[Christ Manifested in Us] Part 2Sample

Spirit of Truth

Jesus Christ told His disciples, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever He receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from me.” (John 16:13–15)

Religion is the belief that our works get us closer to God. There is great confusion in the body of Christ, when talking about the Spirit of God, because religion has made it a very complicated issue. Religion has put ideas into believers’ minds which are not based on the truth. Those ideas have divided the understanding of the Spirit into different stages, placing believers into different categories where privileged believers who’ve had certain spiritual experiences can serve God better than those who haven’t.

Religion also teaches that apart from believing in Christ, one must have another experience—the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some religious believers say that only Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit and that He does not impart it to everyone, but to whom He pleases. Some people reason that once you believe in Him, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit when He sees fit. Religion then adds that the ability to speak in tongues as the only evidence you have of such baptism. Some of God’s children live frustrated because they think God has not wanted to give them this experience with the Holy Spirit. 

We are left with the children of God in two categories: ones who have received this baptism with the Holy Spirit, and others who have not and feel inadequate, second-rate, disabled, and incompetent.

But today I have good news for you! 

The Spirit of truth has already come to you. No one can call Jesus ”Lord” but by the Holy Spirit. If you recognize Him as the Lord of your life, it is because the Spirit of God has been poured into you. You have been grafted, you have been baptized, and you have been submerged into His Spirit. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.