In the New Testament righteousness can be defined as Sonship. Jesus died to bring many sons to glory. He is the firstborn among many brethren. God’s desire has always been that we would approach him as we approach a father. This right relationship that God is giving us is the adoption of sonship. To live in right relationship with God after we receive Jesus is to live as a son to our Father.
In the Old Testament, Righteousness was defined as obedience because that’s what the law demanded. But in the new covenant, there is a demand for faith rather than obedience. So now we are given a gift of relationship.
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” [16] The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
This is the initial purpose and drive of Holy Spirit in the life of a newborn believer. He immediately begins to manifest the concept of God’s love within their heart. Unfortunately, for many of us, religion has gotten in the way and turned us aside and made us servants instead of sons. In Christ, God has removed every obstacle that was in our way, so that we can have an unfiltered relationship with him.
God’s design is that Jesus be the first born among many brethren. And Holy Spirit comes into our life to rebirth us as a new creation, as a spirit being patterned after the image of Jesus.
He surrounds us with the love of the Father to make it easy for us to abide in Christ.
The disciples and Holy Spirit
Throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is mentioned four times as often as Jesus is mentioned. There are many descriptions of how the disciples are constantly interacting with Holy Spirit. For them, he is a very present help and guide, just like Jesus was. I want to look at two examples of the disciples’ interactions with Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.
Peter has just had a dream that instructed him not to see the Gentiles as unclean. But look how distinctive the voice of Holy Spirit is to Peter. There is such clarity in the way Peter hears Holy Spirit speak.
Acts 10:19-20 NKJV – While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. [20] Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
Now we can contrast this with the way Cornelius has to hear God; he can’t hear Holy Spirit like Peter does. He needs an angel to come to him.
Acts 10:22 NKJV – And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.”
Both men are being directed by God, but Cornelius is being directed, as if he is still in the Old Testament. Yet, Peter has a personal, one on one communication with God.
Now notice this passage.
Acts 10:44-45 NKJV – While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. [45] And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
This is the only time we see the manifestation of the baptism of Holy Spirit occurring at the same time as salvation in the entire book of Acts, and the Jews take it as direct confirmation that God is extending salvation to the Gentiles. But also notice that the way Cornelius and his friends received Holy Spirit was not merely an inward awakening of their inner being. It was displayed in a way that is eternal and obvious to all.
Acts 10:46 NKJV – For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Notice as well that there were no foreigners who heard these tongues in their own language. Therefore, the purpose of these tongues was not to share the gospel in a foreign tongue, but rather to prove that they had received the same baptism of Holy Spirit as Peter had.
Mark 16:17 NASBS – These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
Whether you accept a separate baptism of the Spirit as legitimate or not, the working of Holy Spirit in our lives causes outward change in our behavior. This change is the result of interactions with Holy Spirit. And hearing Holy Spirit speak should be normal in the life of a believer.
Acts 2:33,38-39 NKJV – Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. [38] Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The promise of the Holy Spirit from Father God is for the purpose of giving us the potential to live like Jesus did.
This is Peter’s message to the crowd at the first outpouring of Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The crowd has seen an amazing display of the power of God and were all astonished at hearing the gospel in their own language. This display of Holy Spirit was considered a miracle by the early church as thousands repented and turned their lives over to Jesus. Again, the manifestation of Holy Spirit was an hour display that was obvious to the crowd. If you were in this crowd and saw this wanderer sign, and then you heard Peters say that you could have the same Holy Spirit., The natural assumption would be that he was referring to the power that was on display. Your assumption would not be that he was talking about a quickening of your inner being, but rather something much more.
Often in churches, we talk about salvation without talking about receiving Holy Spirit. When Peter says that when they receive Christ, they will also get the same Holy Spirit, he is talking about what they have seen as an external display of God’s power. This is why he calls it a gift. Some might say that it’s not obvious that Peter is talking about something beyond salvation. Remember that at this point in Peter’s life, the revelation that the Spirit of God give regeneration to our spirit had not been understood yet. That revelation came later through Paul and John. From Peter’s perspective, Holy Spirit was coming to do two things, replace Jesus as their teacher, and give them the same power that Jesus had displayed. He and all the other disciples of Jesus had waited in Jerusalem for 50 days for this power to be poured upon them, power that Jesus specifically promised them. The power that would give them boldness and allow them to be true witnesses that Jesus is God by display. Jesus had often said that if we couldn’t believe because of his words, then believe because of the miracles. These words are echoing in Peter’s mind.
Acts 1:5,8 NKJV – for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” [8] But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
But the Peter tells the crowd.
Acts 2:38-39 NKJV – Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
This promise of the Holy Spirit is for everyone, and it is a promise of power.
Whether you accept that every believer should speak in tongues or not, see that God wants his sons empower by the Spirit of God just like Jesus was.
