If The Holy Spirit Is Taken:
1. The Holy Ghost makes man the child of God.
2. The Holy Spirit gives the power of prayer and prays with and for man.
3. The Holy Spirit regenerates man.
If the Holy Spirit is removed, can the church survive? I have used a great deal of Scripture, as muscle, ligaments and tendons enforce the backbone, the Scriptures reinforce the thinking behind this article.
My understanding is that only through the person of the Holy Spirit is the life of the church sustainable. Without His presence, there is no church. If this is true, we must examine in detail the following verses in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, and their implications and ramifications concerning the rapture and tribulation. If the Holy Spirit is removed before the tribulation, and the church remains, would it live or die?
2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he (the man of sin) might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work: He who letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way.”
The word withholdeth in verse 6, is the same Greek word as let and letteth in verse 7. This article will attempt to show how the rapture of the church and the “He,” in verse 7 support the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture.
The Greek word “Taken,” in verse 7, is construed with prepositions or adverbs implying motion, it denotes change or transition to another place, etc. to come. 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “He be taken out of the way.” Sequel follows, to come to, or into, to arrive at, seen also in Acts 20:16, 21:17, 25:15. Trope, or metaphor, Luke 1:44, Galatians 3:14, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, Revelation 16:2. Sequel, to come from a place, etc. as, Mark 1:11, “came a voice,” Luke 3:22, 9:35.
This subject always becomes a lively and interesting debate. I believe one of the major difference between the pre- tribers, and post-tribers is that God is going to deal separately with the church first, and then the Jews by blood who have rejected Jesus as their Messiah.
Others say the church now represents spiritual Israel. If this is true, then the post-tribulation rapture is a workable teaching. But I don’t believe it is.
As for myself, I believe the rapture of the church will occur first, and then the 70th week of Daniel will kick in, which is also referred to as the 7 years of tribulation. My understanding is the church will be with the Lord in heaven as the wrath of God is poured out by His angels upon the world.
1. The wrath that is to come is from God. So ask yourself, why would Jesus leave His church in harms way? My reply, “He wouldn’t.”
2. The wrath of God will come upon the enemies of the Jews and the Jewish people who stand with, and agree with their ancestors who had nailed their Messiah to the cross.
3. The church will be with the Lord in heaven during the seven years of tribulation.
John saw the Lamb of God stand before the Father’s throne in heaven. He takes the book from His Father’s right hand and opens it, Revelation 5:7. John is given a vision of the four horsemen, than the angels of God will begin to deliver God’s wrath, Revelation 7. This is the beginning of Daniels 70th week.
In Revelation 5:6-14, John sees the Lamb of God standing in the midst of the 24 elders who had been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. So I ask, if John sees the 24 elders in heaven, this should be a clue that the rest of the church is also in heaven, meaning they have already been raptured, not unless there was a separate rapture for the 24 elders.
Before the calamities begin, 144,000 Jews’, the first fruits of the harvest, those who are both related to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by blood and have received Jesus as the Messiah, shall receive the seal of God in their forehead. This mark distinguishes them from all others on earth. They are the servants of God who have been left behind (not raptured) for a specific work.
These 144,000 shall be scattered upon the earth to do the Lords work in the tribulation period, joined by the two witnesses of God. In Revelation 14:3, reveals to us that these redeemed come from the earth and now stand on Mt. Si-on with the Lord after the 7 years are finished
Redeemed here means, to market, to buy, to purchase, absolute or transitive verb, expressing action that passes from the agent (Jesus) to the object (the 144,000.) Sometimes followed by a generality of price, Mark 6:37, “Shall we go and buy?” By, “with,” common generally of price, Mathew 27:7, “Bought with them the potter’s field.” Or, Romans 5:9, “Being now justified by His blood, we (all Christians’) shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
“By His blood,” is common, a dative, or an act directed to an object. Figuratively: Christ is said to have purchased his disciples as in, He made them His private property. 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price.”
The Greek word coming as in, “The coming of Christ.”
Coming: 3952. is, parousia. Its a past particle, expressing completed action, the being, or becoming present, as in,
A coming, advent, generally, Spoken of the final coming of the Lord to judgment.
