The Holy Spirit’s “job”

Sometimes believers in Christ go to one of two extremes:
1. They fail to take responsibility for God given duties in the name of letting the Spirit "do his job."
2. They fail to follow the Spirit's lead and use his power, in the name of not being a "parked car."

However, the truth of our duty and the Spirit's activity are combined and balanced. First let's look at "the Spirit's job."

It is true that it is indeed the Holy Spirit who convicts unbelievers (and believers for that matter) of sin, righteousness, and judgment. But how does he do this?

Let’s answer the question with a question. How do unbelievers become believers? How do they find out that they have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory? Is this not through the preaching of the gospel by Spirit filled and Spirit led believers? Isn’t it by the believer's right use of the law of God and of conscience that unbelievers are convicted of their sins?

So the Spirit does “his job” through believers, not apart from or in spite of them. Believers, not the Holy Spirit, are to preach the gospel.
Believers, not the Holy Spirit, are to make disciples.
Believing fathers and mothers, not the Holy Spirit, are to train their children.

All of these are to work by the power and presence and leading of the Holy Spirit.

Some may give these objections:
"Genuine repentance, gratitude, sorrow for sin, or a change of heart, cannot and should not be 'forced.' After all, we can’t control or change people’s hearts. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.”

Yet even the Holy Spirit cannot change our hearts without our consent. But we, AND the Holy Spirit, can change a person’s heart, or mind, or intention. This happens all of the time. People regularly change each other’s minds or intentions, assuming their free volitions, or choice to change in response to our words of truth and love.

We as believers are charged by the Lord to command repentance, which means a change of mind or heart or intention. The Spirit empowers our command, but we must give the command in order for the Spirit to act on our behalf.

The irony is, there are some who speak of that which is only "the Spirit's job" who also use the analogy of a "parked car." The analogy of the parked car is often used to make the point that if we are not in motion, or active, then the Spirit has nothing to work with.

Yet a "parked car" does not move itself. It is moved by a driver. So for the analogy to truly fit, the Holy Spirit, or Christ, must be the "driver," and the fuel is his power. He is the one giving the directions. A car does not start, steer, or empower itself.

Of course the analogy breaks down because a car has no will of its own. But it is also a good analogy because the car has no will of it's own.

Therefore, we must follow the Spirit's lead and use the Spirit's power in doing our God given duties.

For example, we know that we are commanded to preach the gospel. Yet all of us are not commanded to do this in the same way, or by the same gifts. So we must first know our calling and empowering by the Spirit. We must also know to whom we are sent and when we are to go.

To a certain extent, the 12 apostles and the 120 were "parked cars" on the day of pentecost, in the sense that they did not go into the world and preach the gospel, by the very command of Christ, UNTIL they were endued with power from on high. Now once they were endued, as they had freely received, so they freely gave. Yet even in this they followed the Spirit's lead, and did not take the attitude of "going unless the Spirit stops you."

There is truth to the parked car analogy, and there is truth to letting the Holy Spirit do his job.

We are to be "parked cars" in the sense that we wait for clear direction and power from the Spirit before we go to others. This, too, is "letting the Spirit do his job." The ministry is his, and he is the one to begin, continue, and end it. This means he is also ultimately responsible for the results, or the end of the work he starts. But he is not responsible for the means to the end in the sense of carrying them out by himself. As has been said, we are responsible to speak and act as he leads us.

Once we know our gifts, calling, empowering, and sending, then we can act in those contexts, almost as if we need not wait for the Spirit's leading, because he has already led us by calling and empowering us. This very blog is an example. I know that I am called to speak and write as God leads and empowers me. I am to speak and write to all who are willing to listen in the United States. Blogs are a means to that end, an opportunity for me that I may use freely.

So, I am not a "parked car" in the sense that I am writing as I have opportunity, as often as I have opportunity. But I am a parked car in that I do not and will not write unless I know I have something from the Spirit to write.

