What is the "full gospel" that Paul was sent to preach? If we take the
Scriptures and gather together the main elements of the gospel, we can see how
complete it is, and how much it includes.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God...unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God". For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, my dear friends, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
There is the gospel in its fullness. The purpose of our lives is to surrender to God's purpose in our lives, allowing the life of Jesus to be formed in us. And yet, our human nature cannot help asking: "What do I do? How can I bring this about in my own life?". In some ways, what we are called to do is quite un- natural, that is, it goes directly against our sinful nature, which always wants to be in charge, to be lord in our own lives. So, how does this life of Jesus get formed in us, and how can we allow God to transform us into the likeness of the Lord? If it is not by what we do, then are we supposed to just sit back and wait for it to happen by itself?
The simple answer to these questions is: "Yes, that is exactly what we must do: sit back and wait". After all, if we are dead, then how would a corpse behave? Our life must come to an end, so that his life can take over. But, at the same time, it is not the passive, negative life it might seem. What we are required to do is to submit to the Holy Spirit, and give up being our own boss. It means allowing his life to flow through us, instead of the selfish, self-centred lie we usually flow in. It means filling our minds and spirits with the things of the Spirit, instead of the things of the world. We put up a fierce fight against this change, and the strength of the sinful nature is a constant source of amazement and discouragement to us. But Jesus has promised us that he will complete what he has begun in us, and so we live by faith in his word.
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [Phil. 1.6]
Not only will the work be completed, but it is completely in the will of God that it should be completed. Look how strongly Paul puts it in Romans:
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [Rom. 8.29]
It is God's intention that we be so conformed: it is his purpose, his desire.
That truth should give us great peace and encouragement. We do not have to fight God to be conformed to Jesus, it is his plan in the first place. Everything that we need to enable us to be changed into his likeness, to have his life flow through us, has already been done. We must take his yoke upon us, and learn of him. When the Lord decides to do something, in his mind it is already completed. It is that simple. No-one should feel that they must attain a certain level of "spiritual maturity" before being used by God, or before they can understand his ways. The power and the authority do not come from our maturity or understanding, but from the life of Jesus in us. It may be hard on our egos, but we must take seriously the Scriptures which say that:
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before him. [1 Cor. 1.27-29]
These words speak of us. If we are chosen by God, then we must be foolish, weak, lowly and despised, for they are the kind he has chosen. If you will accept this description of yourself, then you can rejoice. Because this word says that he has chosen you for those very things that you might condemn yourself over. He has chosen you, so that his glory will be shown in your weakness. His wisdom will be revealed in you because you will not mistake it for your own, and neither will anyone else who knows you. No-one may boast before him, because we will know for sure that everything that is good, righteous and holy in us comes from his life, Christ in us. So do not try to become wise, or strong, or exalted, or of good reputation. Instead, allow his life to work in you and flow through you, so that his wisdom and his strength will reach others, and he will be exalted and honoured. Then, even the things that are not, the things you do not possess, will be found in you as the need arises.
Jesus gave the disciples authority to preach and cast out demons, even before his death. He commanded them to go and make disciples, baptize and teach long before any of them really understood what these things meant.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. [Matt. 28.18-20]
How could these frightened and weak men and women undertake such a huge task? Because they had his promise: "I will be with you always". This was, and is, the secret of our walk. He had to be with them, as he promised them he would be. At the Last Supper, Jesus had told the disciples:
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [Jn. 14.18]
So, even as he gave them the command to go and make disciples, he also told them that they had to wait for this coming:
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. [Lk. 24.49]
There was a power required, that would come from the Father, to enable them to do the work they had been sent to do. It is important to study the last words Jesus spoke before returning to the Father, as recorded in Acts:
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit...It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. [Acts. 1.4-5, 7-8]
There is no doubt whatsoever that Jesus placed tremendous importance on this promise of the Father. It is sometimes thought that Pentecost was the first time the disciples had known the coming of the Holy Spirit. But they had already received the Spirit when Jesus breathed on them after his resurrection, and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven" [Jn. 20.22-23]. This was not a light thing: only God has the authority to forgive sins, and here he was granting that authority to his church. This was a new departure in the history of God's people. So the command, given after this, to wait for the promise of the Father shows that there was something else that they needed to empower them for the work to which they were called.
