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Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Holy Spirit Spirit - The Applier of salvation

Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Yesterday we looked at the Person of the Holy Spirit, noting that when the Christian lives through The Holy Spirit's Person and work, the Person and work of the Son will be the focus of their life.  The Holy Spirit is equal in Deity and glory to the Father and Son, yet He chooses to shine the focus upon the Father and Son.  In God's work of redemption, it is the Holy Spirit who applies the work of salvation.  The account of Eoxdus 28-31, with its revelation of the priests and their work, shows how salvation is applied.  We now turn to that section to see how the Spirit's work is pictured.

The Spirit applies Christ's work at the beginning of salvation
When we speak of the Spirit's work of applying salvation, reference is made to Him taking the Event of salvation and making it an experience in the life of the believer.  Below we see three such works of the Spirit being pictured for us in Exodus 28-31:

1. The Spirit's work of conversion - Pictured in Exodus 28:1-29:9
1 Peter 2:9 states -  "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"  The reference to Christians becoming "priests of God" echoes back to what we read in Exodus 28-31.  It is the Spirit who gives the gifts of faith and repentance, wherein the sinner freely decides and turns from sin to Jesus Christ for salvation. (John 1:12-13; John 16:7-15; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23)

2. The Spirit's work of applying Christ's righteousness - Pictured in Exodus 28:1-29:9
When a sinner believes on Christ, God the Father declares them to be "right" or "righteous". (Romans 4:3)  The crediting of Christ's righteousness is made possible by the Holy Spirit.  Revelation 19:7-8 describes how Christians in eternity will be:  7“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

3. The Spirit's work of applying Christ's Blood - Pictured in Exodus 29:10-46
Hebrews 9:14 states - "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  The blood of the sacrifices in the Old Testament had to be sprinkled upon the altar for the offerer.  When Moses was presenting the law of God to the people in Exodus 24:8, he sprinkled the people and the book with blood.  Application of the blood meant that when God looked at that person upon whom the blood was sprinkled, He regarded that person as being innocent in His sight.  The Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to all who believe in this manner. 

The Holy Spirit is the Agent by Whom and Through Whom anyone can be converted and believe on Christ.  Tomorrow we will continue with more aspects of the Spirit's work of application. 

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