How God Speaks His Truth to You
I’m in a series of blogs called “Truth: Fluid or Final?” I’m talking about how God revealed himself and His truth through his word. I’m talking about the Bible; its origins, function, reliability, and authority. God’s eternal truth is so badly needed with today's fluid narratives we're exposed to. In this blog I want to talk about how God communicates his word, his truth (as revealed in the scriptures) to speak to a person’s heart and mind, leading that person to saving faith.
SPIRIT TO SPIRIT
Entering into a relationship with God begins with God the Holy Spirit drawing you to himself through God’s truth.
Admittedly, it’s a bit of a mystery exactly how The Holy Spirit makes it possible for people to come to genuine faith in God. Jesus, in talking about the Holy Spirit said this in John 3:8…
“The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
However, it’s not a complete mystery. We know that God the Holy Spirit is a powerful messenger of God’s truth. The power of the Holy Spirit awakens a person’s dead, sin-drenched spirit to a place of being spiritually renewed, born from above—indeed, “born again.” When Jesus met with a Jewish spiritual leader by the name of Nicodemus, we’re given insights from our Lord on how God speaks to and awakens the human spirit…
1 “There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, You must be born again.”
When Jesus spoke of being born of water and Spirit in v. 5, he was speaking of the “living water” given by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 7:38, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”
Jesus told the Samaritan women at the well...
10 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said… “…Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The idea of life, or God's truth, being a river or stream or spring is common in the Bible. The imagery implies something living, pure, and life-giving. As used by Jesus, this internal river, spring, or stream, speaks of the Holy Spirit, which comes to live inside all who come to faith in Christ.
So, when Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again of water and Spirit, he was speaking of the work the Holy Spirit does with the human spirit. The Spirit of God supernaturally awakens the human spirit and joins it with the God’s Spirit. The result is a spiritual renewing—the human spirit is born anew and the soul is released from the punishment of sin and given eternal life. But, it all begins as the Holy Spirit supernaturally opens the mind and spirit of a person so that he or she can begin to comprehend why God the Father sent Jesus to take on human flesh. There’s a Spirit to spirit connection.
The Holy Spirit whispers the truth of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He presses God’s truth upon the sin-stained sensibilities of the person. He helps the person understand Jesus and his work of salvation. He helps move the person from spiritual death to the moment or season of time when that person makes a conscious decision to believe in and follow Jesus as Savior and King of their life.
GOD DOESN’T FORCE HIMSELF
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, the Apostle Paul wrote this to Christ-followers in the city of Corinth…
14 “But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”
People are more than physical beings, we are spiritual beings as well. The human spirit is that vital inner element every person has. The problem is that the human spirit is soiled by the corruption of sin. Unless it is awakened by the Holy Spirit, it cannot receive the presence or truth of God. In addition, a person can either receive or reject God’s truth. The human spirit—that part of a person that filters one’s will, feelings, thinking, and decision-making must decide what to do with Jesus; to submit to Jesus as Savior or reject him as God’s means of salvation. This is also what Jesus defined as the unforgivable sin. Jesus said this in Matthew 12:32…
“Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.”
If a person rejects the testimony, the message, and the truth spoken by the Holy Spirit to the human spirit, it is to their own peril. The message of the Holy Spirit is the Gospel, the message of Jesus as Savior, and why he died on the cross. Anyone who receives Jesus by faith will receive the spirit awakening power of the Holy Spirit and be forgiven of sin and eternal separation from God. If a person rejects the truth of the Holy Spirit, it’s unforgivable. Why? Forgiveness of sin is impossible for the unbelieving person because he or she is calls the testimony of the Holy Spirit untrue. Hell is their destiny.
In addition, if the Spirit of God is rejected by a person, he or she cannot understand the things of God, “It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it” (1 Cor. 2:14a). However, if a person receives the message of the Holy Spirit and the truth that Jesus is Savior, their human spirit is revived, renewed, born-again and he or she enters into a deeper understanding of God and his truth (“…for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means” (1 Cor. 2:14b). Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit connects the essence of God to your human spirit at the point of genuine faith in Jesus (spiritual rebirth).
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
When you experience spiritual rebirth, the Holy Spirit counsels, comforts and convicts you of God's truth. He helps you understand the deep things of God. You can’t expect unbelieving people to approve of or understand your decision to follow Jesus. It might seem bizarre to them; it may come across as unreasonable. That’s why Paul wrote what he did in 1 Cor. 2:15-16…
15 “Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
The person who is rejecting Jesus cannot evaluate or understand how or why you would choose to live the way of Jesus. The lines of communication between themselves and God is still broken; he or she can’t hear what God is saying. But God doesn’t want it that way. It gives him no pleasure. He wants every person to know him and to see his truth.
NEXT STEP
1. There’s a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. If you haven’t proceeded to a spiritual awakening triggered by the work and power of the Holy Spirit, invite Jesus to personally enter into your life, to awaken your spirit and save your soul. Inviting Jesus to be your Savior and Lord is the message of the Holy Spirit. Don’t turn a deaf ear to him today.