Is the coming of Christ a one or two part event? Will He return, catch away the church, and then immediately return to the earth? Or is it a two part event, with a period of 7 years separating them?
Understanding the following events plays an important part in our understanding, First,
Matt.24:3, “As He (Jesus) sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy = (Jesus) COMING, and of the end of the world (age)?”
Mark 13:2, “Jesus answering said unto him, See thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Many other calamities are mentioned that are to take place in this period. Jesus then states in ver.30, “This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.”
Was Jesus response for the Jews alone and if so why not the Gentiles also?
Jesus response to the apostles question in Matthew 24:3, concerned Jerusalem, Israel and the Jews’ alone. It had nothing to do with the church, which Jesus said He would build. The Christian church is not present in any sense in chapters 24-25 of Matthew or Mark 13. The Jews were and are always looking for signs, Christians are not, our salvation is by faith alone.
Besides, the total destruction of the temple and its buildings is not complete as of today. What do I mean by that? Concerning the original temple area, the Tower of Antonious and the western wall still remain standing.
Lets examine the following, “Not one stone,” and “There shall not be left one stone,” in Matthew 24:2, and Mark 13.
The word “Not” is absolute, meaning not one, none. The complete and total destruction of the buildings of the temple area are still future. Therefore so also is the generation that will witness this event. So when the generation that witnesses the fall of the Fort of Antonious and the western wall and every stone is torn down, then will the time of Christ’s return be at hand, and that generation will be its witness.
let’s take a closer look at the verses in question and others that cement the teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3-4-6-7-8.
Verse 1, “We beseech you (To ask, as in to request, to entreat,) brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him.”
Verse 3. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, (see ver.1) except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
Verse 4, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
Verse 6, “And now ye know what withholds that he (the man of sin) might be revealed in his time. The word withholds is the same word as let and letteth in the following verse.
Verse 7, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who letteth, will let, until He be taken out of the way.”
Verse 8, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.”
That is a great deal of Scriptures to digest at once, so lets break it down. Verse 1 speaks of the coming of our Lord, and the gathering of the whole body of believers, those having died and those yet alive.
Verse 3, Ask yourselves, How could Paul speak of the Lord’s return as preceding (coming before) the day of the Lord? as seen in,
1 Thessalonians 1:10, “To wait for His (the Father’s) Son (Jesus) from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” We are to be delivered from wrath. Who’s wrath? Its the wrath, or vengeance of the Lord Jesus.
The Greek word delivered is of the utmost importance. It is,
Deliver: Delivered: 4506. Greek is, rhuomai. It is De-po’nent, a verb in the Latin grammar, which has a passive termination, with an active signification, and wants one of the passive particle.
A middle term of a syllogism which the two extremes are separately compared and by means of which they are brought together in the conclusion. A syllogism is a brief form for stating an argument from the general to the particular that consists of two statements and a conclusion that must be true if these two statements are true.
Delivered is also a Past particle, expressing completed action.
To draw or snatch to oneself; Hence generally, delivered, to draw or snatch from danger, as to rescue, to deliver; Aoris, or an indefinite tense, which expresses an action as completed in past time. How the word is used in the Scriptures.
Luke 1:74, “That He (God) would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear.”
Also as in sequel, “to follow.” Accommodation, or application of a passage to something not originally intended by it, on the grounds of resemblance or analogy. Simply,
Matthew 27:43, The people said to Christ as He hung on the cross, “He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now.”
2 Peter 2:7, God, “Delivered just Lot, vexed (oppressed) with the filthy conversation of the wicked.”
Therefore, the church is to be “delivered from the wrath to come.”
Absolute. Romans 11:26, “So all of Israel shall be save: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer.”
This verse speaks of the Jews’ not the church. Deliverer is quoted in the Septuagint as, “Redeemer” Isaiah 59:20, “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion (Israel,) and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob (Jewish people.)”
With an adjunct from whence as sequel, deliver “from,” common, generally, Matthew 6:13, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Sept. for, “delivered,” 2 Samuel 19:9. Proverbs 11:4. Ezekiel 37:23, “I will save them.” Romans 7:24, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” 2 Corinthians 1:10. Colossians 1:13, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.”
