I should have known when I started How The Holy Spirit Works that it was not possible to condense it to one post. We continue with our diagram where the Holy Spirit centers His work.
The Spirit and the Heart
God’s Spirit in our spirit, soul, and body, works through the mind to “shine in our hearts the knowledge of the glory of God in the face (the person and humanity) of Jesus Christ.” This “treasure,” the apostle Paul states, is “in earthen vessels that the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
We are given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2 Corinthians 1:22
The love of God is spread abroad in our hearts by the Spirit.
Romans 5:5
Our hearts are circumcised in the Spirit.
Romans 2:29
God’s Spirit of love and circumcision of the heart is the fulfillment of the promise made in Ezekiel 36:26.
“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.”
It is this “new heart and new spirit” through which His Spirit works to reveal, and fulfill all that He wants to do in us as His children. This is the “new birth” so that by His Spirit working in our spirits, we are being conformed to the image of Christ, His Son.“ (Romans 8:29)
“Whoever believes in me, as he Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:38-39
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, the Son.
“God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Galatians 4:6
“that Christ may dwell in your hearts”
Ephesians 3:17
“the hidden man of the heart, the meek and quiet spirit”
1 Peter 3:4
The Holy Spirit reveals what only the new heart and spirit can understand.
“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.”
Ephesians 1:17-23
“the heart of man has not conceived the things of God,
but they are revealed by His Spirit”
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Paul prayed for the early church to “be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may comprehend and know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 It is in knowing the love of Christ in the heart, the fullness of God in the heart, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the heart that we come to the understanding of the Spirit in the will.
The Spirit and The Will
If we were speaking of God alone or man alone, we would separate His will from man’s will, but as we come to this section, we cannot separate the two. As we started with God’s Spirit and our spirit united, and follow His work through the soul and body, in which the mind, heart and will are encompassed, we have the two wills, God’s and man’s, united by the power of His Spirit. From the beginning God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed His Spirit into him, providing a soul through which God would direct and care for His creation. His Holy Spirit, by the power of Christ’s resurrection has redeemed the soul and body from the law of sin and death and brought us by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ to know His will (Romans 8:2). His Spirit of love and grace draws us to Christ, so that we willingly come to Him and desire His will, not our own (John 6:44-45). Other references include Mark 3:35; John 7:17; John 9:31; Romans 8:27
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
Romans 9:16
Our ultimate reference is from Jesus’ words, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42
If we follow the path of the Holy Spirit, we see the power that works to bring all things together for us in Christ, so that the knowledge and His light in our hearts melts our hearts and our wills and they are melded into His.
“And the Spirit says , Come ~
whosoever will may come.”
Revelation 22:17
“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness.”
Psalm 110:3
“We do hold and teach that though the will of man is not ignored, and men are not saved against their wills, that the work of the Spirit, which is the effect of the will of God, is to change the human will, and so make men willing in the day of God’s power, working in them to will to do his own good pleasure. The Spirit makes a revelation of truth to the soul, whereby it sees things in a different light from what it ever did before, and then the will cheerfully bows that neck which once was stiff as iron, and wears the yoke which it once despised, and wears it gladly, cheerfully, and joyfully. Yet, note that the will is not gone; the will is treated as it should be treated; man is not acted on as a machine, he is not polished like a piece of marble; he is not planed and smoothed like a plank of wood; but his mind is acted on by the Spirit of God, in a manner quite consistent with mental laws. Man is thus made a new creature in Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and his own will is blessedly and sweetly made to yield.” Charles Spurgeon
Dear Father, as the knowledge of your Spirit’s working is too much to include in even two posts, we will stop here and finish the last part next week. You have so blessed us to take us though this path of your Holy Spirit’s working in us as your children. Thank you for our creation and redemption that is secured by the power of your Holy Spirit as you are preparing us for eternity with you. Continue to work your will in and through us to do your will, for your glory and our joy. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
God's Grace ~ God's Glory! 