#113-G59 ~ Galatians 3:3
I begin with an old statement I heard many years ago–Anything an unbeliever can do is not a part of the Christians way of life. The Christian life is a supernatural way of life with a supernatural means of execution. The unbeliever lives under the constant influence of his sin nature, even when he’s doing “good” things. The objective we as believers have is to live each day under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 speaks of being “filled” with the Spirit which is living under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Only a believer is in a position potentially to do this. The believer still has a sinful nature, but he also has a spiritual life. He’s indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit Himself. And that’s a permanent indwelling providing the means to this special enablement.
Here I went into a discussion about I John 1:9 which I once thought wrongly was the means to this filling of the Holy Spirit. I then go on to explain that. For those of you who may have been taught to think such, you should find this helpful. I hope you’ll listen with an open mind because this surely is an important subject. But there are those who think that confession of person sins provides them with the filling of the Holy Spirit. A question I ask in this study is this: Why should someone have to go to a different book, to a different people, and by a different author to find out how to be filled with the Spirit of God. Yet that’s exactly what people are asking you to do if you believe I JOHN 1:9 is the means to obeying the command of EPHESIABS 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit. That approach to this makes no sense at all. I then go on to explain the TRUE meaning of I John 1:9 and Ephesians 5:18. I think you’ll find it all very helpful.
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