Tag: Nicodemus

38.x. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God”

 

From Compelling Truth

 

Judges 15:14   But the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon Samson

Psalm 51:11  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

1 Chronicles 12:18  Then the Spirit came on Amasai, chief of the Thirty

1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

Ezekiel 11:5   Then the Spirit of the LORD came on me, and he told me to say:

John 14:17   the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20  Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Ephesians 1:7   In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Colossians 1:27   To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 John 4:15   If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

Titus 3:5   he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:15–17  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

John 3:1–8   Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

1 Corinthians 2:12  What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Romans 8:14  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Galatians 5:22–23   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

Romans 8:26  n the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

1 Corinthians 12:13   For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God taking up permanent residence in the heart of those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. In the Old Testament, the Spirit would come intermittently upon the saints, empowering them for service but not necessarily remaining with them. The Spirit “rushed upon” Lehi  and “clothed” Amasai. The Spirit was with David and able to be removed from him, and the Spirit “fell upon” Ezekiel and spoke to him . The Spirit, who had once been with King Saul, “departed from” him, removing His influence and guidance from the king .

It wasn’t until Pentecost that the Spirit began to indwell those who belong to God through Christ. Jesus predicted the coming of the Spirit who would live within His people, as well as the new role the Spirit of Truth would play in their lives. Prior to the resurrection and Pentecost, the Spirit was with the disciples and influenced them, but He did not yet indwell them, as Jesus explained to them: “he dwells with you and will be in you”. John 7:39 explains further: “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

The apostle Paul reiterated the same truth about the Spirit’s indwelling: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body”. Because believers have been purchased for God by the blood of Christ, shed on the cross for our sins, our bodies become a living temple where the Spirit of God resides.

The image of the believer’s body being a temple is reminiscent of the Old Testament tabernacle, in which the Spirit of God lived. There, God’s presence would appear in a cloud and meet the high priest, who came once a year into the Holy of Holies. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest brought the blood of a slain animal and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. On this special day, God granted forgiveness to the priest and His people.

The Jewish temple in Jerusalem no longer exists. Now the believer in Christ has become the inner sanctum of God the Holy Spirit, as the believer has been sanctified and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, Scripture also says that the believer is the dwelling place of all three Persons of the Trinity. Along with the Spirit, Jesus Christ is in us, as is God the Father.

The purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is many-faceted. First and foremost, the Spirit creates new life in believers (), producing the same new birth Jesus spoke of in . The Spirit confirms to us that this new birth is real and that we truly belong to God (). He also imparts to believers spiritual gifts to be used to build up the body of Christ and glorify God (1 Corinthians 12:4–11). Further, as the author of Scripture through the writers He inspired (), the indwelling Spirit helps believers understand what He has written and how to apply it to daily life ().

Other functions of the indwelling Spirit include interceding for believers in prayer, leading us in the ways of righteous living, producing His fruit in our lives, and installing believers into the universal church of Christ, also called the baptism of the Spirit.

One of the indwelling Spirit’s most encouraging functions is to seal believers for eternity by placing His own mark upon us. Doing so assures our arrival in the Lord’s presence when we die (Ephesians 1:13–14, 4:30). The Holy Spirit’s presence within us is the guarantee that we have been purchased by Christ and redeemed from our sins. We can never lose our position as a prized possession. Until we die, the Spirit remains within us, renewing and sanctifying us, comforting us in trials, and sustaining us in afflictions. With the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are never alone, never lost, and never without His power.

4.y. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:1   Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.

1 Peter 1:3    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:23-25     since you have been born again, not of perishable seed

1 John 2:29    If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3:9    No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

1 John 5:1    Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

1 John 5:18  We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

To be born from above is to be born again.  “If we were asked to read to a dying man who did not know the gospel, we should probably select this chapter as the most suitable one for such an occasion; and what is good for dying men is good for us all, for that is what we are; and how soon we may be actually at the gates of death, none of us can tell.” (Spurgeon)  “To belong to the heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it.” (Tenney) Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus shattered the Jewish assumption that their racial identity – their old birth – assured them a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus made it plain that a man’s first birth does not assure him of the kingdom; only being born again gives this assurance. (Guzik)  Jesus clearly said that without this – that unless one is born again – he cannot enter or be part of (see) the kingdom of God. Moral or religious reform isn’t enough. One must be born again.  This isn’t something that we can do to ourselves. If Jesus had said, “Unless you are washed, you cannot see the kingdom of God” then we might think, “I can wash myself.” A man might wash himself; but he could never birth himself.  All over the New Testament this idea of rebirth, re-creation occurs. Being born anew by God’s great mercy, being born anew from an imperishable seed, the washing of regeneration, dying with Jesus and rising anew, new-born babes, being a new creation in Jesus,  the new man is created after God in righteousness, are all New Testament references to being “Born Again”.

