Blessings and Resposibilities of Being a Christian - Cont.

There are certainly more blessings and responsibilities that we have as Christians. We will look at two more in this lesson. The blessings of the Holy Spirit and the church. We have the blessing of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us - 1 Co 3:16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" Wonderful blessings are attributed to the Holy Spirit's indwelling. He gives us strength to put to death the fleshly deeds of the body - Ro 8:11-13 "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."; Ep 3:16 "that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,", 20 "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,". He also helps in our weakness when it comes to praying as we ought, by acting as an intercessor for us - Ro 8:26-27 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

What responsibilities do we have in view of the Spirit's indwelling? To keep the temple of God, the church, holy - 1 Co 3:16-17 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." We are to glorify God even with our bodies - 1 Co 6:18-20 "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." We are to Walk in the Spirit, being so led by the Spirit as to produce the fruit of the Spirit - Ga 5:16-18 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.", 22-25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." This we do by setting our minds on the things of the Spirit - Ro 8:5-6 "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Which involves the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit - Ep 6:17 "and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,".

We have the blessing of having the church as our family - 1 Ti 3:15 "if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth." The members become like fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters - 1 Ti 5:1-2 "Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father. Treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, younger women like sisters, in all purity." They can even replace physical relations we may lose when we become Christians - Mk 10:28-30 "Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."; Mt 12:46-50 "While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."'

What responsibilities do we have to the church as our family? We are to "edify one another" - He 10:24-25 "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." This necessitates assembling together frequently. This requires each one doing their share - Ep 4:15-16 "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. We are to "bear one another's burdens" - Ga 6:1-2 "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." For such is the "law" of Christ. This requires that we know each other well, and can be depended upon to provide support.

There are certainly many more blessings and responsibilities that we have as Christians. But I hope that these suffice to impress upon us... How blessed we are as Christians. How important it is that we fulfill our responsibilities-- Or we may lose the blessings we have! - He 3:12-15 "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."'