QUALITIES OF A NEW SELF (PART 5)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When a person decides to be a Christian, they need to know they are expected to adopt a new way of living, one that is counter to the sinfulness the world endorses and accepts.

This putting on of a new self and the particular qualities that are associated with it has been at the center of this series from the closing verses of Ephesians 4 where Paul writes to the church in Ephesus and its believers.

To date, we have seen where Christians are to turn away from lying, refrain from anger, stop stealing and instead work in a way that provides income for self sustainment and charity, and be mindful of the words that are spoken, eliminating unwholesome talk and replacing it with words that build up and benefit the listener.

As you can see, these are all negative behaviors that are iniquities at their core. It should come as no surprise that even Christian believers may act in these ways because they are still sinners within. Gaining salvation through Jesus is no panacea that guarantees a person won’t spiritually error afterwards.

This is why we find the Apostle Paul writing this fifth exhortation in verse 30. There he tells the Ephesian believers to “not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit” by the way they were living. We know the Spirit is the Counselor that Jesus promised would be sent to His followers after His exit from earth. God would send the Spirit to lead and guide Christians toward the ways of righteousness in life.

But here’s the rub.

Jesus followers must seek and then listen to the counsel they get from the Holy Spirit. When they don’t do so, we see the scriptures telling us that the Spirit is grieved, saddened by the intentional disobedience to God’s instruction and guidance.

Why would the Holy Spirit grieve?

Because the Spirit fully knows the great sacrifice Jesus made to guarantee salvation to anyone who places their trust in Him as Savior.

Every single Christian believer owes Jesus a debt that can never be adequately repaid. The least a Christian can do is study and embrace God’s word, resolve to reject sin, and obligate themselves to spend every second of every minute of every hour of every day, striving to do everything as Jesus did.

For when a Jesus believer does this, when they go all in to model Jesus’ life while living their own, then they will truly let others see the new self that goes with being in Christ.

Each and every day, let us make this our goal as we live this life God has blessed us with.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com