Every believer has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit because every believer is righteous and holy. The Holy Spirit can only live in a holy place. Think about what that means. When we know we are in union with God, the resulting affect should be a life of power. But why do most Christians not experience a life of power? Paul tells us in Galatians 3.
“Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you…”” (Galatians 3:3-5)1
The word “supplies” is the word Greek word “epichoregeo” which means “to supply abundantly or bountifully.”2 The verb tense for the verbs “supplies” and “works” here is the present active participle which means there is an active continuous flow of the supply of the Spirit and the working of miracles.3 Paul was saying that even though the false teachers had come in and were making inroads, miracles were still happening. However, the church was turning away from grace to self-effort, and it would hinder the flow of the miraculous in the church.
God’s abundant supply of the Spirit and the grace for the working of miracles never stops flowing. This is what God intended for the church, but why don’t we see it? Paul asks a question to answers that question:
“…does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?… “(Galatians 3:5, cont.)
Miracles don’t happen because of our DOING anything! Miracles flow from the Spirit by the hearing of faith! It’s so simple!
Many of us learned steps to “earn” miracles through our words of “faith.” But so often nothing happened. Why? Because our faith was in our faith. Faith became a work. Yes, we talked about Jesus and His blood, but only in the context of our formulas of faith. Our faith became our law. We were toiling, sometimes even travailing, to earn miracles by our obedience, but the Scriptures say that God does miracles by the “hearing of faith.”
Here is a liberating truth about faith: faith isn’t a bridge to Jesus; JESUS is the bridge! It’s HIS righteousness, not ours!
I can tell you from experience, miracles flow when there is peace in our conscience. No matter how big the problem is, grace (the unearned, unmerited, undeserved favor of God) is released when we rest in the finished work of Jesus. He gives us all things freely because by His blood He has paid for it. He should get what He paid for, don’t you think?
(from pages 254-255 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2Kenneth S. Wuest, Galatians, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1944, p. 88
3Galatians 3:5, Blue Letter Bible (interlinear tab), website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Gal&c=3&t=KJV&ss=1#s=t_conc_1094005, accessed 6-5-14″
