The fifth in a series of 16 “blog bites” answering anticipated objections to material set forth in A Way of Escape, i.e., the fifth in a series of 16 “blog bites” answering anticipated FAQs.
OBJECTION #5 (of 16)
“So mister smarty-pants. You expect us to believe that you have come up with some revolutionary new way of escape that the Church has overlooked?” the reader asks. “The New Testament is nearly 2000 years old. If what you are claiming in your book has any merit, surely a few others would already be teaching it by now. Why aren’t others teaching Spirit-led escape from those hard-to-eradicate lingering sins of the flesh?”
RESPONSE
Others are teaching Spirit-led escape from those hard-to-eradicate lingering sins of the flesh. Some very prominent others. And they have been teaching it for a number of years. We have just been slow to listen. And perhaps also unsure of just how to apply what they are teaching.
HOLY SPIRIT THEOLOGY: JOHN MACARTHUR
In his 1991 New Testament Commentary on believers fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law (Romans 8:1-4), John MacArthur likens God’s saving of a sinner to a courtroom transaction. As the saved sinner exits the courtroom, God hands him the Code of Life, and says:
“Now you have in you My Spirit, whose power will enable you to fulfill My Law’s otherwise impossible demands [1].”
(to hear what Charles Stanley and Francis Chan have to say on God’s provision for eradicating those hard-to-eradicate lingering sins of the flesh, see the full blog at www.wileygrafbooks.com/news/why-arent-others-teaching-v2)
Three of America’s most beloved pastors are teaching their flocks that it is not so out of the ordinary to have a lingering sin or two that requires the help of the Holy Spirit Helper (John 16:7) to eradicate. Game-changing Holy Spirit theology for the genuinely born-again believer still struggling to fully overcome an addiction. Game-changing Holy Spirit theology—with the promise of a life-changing walk—if followed through to its logical “Galatians 5:16 conclusion.”
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
HOLY SPIRIT THEOLOGY—APPLIED!
In A Way of Escape, readers learn how to apply this Holy Spirit theology in their war against the flesh. Readers learn how to step up the degree to which they “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). They learn how to build a library of Spirit-anointed apps for the shutting down of the flesh. Apps that are custom-fitted to them, and their unique Spirit-filling triggers.
The still-struggling now have another option. The still-struggling now have fresh hope for discovering that long-sought-after way of escape from sin and temptation (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!
REFERENCES
1. MacArthur, J., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8, First Printing, Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, Pages 411-412, 1991
