Bob Cassell, Messenger
If asked to define true spirituality many seem unsure of a biblically clear definition. To be spiritual and to know that you are properly aligned to the will of God is one of the most important understandings that can be realized by a believer in Jesus Christ. What is true spirituality? I asked this question in one of my bible classes many years ago and the following are some of the responses:
It is being in the will of God and walking with him daily.
It is a close feeling I have with God when I am reading His word.
It is being very sincere about and having a daily prayer life.
It is how I feel when I read or hear a well prepared and well-presented sermon.
It is the sensation from rising early and observing a beautiful sunrise that cascades from the edge of clouds and shines brightly over the silent earth.
It was for me the silence of a calm ocean at midnight and the beauty I observed when the moon sat on top of a beautiful rainbow that covered the entire horizon.
I am sure you can add many additional definitions of what you have heard from others. The list could become endless.
As you can see, there was no one definition of Spirituality from the class and they appear to be as different as people are different.
All of these answers are wrong and do not properly define true Spirituality. Spirituality appears to have become as nebulous in the minds of believers as Christianity is in the minds of unbelievers. True Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is to know Him and for Him to know you. True spirituality is a relationship between the believer and God the Holy Spirit. It is to know Him and for Him to know you. It is a part of what occurs when an individual becomes a Christian by believing in Christ. At the moment a person believes in Christ the Holy Spirit does several things to make that individual fit to live in God’s presence forever. Without this amazing work of the Holy Spirit a person would die and spend eternity separated from God. An unsaved individual must be born again which is the work of God and is totally segregated from the works of man. To be born again is to be regenerated. To be regenerated is to be born again. At the moment of regeneration, the Holy Spirit positions the new believer in union with Christ, who is his life. Without this union with Christ there is no life. The individual must be delivered from the damning position in Adam to a permanent and saved position in Christ. In Adam all die, but in Christ all are made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).
It is the work of the Holy Spirit that creates a new creature and places a person in union with Christ. This powerful work is outside every ability of humanity and can only be accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit.
No human being can be picked up from where they are in Adam (condemned) and then deposit themselves into a supernatural and eternal union with Christ. This can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit and is outside every ability of humanity.
Subsequent to regeneration and being placed in union with Christ, who is eternal life, the new believer is indwelt and filled by the Holy Spirit. It is at this point, for the first time in life, a believer becomes spiritual. The believer is now spiritual because the Spirit indwells, fills, and controls him. I suppose you’ve heard someone say that “someone is in the spirit,” but is this an accurate statement? No! The correct question is …. is the spirit in you?
If you are a believer in Christ the Holy Spirit is in you, but is He in control? Spirituality is a relationship with God the Holy Spirit who indwells, controls, fills, and occupies the entire life. At the point of salvation, you were saved, and all things became new, but something old remained that you must never forget. This something is the possession of the sin nature that was imputed from Adam. You were born with it, and you now have two natures; the indwelling Holy Spirit and the ever present imputed old sin nature.
You only had one nature prior to salvation (the OSN), but now you have two. At any point in your life, you are either controlled by the old sin nature or by the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible to be controlled by each at the same time, and be aware, they war against each other. Therefore, when the Spirit does not control, the sin nature resists the Spirit and when the sin nature attempts to take control the Spirit resists this unacceptable influence. The marching orders for the believer may be found in Galatians, “This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the flesh resists the Spirit and the Spirit the flesh. These are contrary to one another so that you cannot do the things that you would” (Galatians 5:16,17).
Therefore, each of these conditions are absolutes. If you are to be filled with the Spirit, you must reestablish fellowship with God after you have sinned.
Notice, “Awake thou that sleepeth and rise from the dead” (Ephesians 5:14). Rising from the dead is going from a dead spiritual condition (the sin nature controls) to restoration of fellowship so that the Holy Spirit controls. If you are not in fellowship with the Lord, you have grieved or quenched God the Holy Spirit and must recover from this unproductive carnal state. Notice, “Grieve not the Spirit” (Eph 4:30). Then you are admonished to “Quench not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). What is your status when sinning? The Lord will not hear you! “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).
