But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (NKJV).
Last time, we saw that “faith” had become the critical key to the “new creation” made possible by the Lord Jesus Christ. The law pointed us to Christ, but now faith is the key to entering the kingdom of God by receiving the Holy Spirit, who is the gift of the Father (Luke 24:49). Faith comes from the Holy Spirit; repentance comes from the Holy Spirit; regeneration comes from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit enables us to be “sons of God” through faith in Christ Jesus. One could say that the whole process of redemption is in the work of the Spirit. It is a work of the Spirit to convict of sin and of righteousness, and of Judgment (John 16:7-15). All three areas should be part of our consideration in committing our lives to Christ. Without these areas of conviction, we do not have a solid biblical understanding of the work of the Spirit regarding our salvation.
Let’s take time to look at John 16:7-15 so that we might really get a hold of this very important truth about the Spirit and His work in the life of the believer.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Jesus receives the gift of the Spirit from His Father and then gives that gift to each believer who has trusted Christ and His redemptive work. It is this gift that causes us to be identified as “sons and daughters” of the Father. This is Paul’s point in verse 26. It is the Spirit who clothes us with Christ as we are baptized into Christ. “But as many as received Him, to them, He gave the right (or power) to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). That promise was fulfilled in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
It is our “sin nature” that separates each one of us from God the Father. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us aware of our lost condition. Many feel guilty for their misdeeds. That is the work of the human conscience in operation. The conscience is not the same as “conviction.” The convicting power of the Holy Spirit brings one to remorse for their sinful life against God and His Holy nature. Sometimes this is manifested through brokenness, weeping, and deep contrition.
When the Holy Spirit convicts of righteousness, one realizes how far removed from God’s holiness they are. There begins to be a deepening desire for a righteous and acceptable life to God the Father. Just as with sin, that conviction brings one to a place of realizing their impossible situation that there is no righteousness in them.
Here we learn that the Holy Spirit convicts of judgment. He brings to our attention that there is a judgment before God where one must account for his or her sinful nature and sinful lifestyle. The conviction of owing God so much, but one has no way to repay the debt to their creator. It is hopeless unless God does something. And He did. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:15).
The Spirit not only convicts, but He is the one who reveals Jesus as our means of redemption through the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He is both Lord and Savior.
Note how Jesus expands on the work of the Spirit when He says, “of sin because the world does not believe on Me.” Included are those unbelieving Jews. Unbelief toward Jesus, God’s provision of redemption is the primary sin. He says, “of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you see Me no more.” The righteous work of the cross commands every person to repent and believe (see Acts 17:30). Repentance is a command for all humanity. Then Jesus explains judgment. Judgment because the “ruler of this world is already judged.” This is one of the three reasons, through faith, we have power to speak the authentic gospel and watch the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of people.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” There were still many things to be spoken by our Lord to His disciples, but He knew they could not receive what He knew at that time. The walk with Christ is a Progressive Understanding of God’s will and purposes. How does it come then? Listen to verse 13 of John 16, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
The Spirit of truth! Doesn’t that sound good? “Truth.” In a world of deception and lies, “TRUTH” is what we have been promised. The Holy Spirit is our guide. Just like the Son of God who did not speak from His own authority, but by the authority that was given to Him. The Holy Spirit does not speak from His own authority, but only what He hears He will speak. The Father thinks it, The Son speaks it, and the Holy Spirit does it. And the Godhead has chosen to do it through His people. Amazing Grace!
All that the Lord does is with purpose. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is defined in verse 14, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” That is, all that the Father has given to the Son. Jesus promised those disciples that what He had been given would be declared to them by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we must come back to what those disciples, His apostles, received and understood. We live in a time that the Father is restoring what the Son had received, and He gave to His apostles. The apostles received more through the Spirit of truth, which came on the Day of Pentecost. Those apostles wrote it down for all who would believe in their word. It is our responsibility to recover what they had received.
Verse 15 brings deeper clarity. “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (NKJV). The He here is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit takes what is Christ’s and gives it to His people, beginning with those apostles. What He gives is intended to be inside of those who believe. “Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). What Jesus was speaking about in John 7:38 was the coming of the Holy Spirit. Verse 39, “But this He spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
We have looked at the work of the Spirit in bringing us “to sonship,” let’s move on to “baptism” mentioned in Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Baptism is the place of “new identity.” In the Old Testament, we read that Israel was baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea (see 1 Corinthians 10:2). They moved from slaves of Egypt to God’s holy nation.
Those who have believed in Christ Jesus are to be baptized into Christ and put on Christ. Our identity is no longer in Adam but in the Last Adam, Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 and 45). We are one new man through Christ (see Ephesians 2). Verse 28 here goes on to make this point when Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Do you believe what Paul is saying? Why then are we still disputing race, religious ideas, denominating from one another, and protecting our own turf as it were?
Paul sums it up in verse 29, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (NKJV). Powerful! In Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the believer receives a new identity through baptism, and we become Abraham’s seed. Remember, Abraham was not a Jew. Abraham was a Chaldean. At the time Abraham was called by God, there was no Jewish Gentile distinction. Abraham was a man that God purposed to use in bringing forth a new creation in the earth, established in “faith.” Not religion, but faith which caused him to be accounted righteousness.
Abraham received the promises of God by faith. He was faithful to obey God. Abraham was prophetic in that he saw by faith what God had promised Him. He saw the greater promised Seed, not just the natural seed, Isaac, but the more excellent Seed, which was Christ.
Are we walking in the faith of Abraham? Do we see that Jesus was the promise made to Abraham? Jesus was the one who was the promised Seed and the one who would fulfill God’s word to Abraham. Do we see that those who believe are the true descendants of Abraham? As believers in the promises, we are the heirs according to promise. Covenant promises now and promises yet to come. Remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20). The down payment of the promises is in the receiving of the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 1:13).
An appropriate question which Paul asked the disciples in Ephesus recorded in Acts 19:2 is this, “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”