The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
More Than Comforter, Part 2
During and after His last Passover supper, Jesus gave His disciples instructions regarding His upcoming absence from them. As written in John 13-17, He spoke for their comfort and about the Holy Spirit who would come in Jesus’ absence. The presence of the Holy Spirit in each Christian is assurance of our salvation:
“And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it sees Him not, neither knows Him. But you know Him for He dwells with you and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).
Jesus’ information about the Holy Spirit included that the Holy Spirit would be helper, teacher, and comforter. But He also spoke about the Holy Spirit in terms of His impact on the world around us:
“It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you [will] see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:7b-11).
The presence of the Holy Spirit in each believer plays out in terms of holy and God-centered lives, lives that others see as morally different. You may have noticed that Christian beliefs in the market place are increasingly offensive to those who do not know Christ. It is because of the spiritual warfare between the Holy Spirit within us and the devil who owns and enslaves unbelievers. Because of Adam’s sin, all humans are born in sin, belonging to Satan. Yes, there is only one choice when it comes to eternal salvation and that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise we continue to be slaves of the prince of this world, living lives that do not honor God but that serve Satan. The recognition, whether conscious or unconscious, of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer infuriates the unbeliever because the Holy Spirit reproves the world of sin by His mere presence.
The righteousness of Jesus is imputed to the believer upon his acceptance of Jesus as Savior. Not only does Satan no longer have control over the believer, but he also has to deal with God in the world, not only in the form of an individual man, Jesus Christ, but now in every Christian over the entire globe, making a difference through His righteous people. Thwarted on every side in his desire to supersede God, the devil now focuses on trying to hurt that which God loves – His adopted children.
We are comforted that in all the suffering of this world and in the cross-hairs of Satan’s attacks, we know that our enemy is already judged by God. When Jesus died on the cross, victory over Satan and sin became reality. The penalty for the sin we were born with was paid in full. And as Christians we are under God’s protection. It is only with permission from God that Satan is allowed to touch us. When his fiery darts are allowed to pass through God’s hedge of protection, they are no longer harmful. Instead they become tools in God’s hands, the refiner’s fire of Malachi 3:2–3. All glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