Take of Me and Declare Over You
Romans 8:14,16,29 NKJV – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. [16] The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [29] For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God desire for us to look like Jesus – free like Jesus, having the character and integrity of Jesus. He wants us to have to same relationship with him that Jesus has. He wants us to be overcomers like Jesus – more than conquerors. He wants us to be light to the world and deliverance to those in bondage. All of creation is waiting for us to step fully into this Christ like position. Romans 8:21 NKJV – “because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
It is by the Spirit of Christ that we are led into carrying the image of Christ. It is all about Jesus. The freedom of Jesus manifesting through us. God has predestined you to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
This conformity occurs only through the ministry of Holy Spirit. Many people try to bring this conformity about through careful study and application of scripture. But the majority of those same believers also claim that we are stuck in our flesh, stuck in failure. Therefore, they testify that their method does not work.
John 5:39-40 NKJV – You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. [40] But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Matthew 13:23 NASBS – And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
It is in coming to God and hearing with a surrendered heart that we receive growth.
1 Corinthians 2:12-14,16 NKJV – Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. [13] These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. [14] But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. [16] For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Careful study and application of scripture is a very good thing. In fact, it is vital to the life of a Christian. But this activity will not produce in you the mind of Christ. It is only by the instructions of Holy Spirit, as he speaks over us, that we take on the mind of Christ. The reason is because Holy Spirit does not just instruct us in knowledge, as to fill our brain with self-help. Instead, He changes the very fabric of our heart, giving us the ability to receive in new ways, and shifting our motivations. This shifting of our internal man gives us the grace to apply. How we receive the seed is just as important as how we apply it.
Salvation deals with our calloused hard heart. In the parable of the four soils, Jesus is saying that there are other things that exist in our heart that will keep us from receiving and believing. The only solution is to come and allow God to deal with those issues so that we are finally able to receive fully from him and then believe. This sifting of our inner man is part of Holy Spirit’s instruction.
The issue I struggled the most with in my life was porn. The Barna group released a survey of Christian men, finding that 89 percent view porn occasionally, 64 percent view it monthly and 51 percent believe that they are addicted. I no longer count myself within those numbers.
For me, pornography was a source of great pain. It was a constant source of failure, frustration, and shame. Most women assume that the reason men look at pornography is because they’re either sexual deviants or they’re dissatisfied with their spouses. While this can be true in some cases, for most men, neither one of these are the l cause. Ministries that specialize in helping men with their pornography addiction have concluded that for the majority of men, their struggles are related to insecurities about their masculinity. While I never took part in that kind of ministry, I did find that my own struggles were directly tied to my insecurities.
My issue started in junior high school when all my peers rejected me. About the same time, I had my first encounter with porn. For years, I didn’t understand that they were linked. Men won’t usually talk about it, but there is a high level of self-hatred that goes along with the struggle with pornography. Nothing I did fixed the problem. And the constant failure just caused me to hate myself more. It didn’t matter how much I hated my sin. It didn’t matter how much I tried to repent. It didn’t matter how much I tried to give myself to God. None of these provided relief.
As the years went by, I began realizing that most of my struggle was external. In other words, the temptation was being crafted by some external source that would come upon me, and I had no power to resist. I also began realizing that God’s grace never left me. His acceptance never left me. He never stopped loving me. I had to come to grips with the reality that, even though I felt horrible about myself, God didn’t agree with my opinion.
Eventually, I found freedom in other areas. And that freedom taught me where true freedom would come from. It comes by shifting identity to agree with truth. There are two ways to get free from any sin. The firsts by never leaving the presence of God. This I practiced for years. I found that as long as I stayed in God’s presence, the temptation wouldn’t come. But any time I let my pursuit of him relax, the temptations would start coming back, and I would fall prey all over again. While this activity does present freedom, it doesn’t give us true freedom. True freedom comes from transformation. Eventually, I lean heavily into what I had learn about going to God with my identity.
The Holy Spirit began talking to me about two lies I believe about myself. These lies were not an everyday present thought. They were beliefs I held way down in my subconscious. For most of my life, I refused to acknowledge that they existed. I pretended and put on a brave face. Because, if I acknowledge that they existed, I would feel the full weight of the emotions they brought. Those two opinions were that I was “unlovable,” and I was “unwanted.” If I was going to find true freedom, I would have to allow Holy Spirit to confront the lies at their source, deep within my heart.
These two lies were not only attached to pornography, but also were attached to other struggles in my life. By dealing with them in this area, later, I found that my deliverance here, made freedom easier for those struggles. I can write about this subject now because I found perfect freedom.
As I leaned more and more into what Holy Spirit was saying, he began challenging me to write down the identity he was giving me, and verbally speak it over myself. It was the shifting of what I accepted to be true that finally brought freedom. Without the Holy Spirit, revealing what was hidden within my heart, and then giving me truth that could conquer those lies, I would have never found freedom. There was a short season where I literally had to carry the identity “wanted.” He pointed out the people in my life and said, “their affection for you doesn’t change, they want you.” I had to wear this new identity, and then, eventually, I started to believe it.
Now this part is the part that most amazes me. Shortly after I started to believe what God was saying about me, I distinctly remember being in my living room alone, while the rest of my family was not in the house, and I felt the temptation come. I wasn’t doing anything, there was nothing on my television that would’ve caused it, but just like in the past, whenever the urge would come upon me, I found I couldn’t resist. But this time was different.
