The Activity of the Spirit in the Church, Part 43

The Activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Church Age believers, part 43.

LBC Financial Needs:

• $38,000 shortfall in the new building fund
• $1,500 to reprint our literature with our new address
• $2,000 for an electronic sign

What are some of the blessings that flow from the Spirit as rivers of living water?

Truth, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Life, Power, Provision, Glory and Prayer.

All of these rivers ultimately flow into one amazing, limitless body of water, and that is Christ!

The SOURCE of all of these rivers is Christ. He sent the Holy Spirit.

The DESTINATION is ALSO Christ!
 The Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.

One way to get a sense of this is to study the subject of fullness in the epistle to the Ephesians. EPH 1:7-10; 1:19-23; 3:14-19; 4:7-13; 5:17-21.

LORD’ Supper

The blood of Christ/ the cross
 
The action of Christ

 Believing/repenting/ returning

Forgiving others/ loving
 
Praying
 
Confessing

Of the 48 verses that address God forgiving our sins:
 
20 are associated with the blood of Christ, the Cross, or Christ’s actions.

12 are associated with believing/repenting/returning

14 are associated with forgiving others or loving

1 is associated with praying

1 is associated with confessing

A clear majority deal with the forgiveness of sins as associated with our salvation.
32 out of 48. 33 if you count 1 John 1:9.

Of the remaining 16, fully 14 are associated with forgiving others or loving.

MAT 6:14-15
“ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

The epistles retain the connection between God forgiving our sins and we forgiving one another’s sins.
They just reverse the order.

EPH 4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

The note is gratitude rather than obligation.

There IS a connection between our being forgiven by God in Christ, and our forgiving others.

Now that God’s forgiveness is seen as full and complete because of the blood of Christ, this calls for us to forgive each other freely and completely.