Life in the Holy Spirit

 

“7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’  8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’  11 She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 ‘You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?’ 13 Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;  14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’"        John 4:7-14

It was the practice of the Jews to avoid the area known as Samaria when traveling between northern and southern Israel and use an eastern route along the Jordan River rather than come in contact with any Samaritan (“for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans”). But in John 4, Jesus and the disciples purposely went through Samaria on their way to Galilee and stopped at the place called Jacob’s well. The woman at the well was a Samaritan and a wonderful conversation took place between Jesus and her. This exchange is rich in symbolism.

The Holy Spirit is a gift

In verse 10, Jesus refers to knowing the gift of God and “the one it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink’”. This is a clear reference to salvation in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Scripture further reveals that this gift is also realized in the form of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). In John 7:38-39, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”. The Holy Spirit is the very life-source of a living relationship with God in the new covenant age.

The central issue of salvation is knowing who Jesus is, as the exchange in Matthew 16 between Jesus and Peter about who “you say that I am”. Jesus told Peter and the disciples in Matthew 16:18, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it”. The rock that Jesus refers to is Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. The church was going to be built upon an individual’s confession of who Jesus is and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ bears witness to who Jesus is (Romans 8:9-11).

Fountain of living water

There are many other references to water in the Scriptures that speak to the living water as the Holy Spirit. Psalm 1:3, Ezekiel 47:5, Proverbs 11:25, Isaiah 58:11, and Jeremiah 2:13 are also passages dealing with the life of the Holy Spirit expressed in terms of water. In Jeremiah 17:13, “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord”. This living water is the very life force of God in each believer. Jesus was introducing a new concept in that the Spirit would reside within each believer instead of “on” certain ones in the old covenant (see Isaiah 61:1). The life of the Spirit is the eternal life that God promises all believers in Christ.

Having this new life of the Spirit within, the believer has the ability to overcome the power of the sin nature which is attached to the flesh. This victory is experienced through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). This spiritual life is derived from the Holy Spirit and the things that occupy our minds. In Romans 8:5-8, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God”. The Holy Spirit gives us the option of walking with God by our mindset, our thought life.  Colossians 3:2 instructs us to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth.

Sons of God 

13 “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”                                       Romans 8:13-16

As Romans 8 further illuminates in verse 13-17, the maturity barrier for the believer is the ability to be led by the Spirit of God (verse 14) and when we do, we become sons (huios), not just children (teknon). This leading of the Spirit is as a direct result of our willingness to die to our flesh, the part of me that wants to be in control, independent from God. Putting to death the deeds of the body means to not allow the needs of the flesh to place lifestyle demands on the believer. We learn to trust that the Holy Spirit will provide the divine ability to stand up against the lusts of the sin nature. It may require some suffering, but it will be worth it, for we will be glorified with Him! The spirit of adoption as sons in Christ has given us victory over the spirit of slavery. 

The work of the Holy Spirit 

The Holy Spirit is an integral part of the successful life of the believer in Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no ability to discern (appraise – examine evidence so as to understand) the things that are spiritual. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth” and that “He will guide you into all the truth” in John 16:13. When Jesus challenged the Samaritan woman at the well with knowledge that He could not know except supernaturally, he was referring to this ability that the Holy Spirit gives. This ability to speak the truth caused her to recognize Jesus as Messiah (the Christ) and this is how the work of salvation is performed in a new believer’s life. It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, identifying Jesus as the Christ to anyone who seeks to know the truth.

In Genesis 24, the Scriptures tell us about Abraham getting elderly and desiring to find a wife for his son Isaac, but not from the Canaanites in the land where they lived, but from the place where Abraham grew up, Ur of the Chaldeans. This is symbolic of the work of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant age to find the bride for the Son. Abraham represents the Father, Isaac the Son, the servant is the Holy Spirit, and the wife is the church, the bride of Christ. The Father sends the Holy Spirit from the place where the Father and Son reside (heaven) to earth to find the bride for the bridegroom. The servant arrives at another well and is waiting for the right woman to respond to him, “Drink and I will water your camels also”. The Holy Spirit has been sent to the earth, now that the Son no longer resides here, to find those who will believe in Christ and thus become his bride (Revelations 19:9). Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant age and believers are willing participants in the process. In Proverbs 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls”. We see the Samaritan woman now being used by the Holy Spirit to reveal the identity of the Messiah to other Samaritans (gentiles). 

The wise win souls 

39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done." 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."          John 4:39-42

The story of the Samaritan woman continues with many Samaritans coming to Jesus to find out for themselves who He really was. They needed to find out for themselves that He is “indeed the Savior of the world”. We are used by God to encourage others to consider who Jesus really is, but it is the Spirit of God that confirms it in a new believer’s life. Jesus’s last words to His disciples in Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8 were for them to go into all the world and be witnesses of Jesus; it is the Spirit’s job to make believers. We are workers in His field and He is the Lord of the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38).

That which is born of the Spirit is spiritual

The Holy Spirit is an integral part of the Christian's life and His importance cannot be overlooked. In Isaiah 58:11, "And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail”. The work of the Holy Spirit is intended to bring us to new heights in our walk with God as we learn to experience all of God’s blessings in the midst of scorched places, times when we are being challenged as in a desert. This personal experience with the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) will bring great joy as “we joyously draw water from the springs of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). 

Ultimately, spiritual life is only derived from the Holy Spirit and cannot be created by human effort, even good works. In John 3:6, Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [spiritual]”.