:30 reminds us that God has identified us as His own by giving us His precious Holy Spirit. This means we should be committed to live according to the example of Christ. We grieve the Holy Spirit when our thoughts and behaviors go against the grain of God’s love. He doesn’t ever want us to head down a path that will harm us in some way. He wants us to remain in continual fellowship with God by living according to God’s Word. He will help us to do this so that we can please God, live abundantly, and grow stronger in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
“The Promise of the Holy Spirit”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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