The Power You Need
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NRSV)
Whenever I’ve set about trying to fix something in my life that’s broken, well, you only get so far. It seems like your efforts stall and there’s a point at which you come to the stark realisation that something, is missing.
I’m sure you’ve had that experience. In theory, at least, we should be able to overcome that one nagging sin that comes back to bite us again and again. But theory ain’t enough. Something’s missing.
And that something is, power. Real power. Power that overcomes. Power that puts to death our sin. Power that sets us free to walk in newness of life, which is after all, the whole point of Jesus dying and rising again (Romans 6:4).
Have you ever wondered why it is that after Jesus rose, appeared to His disciples and ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in each believer?
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NRSV)
One of the main reasons for that gift is that it’s God’s Spirit who makes us holy – pure, clean, set apart from the muck of this world to do God’s will. And it’s that Holy Spirit power that you and I need, day by day, if we’re to overcome our sin, in our own, living experience.
John Owen in his 17th Century classic “Of the Mortification of Sin” writes this: a man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.
In Christ your sins are forgiven. By the Spirit, His power is unleashed so that you can live in your new-found freedom. Holy Spirit power. It’s the gift of God. That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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