Workings of the Holy Spirit
Are we deaf to God’s truth? The descendants of Abraham were.
They believed lineage alone supported their claim that God was their father
(John 8:37-41 NIV). Yet, Jesus knew better and challenged their long-held
beliefs:
Why is my language
not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear [akŏuō, understand] what I say. You belong to your father the devil, and
you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies…If
I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears [akŏuō,
understands] what God says. The
reason you do not hear [akŏuō, understand]
is that you do not belong to God (John 8:43-47 NIV).
Jesus’ claim got their blood boiling, didn’t it! Even so, the
apostle John wrote the same way to Christians:
We are of God. He who knows [ginōskō,
feels, perceives, or understands] God hears [akŏuō, understands] us; he who is not of God
does not hear [akŏuō, understand] us.
By this we know [ginōskō, feel, perceive,
understand] the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:6 NKJV).
Do Christians hear [akŏuō, understand]?
The Spirit of truth and the spirit of error need not be
discerned. Instead, they are known [ginōskō, felt, perceived, or understood]
by how we react to God’s truth!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scriptures marked “NIV” are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission
of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the
New King James Version. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment