Having the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as being filled with the Spirit, is required in order to accomplish a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g (John 15:5) in the spiritual realm. Accordingly, in order to prepare oneself and be available for service, the advancing disciple must become aware of how one is Spirit filled, how the filling can be lost, and how to have it restored.
In order to understand the "filling" of the Spirit", it is important to first comprehend the distinction between the permanent and unconditional "indwelling" of God the Holy Spirit and the conditional "filling:.
The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit takes place at the moment of salvation when an individual makes a decision to believe in a presentation of the true Gospel Message. As 1 Cor. 3:16 teach, the earthly "temple" of God is the collective body, consisting of all the individual physical bodies, of all born again believers during the course of their post salvation spiritual life. This "indwelling" of God the Holy Spirit is permanent until the soul (Gen. 2.7/John 3:6b) and the regenerated human spirit (Titus 3:5) depart at the moment of physical death of the body.
The "filling" of the Spirit refers to the (John 15:5) enabling power of God the Holy Spirit through which God the Holy Spirit produces divine good in the post salvation life of a born again believer who is in "fellowship" (Habakkuk 1: 13/2Cor.13: 14) with God. Just as the best electrical appliance on the market is useless if it is not plugged in or otherwise connected to a power source, so is the capability of a born again believer when it comes to the producti0n of divine good.
The first time a human soul is "connected" and filled with the Spirit in at the moment of salvation when fellowship with God is originally established. The first time that the saved soul of a born again believer is "disconnected" from the filling (enabling power) of the Spirit is when he inevitably (1John 1:8) commits his first post (after) salvation sin, and every time thereafter.
Committing post salvation sin does not diminish the integrity of one's salvation, but puts the production of divine good on "hold" until the sin is addressed via the 1John 1:9 process, restoring the lost fellowship and the filling (enabling power) of God the Holy Spirit necessary to produce divine (John 15:5) good.
The inability to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good in the life of a born again believer is, "no big deal", to a self-centered, immature, back-sliding believer, who is functioning under the hostile (Romans 8:7) of his fallen nature. However, being, " spiritually disabled", is like being a fish out of water to an advancing disciple who has learned that the production of divine good is what the true post salvation spiritual life is all about. Just the lost of intimate fellowship with God in enough to motivate a mature believer to address any known sin as soon as possible and return to a status of readiness to be used by God the Holy Spirit.
The period of time that a born a believer speds " disabled" can be as brief as the few seconds that it takes to confess the sin to God the Father in private prayer (1John 1:9), or it can be as long as the rest of one's post salvation spiritual life! This principle highlights the damage that living with or in unconfessed sin can have on the quality of one's post salvation spiritual life, and it is why mental attitude sins such as the sin of refusing to forgive others can hurt the one committing the sin a lot more than it can ever hurt or punish other people.
Confessing (1John 1:9), but not forsaking (John 8:11) any given form of sin will do little good and prevent further progress in one's spiritual life. Such a practice will cause such a believer to spend his/her entire post salvation spiritual life in a revolving doorway, going in and out of fellowship with God, but never remaining in the life of discipleship long enough to make any significant progress.
A mature believer will be spiritually sensitive enough to promptly realize that he/she has sinned and is in need to confess it in order to return to a position of readiness to execute the post salvation spiritual life. Immature believers, on the other hand, will choose to enter into self-justification or human rationalization for doing or failing to do what God requires of them if they are to progress in their walk with the Lord. It is when out of fellowship that believers are most vulnerable to listen to and to apply all of the satanic alternatives to what God has established in the spiritual ream.
During the periods of time that a born again believer is out of fellowship with God, the only "good" that he is capable of producing is human good. Many forms of human good have great value for those who benefit by it while here on Earth, but it is only the wood, hay, straw of 1Cor. 3: 12-15, destined for total destruction and rejection by God when the deeds of believers are evaluated for heavenly reward!
