The Divine Educator came on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came to educate truth into our lives and lead us to be powerful in the perspectives of God. He educates us so He can empower us to be the light in our world. Too often we substitute doctrines into His education process and call it His leading. It has been my experience that many doctrines have a bias that does not represent Him. The Holy Spirit educates us on Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment:
John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
It is simple … the Holy Spirit makes disciples, that is His job. The Cross made Jesus the Savior, and the Holy Spirit makes Jesus the Lord over your life. It is that simple.
For many years I did not acknowledge the Holy Spirit much in my life. I acknowledged Him as the author of the Scriptures but was not seen as having a personality. That did change for me earlier this year when I decided to pursue Him in a relational way. Since He is a disciple making part of the Trinity, I figured He could be my coach in spiritual formation. So, I asked Him to coach me in areas I needed help. Well, following several weeks of engaging Him on how I needed to change, here are the first seven areas He challenged me to change:
My reactions
My lack of mercy
My letting go of things
My lack of patience
My need to watch and pray
My awareness of seduction
My surrender to obedience
In each of these, the Holy Spirit was kind and encouraging to me. He was not harsh or judgmental. I asked and He answered how I could improve. I still struggle with some of these, but I know change is a process and I am moving forward. Yet the greater value of this exercise was my discovery of a new friend, coach, and encourager in my life. He no longer is just the printed page of the Scriptures … He became the personality I rely on for advice, counsel, and direction. He has changed my thinking on so many things as it relates to Scripture.
As an example, I was recently challenged to review how God restores us from a sinful lifestyle. His mercy is always seen through His forgiveness that He offers us, and that forgiveness alone can restore and change the direction in our lives. Then there are those who come to faith in Christ and have a moral or relapse in lifestyle behavior. How are they restored, and does their failure never leave them in the eyes of the Church? What I learned through this is forgiveness is always available from God, but people are slow to forgive. Yet if sin is removed from us through His forgiveness, it gets moved from us as far as the East is from the West, buried in the depths of the sea. If that is true, then why are we perpetually judged for our short fall?
Restoration comes from repentance, and a return to the Lord. The Prodigal Son is a great story that illustrates this principle. The father’s joy was in the son coming back to the family, and it caused the father to celebrate. Who was angry in this story? The older, eldest son who felt he deserved more for remaining faithful to his father. I have heard it said that this elder brother is similar to the religious people of our day. They are not as forgiving as the father was, and feel shortchanged by all the fanfare of the younger brothers return.
The Cross is a symbol of restoration. It removed our sin so that restoration was possible. That has always been the Father’s heart, and the mission of Jesus was to please His Father, and make provision for restoration of the human race possible. The Holy Spirit’s work among those believing in Jesus as Savior is to make disciples … it is the next step in our restoration. Learning God’s ways and living out His ways through our lives is the next step for all of us who have come to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The Holy Spirit in our day is asking for our attention. He is giving us a wakeup call to prepare ourselves for the world that is about to come into view. That world is not friendly to God … it is at war with Him. That war against God includes those who believe in Him. The tendency today in many Churches is to stay neutral, don’t create waves, live without the drama, and without the hassle of always fighting for the causes. I understand, but this is not the reality of the world to come. You and I will be forced to choose, and many who are not prepared will choose falsely, and be trapped by deception. Today is not only the day of salvation … it is a day to submit to the Divine Educator and learn how to withstand the evil in our day, and the evil to come.
Submit yourself to God today, put a priority on pursuing the God of the Scriptures that we may be a workman whose craft is to tell the truth and to stand for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler
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