The Apostles' Creed (part ten)

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Last week, we took some time to consider the Holy Spirit’s work among unbelievers; we looked at how He plants faith through the message of the Gospel, and how He changes a sinner’s perspective on life through His gifts of wisdom and understanding. Today we will look at the Spirit’s ongoing work in the lives of believers—in your life and mine.

Martin Luther wrote many hymns, but the best known is "A Mighty Fortress." In one of its verses, we sing "With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected." Luther reminds us that, fighting on our own, we inevitably lose. That’s because our battle isn’t with men or animals or the forces of nature; our enemy is the devil who was once a leader among the angels of heaven, but has now dedicated his terrifying power to destroying our relationship with God.

History is littered with the corpses of men and women who tried to fight the devil by themselves and lost. Presumably, Judas started out as a believer, yet he ended up betraying the Savior for a small bag of money and hanged himself in despair. Or consider Demas; he came to faith through contact with Paul, and for a time he was a diligent servant of the Lord. Yet after a few years, Paul wrote: Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me (2 Timothy 4:10).

What’s the cause of this tragedy? Is it the devil, the world, or our sinful flesh? Not really; with the Spirit’s help, we can overcome all three. The basic trouble is that people forget that they have to have God’s help, and His help is given to us through the Gospel. We are converted through the Gospel, and we are maintained in the faith through the Gospel. Paul said that the Gospel…is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). If the line which connects your home to the power plant was cut, every light would go out. The Word of God is the spiritual power line that leads from the Lord to our hearts. Is it any wonder that faith grows weak and dies when people cut themselves off from the power line to God?

I know there are people who claim they don’t need to go to church; they can pray at home. But they forget that without power, phones stop working; we get the power to pray from God. If you don’t worship in church, if you leave your Bible closed on the shelf, if you stay away from Bible study and ignore Communion, you are cutting yourself off from the source of your spiritual energy. Without that energy, your prayer life will weaken and die like a cell phone battery that has exhausted its charge. The Good News of Holy Scripture is the power line through which God keeps our faith strong and energizes us to pray.

Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). Neither riches nor poverty can steal away your salvation in Christ; your faith cannot be destroyed by health or sickness, parents or children, husband or wife, false teachers or the devil himself. You cannot be lost eternally unless you become so stupid or proud as to think that you can win your battles without Jesus’ help! Jesus is the only one who could defeat Satan, and look what it cost Him! The Son of God had to suffer and die in order to clear our path to heaven, a path marked out by the drops of His innocent blood shed from the cross. If you try to go it alone in this life, beware! But if you seek shelter in the powerful arms of our loving Savior, you have nothing to fear.

The Holy Spirit also enables you to live by faith and find joy in life. Paul writes, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! The day that you were spiritually reborn as a Christian, you changed--you became a different person. Your attitudes are different, your priorities are different, and your relationship with God has changed. Before conversion, every person is self-centered. In every situation, his primary question is: "What do I get out of it?" He has no interest in God and only minimal interest in other people, unless they can help him achieve his goals. But the Christian is God-centered. His foremost concern is that of St. Paul after his conversion: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" The Christian is interested in other people simply because they are God’s children and need to experience His love.

The unconverted businessman doesn’t wonder if his product will help those who use it, nor is he concerned whether his business is good for the community. His main questions are: "Will my product sell? Will it make money?" Now the Christian businessman is also concerned with making a profit; however, he wants to market something that will benefit those who use it.

The unconverted laborer usually applies for jobs with the unspoken question: "Where and how can I make the most money with the least amount of effort?" The Christian laborer is also concerned with earning a living, but at the same time he intends to give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage.

The unconverted person often makes promises casually; he might pledge life-long commitment to his new bride, all the while thinking that if the marriage doesn’t live up to his expectations, he’ll simply get a divorce—for him, a prenuptial agreement is more important than the marriage license. The Christian, however, takes marriage vows very seriously; even though problems can and do come up, he knows that God can fix what humans damage. Instead of running to divorce court, the Christian runs to God.

When things go well, the unconverted person boasts and takes all the credit; when things turn sour, he blames others for the failure. The Christian, on the other hand, praises God when things go well, and when disappointments come he turns to God for relief through prayer.

The unconverted is selfish with his money; either he reinvests it, hoards it away, or blows it on having a good time. The Christian gladly gives some of his income to the work of the church and to charity. In fact, his whole reason for living is to be a source of blessings to others.

When death draws near, the unconverted has nothing to look forward to—he is facing a dead end street. He has no hope. But when the grave beckons a Christian, he looks ahead because he knows that death is just the beginning of life—an eternal life thousands of times better than any time spent in this sin-twisted world.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Together with his new attitudes, the Christian also receives new powers from the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The non-Christian operates exclusively with man-power; success or failure, it’s all up to him. The Christian operates with God-power, because the power of God is within him. You’ve heard alcoholics say, "I can quit anytime I want." The same claim is made by anyone who has become a slave to sinful behavior. But how often is the demon in the bottle successfully overcome without God’s help? The road to recovery from sin starts with accepting Jesus’ hand offered through the Gospel. He is ready and eager to send us the gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Since we live in a sin-sickened world, I am sure that you have experienced hurt by someone in your home, at work, at school, or at church. As a Christian, you have forgiven these people and hold no grudge against them. Do you know why? It is because the Spirit of God gave you the power to forgive. You are different from unbelievers, who don’t want to forgive and can’t forget.

It was Sunday, right around noon. Due to a storm passing through the area, the electricity was knocked out. One home was filled with shouts of anger. The husband was mad that he could not watch the football game; his wife was mad because she could not finish preparing dinner. Filled with anger, their day was ruined. But across the street, things were peaceful. The Christian family living there was also without power, but no one got upset. They knew and trusted God’s word given through Paul in Romans chapter 8: we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. They trusted that things would work out, no matter what the adversity: power outages, flat tires, computer viruses, a death in the family, or bad weather crippling the harvest. What made them so different from their angry neighbors? Patience, confidence, and love are gifts of the Spirit.

The sad part of it all lies in the fact that at times, you and I act very much like unbelievers; we forget to use the power of the Spirit that is available to us. Do you ever try to excuse your bad habits by saying, "I’m just made that way"? Do you let little things upset you? Are you impatient with your spouse, children or neighbors? Are you quick to tell other people off when they disagree with you? Do you walk around sad and dejected? Are you stingy with compliments and slow to give encouragement? Do you annoy others in your family with your sloppy habits or irritate them by being a neat freak? Are there things about you that you try to excuse by claiming, "I’m just made that way?" Any time such words pass our lips, we show that we’ve forgotten something important. When the Holy Spirit brought us to Christ, we were re-born. We are no longer helpless slaves to sin, like unbelievers. We are given the power to change our sinful behavior and live a new life according to God’s pattern, a life of happiness for ourselves and for those who live with us. The Holy Spirit has connected us to in inexhaustible source of forgiveness and power, and He urges us to make frequent use of these wonderful gifts.