2 Timothy 3:11. 2 Peter 2:9, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” Passive, Luke 1:74. 2 Timothy 4:17. Septuagint for “redeemed,” Genesis 48:16. Judges 8:34. 2 Samuel 22:49.
So the bride of Christ shall be delivered from the wrath of God. His wrath is for the unjust.
Lets take a closer look at, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
“He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way, And then shall that Wicked be revealed.” So who is the one who letteth, the one who withholdeth?
I will examine thoroughly the meaning behind these two verses and the implication of the church being left, and the Holy Spirit being removed.
Who or what is holding back the powers of Satan.
Was it, or is it the Romans? It can’t be because they have long vanished. Is it Satan? Why would Satan hold back sin? Can it be the governments of the world? Human governments appear to encourage sin, also governments will not end before the anti-christ is unveiled.
Only one possibility is left, It must be the Holy Spirit. But wait, if the church is left behind as the post tribers teach, and the Holy Spirit is removed from them, then the Scriptures have lied to us for the following reasons.
1 Corinthians 12:3, “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
Jude 20, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.”
To build yourself is opposed to separating yourself. Being in the Holy Spirit is opposed to not having the Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches what we are to pray for, and how. No one can pray to God, except he is in the Spirit. How can any man build on Christ if the Holy Spirit is removed and the church is left in the tribulation?
Galatians 5:5, “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” By the Spirit, is in opposition to, by the flesh, or the fleshly ways of justification, as legalists teach. So if the Holy Spirit is removed, what man can stand against Satan and his demonic powers? My answer is, “Nobody.”
There are two principles concerning this subject of Inspired Scripture. 1. Every thought, every word having been inspired of God, He being the author. The writers wrote, as the Holy Spirit directed.
2. Holy Ghost inspiration gives Divine sanction to every word of Scripture. Inspired of God, points to, “All Scripture,” and not to the writers. God has done it, and every word is sealed on earth and in heaven.
By a fixed law of God’s Divine administration, men are bound by moral and legal obligation, to perform, this by the power of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 2:12-13, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual,”
This is that Spirit which is of God, we having received it only as a Gift from God; things that are revealed to us, the deep mysteries of wisdom and things concerning man’s future possession of the good “Things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
By the Holy Ghost, Christians speak of “Things freely given to us of God,” comparing spiritual things with spiritual, expounding the Spirit inspired O.T. The Greek word “revealed” means to “translate”, “comparing” or “explaining”.
Only Spirit-taught men can comprehend spiritual truths, attaching spiritual words to spiritual things. This surely implies that spiritual things are only suited to spiritual people, that spiritual truths can only be combined with spiritual words, and that spiritual things of the Old and New Testament can be understood by mutual comparison or combination, and not reliant, or related to worldly wisdom. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, none of this is possible.
Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” The word “take” is to receive, or accept. The hope of continual safety and protection, built on the promises of God, to which the followers of Jesus have a Divine right. We receive the gifts to understand the Gospel. It is protected from the darkness of Satan, and a Christian’s judgment is kept from confusion only by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 3:7, “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), to day if ye will hear his voice,”
These words are quoted from Psalms, 95:7, they being written by David, and attributed here to the Holy Ghost, proving that David wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Angels fell, Adam fell, Solomon fell, and many Christians have fallen, the words strongly imply, as does the whole epistle the possibility of falling from grace of God, into eternal damnation. Why would God encourage men to persevere if it was impossible for him to fall away? “Today” real time, in David’s time, in all the todays since, “hear his voice;” who’s voice, “The voice of the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter.1:11-12, “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”
“Searching what?” In the Greek, it means in reference to what, or what manner of time. It expresses the time absolutely: “The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” That is on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2. Apostle’s speaking by the Holy Spirit were infallible witnesses. We can presume that, in many cases these apostles and prophets did not understand the meaning of their own predictions. They had a general view of God’s plan, but concerning the particulars of these events, they seemed to know nothing.
The things of God, we learn from the above that it was the Spirit of Christ in the prophets that prophesied of Christ, it was that Spirit that revealed Him, and it is the same Spirit which takes the things of Christ, and shows them to us. Jesus was never known nor could He be known, nor can we retain Him if the Holy Spirit is removed and the church is left behind.
