Long before Jesus was born, prophet Ezekiel prophesied of the coming of the Holy Spirit and he made an interesting observation on what the Holy Spirit would do. Check it out;
“I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” — Ezekiel 36:27
In the time of Ezekiel, righteousness was achieved by keeping the law. But no one was really hacking it. The challenge with the law, as James observes, is that if you broke one of the laws, you had broken all of them (James 2:10).
Obedience to God
So, legalistic righteousness was a lofty goal that no one achieved. But prophet Ezekiel spoke of a time when we would receive God’s spirit and then it would be easy to follow God’s commands. Granted, the new testament church isn’t expected to attain legalistic righteousness but we are still supposed to obey God – and this obedience doesn’t come naturally.
Paul observes how the flesh is always at war with the spirit because the flesh always craves what is contrary to God’s will (Galatians 5:17). But this is where the Holy Spirit comes in handy – just like Ezekiel promised, the Holy Spirit will help you to live in obedience to God.
The Holy Spirit Can Help You
He convicts us of sin (John 16:8), he leads us into all truth (John 16:13), and he gives us a supernatural power to live a victorious Christian life (Luke 24:49). These functions of the Holy Spirit will enable you to walk in obedience to God.
Walk in Obedience to God
If you try to walk in obedience to God from human effort, you will fail just like everyone else did under the Mosaic covenant. See, before you receive the Holy Spirit, the spirit of disobedience is at work in your life (Eph. 2:2). But once you receive the Holy Spirit, he will enable you to walk in obedience to God.
Think about your Christian life – would you say you are walking in obedience?
PRAYER:
Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. May you help me to be sensitive to His leading so that I may walk in the paths of righteousness. Amen.
Blessings to you,
John & Jean