“… until Christ is formed in you …” (Gal. 4:19, NKJV)
It is very important to realise that the seven-fold Spirit of God is not received through the laying on of hands as such. Indeed, the seed of Christ is planted within you when you become born-again (through the laying on of hands), but its growth is a process of spiritual maturation, ripening, until the Christ life is manifested WITHIN you. Therefore, Paul prays for his spiritual sons, “for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19).
The simple reason for this is that the Spirit of Christ is the manifestation of the godly nature. This mystery is explained to us in 2 Pet. 1:3-4: “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”.
Take note of the restored progression, which is not unnecessarily presented in the verse in this unfolding manner: after you have fled from corruption that is caused by the world’s lust → you receive THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM who called you → you receive THE GODLY POWER OF THE LORD JESUS → which GAVE ALL THINGS (great and precious promises) → you receive that which leads to LIFE AND GODLINESS → so that, through this, you might receive THE GODLY NATURE.
We will not be explaining this progression right now, but please selah about it – it is for instance very important to understand what exactly the lust of/in the world entails (1 John 2:15-16 is already a good indication); realise that this lust brings about corruption WITHIN you, even if you are born again; the core role that knowledge plays within this; that your calling is central to this issue; everything you can receive by merely being in position; and that what you have received brings about the godly nature WITHIN YOU. But nothing can happen or come into being without you “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”!
The lust in/of the world is defined by the Amplified translation as “lust and greed”. The BBE takes a softer approach, referring to it as “the desires of the flesh”, and the NJB as “disordered passion”. But it is clear that this is something we need to seriously examine in our lives, as its presence prevents the synergy that must come into effect before the godly nature can be manifested.
It should become clear to the reader why this explanation is necessary at this point – any of the six other Spirits of the seven-fold Spirit, including the Spirit of wisdom, cannot start operating without the preconditions that Scripture maps out. There are particular spiritual principles that regulate the working of this Spirit of Christ, and it’s not all neatly packaged in the same place in Scripture – we need to search for it.
- Selah: Why do you need to search for it? Why is it not just neatly listed in Scripture?
- Read: 1-3
- Memorise: 2:14