John 14:26, “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.”
The temple which the Holy Spirit will indwell is that only which is filled with the love for Jesus and one which lives actively for Him. As the Son of God came in the Father’s name, so the Father shall send the Spirit “in my (Jesus) name.” On this statement, rests the credibility and ultimate supreme authority of the Gospel, yesterday, today and tomorrow, revealed only by the Holy Spirit.
John 16:13, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
As a father leads his children, so will the Holy Spirit lead and guide us. He will not speak of himself or from Himself, but will speak like Christ Himself. For what He hears, or what is given to Him, He will communicate to us, showing the intimate consent between Himself the Father and the Son. He will explain fully all things, things that may seem dark or blurred to us, He will give us knowledge and the skills to foretell future events.
John 16:14, “He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
The wonderful revelations of the N.T. especially in the book of Revelation open up to us a vista into the Future of the Kingdom of God, whose horizon is the outer most part of the universities. God has show his people things that are to come and the events which lead up to these things.
Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.”
Ephesians 1:17, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:” “The spirit of wisdom” given to the Church, that Holy Spirit, teaching and making us wise unto salvation, so that we may continue to acknowledge our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:20, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” The word unction means ointment; the thing itself by which anointing is effected. This most likely is an allusion to the holy anointing oil of the law, and to,
Psalms 45:7, “God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness.” He has given to us the fullness of the Holy Spirit, which none of the prophets, ever received in such abundance. This anointing was acknowledged to be an emblem of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, without which the duties of these offices could not be given. Here it is put for the Spirit Himself, who is to preside in the true church, and from which all gifts and graces flow.
John explains that only by this anointing of the Spirit, can we withstand the works of these Antichrists, those anointed with the spirit of Satan, who have infiltrated our churches, working to distract or draw us away from the truth. As the Father has anointed the Son, and both the Father and Son have sent their Holy Spirit to us, to anoint us, therefore, we are in both the Father and Son, without it, man is none of Christ’s.
1 John 2: 27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
The word “but” contrasts believers with the “seducers,” in ver.26. This idea of anointing is resumed from verse 20, and is received of Him,
John 1:16, “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” We of the Church “are unto God a sweet savior of Christ.” When tempted by seducers, “The anointing abides in us;” we do not need a men to teach, for we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher,
Jer.31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,”
John 6:45, “It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God.”
John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:” The Holy Spirit alone teaches us the truth, and in that teaching we will live, therefore God is sufficient for them who are taught of Him.
Luke 21:8, “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;”
2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means:”
2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” Men taught of the Holy Spirit are independent of all others, and we, as Christians, are not to reject the counsel of faithful ministers who are led by the Holy Spirit.
Mutual communication is not to be set aside, but is approved of God, in the case of those who are partakers of the anointing in one body. No believer is infallible, for no-one has received the Holy Spirit in all it’s fullness, but we have only received the measure needful for keeping a believer from a soul -destroying error. So even if a Church has the Spirit in her, it is not infallible, for many fallible members can never make an infallible whole, but it is kept from ever fully losing the saving truth. Be a watchman, always listening, looking and checking the spirits.
Luke 2:26, “And it was revealed unto him (Simeon) by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” After an absence of nearly 400 hundred years, here was the Holy Spirit coming to the Church.
In Genesis 3:15, God put a curse on the serpent, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (Messiah) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Simeon was directly informed by the Spirit, grace truth and fidelity the secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him.
Luke 2:27, “And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,” Simeon a righteous and devout man was guided by the Spirit to the temple at the very moment when Mary was about to present to Him the Lord.
Malachi 3:1, “The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.” Now this prophecy was about to be fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit who dwelt in the heart of this righteous man, directed him. When those seeking after God, in the fear of God, come to places of public worship, reading and hearing the words of God, will come under the influence of the Spirit, will meet with Him, they will be given comfort, peace and understanding, and the grace and gifts of God shall rain down upon them.
The Holy Spirit regenerates man
John 3:5-6, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
A two-fold explanation of the “new birth,” was so very new to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, who was familiar with the symbolic application of water, yet, was not familiar with the Lord’s words. The Lord’s language was fitted to show Nicodemus, that the idea intended was no other than a thorough spiritual purification by the working of the Holy Ghost, and the water was only an emblem of the Holy Spirit.
