The Effects of the Spirit

Notes

1. "While the work of the Spirit is silent and imperceptible, its effects are manifest. If the heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, the life will bear witness to the fact." "Our lives will reveal whether the grace of God is dwelling in us." "And wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in love and blessing." Love is of God (1 John 4:7, Revised Version), and comes to us by the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). "The excellence and value of pure love consist in its efficiency to do good, and to do nothing else but good" (Rom. 13:10; 1 Cor. 13:4-7, Revised Version). Christ desires us to have joy (John 15:11), and has given us peace (John 14:27), which is really giving us himself (Eph. 2:14), and both these gifts are in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Those who are renewed after the image of God (Col. 3:10) will exhibit long-suffering (verse 12), will be gentle (2 Tim. 2:24), and yet will be great (2 Sam. 22:36).

2. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38), so he went about doing good. Our present need is the same anointing (Rev. 3:18). Where the Spirit of God is, there is unity (Eph. 4:3, 4) and liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). We are to walk worthy of our calling (Eph. 4:1), which means to walk according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:1, 4). The Spirit being one of power (Rom. 15:13, 19), and life (Rom. 8:2), and Christ being a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. 15:45, Revised Version; John 5:21), we are strong in him (Eph. 6:10), and not in our own might (Zech. 4:6). The gospel is to be preached with the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:12; 1 Thess. 1:5), not in man's wisdom (1 Cor. 2:4); and thus the minister of God is approved (2 Cor. 6:4). "It is the absence of the Holy Spirit and of the grace of God that makes the gospel ministry so powerless to convict and convert." Such are some of the ways in which the Holy Spirit will manifest itself in those who receive it.