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Life in the Holy Spirit An Empowerment Bible Study © 2003 by Terry A. Modica |
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Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Bearing witness to the truth of Christ
In unity with the Holy Spirit, precisely because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, we are called to be Christ's witnesses. How do we do this in everyday life?
In John 15:26--16:4, Jesus defines the gift of Pentecost as "the Paraclete" (which some bible versions translate as "the Advocate"). A Greek word, paraclete comes from "parakalein", which means "to invoke" ("para" is "with" and "kalein" is "to call"). Therefore, when Jesus said He was sending us the Paraclete, He was inviting us to call upon the Holy Spirit, who would walk alongside us as our advocate, whenever we're held back by our own limitations from doing God's will.
Notice what kind of help Jesus focuses on here. He refers to action of the Paraclete/Advocate as "the Spirit of Truth", who testifies to others about Jesus through us. How well does your everyday life bear witness to Christ's love, Christ's saving power, Christ's healing? The more we rely upon the Holy Spirit, the more we testify to the truth in our daily circumstances.
We need to call upon the Holy Spirit whenever we're tempted to fight with someone rather than turn the other cheek, or whenever we feel frustrated instead of patient, or selfish instead of generous, and so on. We grow in holiness by asking the Spirit of Holiness to teach us how to imitate Christ whenever we're unable to do it on our own.
We cannot bring others to conversion or successfully invite them back to church through our own choice of words, our own wisdom, and our own understanding of what they're seeking. It's only the Spirit of Truth who provides the right way to reach their hearts with the truth.
We cannot live holy lives without the Holy Spirit. Whenever we fall into sin, whenever we make worldly choices, whenever our flesh-nature seems to be winning over the desires of our souls, we must turn quickly to the Holy Spirit and ask for help.
"If you know that I believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house" (Lydia in Acts 16:15). Are the people around you convinced that you believe in the Lord? They will be if you walk alongside the Perfect Witness, the Holy Spirit.
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See also Holy Living: A Bible Study covering the Sermon on the Mount.
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