Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

 • Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama

Jesus prayed for us, and for all those who would come to believe in him as Lord and Savior. He promised that the Holy Spirit would come and make his home in us. Now, the Holy Spirit indwells (lives inside) every Christian who repents and believes in Jesus Christ. He provides each individual Christian with special gifts and abilities designed to build believers up in Christ, to help them grow to maturity in Jesus. Truly, the Holy Spirit is the pledge (down payment) of the future inheritance that believers will receive when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish his Kingdom. God the Father has graciously granted each believer spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit to strengthen and build up his people. While there may be varieties of gifts, services, and activities provided by the Holy Spirit, he gives each Christian unique gifts to be used to build up other Christians. Every believer has gifts, and each one is called on to use their gifts to make the body of Christ strong and mature. We are called to be good stewards of these wondrous gifts of God’s grace, using them in such a way that the Lord himself might be glorified through Jesus Christ. In the Spirit, we are called to live free, not as slaves to our old nature, but rather as channels of the Spirit, through whom his fruit may be borne. We need only yield to him, and follow him in all things. The Appendices you should study and meditate upon relevant to this lesson are the following: Our Declaration of Dependence: Freedom in Christ (App. 9) Jesus of Nazareth: The Presence of the Future (App. 4)

Summary

Appendices

The same breath is blown into the flute, cornet, and bagpipe, but different music is produced according to the different instruments. In the same way the one Spirit works in us, God’s children, but different results are produced, and God is glorified through them according to each one’s temperament and personality.

~ Sadhu Sandar Singh. Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith, Eds. Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups. Renovare, Inc. (HarperCollins Publishers), New York. 1993, p. 291.