 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: If a nation passed a law that said no one could live there except those who were born in that nation, and someone wanted to live there who was not born there. It wouldn’t matter if he took a name that was common in that nation. It wouldn’t matter if he spoke the language.  It wouldn’t matter if he observed some of the customs.  It wouldn’t matter if he dressed like those in that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if he practiced some of the religious traditions of that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if his parents were born in that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if his children were born there.  It wouldn’t matter if he had many friends in that nation. All that would matter was if he was actually born there.  “A man may cast away many vices, forsake many lusts in which he indulged, and conquer evil habits, but no man in the world can make himself to be born of God; though he should struggle never so much, he could never accomplish what is beyond his power. And, mark you, if he could make himself to be born again, still he would not enter heaven, because there is another point in the condition which he would have violated — ‘unless a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (Spurgeon)  Without the new birth of the Spirit, the flesh taints all works of righteousness.

For, Against, Abstain

“Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 7:40  When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”  Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”  So there was a division among the people over him.  Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.  The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”  The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”  The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?  Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”  Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,  “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”  They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Matthew 10:35   For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Luke 12:51     Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

Acts 14:4    But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

Acts 23:7     And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.  Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”

1 Corinthians 1:22     For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

Acts 6:7    And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Scripture is clear on the fact that there are going to be people who see, hear and believe.  There are also those who are on the fence and those who are hard set and will not believe.  Division will come because of this.  Once our heart, mind and soul has been awakened to the truth a choice will be made.  The problem is that many do not see the magnitude of the choice they are making.  This choice has eternal consequences.  Forever with Christ or forever separated and tormented day and night. Just because a person can say it will not happen and that it is all fantasy does not make this a fact of truth.  Many educated and worldly wise people have taken hard stances and declared the thought there being a God, creation, and need of salvation, FOOLISHNESS and being SIMPLE MINDED.  Others take a path of complacent neglect and commit to what seems to be a place in the middle but unfortunately the results are the same.  They may not speak out against God but they do not acknowledge Him or their sin and in need of Christ. Their choice is still not to believe.  In meetings there are those who can vote for, against, or abstain. However with this decision here is no middle ground. Abstaining from making the choice to believe, humbly serve, honor, follow and obey is to deny God and the need for your sins to be forgiven.  The result of choosing to abstain is forever separated and tormented day and night forever.  Those who choose to believe and see the need for redemption come to Christ with broken hearts and wanting forgiveness of sin.  Their heart and mind have been opened by God and they are drawn by Him to this place of decision.  They rely on, trust in and cling to Him for they know there is absolutely no other way to be right before God but by through the redeeming work of Christ.  They can walk in His light, His purpose and know their eternal destiny.  Acknowledge your sin, seek and trust in forgiveness through Christ, and humbly serve Him.  Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost.  John 3:16   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.   For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Have you been deceived

“ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

“ And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?”

John 7:46  The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?  Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”  Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

Luke 4:22    And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.

John 9:27    He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?  And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”  The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Matthew 11:25     At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

1 Corinthians 1:20    Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

Acts 6:7    And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

There are always going to be those who do not believe even though the deaf hear and the blind see.  Each choose their path from the same observation(s). One heart is hard and their mind is closed to things of God.  The other heart and mind is open with a desire to know God and humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.  Each of these lives start with a belief that Jesus does or Jesus does not exist and that He alone is the redeemer of the lost.  Culture, pride, and fear all play a part in denying Jesus.  It takes faith, trust, and commitment to surrender all to Him.  Choosing to follow, honor, obey and serve Him is a way of life for each day.  Our life has purpose and meaning.  The fulfillment of this continues each day as we walk with Him.

Become brighter

“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words”

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”

John 3:9  Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”  Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Isaiah 50:2     Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?

Isaiah 42:16    And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

Isaiah 65:2    I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;

Acts 28:27    “‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Scripture from God states many hearts are dull and eyes and ears shut to the word of God.  They can not perceive Him, or see His hand at work, or hear His whispers of guidance and leading.  I do not know what is worse; to have rejected Him and live apart from Him, or to have tasted the love of God and live a life apart from Him.  One says I don’t want to know You.  The other says I want to know You but only for the benefit of myself and  stay at arms length but be ready when I need you.  We must choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.  This choice is between do we serve self or do we serve God.  If the choice is to serve God we have to ask what does a life look like that is being lived out with this choice.  Does it keep God at arms length or does it reach out seeking, pleading, wanting, willing, needing to have communion and leading with and from God each day?  If we want to stay close to God we must have hearts that are open willing, ears that are open and seeking whispers of God, and eyes that are open and wanting to see the hand of God working.  Stay in His word each day, live to honor and glorify Him, follow, serve, obey.

Led by the Spirit

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

John 3:1  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Isaiah 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. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

John 1:13    who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

How does the Spirit of God lead us?  How do we know we are being led? When we become a “child of God”, “a new creation”, “born again” we are given the Spirit of God to dwell inside us to lead us in all truth and on paths that honor and glorify Him.  We are able to hear His whispers of leading and we find comfort, peace, purpose, faith and meaning in our lives.  Confusion is replaced with confirmation.  Feeding of our spirit/soul comes from being in His word.  Little time in His word leaves our mind and soul open to things that do not honor or glorify Him. Little time in His word will create an emptiness and confusion and leaves a void that will be filled with something this world has to offer.  To be led by the Spirit of God we must be wanting, waiting, willing, and seeking to be led each day.