Consider the believers before Pentecost. They had seen the risen Lord, and believed that he was truly God. They confessed him as Lord and Saviour, and prayed to him, asking that he designate someone to replace Judas among the Twelve. They were Christians. Pentecost did not mark the day of their salvation, but the day of their empowerment. They obeyed the Lord and waited to be baptized with the Holy Spirit; for Acts records that, on that day, "they were all together in one place", having been "joined together constantly in prayer" since the day of the Lord's Ascension [Acts 2.1; 1.14]. I have always thought that those first Christians had a huge advantage over us in our day. It was not that they had actually known the Lord, for we can know him as risen Lord also. It was not that they had any insight or gift that we do not share.
No, I believe their advantage was that they had absolutely no idea what to expect. None of them knew what Pentecost would bring. No-one had ever been empowered by the Holy Spirit like this before, aside from Jesus himself. No-one had ever known the indwelling, anointed guidance of the Spirit before that day. This was the fulfilment of the promise God made through the prophets, when he said that he would live with his people, that they would all know him personally, and that all would have his laws written on their hearts.
Since then, we have developed our favourite doctrines and theories concerning the Holy Spirit. We disagree over how he comes, when he comes, if he comes, and what he does when he comes. We look to other times and places to see how things happened with believers in the past, and then expect the same things to happen with us. But those first Christians were in happy ignorance, and so could not hinder the move of the Holy Spirit, as we often do, by deciding in advance how and when he must manifest himself.
There is no method, no formula, by which the Holy Spirit works. Jesus told us this in John 3:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. [Jn. 3.8]
All we know is that the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father, that he makes us able to do the Father's will, and that the gift is necessary to us. As Peter told the people on Pentecost:
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call. [Acts 2.39]
Are you called by God? Then the promise is for you. Do not let anyone try to tell you that it isn't, or that you somehow don't need it. If Peter, John, Paul and all those first believers needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then so do we. To say otherwise is both arrogant and ungrateful.
At the same time, do not lay down conditions for the Spirit. He is the wind of God, and he blows wherever he pleases. If you are born of the Spirit, then you will not know where he will take you next, so how can you plan or organize in advance? Jesus said plainly that the Holy Spirit was required before any effective work could be undertaken in the kingdom. It was from this that the power to do the work of God would come. In his last evening with his disciples, he told them a little of what the Spirit would do.
But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you...I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. [Jn. 14.26; 16.12-14]
Here is a major part of the Spirit's ministry in us: to reveal the truth to us. We have seen that this is part of the mystery that has been revealed to us: knowing God and his ways. He will bring glory to Jesus by "taking from what is mine and making it known to you". It is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal "Christ in you, the hope of glory". It is the Holy Spirit who forms the life of Jesus in believers. Here is the Trinity at work in the believer: the Father sends the Spirit who forms Jesus in us.
It is the Spirit living in us who provides the energy of God that so powerfully works in us: in our preaching, admonishing and witnessing. It is the Spirit working in us that enables us to work out our salvation, who completes the work begun in us. And this can only take place when we have surrendered ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit, when we have offered our bodies as living sacrifices, as temples of the Holy Spirit. That is what the disciples found at Pentecost. They had no idea what was to happen, but they were ready and willing for God to do what he wished with them. They did not know what it meant to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but they wanted it, whatever it was, because it was the promise, the gift of the Father.
What was it that happened on Pentecost? We know that the believers had already received the Spirit before this, and that they were waiting in obedience to the Lord's command. Jesus called what they would experience being "baptized in the Holy Spirit". Today, we think we know what it is to be baptized in the Spirit, because we have read about it, heard about it, discussed it, condemned it, desired it, and analyzed it. It has caused deep divisions in the Body of Christ, as we have fought about what it means and why it is necessary. I believe we need to re-think our stand on this issue. If it is a gift of the Father, then we need to receive it joyfully and thankfully. But, first of all, we need to understand what exactly it is we are being given. And that is where the problems have arisen in the past. What did being "baptized in the Spirit" mean to the earliest Christians, and what did it mean to Jesus?