Satan and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil work long and hard at deceiving believers to confuse the human good they produce with the divine good that ONLY God the Holy can produce through them, and ONLY when they are in fellowship with God!
The 1John 1:9 process is NOT for the purpose of regaining or sustaining one's salvation, as the salvation is NEVER in jeopardy. The 1John 1:9 process is the divinely established procedure for returning to the true post salvation spiritually life after we have committed a known sin, and as a result, have broken our intimate fellowship with God and have been unplugged from the power source needed to have God produce divine good. This process requires no additional "religious" ritual or activity to complete.
The more a born again believer learns what sin consists of, the more he will acknowledge the need to frequently examine himself (2Cor. 13:5) throughout the course of each day to insure that he is in a position of readiness to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good through him/her. In doing so, make the best of the time that God has given each day before we are called Home or the Rapture takes place.
It is not we who decides what the daily spiritual opportunities are going to be. That is the domain of God the Holy Spirit. Our part is to be doctrinally prepared and in the ready position to walk through the doors of opportunity that God the Holy Spirit has planned for us each and every day.
We daily prepare ourselves by setting aside sanctified time for the study and meditation of the Word of God. We prepare ourselves by the moment to moment application of what we have learned to what we do and to the decisions we make. We maintain a position of readiness by insuring that we are in fellowship with God and are plugged into the (John 15:5) power source necessary to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good through us when God the Holy Spirit opens the doors of opportunity for us to act in the capacity of Christ's ambassadors (2or. 5: 20) in the various scenarios and environments that He arranges in our individual peripheries. Ambassadors do not promote their own independent thoughts or policies, but only the agenda of the Kingdom they represent. We ca not pass on to others anything that we have not first learned for ourselves.
When conducting 2Cor. 13:5 examinations, there is one clear way to see if we, at any moment, are "filled" with God the Holy Spirit and in a position of readiness. When filled, the believer, in mental attitude, facial expressions, body language, and behavior exhibits the "fruit" of the Spirit. Like an apple tree producing apples, it is an automatic activity that takes place without conscious thought or effort. The fruit being manifested by a believer who is Spirit filled takes place no matter what the environment or circumstances he/she is in at the time. Such fruit is unconditional love, the joy ( of the Lord) ( inward) peace, patience (with self and others), kindness, (divine) goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22).
When out of fellowship and not filled with Spirit, the fruit of the fallen nature will become evident. Such fruit include immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying, drunkenness (alcohol/substance abuse), carousing, and things like these...(Galatians 5: 19-21 NASB italics mine). When filled by the Spirit, one's attitude, speech, mannerisms and overt behavior will reflect , "...(unconditional) love, joy (of the Lord), peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...(Gal. 5: 22, 23 NASB italics mine)." We ALL sin and get out of fellowship with God, but decide for yourself which one of these to groups of adjectives is what comes to mind when other people think of you!
Some of us can do a better job that others when it comes to restraining ourselves from overtly revealing the manifestation of the negative fruit of the fallen nature, but God knows when we are and when we are not filled by God the Holy Spirit. From divine viewpoint, all the time consumed while functioning under the self-centered fallen nature (Romans 7) is time wasted that God gives to us to bring glory to Him. These periods of negative time (from divine viewpoint) can be as brief as the time it takes to enter the intangible "confessional" that God established (1 John 1: 9), or
for as long as the rest of one's post salvation spiritual life here on Earth. The "confessional" that God established is open 24-7.
Not being in a position to produce divine good is of little (if any) concern to someone out of fellowship with God, but its like being a fish out of water to an advancing disciple.
The bottom line and significance of being or not being filled with the Spirit is that without God, we can do NOTHING in the spiritual realm (John 15: 5). All born again believers are permanently indwelled by God the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3: 16) throughout the course of their post salvation spiritual life,, but the percentage of the time one functions under the filling of the Spirit varies greatly from one believer to another. This was what Paul was communicating to the believers is Corinth in his letter (2 Cor. 13: 14) when he spoke of being in "fellowship" with God.
