More Power To You (Part 6)

We now reach the climax of this series of articles on Christian Spiritual power. As we saw in the previous article, the power of the Holy Spirit works through believers because of the authority of the name of Jesus. When the sons of Sceva tried to rebuke evil spirits ‘in the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches’, they soon found out that evil spirits had no respect for them. Today still, unbelievers can expect the same results.

Recapping this short teaching on the power of God in us, we saw that all human beings are sinners in need of salvation. We also saw that salvation is available only for those who believe in the name of Jesus. The same goes for Spiritual power. Lastly, from our example of the police officer, we saw that the authority of the police officer lies in the uniform, and that without the uniform the police officer was not able to stop the truck that he easily stopped while wearing his uniform.

In the Christian faith, we also have a uniform, as described by the Apostle Paul.

Ephesians 6:10-18 WEB Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:

There we have it; the uniform of the Christian. There is but one weakness in the uniform, which resembles the uniform of the Roman Centurions: the back of the believer is left open. Is it not wonderful how the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to give this specific description of the battledress? The battle dress of the Roman soldier rendered all the protection needed, as long as the soldier was engaged in battle. The moment he turned around to flee, his back was left wide open for the arrows of the enemy.

Let this be our first lesson for this part: Never underestimate the enemy, and never turn your back on the enemy. However, we can learn more from the centurions. They were often engaged in battle for days on end, and when in such battle, they did not take off their battle dress. Many church leaders, pastors, priests and reverends will agree that they constantly have to pray for their members to be clad with the armour of God. But, this is not as it should be. God’s intention is that we put on the armour once, and keep it on for the rest of our lives.

But the post-modern Christian wants to take it off frequently, like when they go for an alcoholic beverage, engage in road rage, watch a pornographic DVD, covet their neighbour’s wife, swear at the taxi driver, and so on. In principle, this is probably the greatest reason for the powerlessness of the Christian of today.

Although God loves the sinner, God hates sin, and will not ever partake in it. Let us look at this from another angle. The Holy Spirit is sometimes symbolised by a dove. The author has often seen how a person that is calm and full of the Spirit of God, can move gently and gracefully past doves without disturbing them. When a next person comes by fighting, swearing and/or stressing, the doves are sure to fly away. This is what sin, sinful practices and an impenitent heart does to the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, we can pretend to be as ‘holy’ as we want to in order to impress the pastor and church members on Sunday, but the Holy Spirit dwelling in every believer knows what goes from Monday till Saturday as well. And, in this, the children of God often falter. “Why can’t I be like that man, woman, or pastor” is a thought often spoken in desperation by Christians that suffer from powerlessness.

In many cases, the problem lies not with the ‘other’ person, but with self. Some ‘Christians’ want to be in the world, live as the world and enjoy the glamour of the world, but still want to retain the privileges of being children of God. Nevertheless, the Bible explains that love for the world and love for God are two opposite poles.

1 John 2:15-16 WEB Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him. (16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the Father's, but is the world's.

James 4:4 WEB You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

John 15:19 WEB If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Every time a Christian commits wilful sin, or planned sin, he or she looses part of the armour of God. The problem is not a ‘falling into sin and getting up’ situation, bat rather a ‘planning to commit sin when and where nobody else can see.

1 John 3:9 WEB Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God.

In many of the translations, this appears to contradict 1 John 1: 8-10, but it does not. The Amplified Bible translates this as follows:

1 John 3:9 AMP No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and [8] habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
There is a great difference between ‘falling in sin’ and deliberately, knowingly and habitually practicing sin. No Christian should deliberately, knowingly and habitually practice sin and think that they will get God’s approval for what they are doing. God’s instruction to ‘be holy as He is holy’ remains to this day.

The power of God is there for every Christian to have, but will only be experienced as long as we ‘play according to God’s rules. The Holy Spirit provides the power, but Jesus has to give the authority, and this is only handed to those that habitually wear the armour of God.

Hebrews 5:12-14 WEB For when by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. (13) For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. (14) But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

With this, we conclude this short teaching. You receive the power of the Holy Spirit when you accept Jesus’ salvation offer. However, to have the power and not use it, reminds one of the many pieces of gym equipment that has been lying around in our garages for decades. Although you own them and they are your property, you will not lose a kilo because of them and you will not feel any better for having them lie in the garage.

This is what so many Christians do with and to the power of the Holy Spirit.