The New Testament mentions three kinds of baptism. There is the baptism in water, originally the baptism of John the Baptist. The Acts of the Apostles shows how the early church continued to baptize in water as a sign of the believer dying and being raised to new life in Christ. There is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which John the Baptist also foretold would be part of the Messiah's ministry. And then there is the baptism that Jesus spoke about, concerning his own sufferings.
But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed. [Lk. 12.50]
This is a baptism in which we also have a share. Jesus told James and John that:
You will drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. [Mk. 10.39]
Paul specifically notes that we share in this baptism.
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [Rom. 6.3]
It seems, then, that there are three baptisms: by water, by the Holy Spirit, and into the death of Jesus. But how do we reconcile this, with Paul's statement in Ephesians that there is but one baptism?
There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism. [Eph. 4.4-5]
The truth of the Scriptures is that there is only one real baptism, and the three kinds, water, Spirit and blood, are but three ways of expressing the same thing. What they are expressing is to be found in the First Letter of John:
For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement...And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. [1 Jn. 5.7-8, 11-12]
Jesus died physically, and was raised physically from the dead. But the resurrected body was different, changed utterly from what it had been before. Now it was immortal and glorified. This was the baptism Jesus was so eager to undergo, distressed until it was completed. We have been baptized into that death. When we are baptized in water, we proclaim that we, too, share in that death: that we have died in the body and have been raised into newness of life. We are saying that the life we now live in the body we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.
Having died with him, we must now live a new life, unlike the old one. Now, we live his life, Christ in us. That is the meaning of baptism. The Spirit, the water and the blood agree in their testimony. It is in this context that we must understand the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Our salvation means that we have been identified with Christ in his death. He took our place, and we now share in the benefits of his death and resurrection. This means, aside from gaining entry to eternal life in heaven, that we have a new life ourselves. The very life of Jesus is available to us. We received that when we were born of the Spirit. But, like the disciples before Pentecost, we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to make that life fully effective in us. How do we receive that empowerment? By stepping back and allowing the resurrection life of Jesus to have full reign in our mortal bodies.
That was why the 120 were waiting and praying in the days before Pentecost. They believed Jesus when he told them that they could do nothing until they were baptized in the Spirit. So they waited in obedience to his word, giving themselves to prayer. And it happened to them: suddenly the room was shaken and the Spirit came. Not because of anything they had done, or had earned. Like salvation itself, this was a gift of God. It was something, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones said memorably, "that happened to them". Afterwards, they had a new liberty and power in their testifying to Jesus. Because they had obeyed, and did not try to do anything until the Spirit gave them the lead, they were open to receiving the gift of the Father. And that is what we need also, if we are to be effective witnesses to what we have seen and known. We must become living sacrifices, denying all rights to independence and submitting to the wind of the Spirit blowing through us and forming the life of Jesus in us.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and prefect will. [Rom. 12.1-2]
What a powerful word this is! It describes the entire issue so beautifully. Jesus told us that the Father looks for worshippers, those who will worship in Spirit and truth. By offering our bodies as living sacrifices, we worship the Father as he wishes us to. We allow the Spirit to have free reign in our very bodies. Now, instead of being conformed to the world's pattern, we will be conformed to the image of Jesus. We will be transformed, which is the same verb used to describe what happened to Jesus at the Transfiguration. So we will be transfigured by having our minds renewed: it will change our way of thinking. Our perspective will radically change, as we see things through the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to us, remind us of what he has said, and guide us into all truth. Then, Paul says, we will be able to discern God's will. That is what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
2. WALK IN THE SPIRIT:
But too often we have failed to allow the Father simply to give his gift to an open and willing heart, with no strings attached, no conditions laid down. Surrender is required, a desire for God to have his way with you, and not a desire to feel some spiritual experience, or to receive gifts, or power, or anything else. We must place ourselves before the throne of God, and surrender our very bodies for his use. It is unconditional surrender, and we must expect nothing out of it for ourselves.