Therefore, our power and direction comes from the Spirit. We actively wait for his leadership, and we energetically carry our callings at every opportunity presented to us.

Regret

i look back and remember the possibility of a different decision. in my memory the possibility was a certainty. but at the time, which i can also remember, i felt "stuck" in a certain frame of mind. this mind frame almost guaranteed the wrong choice. how can i avoid the mindset of inevitable failure?

diligence in awareness seems to be the issue. right now, as i type, i am aware of my surroundings and feelings. i am aware of the choice: to type, or not to type. i am aware of the consequence: expression, or non expression. lower case or upper case-understanding of "poetic license," or no understanding. these choices are not life or death.

but i remember a driving accident i had. the choice: to stop or not to stop. i know this choice now, but i did not know it then.

why?

i was not told of this option. i was not aware of the right decision.

It is written, "Be self-controlled, be watchful (or alert), for your adversary, the devil, roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..."

self-controlled
alert
aware

that day i was self-controlled, and relatively alert. but i was not aware of the necessary options.

awareness of options and possible danger, and consequences of the danger
Options: stop or go
Possible Consequences: if i stop, i will not hit a car. if i go, i may or may not.

"maybe you should have asked more questions," said someone who knew of the accident.

maybe so. but what if i don't even know the questions to ask. what if i don't know what i don't know? how then can i know?

i hate regret. more so, i hate the inevitable mindset.

if i were to teach a driving lesson, i would tell of the option.
the teacher should tell the student his or her options.

"i can't teach how to think. i can't teach you judgment," said my instructor.

if by this he meant he can't think or judge for me in a given situation, this is part true. it is true that he cannot literally use my brain for me, but he can think in my place in the sense of seeing what i don't see, and responding in a way i would not.

and he can definitely teach me how to think and how to judge. this is what teachers do all the time. they teach students to see a certain reality as they see it, having had experience, and they teach the student to think through that experience.

self-controlled
alert
aware

to speak or not to speak
speech=expression
silence=non expression

to express anger or not to express anger
expressed anger=possible argument
non expressed anger=possible time to calm down and think

but in the situation of angry expression, why does it feel like the option is not there?

i believe this is the enemy we are to watch for. i believe this is the deception: that there is no option.

mindset: a fixed mental disposition that predetermines one's interpretation of and response to situations.

i love this definition of mindset.

a fixed mental disposition

if i fix my mind on the options of words and actions, and decide based upon informed knowledge of consequences, so that i may choose the words, actions, AND CONSEQUENCES, perhaps there will be no more regrets.

if i predetermine my interpretation and responses to situations BEFORE situatons, then there should be no regrets in my future.

self-control
awareness

never allow myself to be pressured. be still and be silent instead of being pressured. perhaps it is better to remain silent and still than to speak and act too quickly, and thus regret my words and actions.

diligence
persistence

It is written, "Those who live in accordance with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."

those who live in agreement with God's Spirit have a fixed spiritual mental focus that predetermines a spiritual interpretation and response to situations.

or, those who live in accordance with truth have a fixed mental disposition of truth that predetermines a true interpretation and response to situations.

fixed
predetermined

slow things down when pressured to speak and act.
if a car horn blows behind me, instead of speeding off, purposely stop longer; purposely drive slower. when rushed, slow down.

in defensive tactics there is the concept of a "reactionary gap." this is the distance between the attacker and the one attacked. the one attacked should let there be a great enough distance for time to react. if there is no reactionary gap, the victim is in a danger zone.

time to think
a reactionary gap.

i must have a fixed mental disposition that refuses to rush decisions, and predetermines enough time for interpretations and responses.

it must start now............................................................................................................................................

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Free will

As Americans, we understand the ballot. We understand the power of voting. This power is the essence of independence, the power of the people. It is the means by which "the majority rules." There will be no king or queen in America. No emperor. No dictator.

It is possible for a unanimous vote for or against a proposal. It is possible for a split decision, a stand still in the process, when half want this, while the other half want that.

