John 4:24
"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
NIV
Philippians 2:13
"...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
NIV
Here we find more insight from the Philippian letter that explains the mystery from John's Gospel.
The writer states that God is doing a work inside us, our spirits, that changes the way we think and act. Romans 2:4 tells us that God's kindness leads us toward repentance and repentance means to change the way you think. When we change the way we think then naturally our actions will change.
Many in the church have tried to work from the outside of people inward. Meaning, they try to change the way people act. "You have to stop doing ______ when you get saved and you need to start doing _____." This is just another form of living under a law. Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law that we might live under grace. What is grace? It is God with us, in us, to help us become that which was impossible for us to do on our own. His righteousness. Trying to do it any other way is trying to get there on our own righteousness and that is exactly what He came to set us free from. We can't get there on our own. We can't get there from truth to spirit. Only spirit to truth. Inside out. We are to manifest what He is doing in us.
So what is God doing in us? For starters, He has placed His very Spirit within us. His Spirit is His very nature and includes His every attribute. Here are a few: love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control. That is what you have in you. How many of us have asked for any of these since becoming a Christian? I imagine the Father looking at us and wondering why we are asking for something we already have. So how come we don't always act with patience and we think we have to ask for it? Let us look at Philippians again.
Philippians 2:13
"...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
NIV
Oh, that's right! God put it in us to work it out of us. This IS in spirit and in truth.
1. In spirit we have everything we need for life and godliness. For example: patience
2. The problem we face is that we don't know/believe this. When we realize that we do have everything we need, like patience, it begins to change the way we think.
3. When we know/believe we have it, patience, then we live with patience.
We have everything we need. When we believe this then we live it. That is true worship in spirit and in truth. Worship isn't a slow song it is a life devoted to seeing the Kingdom of God, which Jesus said was within us, established here on the earth so that the kingdoms of the world would become the kingdoms of the Living God!
Final thought:
Ephesians 3:19
"...that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
NIV
"filled to the measure" means completely. It means spirit, soul(mind, will, and emotions), and body. Inside out! The challenge is: LET HIM OUT! I guarantee it won't hurt, even though it sounds painful, and you will enjoy the ride.
Acts 2:28
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.'
NIV
So be it!
Justin
