Congress signed 20 bipartisan bills into law last month. It’s February, and Ohioans still haven’t had to use their snow shovels. The Indians won last year’s World Series. And money does grow on trees.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. How often have you heard that expression? And how often has that expression been spot-on correct? Pretty close to 100% of the time, right?
But that all changes when we’re talking about the Holy Spirit. When talking about the Holy Spirit in the God-breathed Scriptures, if it sounds too good to be true, there’s a 100% chance that it is indeed true! And God so wanted us to “get” these truths, that he gave us multiple Sounds-Too-Good-To-Be-True Holy Spirit Promises in the Scriptures. We examine three such Holy Spirit Promises in today’s blog.
EPHESIANS 3:20—THAT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20)
How could someone do more than we ask or think for him to do? That sounds too good to be true. And yet, that is precisely what Scripture says about the Someone we call the Holy Spirit. This has massive implications for the believer/addict who has not yet thought to ask (Ephesians 3:20) the Holy Spirit to deliver him from addictive lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16)!
GALATIANS 5:16—THAT ALSO SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
“You’re telling me that I can be an overcomer in the war against the flesh?” asks the porn-trapped believer. “Even in this porn-on-demand world in which we now live? And without the aid of a flesh-starving accountability partner or group? No, that sounds too good to be true.”
But the believer who has experienced the Holy Spirit’s exceeding abundant inner-working power (Ephesians 3:20) to deliver believers from lusts of the flesh sings a different tune. He has taken the theology, and applied it to his own life (see www.wileygrafbooks.com/news/applied-theology-v9). And he now knows that Spirit-led deliverance from lusts of the flesh is not only possible, but that it is the expected outcome for all who have learned how to step up the degree to which they walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).
ROMANS 8:4—YUP, ANOTHER ONE THAT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
“You’re telling me that I can fulfill the righteous requirements of the law?” asks the porn-trapped believer. “You’re telling me that I can have victory over the flesh in this porn/sex-crazed world? Without the aid of a flesh-starving accountability partner or group? Nah, that sounds too good to be true.”
But the believer who has dropped the passivity (see www.wileygrafbooks.com/news/drop-the-passivity-v9), and learned how to step up the degree to which he walks in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) sings a different tune. He knows that living a victorious Christian life is not just a pipe dream. He knows that living a victorious Christian life is not only possible, but that it is the expected outcome for all who have learned how to walk according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
IF WE’RE TALKING HOLY SPIRIT POWER, WE CAN BE SURE THAT IT IS INDEED TRUE!
The World says, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.” But we in the Church sing a different tune. We that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit can say, “If we’re talking about the Holy Spirit and His inner-working power, even when it sounds too good to be true, we can be sure that it is indeed true!”
A GAME-CHANGING BOOK HAS ARRIVED
In A Way of Escape, readers learn how to tap in to their inner-working Holy Spirit power. Readers learn how to escape lusts of the flesh—not by starving the flesh, but—by stepping up the degree to which they “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). They learn how to build a library of Spirit-anointed, flesh-diffusing apps. Apps that are uniquely fitted to them, and their unique Spirit-filling triggers (Ephesians 5:18b-19).
The still-struggling now have another option. The still-struggling now have fresh hope for discovering that long-sought-after way of escape from temptation and resulting sin (I Corinthians 10:13). A way that—because it is wholly Spirit-powered—does not require enlisting the aid of an accountability partner or group. Truly, a game-changer!
THANK YOU, HOLY SPIRIT!