Our Identity-A Spirit-Filled People

Second of a new series on “Doing what’s right without being legalistic”
- For most of the ideas here I have borrowed from New Covenant Morality in Paul

Review from Last Time

God did an amazing thing by choosing a nation to be his special people
In a remarkable way, we inherit this relationship
- so our self-identity can be defined as “the People of God”
Looking as how God and the nation of Israel related to each other can be a real help for us
Three things in particular relating to holiness:
1. We are pure and united because: God’s special dwelling place is with/in us
2. We are pure and united because: We represent God to the nations
3. We are pure and united because: God’s presence actually makes us pure

It is God’s Presence that makes us holy and requires us to be holy
Two facts, flowing in opposite directions:
1. It is because God is present with us and has put his name on us (as in a marriage), that we need to be faithful to him
2. It is his presence that actually produces the holiness
Two conclusions
1. If we want more of his presence, then give attention to being faithful to him
2. Spending time in his presence will actually have the effect of purifying us, so spend time worshipping, praying, and enjoying his presence

Jeremiah 31:32 says the New Covenant is “not like the covenant that I made with their fathers”
- Jeremiah 31:31-34

	The Nation of Israel	Us, the New People
Law of God	Written on stone tablets and stored in the temple at Jerusalem	Written on our hearts by God himself by means of the Holy Spirit
Holy Presence of God which makes us holy	In the Temple at Jerusalem They were to go there 3 times a year to encounter God’s presence	God presence is within us and among his people through the Spirit

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
It is important to note that in v.8 God’s activity is continuous (present tense)
- the Christian is not simply sanctified and then left alone with a now transformed personality
- they remains in constant union with God’s a source of activity
So how does this sometimes go wrong?
- v.8 “disregard”
Exactly the same idea can be seen in Phil 2:12-13
1. Therefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
2. for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Now have a look a final passage with the same teaching:
- Romans 8:1-14

“Be what you Are?”
- instead: ‘let God be what he is’
  - i.e. the one ‘who works in you’ (Phil 2:13)
  - the one ‘who gives his Holy Spirit to you’
Response
- Maybe you do not belong to Jesus?
- Maybe you have blockages to the flow of the Spirit?

Updated on 2009-08-31 (r.49) by Andrew Fountain