When a person is born again the spirit of the natural
humanity dies and is taken unto God. A completely new spirit born of the life
and spirit of the risen Savior Jesus Christ replaces it. As the scripture says:
"I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ
lives in me".
Col 3:3 For you died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God.
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Old Testament and
the Savior of the New. He is the Anointed One (Messiah) and in the form of a man
carried the anointing of God for His work on our behalf. Now, as the risen Lord
of Glory, He IS the anointing! Wherever He is there is the anointing
also. When we are born from above of His Spirit, we receive the new spirit which
is alive with the Anointed One. We become an expression of the Messiah in the
Earth.
1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
Because of false humility and a resistance to the things of God
we have believed the deceptions and lies of the enemy and refused to realize the
Truth that is in Christ Jesus. We return to the form of religion in the Old
Covenant and refuse the clear and unmistakable Truth which is in Christ Jesus.
True humility is this: say whatever God says about you! Denying
your true position in the body is nothing but a form of pride, it denies that
what God has said is true. Don't call God a liar! If he says you are the
righteousness of God in Christ then you are! If He says you are one spirit with
Christ then you are! If He says 'by His stripes you were healed' then you were!
Stand in faith to receive His provision instead of calling His Word a
lie!
The flesh is far more comfortable with ordinances and laws, "do
not taste, do not touch' and relishes will worship which gives control to the
soulish fleshly part of man. Col 2:18, 23 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary
humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath
not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from
which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit
together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are
ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to
perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which
things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and
neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the
flesh.
As James says 'This wisdom does not descend from above, but
is earthly, sensual, demonic.'
When the spirit takes control away from the fleshly nature of
man it is rejected and criticized as 'super spiritual' and 'no earthly good' by
those who wish to have preeminence and 'fleece the sheep'.
The time for judgment has begun in the church. It is time to
turn away from the things of the flesh and return to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ in love and true humility. The Old covenant was for the
killing of the flesh and was a guardian UNTIL Messiah would come to set
us free from the power of the flesh. Continually returning to the fleshly
provision and guardianship of the Law clearly demonstrates the immaturity and
lack of renewing of the one professing faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 2:19,21 For I through the law
am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Those who are alive in Christ are literally alive with the
Anointed One. We should be yielding constantly to His life and mind in us and
'walking in the works the Father prepared beforehand that we should walk in
them'. Our part is NOT to DO for God, our part is to simply and
faithfully WALK in the works He has prepared for us day to day.
The way this is done is through the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ in our spirits leading us into ever closer and more intimate relationship
with the Living God. Rom 13:14
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof.
One astonishing revelation to the one truly seeking the Lord
is the extent to which we continue to try satisfying the flesh even in our
worship. We constantly lust after control of God by 'praying the Spirit down' or
entering into 'high praise and worship' as though this somehow causes God to
respond to us. We seek the 'feeling' of His Presence completely oblivious to the
awesome reality that He is one spirit with us! We can no longer know Jesus after
the flesh but now we walk with Him in spirit and in Truth!
2 Cor 5:16, 17 Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
(After the
flesh.) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.
We are alive with the anointed One of the Lord therefore ALL
provision and EVERY gifting relating to our function in the body of Christ is
resident within us at all times. The Holy Spirit at His own discretion, brings
forth these gifts as He wills. Our part is to yield to Him in
faith trusting in His wisdom and perfect working in and through us according to
the perfect will of the Father.
Every perfect gift is contained in our spirits but the soul and
the body are not readily available except as the mind is renewed by washing it
with the Word. It is for this reason we receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
to have His abiding help in bringing the flesh under subjection so the gifts can
operate effectively. The 'spirit is willing but the flesh is weak'.
Having received the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, our
participation in the 'renewing of the mind by washing with the water of the
Word' becomes far more effectual. He provides revelation and understanding to
make the connection between the 'words of God' in our minds and the 'Word of
God' in our spirits. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we begin to truly
comprehend the words of God written for us in the Bible.
Without the Holy Spirit we will revert constantly to using the
sin adulterated 'reasoning' of the unrenewed human mind leading to wonderfully
reasonable but treacherously false and deadly doctrines of men.
The 'gifts of the spirit' as we seek their expression in the
Church is for edification, exhortation and comfort. They are always and only to
be in expression 'AS THE SPIRIT WILLS'. The temptation to seek 'wonderful
experiences with God' is a dangerous sign that the soul, not the spirit of the
person is in control.
Remember, the fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22) are
resident within and are always available whenever the person will give them
expression. We are alive with the Spirit of Christ, how is it we should not be
constantly aware of Him? It is when we are busied with the 'cares of this life'
and the demands of the soul that our attention is drawn away from our
relationship with the Father in Christ.
There is no need to tell you 'how it works' because the
believer's role is merely to submit in love to God and do or say whatever He
indicates at any time. It is useful to know the various manifestations of the
Spirit in the assembly of the Church so you will not be dismayed by what
you see and hear.
If you truly know God and are alive with the Spirit of Christ
the anointing abides within you and never goes away or diminishes. It is when
the Holy Spirit activates the anointing from within you for a specific operation
that it seems He 'comes upon you'. This is merely a matter of perception, not of
fact. The truth is He never leaves you and the 'anointing' is always within and
upon you if you would only take time to become aware of Him.
Try to stay in the spirit and avoid the teaching of those who
constantly want you to go back into the law for examples of how to live in the
spirit. The law and the types and shadows of the Old Covenant are wonderful.
They teach the awesome lessons of God's plan of salvation for His people Israel
and for His unique creation, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always keep in
mind that the teaching of the Old Covenant is for the flesh, the soulish man
without Christ. It points to that wonderful time when we can be one with Christ
as He is one with the Father.
Rom 8:9, 10 But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in
you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.
Rom 8:4-7 That the righteousness of
the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but
they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
Gal 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk
in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.