Scripture says that only then will we be able to know the will of God, his good, pleasing and perfect will. Only then will we be effective witnesses to him. Only then will we be set free from the sinful nature and its desires. These desires do not always take the form of obvious sins. The sinful nature also thrives on religious activities, such as keeping special days and traditions. But how much of what we do for the Lord, even our most cherished Church activities, are undertaken on our own initiative? How much church business is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and how much is based on our understanding of tradition and "the way things have always been done"? It may be that even preaching the gospel has suffered from this misplaced zeal.
We are called to be witnesses. Christians have often misunderstood that to mean that we are "to witness", ie., to tell people about the Lord. But there is no scriptural foundation for using "witness" in that way. There is nothing to warrant using the verb "to witness" in the context of preaching the gospel, handing out tracts, etc. To witness means to observe something; to be a witness means to testify concerning what one has seen. The role of a witness is clear: the witness must have observed first-hand that which he is talking about. You cannot testify about what someone else has seen, you are not a witness to that. So, to be a witness to Jesus means that we must first have seen or known something, first-hand, concerning him. This is the reason why John, in his Gospel and Letters, is very definite about what he is talking about:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. [1 Jn. 1.3]
You see that, again and again, John is emphasizing that he only talks about what he knows from personal experience, and not through the witness of others. Is this your testimony? Can you proclaim something you have actually experienced for yourself, or is it second-hand news?
Jesus said that we would only have power to be witnesses when we were empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now all Christians have the Holy Spirit, and whoever does not have the Spirit, does not have Christ [Rom. 8.9]. But just as the disciples needed that empowerment at Pentecost, even after receiving the Spirit earlier, so we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, in order to be effective and powerful witnesses. We are able to talk to people about the Lord. We can hand out tracts and put on special meetings. There is no end to what we can do: but is it empowered by the Spirit? Or are we like the Mormons, or Jehovah's Witnesses, who play the law of averages? These groups know that there is a real spiritual hunger in people, and there will always be some who will respond to any spiritual message that they hear. Knock on enough doors, and converts are bound to be made. But the Body of Christ should not be reduced to these methods.
Jesus did not need to act this way. Because he was led by the Spirit, he could be specific in his actions. Instead of going into a town and passing out tracts, he waited by a well to speak to one woman. Through her testimony to what she had personally witnessed, an entire town was, literally, led to Jesus. Led by the Spirit, Jesus called a man down from a tree and announced that he would dine at his house. Many were saved and received blessing from that call. In the early church, led by the Holy Spirit, the Lord could have Saul and Barnabas set aside for the work he had called them to do. Christians do not have to play the law of averages, we can be led directly by the Spirit.
Our destiny is to have Christ formed in us, with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. We have been set free by the Spirit, so that we can now choose to let him change us, or to go our own way. There is a spiritual principle involved here: the law of sowing and reaping. As Paul told the Galatians:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. [Gal. 6.7-8]
There is a warning here: don't fool yourself. You cannot fool God, but you can deceive yourself. Make sure that what you are doing is of the Spirit, and not of the flesh. Consider what you do, both in the world and in the church: did it originate in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or did it merely seem good to you? Are you sowing to please the Spirit, that is, are you daily offering your body as a living sacrifice? Are you praying that the Lord would give you the grace to step back and let him make the decisions?
Paul says that there is a way of knowing whether or not you are sowing to the Spirit. What is the fruit? Either your sinful nature is being fed, in which case the results will show themselves in your attitudes and heart; or the Spirit is in control, in which case you will begin to display the fruit of the Spirit:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. [Gal. 5.19-21]
Notice that this list is divided into four sections. The first section, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, deals with those areas where we indulge our sensual appetites. If we consider ourselves dead, admit that we are not our own but were bought at a price, then we would acknowledge that such self- indulgence is out of place. The next section, idolatry and witchcraft, seems, at first, to be an area where Christians simply would not go. But this section deals with more than open Satanism. It speaks of the many ways in which we are spiritually adulterous, worshipping material things above the call of God. Christians have actually made a doctrine of such things, claiming that they deserve only the best of this world's goods. They see wealth as a clear sign of God's blessing on their lives, an indicator that they are truly "King's Kids".
They forget that you cannot serve both God and money. They ignore the command of Jesus: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal" [Matt. 6.19]. They covet expensive houses, cars, clothes and trinkets, and Jesus warned that such desires would choke the Word of God in our lives [Matt. 13.22]. Naturally, such desires lead Christians to argue that Jesus did not actually mean what he said on these issues. Rather than admit that they are disobedient, they claim that no rule was ever laid down. "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked".
The third section is the most extensive, a veritable catalogue of the attributes of the human heart. Our attitudes are shaped by the world's thinking, and we are encouraged to be ambitious and aggressive in our relationships. All of us can honestly attest to the power of these attitudes in our own lives. This is who we are, without the grace of God.
The last section is the shortest: drunkenness, orgies and the like. These are the direct result of the previous acts. If we allow ourselves to indulge in immorality, selfishness, envy, materialism, etc., the end result will be that we will no longer be able to control their effects in our lives. We will be ruled by them, as our hearts grow ever harder in disobedience. Even when our failures are pointed out by the Word, we will deny the truth and resist the Spirit's conviction. This is our destiny should we choose to sow to the sinful nature. The only other choice is to sow to please the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [Gal. 5.22]
When we allow the Holy Spirit to have control of our lives, this is the result. We exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We do not produce this fruit through our own efforts, it is not the result of trying hard to be loving, joyful, etc. It is the fruit of the Spirit. Unlike the acts of the sinful nature, this list is not divided into sections. It is the description of a single personality: it is a description of Jesus. It is his life that is being produced in us, when we sow to please the Spirit. Each of these fruit is a characteristic of Jesus.
What is it, then, to sow to please the Spirit? It is to refuse to allow the attitudes and desires of the sinful nature to dictate your life. To deny any room to evil thoughts and reactions. Of course, we will get angry, feel lust, covet material goods, etc., but what matters is how we respond when we become aware of such responses in our hearts. Do we brood on them, allow them room to develop and grow, or do we rather bring them to the Cross and seek cleansing by the blood of Jesus? We must ask the Holy Spirit to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and to fill us instead with the fruit of the Spirit. This may seem simple, but how often do we really want to indulge ourselves with thoughts of anger, revenge, ambition, lust, or hurt? Far too often, we want to feel that way, and are unwilling to place ourselves under the authority of the Spirit. It is always our choice, and we must admit the truth about ourselves each time. We cannot pretend with God, for he knows our hearts and is aware of our thoughts even before we are.
Sowing to please the Spirit does not mean spending our time doing things for the Lord. Just as the Galatians were trying to attain their goal by human effort, so the Colossians were falling back into bondage to religious traditions:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. [Col. 2.16-17]
Here we find something that is terribly common in the Body of Christ today. How often do we judge other Christians for these very things? What they eat and drink, how they dress, or how they spend their Sundays. Like the Israelites, we have become caught up in the non-essentials, the structures and traditions which have grown up over generations, and have lost that freedom which is essential if the wind is to blow us where it pleases. How much of what we do, how we organize our gatherings, how we operate as a church, can be traced directly to the move of the Holy Spirit? He is to be our Guide, our Counsellor; but how much of what we do is even to be found in the Scriptures? Indeed, when these things are questioned, we become very defensive, and worked up in our spirits. Is this the work of the Holy Spirit? We must change our way of thinking, and allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds, and free us from any desire to conform to the pattern of the world.