It is possible for a majority to be for or against this, and for a minority to be for or against that.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible. His Son is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. God the Father gave the Lord Jesus all authority in heaven and earth. This means every kind of authority, every where, at all times, over every thing, in every way. He is the perfectly good emperor. He is the perfectly benevolent dictator. He cannot be impeached because he was not voted into his office.

Yet humans are free. They have this liberty. God allows humans choice, and the freedom to experience the consequences of their choices. He allows this choice: accept Him as Creator King and live or reject him as Creator King and die. The lie is that the creature can reject the Life Creator, Source, and Sustainer and still live.

It is like a leaf, if it were animate, rejecting it's tree, disconnecting from it's tree, and thinking that it could still live. Recently plucked leaves, still green, are still dead. Brown leaves, plucked not so recently, are dead as well, more obviously. Crinkled leaves are dead. All disconnected leaves are dead.

Disconnection from God is death. Young, middle aged, or old, all disconnected people are dead.

It is possible for all humanity to unanimously agree with God's life and authority. It would be possible for them to unanimously disagree.

A majority could reject him while a minority accepted him. Or a majority could accept him while a minority rejects him.

This is freewill. You have freewill. You have chosen.

If you chose rejection, you can still, right now, withdraw your decision. If you chose submission, you can, right now, affirm your decision.

Those who have chosen rebellion are under God's condemnation. They are dead and sentenced to die eternally. But God does not want them to be dead, or to stay dead eternally.

If you are among them, He does not want you to remain dead. This is why the Lord Jesus died for you: so that you may live forever.

Choose eternal life! Accept the Lord Jesus Christ! Accept Him now!

Do you know that you have tomorrow? Do you know that you have today? Only now you are still reading and breathing. You know that you have right now.

Freely choose God! Freely do so now.

inspiration

last night i finished clint eastwood's movie, "invictus." it inspired me to think about what inspires me.


when i pray, it inspires me because i speak to the God who made me and loves me infinitely. my God given identity inspires me, because it is my inherent victory and authority. the poem, "invictus"alludes to this, though it does so imperfectly.

when i pray, i know who i am. no evil spoken against me conforms to reality,
because
God
loves
me.

i am only what God says i am.

and this is what i strive to be:

perfectly pleasing in the sight of God for the day of judgment, and to know that this is so in the present.

i will not stand before any man or any woman. before God alone i will stand. this is my liberty and victory. this inspires me.

no one will stand before me. this too gives me liberty. no one is my ultimate responsibility, no one but me. i am free. you are free. God is free.

this is the invictus that inspires me: i am driven by eternity.

introduction

peace to you.

i honor you and i thank you for choosing to read my words thus far.

i am olatunde, which means "honor comes again." i also write the blog "where is God?"

i want you to know who i am and to whom i am writing so that i do not waist your time.


i am one who was lost in life, one who used to live for myself alone, for my own pleasure. one night my selfishness and the consequences of my selfishness caused me such intense guilt that i felt like dying. i had been to church and heard about Jesus, but had never genuinely and personally understood and committed myself to Him. that night, under the weight of suicidal emotion, i said these words, "i believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for my sin." i felt peace cover me like a blanket, and i no longer wanted to die. as a result, i am now a son of God because of my trust in Jesus, who died for me, so that i would not die that night. i deserved to die because i cut myself off from God, my source of life, and the source of life. like a fallen leaf, i lay lifeless in the world. through Jesus i am reconnected to God, the tree of life.



i write to those who want true life, real life, eternal life, spiritual and meaningful life. i write to those who think about this constantly, because i think about this constantly. i write to those who want to hear and share thoughts about spiritual life. i write to those who want truth. i write assuming that Jesus alone is truth and the only way to know and experience truth. i write to those who do not reject Jesus without having investigated Him fully, His claims, His words, His identity. if you have done this, and genuinely do not believe that He is God in the flesh, but are open to hearing, then i am still writing to you. let us think and reason together with God.

peace be with you.