Accessing His Grace by the Spirit by John Belt

Oklahoma City, OK

Since the beginnings of my walk with God, the Holy Spirit has always been central to living a life of love, grace and overcoming. I simply cannot imagine walking with the Lord any other way. Jesus told His disciples to wait, to be clothed with power from on high, and to wait for the Holy Spirit to indwell them so they may be effective witnesses.

Acts 1:4-5 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."(Photo via Wikipedia Commons)

The grace of God is a popular subject today. God's grace should be a core value to our life in God. Paul exhorts Timothy to be strong in God's grace.

2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

This has been one of my favorite verses concerning grace. Grace is the ability that God gives us to overcome. We are not only saved by grace, but we are given ability to overcome by His grace. It is by the grace of God that we stand.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

When we cry for help God comes in His grace and helps us to stand in trial and difficulty causing us to overcome. The grace of God is not to be used as a license to sin, but to live a holy and powerful life. So does the grace of God standalone without the person of the Holy Spirit? Can we access His grace without yielding to the Spirit?

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Living Communion

It has always been through a living communion with the Spirit that God's grace has become a living experience for me. This is what Paul also communicated saying, "Let the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." There is a communion that we have with God by the Spirit that enables us to access the grace of God. If it is without needing the person of God, then we are again stuck with another religious formula. This only frustrates God's grace and our walk with God because it leads us into a performance mindset. We can have all the knowledge and information but only the Person of the Holy Spirit can make it alive in us.

We can be told all day long what is right, what is true and what is Biblical but if there is no life of the Spirit in it, it will fall to the ground. Could it be that this is why Jesus told us about the living water that will overflow like rivers from within us? Our greatest need is to find life, sustenance, and a river of life that we can continually drink from. The Word of God needs the accompaniment of the Spirit's water.

God's truth is like detergent and we need the water of the Spirit to make it work in our hearts. In the same way we need to know the Author of the Book to help us understand the contents. Accessing the grace of God is an "inside-out" experience where we find His strength in our communion with His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29) and the "Spirit of holiness" (Romans 1:4). (Photo via Tawny Nelson)

The foundation and understanding of grace in our lives is essential to live a holy life before God. His grace is received through our intimate communion with the Spirit enabling us to grow in love for God with a decreasing toleration of sin. Without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

We are called saints, in definition, "holy ones". This is by His grace and our response to His invitation. Does that mean we are perfected? Yes and no. God has done the work for us through the Cross. He is completing His work in us by His Spirit. As we commune with God we access His grace and our lives are being renovated from interior to exterior.

John and Brandi Belt
Overflow Global Ministries
Email: office@overflowglobal.com
Website: www.overflowglobal.com