The element of water and the operation of the Spirit are brought together in the wonderful prediction of,
Ezekiel 36:25,26,27, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
The above can now be put with the following verses.
Matthew 28:19, Jesus is speaking, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” What the Lord is saying, is, He has the authority to sent whomsoever He pleases to teach His word. Go, teach, make disciples of all nations, bringing them into fellowship with me.
John 6:63, Jesus is speaking, “It is the Spirit that quickened: the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
If a man could be obedient to the whole law of God, but the Holy Ghost was not working in that man, making his soul come alive for God, the man would profit nothing. As food is essential to a living man, so also is the Spirit of God working in that man.
2 Corinthians 3:6,”for the letter, (Mosaic Law) kills, but the spirit giveth life.” The flesh can not give life to the soul of man, this can only be giving by God’s Spirit, for He shall testify of Jesus Christ.
Those who are regenerated, spiritually minded, born of the Spirit, and redeemed from the influence and law of the world, relish the things of the Spirit. In all the days from the past to the present, this regenerating, this distinction, has marked the nominal Christian from the true Christian, the true Christian desiring God in all things, and living for the world to come.
Romans 8:13, “For if we live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
Both a temporal death and eternal death seemed to be implied in this verse. We are under no obligation to our flesh, yet if we are obedient to it, we will surely die, not only the first death, but also the second death. So as Christians, we must “mortify,” put to death, the things of the flesh, this choice will end in life everlasting. There is no safety, no holiness, no happiness, to those who are out of the will of Christ Jesus.
Titus 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;”
Saved by God’s mercy, not by the result springing from our works. There is an absence of righteousness in all men, in which righteous works can be done, so without doubt there is an absence of righteous works. God’s mercy is the direct cause of our salvation, and nothing else. God does not mark us by empty signs, but by His power inwardly, this being demonstrated by the outward sign, (Baptism), the vessel of regeneration. We must connect the sign and the thing signified, so that the sign is not made empty and ineffectual, yet not honoring the sign, which would distract from the works of the Holy Spirit.
Titus is saying that renewing is both the profession of being bound to live a new life, and grace this renewing the heart. Baptism changes nothing, it is the grace signified by it that cleanses and purifies. Baptism is not regeneration, and those who think this, do not know the Scriptures, or the power of God.
The key word is “renewing,” it is not the “Laver” (washing) of renewing, but, “by the renewing,” followed by “saved us.” Baptism is not the seal of regeneration or of progressive sanctification. Regeneration is a thing done once, renewing is a daily process. So as the washing is connected with regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Ghost is connected with, “Which is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Titus 3:6.
The Holy Ghost makes man the child of God
Romans 8:14 to 17, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
These that are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. Without this Divine assistance, no person will find their way into the God throne room. The way to God’s kingdom, has been opened by Christ’s sacrifice. The Holy Ghost is the agent on earth, to enlighten, quicken, strengthen, and guide the true disciple’s of Christ, and all those that are born of the Spirit, are led and guided by Him.
By God’s Holy Spirit, we the children of God can now cry, Abba, Father, for we are now sealed by the Holy Spirit, and have become co-heirs with Christ. The transaction is purely spiritual, and this transaction takes place in heaven, and can be known only by God’s supernatural testimony upon earth.
Abba, Father, proceeds from the hearts of God’s children, and is under the vitalizing energy of the Holy Spirit. To avoid uncertainty, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, remove this from the Christian faith and it is a dead letter.
Gal.4:6,7, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
The Galatian Gentiles thought, the Jews were under the law before their adoption, so they thought they also must first be under the law. Paul, by anticipation, meets this incorrect idea, by saying, “ye are sons,” therefore you need not be as children.
Ephesians 4:1, “Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;”
Not being children, they are not under the tutorship of the law, as they were already in the free state of being “sons” of God by faith in Christ,
Ephesians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. “The Spirit of the Father’s only begotten Son, working in you, leading us to cry to the Father, is evidence of our son-ship by adoption. For the Spirit is the “Earnest of your inheritance,” now because we are sons, the Father has sent forth unto us, the Spirit of His Son, we then can cry out, Abba, Father.