Confusion reigns when growth and development are comingled or identified as spirituality. A believer can subsist for many years from elementary and basic bible information (Called the milk of the word); however, there will be little or no progression to more advanced doctrines and growth will be neutralized. If there is no growth or development, the believer will have little knowledge of the expectations from scripture and will be prone to live as he has always lived. If some growth has occurred there may be an increased awareness that more darkness than light has been drawn into the soul, and a time of introspection should occur.
This believer may come to realize that something is amiss. Suppose he attends a bible class and learns that much of what has been accomplished in his life is energy of the flesh production. He may begin to immerse himself in the scriptures and discover that spirituality is not maturity or a behavior pattern.
He may learn too that it is not so much what he does, but it is who controls him while he is doing it. Either the old sin nature is controlling or the indwelling Holy Spirit, but not both.
He comes to realize that a bitter enemy lives within and is something he was not aware of but the good news is there is an option to be spiritual or carnal. He knew about the old sin nature but had never really understood the difference between spirituality and carnality. If they are absolutes, he is either spiritual or carnal.
He also realized that he could observe a number of social prohibitions and most likely would be viewed as a sincere spiritual or strong Christian. There is no such creature as a strong Christian! You are either saved and in the family of God, or you are unsaved and without any strength whatsoever. Your strength does not add to your position in Christ. You are a Child of God by faith in Christ Jesus and not by means of your strength or behavior… it is being in Christ and Him being in you. Strength comes from growth in the word of God and not in your behavior. Behavior follows an understanding of your position in Christ plus growth and development from the word of God.
This positive believer also learned if he prayed and witnessed, he may be viewed by others as a spiritual person. But because of guilt and the absence of spiritual activity for years, he felt hypocritical in embracing some of these things. These matters began to circulate through his mind and confusion reigned. He needed help and arranged lunch with a respected friend who knew a lot about the Bible. Immediately, he asked the question… “what is true spirituality?” The response was “we do not work or struggle for it… it is simply appropriated.” The immediate concern was HOW? The positive aspect of spirituality means at any time you have sinned, you must immediately get back in fellowship with the Lord.
When we sin, pursuant to Eph. 4:30 the Holy Spirit is grieved, and there is no fellowship with the Lord. If I am sinning the Holy Spirit does not control my life, and I am a carnal Christian who is out of fellowship.
The good news is… confession gets that sin out of the way and the means to accomplish it is, 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Is this sufficient to restore a person to fellowship with the Lord? Let’s look closer at this holy word. The condition is CONFESS and the astonishing thing about confession is there are no works attached to it. The message as written by the Apostle John can be trusted and it is clear… “if we confess” then it becomes he and not we. “HE is faithful,” we are not, and he is “just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). This word confess as translated is not related to any merit from man. It means what it says, “confess” the sin you have committed and miraculously God takes care of it. Guess who gets the credit when you do as the word of God admonishes?
God gets the credit and the glory for the believer’s forgiveness. It is possible that some guilt may attach to the sin you have committed and you may think you don’t deserve this kind of grace and forgiveness. No matter how you feel, and you may feel badly, you must believe what his word says, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just through the blood of Christ to forgive our sins” (1 John 1:9). It is then you may know you are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. This is the matchless Grace of our loving Lord who does exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think.
If you are to be spiritual, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you have sinned you must confess the specific sin and get back in fellowship.
If you are cleansed from all unrighteousness then the Holy Spirit is no longer grieved, and you are restored to a position of fellowship with the Lord. It is then time to advance on the spiritual battlefield of life and tell others how exceedingly abundantly his grace is to you and can be to them.
There is no place in the Christian way of life for retreat or surrender. We don’t back up or surrender on this battlefield we go forward never to retreat. All of the armor of God enables the believer to be on the offensive. No Christian retreats; we are to march steadily forward and are never to succumb to these three enemies, (1) not having the details of life, (2) difficult circumstances and (3) poor or broken relationships with people. These three matters are not easy but easy finds no place to rest on the harsh battlefield of life. The charge is “go to now” which is an idiomatic expression for “get with it now!” So, what are you to do? Look at your protection and if you pause long enough you will see that you are not only protected for advancement, but are equipped to have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:10-17).
