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The Spirit at Work

The Spirit at Work

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

 

I’m as perplexed as anyone by the mystery of how the Holy Spirit moves within our human agency to accomplish His will, but two things are clear from Isaiah 61: first, that He anoints us for a purpose; and second, our given purpose is to bring the gospel to those lost in darkness. See, we can have theological arguments about what it means to be ‘Spirit-indwelled,’ and we can have hermeneutical debates on whether Paul meant “be filled with the Spirit’ or “be filled inspirit,” but we better not miss the fact that the theology of the Spirit is a practicable one. Are we sharing the good news with our neighbors? Are we healing hurting people in our community? Are we walking patiently with suffering friends who are imprisoned by despair? That’s how indwelling works. That’s how anointing acts

 

So Christian, don’t get sidetracked by all the what, when, and where questions today. Walk by the Who and the why.