John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,” “Because ye are sons,” (present tense), in the Father’s electing purpose of love, The Father sends His Spirit, actually conferring the son-ship which He has already regarded as reality, before it was actually fulfilled.
By faith, we are one with Christ, so that we have become co-heirs with him. As the Spirit of God, proceeds from the Father, so also the Spirit of the Son proceds from the Son, so the Holy Ghost, proceedeth from both the Father and Son.
The Holy Spirit gives the power of prayer and prays with and for man.
Romans 8:26, “The Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Christian prayer, is the Spirit’s prayer, therefore, the prayer is accepted by God. Abba, Father, both the Hebrew and Greek words united together in one Son-ship and one cry of faith in,
Mark 14:36, This being Jesus cry, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee.”
The whole agency of the Trinity is combined on behalf of man. The Father sends His Son and the Spirit, the Son frees us from the law, and the Spirit completes our son-ship. Therefore the saved are heirs through the Triune God, not through the law, or through fleshly descent.
Galatians 3:18, “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promises.”
Romans 8:27, “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
The word intercession signifies to apply oneself to a person in behalf of another that is to intercede, or negotiate for. As the Holy Spirit watches the saints pray, both Father and Son knows exactly what emotions, and perfectly what the Spirit means by the groaning’s He draws from us.
Romans 8:14, We are told that the sons of God are led by the Spirit. So, the Holy Ghost makes intercession for us by direction and qualifying our heart felt prayers of worship and petition, to God on our behalf, in a proper manner, this again being the peculiar work and office of the Holy Spirit.
We are therefore not led by the spirit of bondage, as one would lead a horse or a mule. In the lifetime of many Christians, those having a membership to certain churches and sects, are systematically force fed, by repetitious teachings, and urging, both on their hearts and minds, a doctrine of bondage, and of a doubtful faith. This idea of bondage is rebuked here, it being in direct contrast to that “spirit of adoption,” and that witness of the Holy Spirit, along with our own spirit, this being a fact to our sonship, which is said the children of God enjoy.
So, this groaning is huge with meaning,
1. God understands it,
2. It is the language of His Spirit.
3. Some of mans desires can not be expressed in words.
4. Some of man’s desires come from God. Therefore,
5, these requests, express what God has arranged to do, and what He has purposed to do.
Man’s wisdom is the “spirit of bondage.” The Holy Spirit’s wisdom is the “spirit of adoption.”
One offers a drop of water, the other an ocean of water. One a clouded glass, the other to see face to face: One gives a glimpse of heaven the other an unobstructed view of heaven: One is to stand before God from behind a wall, the other is to stand before Him, confessed, looking upon His wonderful glory. What a view these two verses give us, as to the redemption and the harmony of the godhead, and their respective operations in the case of all the redeemed.
Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints: Praying always in every season,
Colossians 4:2, “Continue in prayer,” This is implying at every opportunity and in urgency we are to be joined with the Holy Spirit in prayer, for it is He who is in us, as the Spirit of adoption, who prays, and enables us to pray.
Jude 20, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.”
We are not to sleep, always staying on guard, because the enemy goes about as a roaring Lion. We should not only watch for evil, but for the opportunity to do well and also for those opportunities to receive good. As Adam was told by God to “keep” that is to watch, preserve, and protect, we also are told to watch, protect and preserve, the result of not watching is to be cast out of God’s Holy Garden.
Ephesians 2:18, “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Both Jew and Gentile have access by one Spirit, through the influence of the Holy Ghost we are then received by the Father, the Lord God Almighty. No man has access to the Father but by Jesus Christ, and Jesus will NOT bring any man, except he has received the Baptism of Holy Ghost.
In Ephesians 2:18, we can plainly see the Trinity, 1. “For through him” (Him) being Jesus, 2. the Spirit, 3. and the Father. All who receive the Spirit, are dear to the Father, and whatever our names are here on earth, we are known in heaven as, “children of God,” and heirs of eternity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There is so much more. but as anyone can see, if the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth, and the church is left behind to go through the tribulation, ask yourself, “What or who can save those who are left?”
My reply, “Nobody, anywhere at any time,” without the Holy Spirit, there is no church.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com