We may think that 'witnessing', passing out tracts, going to meetings, contributing to ministries or missions, etc. must be pleasing to the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that the Lord may lead you to do any, or all, of these things. But the real point is this: has the Holy Spirit prompted you to do each of these things, or did you decide that they were worth doing? He is to have control over our time, our money and all our energies. It is therefore wrong for us to decide how to use any of these things, especially when he has his own plans. Resting from our own work includes resting from what might be considered 'good works'. How are we to know? Allow the Spirit to lead: deliberately, consciously, as an act of your free will, give the Spirit freedom to do with you as he wills. Make the decision to submit to his authority, to forego your own ambitions and plans in favour of whatever he might choose to do with your life, your body, your time and your money. You are not your own.
It is essential, then, to walk in the Spirit, because the Word of God promises us that we should:
Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. [Gal. 5.16]
Is that not quite clear? So, as Paul encourages the Galatians, "since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit". [Gal. 5.25]
3. THE BODY OF CHRIST:
It will be noticed that, in all this talk of baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the great need we have to take part in this glorious gift of the Father, nothing has yet been said about those aspects most often associated with this subject: spiritual gifts and ministries. I think it is essential that, before discussing the place of spiritual gifts, we need first to understand the meaning of the baptism of the Spirit. Now we see that there is but one baptism, our identification with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In baptism, we accept that we have died with him on the cross, and have been raised to a new life. As the Scriptures rightly say:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God. [2 Cor. 5.17-18]
The baptism in the Holy Spirit, therefore, indicates our willing abandonment of our own authority over ourselves, and our offering of our bodies as living sacrifices, temples of the Holy Spirit. He is free to empower us with the life of Christ in us, forming Jesus in our mortal bodies.
I have often thought that, if we were called to be Christians in isolation, then life would not be so hard. The battle between the sinful nature and the Spirit is difficult, indeed, but it is a clear choice for us to make each moment of each day, and there is no-one to blame but ourselves when we stray away from the Lord's authority. But one of the most immediate results of being empowered by the Spirit of God, is that we come to a deep understanding that we are not isolated. In fact, we have been baptized into the Body of Christ, the Fellowship of believers. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. [1 Cor. 12.13]
It is really quite essential that we understand this truth, and adjust our thinking accordingly. Because it is the will of God that we have the life of Christ formed in us, not for our own edification alone, but so that it might flow forth from us to the world.
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [1 Cor. 12.12-13,27]
All those baptized in the Spirit are part of the body of Christ, and in the body, Christ has ordained that we work together to do his will. No-one can deny another his role in the body, and no-one can be denied a role in the body, for all are part of it.
Before Pentecost, the disciples understood that they were a community, and that this fellowship rested on their relationship with the Lord Jesus. But they could not completely grasp what this meant, and they had no idea whatsoever about being the Body of Christ. They decided that, since Jesus had chosen twelve apostles, the vacancy caused by the defection of Judas had to be filled. So they prayed and drew lots, and Matthias was appointed to the position. They meant well by this action, but it was a very limited and worldly view of how the community was to be organized. Significantly, nothing is heard of Matthias again throughout the rest of the New Testament. After Pentecost, many more apostles were added, in addition to the Twelve, including Paul, Barnabas, Andronicus and Junias (who was a woman). But these men and women were not chosen by drawing lots, but instead the people were led by the Holy Spirit to set them apart as they were anointed by God.
It was with the coming of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that the believers began to see that they were more than just a community, they were the Body of Christ himself. We have become rather immune to the impact of that phrase, and so often miss the power of the image. We understand that the entire purpose of God is to form Christ in us. But together, as a people, we are his body on earth! It is through the Body of Christ that Jesus is present in this world. It is through the Body of Christ that he works and continues his ministry of reconciliation.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. [2 Cor. 5.19-20]
This is why Paul can refer to us as "God's fellow workers" [2 Cor. 6.1]. The life of Jesus must be formed in us so that we can take our place in the Body of Christ as God's fellow workers, bringing the message of reconciliation to the lost. Just as, individually, we must submit to the rulership and direction of the Spirit in our lives, so as a body we must recognize that Jesus is the Head of his Body. That is, he is the one who does the thinking, the ordering, the arranging of the various parts. He is the one who directs all the activities of the Body, organizes all its actions, and initiates whatever he chooses to do through it. And he does this through the gifts and ministries he has provided in his Body.