Life is a Spirit

It was Christmas day, and because our church is a small fellowship, we decided to hold our prayers at our pastor’s place for two reasons. The first reason was that he had just finished building a new house, so we were to do Thanksgiving. The second reason was that his wife was unwell, at that point, the seventh year with a brain tumor, and we were to pray with her. We hoped, prayed, and believed that she would heal completely and life would go on as usual. My parents had sent me to their place one time, and we had dinner together; we mainly had chapati with a stew that evening.

Interestingly, as we were chatting after the service, on Christmas day, she reminded me about that day and promised that once she recovered, she would prepare that meal again for us. As part of her medication, she attended chemotherapy sessions, and her body had deteriorated completely. At that point, she could not eat or walk at all, and she had also lost her sight. The husband and children were always there for her and took care of her. However, a few weeks after our conversation, the report came that she had passed on. She was the first person to ever bury in my life. I keenly observed her, and I could see a difference in her lifeless body and how she was when she was still alive. At that point, it hit home that what gives a person life is the spirit in that person. For the body is only a container for the soul. 

It is the Spirit that gives life. 

 Just as the body and soul should be united to constitute a living man. We must receive life from the Spirit to fully function as the New Man. When we believe in Jesus, the Spirit does His work of regenerating us to make us transformed sons of God. At this point, our new life in Christ begins through the gateway of faith. Through Jesus, the Christian is entirely freed from the law of sin and death and its condemnation. The law of Moses could not achieve this. But this is on the condition that this freedom is for him a reality—that it really proceeds from the indwelling Spirit of Christ. So let us believe in Jesus. The Spirit will do the rest! True faith alone, where men have a part in Christ’s righteousness, atonement, and grace, saves their souls. It produces holy fruits and proves authentic by its effect on their works. At the same time, mere consent to any form of doctrine, or mere historical belief of any facts, wholly differs from this saving faith. An empty profession may gain the opinion of pious people. It may obtain worldly good things, but what profit will it be for any to gain the whole world and lose their souls?

The Bible opens by reveling the creative and life-giving power of God’s word: He speaks, and order is formed out of chaos and life out of inanimate dust. His Spirit hovers and fills his precious human creations with the breath of life! Jesus claims to have this same creative and life-giving power in his words. Jesus gave “words” as propositions to be believed. Life is found in His words. The essence of Jesus’ words are spirit and life. They are the product of the life-giving Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit can impart eternal life (1 Pe 1:23). His words not only tell of life, but they bring life. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives eternal life. By working personally in individuals.

 The spirit of man is breathed into him that makes him become a living soul, for the body, without the soul, is dead; it is a lifeless mass. The Spirit of God quickens dead sinners. It enters them as the spirit of life and causes them to live. While spiritual eating, or eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ in a spiritual sense, quickens, refreshes, and comforts the minds of believers. This is how their spiritual strength is renewed. It is by Gods spirit that Jesus was quickened and raised from the dead, and ascended up into heaven, and was declared to be the Son of God with power:

It is only the Holy Spirit who can give eternal life. He gives that life only to the true believer. The Holy Spirit gives eternal life to those who believe. The human being unaided by the Holy Spirit cannot discern spiritual things. 

The natural man cannot comprehend divine truth. He is bounded by the human viewpoint. He needs the Holy Spirit to enable Him to understand divine truth. If he starts with himself, man cannot believe in Christ (1 Co 2:14).

We must come to realize that we cannot rely on human efforts.

Jesus states a general principle that human nature does not profit and cannot do anything to bestow eternal life. Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:6) that that which is conceived of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Our habit is to rely on everything else but the Spirit of God to gain life. We mainly rely on wealth, positions, possessions, money, physical pleasures, relationships, and connections with the world. The design that salvation is the free gift of God through faith is difficult to grasp in such an environment. However, true salvation comes through the Spirit, and we cannot rely on anything or anyone else. We need brand new heredity, which only comes from the work of the Spirit.

The words of Jesus are vital to our spiritual life.

Man does not live by bread, meat, or flesh alone, but by the word of God. Jesus declares, “‘the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'” The life of the world-to-come, eternal life, has to be communicated to us. God communicates Spirit and life through the words of Jesus. We will not have eternal life unless we hear and understand His words (Romans 10:14). Several points are meaningful. Jesus speaks the words of God. He said (John 7:16), “‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.'” Jesus speaks about God’s life, character, and qualities. He makes known God’s intent, desires, and will. The words of Jesus reveal God. All of this is included in life. Thus, the words of Jesus are life.

The words of Jesus are Spirit. According to Godet (p. 45), the meaning of this verse is: “My words are the incarnation and communication of the Spirit; it is the Spirit who dwells in them and acts through them, and for this reason they communicate life.”

Third, the words of Jesus are life. In John 5:26, He declared, “‘For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so, He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.'” When Jesus speaks, He communicates His life to us. The life given to us by the Spirit in the life of the Son.

Most of us who are saved may be living a life that is way less than what Christ has provided for us to live a victorious Christian life. There should be a huge difference between your New Life and your old life. This victorious life comes by knowing, believing, and applying what Jesus is saying about you in His Word, the Bible. Starting today, make the Bible your most intimate friend. Feel free to reach out to me. We do a discovery Bible Study on The New Man. Or begin a discovery Bible Study Group (DBS) with interested friends, using this resource material available on our website (https://globalactivation.africa/newman/). Reach out to me to let me know how you are getting on or any other inquiries. 

My email address is joyminayo@gmail.com. God Bless you.

Joy Minayo is a disciple-maker in the Activate Kenya community, and she enjoys using online media writing blogs to help mobilize disciples towards reaching the unreached. 

 References

James 2:26 commentaries: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (n.d.). Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/james/2-26.htm

John 6:63 commentaries: “It is the spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (n.d.). Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/6-63.htm

John 6:63. (2017, May 10). Bible Exposition Commentary | Verse-by-Verse Commentary. https://versebyversecommentary.com/2017/05/10/john-663/