“What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19).
The moment we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior all sins past, present, and future have been forgiven judicially. God is no longer an Omnipotent judge to us, but a loving Heavenly Father. Were it not for the fact that the atoning blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing from all sin, it would be possible to commit a sin which had not been paid for and the righteous judgment of God would be brought down upon us, and we would be condemned to hell. But by God’s amazing grace this can never happen! The word cleanse here means that our sins are constantly and continually cleansed and thereby our salvation is sure. Knowing this amazing truth, it is possible that some may incorrectly conclude “if all my sins were taken away at the cross, then I no longer am responsible for committing personal acts of sin.” To believe this is to call God a liar because His word has stated; we can still sin and therefore, become carnal believers (1 Cor 3:1-3), (Heb 12:1, 2), (1 John 2:1). Since believers continue to possess a sinful nature, which can tempt them to commit personal acts of sin, there must be a way in which these sins can be forgiven if fellowship is to be restored.
The answer is…. his amazing grace is greater than any and all of our sins. Notice what happens when we sin and go to him for forgiveness. “He is faithful (we are not) and just (justified) to forgive us our sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). In salvation God treats man in grace where He does everything, and man can do nothing. Also, He treats believers in grace in the restoration to fellowship. There is no room for human works in this amazing grace provision. We become out of fellowship with God when we sin. To be restored back into fellowship with Him one must admit and acknowledge the specific sin or sins. When we make this admission to Him, we are acknowledging our complete helplessness and weakness to overcome sin in our own strength by our own efforts. We come to understand that apart from the power and strength of the Holy Spirit we are unable to accomplish anything that is pleasing in his sight, and that we must depend on him for all things. Seems impossible … how can this be? How can a holy and righteous God forgive unrighteousness? He can do it and remain righteous because the penalty for that sin was paid for at the cross. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). All of them! Our responsibility is to stop, look, listen, and keep short accounts of our sins and immediately confess them to God, not to a priest or to a friend, only to God. When we do confess our specific sins, the slate is wiped clean, and we are restored to fellowship with Him.
To minimize the reaction from anyone who may find it difficult to embrace the depth of His forgiveness and grace you may be assured, it does not grant a license to sin but rather it provides a license to effectively serve.
It is simply not true that the bird with a broken pinion will never fly again. Believers fall every day because of sin in some manner. The issue is don’t stay down and defeated, get up bush yourself off, and become active again in the arena where the spiritual warfare is real and where you must know how to recover when you sin. If you don’t know how to recover you will become a fallen warrior and a casualty on the spiritual battlefield of life. Join the undefeated and valiant soldier when wounded on the battlefield said, “Lay me down and bleed a while, I am wounded but not slain. I shall rise to fight again.”
The great privilege of the filling of the Spirit is to have what you do blessed by God and converted to divine versus human production. If your service and production is to count for eternity, you must realize that what you do must be accomplished while you are in fellowship and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is not what you do! It is who is controlling you while you do it. If this is not clear; the alternative is that you may work and work while out of fellowship, and since the working is from the old sin nature the production is no more than wood, hay and stubble. Why? Because when you are out of fellowship you are controlled by the old sin nature and all that you do, even the good, does not count. Production from the sin nature is no more than combustible wood, hay, and stubble and will be burned at the judgment seat of Christ.
To be in fellowship is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Under His control gold, silver and precious stones are generated.
To be out of fellowship is to be controlled by the old sin nature. Under its control only wood, hay and stubble are generated.
Stay in fellowship by confessing all sins. Stop committing them and grow up to be a producer of divine good to the Glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
If this seems strange or unusual to you, perhaps you do not possess the light of the gospel and are not walking with Him who is the light of the world, even Jesus Christ the only Savior. He may be known, and you can be a member of His family by believing on Him as personally declared by him “He that believes on Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Once you believe on Him by an act of trusting faith in His person you become a child of God, and are fit for Heaven, for you are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Eph.2: 8-9).
