“God works in the lives of his people using two agents, his Holy Spirit and his Word. He controls his Holy Spirit, but we are responsible to appropriate his Word in our lives.”
The apostle Paul described it as follows:
“…work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure….” Philippians 2:12-13
We are to “work out our salvation” which means to bring our salvation by grace through faith to it’s ultimate conclusion, to become more like Christ and less like the devil.
How are we to do that? We are to cooperate with God’s Spirit “who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
And how do we cooperate? Paul says in Philippians 2: 16 “holding fast the word of life.” We read His words recorded in the Bible and we hold fast to them and let the Holy Spirit use them to change us.
As one brother said “As we read our Bible, it is reading us.”
We should approach reading the Bible with awe because it will reveal “us” in ways we never thought possible. Not only sins like unforgiveness, pride, arrogance, perverse morals but also the staggering truths of who we are in Christ and all the marvelous things God has done in us and for us and is going to do in the future for His children.
In closing, I benefited from the following reality check on my relationship with God. I recommend it to you.
If you want to know what your attitude toward God is, check what your attitude to His Word is; that is your attitude toward God.
You do not love God more than you love His Word.
You do not obey God more than you obey His Word.
You do not have room for God in your life than you have room for His Word in your life.
If you want to find out how much God means to you, see how much His Word means to you.
If you want revival and spiritual growth in your life, prayerfully read your Bible, obey it’s truths and let the Holy Spirit do His work in you.
When we are reading our Bible and cooperating with the Holy Spirit, ALL of God’s creative power is working in us…His Word and His Spirit. The same creative agents that created the world.
A staggering thought.
Blessings on your journey with God.
Carl
Psalm 119: 38 