"We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us."
Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive. {DA 672.1, original emphasis}Righteousness by Faith
Righteousness by faith is by far the most important topic I have come across, since I became a christian in 1991. It is the very essence of the Three Angels' Messages from Revelation 14 - still almost no one understands it. Cheap grace, own efforts, jesuits and freemasons - all are set up for us as alternatives to Christ in us, the hope of glory (see Col. 1:27). And we buy into these things, probably because ANYTHING is easier for us than to surrender ourselves to God and let the Holy Spirit manage our lives. We try to evade God and we hold Him at a distance because His Spirit can inhabit us only to the degree to which we are willing to die to self.I have not yet heard anyone better at explaining how to surrender to God, than the following two people. It will be well spent time to listen to their understanding of the Gospel. God bless you in everything.