This time, as the urge invaded my brain. Something rose up inside of me. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to speak against the urge. I simply said, “No!” As I spoke, I felt like the whole room reverberated with my response. It was as if heaven itself has stepped into the living room and was also saying “No!” It distinctively reminded me of that scene at the end of the movie The Matrix, where Neo finally realizes who he is, and starts to see the matrix for what it is, then he flexes, and the walls around him bend. That’s exactly how it felt.
I had never felt such authority when I’ve spoken before. As soon as I spoke those words. The temptation left. I had already learned that these temptations come from demonic spirits. This was my empowerment. I was no longer bound. The enemy no longer had a hook in me. I was a lion who had learned he wasn’t subject to the traps of mice.
John 8:31-32,34,36 NKJV – Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. [32] And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [34] Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. [36] Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
John 16:14 NKJV – The Spirit of truth… He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
Holy Spirit had taken the identity of Jesus and spoke it over me. As I began wearing that identity, I took on the action of abiding within that word. That word became my reality, it became the truth that I surrendered to. By surrendering to what Holy Spirit spoke over me, I became capable of standing in authority over the temptation.
This is Jesus’s prescription for freedom. Truth alone does not grant freedom. Only the truth empowered through God can grant freedom. Only by surrendering to the word spoken by Holy Spirit can we learn to abide in that truth.
Intimacy with God grant us access to empowered truth. Abiding in the truth that he gives through intimacy gives us freedom from sin.
Sonship
This is the primary purpose of Holy Spirit within the life of a believer. He takes the very nature and image of Jesus and declares it over us. The purpose is that we will learn to abide within the image of Jesus. Remember that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. God’s plan has always been to mold and shape us into the image of Jesus.
Jesus’s coming to earth was not about God needing to punish sin. That need belongs to the law, the law needs to punish sin. God’s purpose for sending Jesus was to restore lost sons. The parable of the prodigal son is God’s description of how he feels about us. Sons that were supposed to walk in the inheritance, left home and squander what they had been given. And the Father is longing for his sons to return. We were all Prodigals. In the story of the prodigal, the son says that he is not worthy of being a son anymore, but maybe his father might accept him as a servant. When he returns home, he is shocked to find that his father has fully embraced him and is delighted to have his son return. Not only does the father fully embrace him, but the father restores him to the position that he had thrown away by leaving home (Luke 15).
Luke 12:32 NKJV – “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
The impartation of Holy Spirit is the mechanism by which God restores us to our position as sons of God. I am not saying that we become divine. God is restoring us to the position that Adam lost in the garden. God has never changed his mind. His original intention was to make man in his own image. We lost that image. Jesus is the restoration. When we receive Holy Spirit, he comes and infuses himself to our spirit. He becomes our best friend and mentor. And he begins to declare the image of Christ over us. If we will learn to abide in the words he speaks, that image will begin to manifest within us. And we will take on the very nature of Jesus. This is the nature that God always intended.
2 Peter 1:3-4 NKJV – as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, [4] by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
God is looking for a people who will humble themselves and receive directly from him. Too many in the Christian world are trying to change their nature through self-effort rather than surrendering their identity and allowing Holy Spirit to do the work he was sent to do. It is his job to take the nature of Jesus and declare it into our being. You cannot make yourself less sinful. You cannot make yourself more godly.
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NKJV – Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [18] But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Holy Spirit is the Lord we must turn to. When we turn to him, he removes the veil. The veil is the way we see the world that is not based on truth. It is the lies we believe. It is the human identity we carry. We wear a veil to protect ourselves, to get along, and to make it through life. When Holy Spirit removes the veil, we find that we are staring into the face of Jesus. And Holy Spirit is putting that image upon us. This is transformation. He is taking of Jesus and declaring over us. Transformation doesn’t take place as long as the veil remains – the lies remain, the false identity in you remains.
This ministry of the Holy Spirit, where he imparts the image of Christ, it’s how we become like Jesus. Holy Spirit is the one who has been tasked with the responsibility of imparting sonship.
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV – [14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” [16] The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
This is the transformation that God desire. As Christians, we spend so much of our life living as if nothing has changed. How much you changes dependents upon you and you alone, because we must choose to yield to Holy Spirit for him to do the work of changing us. He will not force you to mature in the things of the Spirit. You can continue to live as the rest of the world does, or you can surrender to his lordship, and allow him to teach you who you now are in Christ. If you do that, you will begin living the way Jesus did, as a Spirit Being.
John 3:3 YLT – Jesus answered and said to him, `Verily, verily, I say to thee, If anyone is not born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God;’
John 3:5-7 YLT – Jesus answered, `Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born of water, and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of God; [6] that which hath been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which hath been born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] `Thou mayest not wonder that I said to thee, It behoveth you to be born from above;
John 8:23-24 NASBS – And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. [24] Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Do you live out the reality that you were born from the Spirit of Holiness, the Spirit of God? Or, do you live, as if you are still born from fallen man? You must pick which reality you will live from. Holy Spirit will re-train you to live from your true nature – if you will let him.
Romans 6:4-8,16 NKJV – Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, [6] knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. [7] For he who has died has been freed from sin. [8] Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, [16] Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?