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In order to understand the "filling" of the Spirit", it is important to first comprehend the distinction between the permanent and unconditional "indwelling" of God the Holy Spirit and the conditional "filling:.
The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit takes place at the moment of salvation when an individual makes a decision to believe in a presentation of the true Gospel Message. As 1 Cor. 3:16 teach, the earthly "temple" of God is the collective body, consisting of all the individual physical bodies, of all born again believers during the course of their post salvation spiritual life. This "indwelling" of God the Holy Spirit is permanent until the soul (Gen. 2.7/John 3:6b) and the regenerated human spirit (Titus 3:5) depart at the moment of physical death of the body.
The "filling" of the Spirit refers to the (John 15:5) enabling power of God the Holy Spirit through which God the Holy Spirit produces divine good in the post salvation life of a born again believer who is in "fellowship" (Habakkuk 1: 13/2Cor.13: 14) with God. Just as the best electrical appliance on the market is useless if it is not plugged in or otherwise connected to a power source, so is the capability of a born again believer when it comes to the producti0n of divine good.
The first time a human soul is "connected" and filled with the Spirit in at the moment of salvation when fellowship with God is originally established. The first time that the saved soul of a born again believer is "disconnected" from the filling (enabling power) of the Spirit is when he inevitably (1John 1:8) commits his first post (after) salvation sin, and every time thereafter.
Committing post salvation sin does not diminish the integrity of one's salvation, but puts the production of divine good on "hold" until the sin is addressed via the 1John 1:9 process, restoring the lost fellowship and the filling (enabling power) of God the Holy Spirit necessary to produce divine (John 15:5) good.
The inability to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good in the life of a born again believer is, "no big deal", to a self-centered, immature, back-sliding believer, who is functioning under the hostile (Romans 8:7) of his fallen nature. However, being, " spiritually disabled", is like being a fish out of water to an advancing disciple who has learned that the production of divine good is what the true post salvation spiritual life is all about. Just the lost of intimate fellowship with God in enough to motivate a mature believer to address any known sin as soon as possible and return to a status of readiness to be used by God the Holy Spirit.
The period of time that a born a believer speds " disabled" can be as brief as the few seconds that it takes to confess the sin to God the Father in private prayer (1John 1:9), or it can be as long as the rest of one's post salvation spiritual life! This principle highlights the damage that living with or in unconfessed sin can have on the quality of one's post salvation spiritual life, and it is why mental attitude sins such as the sin of refusing to forgive others can hurt the one committing the sin a lot more than it can ever hurt or punish other people.
Confessing (1John 1:9), but not forsaking (John 8:11) any given form of sin will do little good and prevent further progress in one's spiritual life. Such a practice will cause such a believer to spend his/her entire post salvation spiritual life in a revolving doorway, going in and out of fellowship with God, but never remaining in the life of discipleship long enough to make any significant progress.
A mature believer will be spiritually sensitive enough to promptly realize that he/she has sinned and is in need to confess it in order to return to a position of readiness to execute the post salvation spiritual life. Immature believers, on the other hand, will choose to enter into self-justification or human rationalization for doing or failing to do what God requires of them if they are to progress in their walk with the Lord. It is when out of fellowship that believers are most vulnerable to listen to and to apply all of the satanic alternatives to what God has established in the spiritual ream.
During the periods of time that a born again believer is out of fellowship with God, the only "good" that he is capable of producing is human good. Many forms of human good have great value for those who benefit by it while here on Earth, but it is only the wood, hay, straw of 1Cor. 3: 12-15, destined for total destruction and rejection by God when the deeds of believers are evaluated for heavenly reward!
Satan and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil work long and hard at deceiving believers to confuse the human good they produce with the divine good that ONLY God the Holy can produce through them, and ONLY when they are in fellowship with God!
