Teleos Blog that we may present everyone complete in Christ

Brand NewPosted by Phil on March 21st, 2010

therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! –2 Corinthians 5:17

a brand new creation. as a follower of Christ, do you ever feel like you’re supposed to be just a better version of who you’ve always been? but this says we’re a new creation….everything that was old….is gone.

have you wondered how crabs grow? like hermit crabs go and find a new, larger shell to live in…but what about other crabs. they go through a molting process…where they appear to die, and then break out of their shell as an entirely new crab…new shell, new legs, new eye, antennae. the old is left behind, and they are literally a new creation. we are the same way.

and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. –Ezekiel 36:26-27

a new year and new spirit. God says “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh.” we are so much more than a better behaving version of our old selves. God has made us new…we are justified. and the Spirit is busy at work making us better…sanctifying us, becoming set apart, making us holy. it is the Spirit that is helping us adjust to being new creations. the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is the result of his sanctifying work.

but the problem with living with the Holy Spirit is that we can try to live without it….we can fight it. we can try really hard on our own…and sometimes accomplish some good things. but it is through the power of the Spirit that we can do great things and truly know the heart of God. Ephesians 4:30 tells us “do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you life (NLT).”

is the Spirit helping you adjust to you new status in Christ? or are you trying to be a “good Christian” all on your own? on our own…we try really hard and feel like a failure. life through the Spirit we are free to follow, love, and know God.

God, may your Spirit be more and more real in my life every day.

Be Filled with the SpiritPosted by Phil on March 14th, 2010

next to the Gospel, being filled with the Spirit is the key to the Christian life. yet it’s the aspect of the Spirit that most believers know nothing about and fail to ask for on a consistent basis. so far in this series, we’ve looked at the role the Spirit plays in the life of the believe. he convicts, guides, leads, controls, and encourages…but learning to be filled with the Holy Spirit is what enables him to do those things. unlike regeneration, baptism, sealing, and indwelling…being filled with the Spirit is not just a 1 time act…but a moment by moment experience with the Spirit of God.

if you look at the disciples after Christ ascended into heaven, they were stuck in a room. hiding and waiting. now, in their defense, they were told to wait…but they were powerless. Jesus told them to wait for the Spirit.

so what does it meant to be filled with the Spirit? it’s best to check it out for yourself. take a look at John 15:1-8, Acts 1:8, Galatians 3:3, 5:22-23, and Colossians 3:16.

there are a few reasons why the average Christian is not filled with the Spirit. first, we lack knowledge…it’s something we have not talked about. also, many are afraid of God or afraid of giving up control to God. and many are seeking experiences instead of believing/trusting God…we want the feeling of the Spirit without actually submitting control. finally….we just don’t claim the power that we have been given.

we can be filled only through faith and it requires us to prepare our hearts by confessing sin and surrendering control. we need to realize that we are told to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) and God promises that he will (1 John 5:14-15).

so the questions for you:
am I ready to surrender my life (and keep surrendering) to the Spirit?
am I ready to let go of sin and other things I hold on to?
do I sincerely desire to have my life be directed by the Spirit?

if so….then ask for the Spirit to fill you and guide you each and every day.

Pneumatology???Posted by Phil on March 8th, 2010

you probably haven’t heard the word pneumatology. but it’s the fancy theological term for the study of the Holy Spirit. pneuma is the Greek word for wind or air. it is a neuter gender word, but is given a masculine personal pronoun.

the fact that the word for spirit means air and that it is a neuter term has lead people to think that the Holy Spirit is a farce, power, or an energy and they often miss out on the person of the Holy Spirit. don’t miss out on this….the Holy Spirit is by far the most prominent person of the Trinity for us right now. the Holy Spirit is what makes a personal relationship with God possible. it’s how we can experience God.

i would encourage you to read through 3 passages about the Holy Spirit and write down what the Spirit does and who he is. take a look through John 16:5-16, Romans 8:9-17, and 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.

we’ll see that the Spirit teaches, convicts, guides, reveals, brings glory to God, controls, gives life, discerns, gives gifts, and makes us God’s children…among many others things. he was there for the creation of the world (Gen. 1:2), inspired Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16), and involved in the birth of Christ (Luke 1:35).

it’s easy to see the Spirit is very active….but only in the life of the believer. the only thing the Spirit can do for a non-believer is convict of sin. at salvation, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and he does 4 very special things in our life…all 1 time acts that last forever. the Spirit regenerates us (new creation), baptizes (new identity), indwells in us (a new presence), and seals us (new destiny).

the Holy Spirit is active and real….so are you looking for him? are you asking to know him more and more each day? are you letting him do the things he said he would do in the life of the believer?

Misconceptions of the Holy SpiritPosted by Phil on March 2nd, 2010

Francis Chan recently wrote a book called “Forgotten God” and it’s all about the Holy Spirit. the Spirit is the part of the trinity that we often leave alone b/c we’re not exactly sure who the Holy Spirit is. if given the choice between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, almost all of us would choose Jesus.

the Bible talks about speaking in tongues and gifts of healing, but if you’ve ever seen it today, it seems pretty scary. it seems that on the liberal end, the Spirit has been turned into a power or energy. in response, on the conservative end, we can almost neglect that the Holy Spirit is God.

Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:7, that it is better for him to go so that the Spirit can come. he promises the Holy Spirit that will counsel, teach, remind, and give peace.

a lot of times, we try really, really hard to be good Christian. as churches, we make a lot of effort to get people to come and tell them about God. we are promised that the Spirit will never leave us, but he can let us get along without him. every believer has the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we need to learn to recognize and respond to him…to ask God to reveal himself to us.

it starts with asking. asking God that we can know him. that we can be used by him. we can try really hard on our own…and we can even do some good things trying. but the life God intended for us is one that allows the Spirit to use us.

that’s the goal of the next several weeks. to take the next steps in understanding and recognizing the Spirit of God. if you can, take time to read John 14-16. 3 chapters talking about the promised Holy Spirit.