The necessary Spirit

Published 9:00 am Sunday, July 27, 2025

We need to realize that if we are resisting the salvation of Jesus we are losing the battle for our own souls. If you are still resisting Him you are involved in a war of independence, a war which you can only lose. Even if you win the battle and become independent from Christ, you have only won an eternity in Hell. We have lost, or will lose everything, we must throw ourselves on the mercy of our Victor, admit our defeat and let Him raise us from the dead. The only hope we have is in the Grace and Mercy of a Savior Who loves us. He can’t be defeated or out maneuvered there is no one capable of tricking Him or overwhelming Him. There is no possibility of figuring out a strategy to “win” without Him. He is God and He is almighty and everlasting and He is determined that we be given every opportunity to surrender to Him.

The paragraph above contains some sobering truths; one truth that is not spoken to is the absolute necessity of the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to accomplish God’s purpose.

Having the opportunity to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection is so important to God that He sent the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us toward that end. See John 14:26.

To make sure that we have a clear understanding of the facts about Jesus and His offer of salvation, the Holy Spirit is with those who embrace Him to guide them to all truth. See John 16:13.

Before any of this is possible the offense of conviction must be poured out on all who would receive it; bringing us into agreement with God that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. See John 16:8. This is also God’s way of “drawing” us to Jesus. See John 6:44.

It is imperative that we realize that surrender (baptism in the Spirit, infilling by the Spirit, etc.) to the Holy Spirit is essential for Spiritual understanding and growth. See 1 Corinthians 2:14.

To try to gain wisdom and understanding of Spiritual things without living a Spirit-filled life, is to become arrogant and defensive of what we learn by mere human intellect. In other words, we become Pharisees, blind guides (Matthew 15:14) who teach trivial things, unable to comprehend the deeper matters of the Spirit; understanding the letter of the law but failing to comprehend the Spiritual.

Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.