The Bible is a beautiful tapestry, with many threads woven through it, one of those threads being God helping us understand the work of the Holy Ghost.
God showed us His love and explained how everything He created works together for good; while we walked and talked with Him in the garden. We repaid His love by choosing to rebel. Since we refused to listen to Him, He next sent prophets to help us understand His Will for us, Deut 18:18, "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Then, Jesus came to end our need for prophets, Heb 1:1-2, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" finally, God sends the Holy Ghost to dwell within every Christian, Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Why then do we need priests, ministers, pastors, etc.? Ex 19:6, "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." The nation of Israel became our first priests. Their job was to introduce the rest of the world to God.
From the moment we first rebelled, we have been afraid to talk directly with God and have asked for intermediaries, Gen 3:8, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." and Ex 20:19, "And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Today, priests, ministers, and pastors continue to introduce us to God and act as shepherds, providing a nurturing community for Christians. Then, the Holy Ghost takes over to individually answer all of our questions, as we read and reason with the Word of God, Jn 14:26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." God wants us to understand we do not need intermediaries to learn of the depth of His love for us.
Does the Holy Ghost need of our help? As we grow in the knowledge of the Bible, some of us begin pointing our fingers of righteousness to judge others. Are we then helping the Holy Ghost, or are we becoming stumbling blocks? God has harsh words for those of us who choose to become stumbling blocks, Is 57:14, "And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people." God's Word is a spiritual mirror, which each of us can use to aid us in our own transformation. God wants us to love others, showing them God's love, Matt 22:39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." When we show them God's love, they are drawn to reason with Him. The Holy Ghost can then hold their individual spiritual to witness their own sins when they are ready to reason with God.
When we turn our spiritual mirror onto others, we illustrate our own misunderstanding of God's plan, for God has clearly told us the Holy Ghost does not need our help and we should not be judging others, Matt 7:1, 3, 5, "Judge not, that ye be not judged...And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?...Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." and, since we are not perfect, Rom 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" those we accuse see us as hypocrites, which testifies to the fact we have become their stumbling blocks. God does call us to help introduce Him to others, which is why He wants us to be ready to answer questions, 1 Pet 3:15, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" Being ready to give answers to questions is not the same as walking around judging people and telling them how they need to change. The Holy Ghost leads us God's wisdom, Is 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
We can choose to have a spiritual rebirth, Jn 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God’s grace and truth are delivered by Jesus, Jn 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Our faith leads us to His grace and adoption into His eternal family, Tit 3:7, “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” This hope of eternal life is the fulfillment of His grace, Rom 5:21, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve and certainly could not earn. He sent Jesus to endure the cross to finish our faith, Heb 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”and to bring us this choice of salvation, Jn 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He invites everyone, 2 Tim 1:9, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” and Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." and Jn 14:26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
Accepting Jesus as our Lord requires our repentance, Act 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." without repentance we will not receive the Holy Ghost, and we will not be saved, Lk 13:5, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." When we genuinely repent, our faith builds, Matt 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." until one day our thankfulness bursts through our reluctance and demonstrates the joy of the salvation He offers, 2 Thes 2:13, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” This is part of the process, which God calls sanctification; and it leads us to fully appreciate His wisdom and righteousness, 1 Cor 1:30, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” and 1 Pet 1:2, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
As we work our way through His sanctification process, the Holy Ghost is there to show us how it all fits together, even the tribulations we face in this life, Rom 5:1-5, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Once we question the lies this world promotes, the Holy Ghost can help us see joy does not come from riches or power. We become more peaceful, Rom 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” Experiencing His peace leads us to share the reason for our hope, 1 Pet 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” And we are transformed from fearful mortals to brave servants patiently following Jesus to the eternal life He promises, 2 Cor 4:16-18, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day...While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” God’s Word helps us learn His Will for us in this life, Rev 21:4, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
Tit 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” It is our hope and the nurturing of the Holy Ghost, which gives us the strength we need to finish the race before us, Heb 12:1, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” and, the Holy Ghost does not need our help, He wants us to reflect God's love, which draws people to Him.
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