The 1John 1:9 process is NOT for the purpose of regaining or sustaining one's salvation, as the salvation is NEVER in jeopardy. The 1John 1:9 process is the divinely established procedure for returning to the true post salvation spiritually life after we have committed a known sin, and as a result, have broken our intimate fellowship with God and have been unplugged from the power source needed to have God produce divine good. This process requires no additional "religious" ritual or activity to complete.
The more a born again believer learns what sin consists of, the more he will acknowledge the need to frequently examine himself (2Cor. 13:5) throughout the course of each day to insure that he is in a position of readiness to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good through him/her. In doing so, make the best of the time that God has given each day before we are called Home or the Rapture takes place.
It is not we who decides what the daily spiritual opportunities are going to be. That is the domain of God the Holy Spirit. Our part is to be doctrinally prepared and in the ready position to walk through the doors of opportunity that God the Holy Spirit has planned for us each and every day.
We daily prepare ourselves by setting aside sanctified time for the study and meditation of the Word of God. We prepare ourselves by the moment to moment application of what we have learned to what we do and to the decisions we make. We maintain a position of readiness by insuring that we are in fellowship with God and are plugged into the (John 15:5) power source necessary to have God the Holy Spirit produce divine good through us when God the Holy Spirit opens the doors of opportunity for us to act in the capacity of Christ's ambassadors (2or. 5: 20) in the various scenarios and environments that He arranges in our individual peripheries. Ambassadors do not promote their own independent thoughts or policies, but only the agenda of the Kingdom they represent. We ca not pass on to others anything that we have not first learned for ourselves.
When conducting 2Cor. 13:5 examinations, there is one clear way to see if we, at any moment, are "filled" with God the Holy Spirit and in a position of readiness. When filled, the believer, in mental attitude, facial expressions, body language, and behavior exhibits the "fruit" of the Spirit. Like an apple tree producing apples, it is an automatic activity that takes place without conscious thought or effort. The fruit being manifested by a believer who is Spirit filled takes place no matter what the environment or circumstances he/she is in at the time. Such fruit is unconditional love, the joy ( of the Lord) ( inward) peace, patience (with self and others), kindness, (divine) goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22).
When out of fellowship and not filled with Spirit, the fruit of the fallen nature will become evident. Such fruit include immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying, drunkenness (alcohol/substance abuse), carousing, and things like these...(Galatians 5: 19-21 NASB italics mine). When filled by the Spirit, one's attitude, speech, mannerisms and overt behavior will reflect , "...(unconditional) love, joy (of the Lord), peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...(Gal. 5: 22, 23 NASB italics mine)." We ALL sin and get out of fellowship with God, but decide for yourself which one of these to groups of adjectives is what comes to mind when other people think of you!
Some of us can do a better job that others when it comes to restraining ourselves from overtly revealing the manifestation of the negative fruit of the fallen nature, but God knows when we are and when we are not filled by God the Holy Spirit. From divine viewpoint, all the time consumed while functioning under the self-centered fallen nature (Romans 7) is time wasted that God gives to us to bring glory to Him. These periods of negative time (from divine viewpoint) can be as brief as the time it takes to enter the intangible "confessional" that God established (1 John 1: 9), or
for as long as the rest of one's post salvation spiritual life here on Earth. The "confessional" that God established is open 24-7.
Not being in a position to produce divine good is of little (if any) concern to someone out of fellowship with God, but its like being a fish out of water to an advancing disciple.
The bottom line and significance of being or not being filled with the Spirit is that without God, we can do NOTHING in the spiritual realm (John 15: 5). All born again believers are permanently indwelled by God the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3: 16) throughout the course of their post salvation spiritual life,, but the percentage of the time one functions under the filling of the Spirit varies greatly from one believer to another. This was what Paul was communicating to the believers is Corinth in his letter (2 Cor. 13: 14) when he spoke of being in "fellowship" with God.
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