When The Spirit Is Present: Transformation

Today we continue our reflection on this past Sunday's sermon.

Too often we limit the ministry of the Holy Spirit to just physical manifestations. If we hear someone speaking in tongues, or giving a prophetic word, or we witness a miraculous healing, we then conclude that the Spirit of God has shown up. You may recall, though, in an earlier sermon, Pastor Sam warned us: "Not every miracle means that God is in the house: remember the magicians of Egypt?" (see Exodus chapters 7 and 8 for details)

But, there is something amazing that happens when the Spirit is present, and it is often not as instantaneous or dramatic as some of the public manifestations we see: lives are transformed.

Galatians 5 gives a contrast between the acts of the sinful nature and what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. Later on in Galatians 6 Paul brings in the powerful metaphor of sowing and reaping: wherever we expend our effort is where we will see fruit.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to do what we cannot do on our own: express love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). It becomes an outflow of who we are: not because of our own efforts, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Paul says at the close of the book of Galatians, "what counts is a new creation" (Galatians 6:15). Perhaps we as Christians would be taken more seriously if our evidence of Spirit-fullness does not begin and end with a prophecy or a shout, but with seeds of the love of God that over time bear good fruit.