Gospel of Grace - Experiencing the Power of the Spirit
Galatians 3:1-5
God wants every believer to regularly experience the power of the Spirit to the fullest to remain in, grow in, and become more like Christ.
Galatians 3:1-5: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Have you ever been to a renaissance fair? There is one act where a hypnotist brings someone up on stage and puts him under hypnosis. While I am pretty sure the guy in the audience is a plant, the performer demonstrates the power of hypnosis by telling the guy being hypnotized “you are a chicken,” and then he acts like a chicken. It’s actually quite funny, but some people insist that you can truly change one’s habits and behavior by hypnosis. I am not going to argue whether hypnosis works or not, but the idea is both fascinating and worrying that someone could be controlled so easily, that it could takes one’s freedom and free will away.
The power of the Holy Spirit is the exact opposite. The power of the Spirit does not take over our free will, rather it comes along to help so that we may learn to do life better under His guidance.
The problem with why we are so bad at doing Christian life is either because we do not know the full potential of the power of the Spirit at our disposal, and the