The Holy Spirit: God’s Provision

1:19b this shall turn out for my deliverance through ... the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ

(We saw in the last post that the deliverance spoken of here is not deliverance from prison specifically, but rather a more generalized idea of deliverance, which might even include the final deliverance of death.)

How is Paul going to be able to have what it takes to exalt Christ and not be put to shame (in other words, not bring shame to the gospel by the way he conducts himself), whether he lives or dies? What can make a man who is fallen and weak (like we are) bold and unashamed in the face of the greatest power on earth (Rome)? The enablement will come, Paul says, "through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."

There is nothing good in us (that is, in our flesh), Paul says in Romans 7:18. All we can do on our own is sin. No man on his own does good. Not even one. (Romans 3:12) The only way that good can be produced in us is by the Spirit of God. And in this Holy Spirit whom Christ poured out upon His church there is abundant power for the believer. Paul knows that apart from Christ (who now ministers to him through the Holy Spirit) he can do nothing (John 15:5). But he also knows that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him (by means of His Spirit). Paul knows, therefore, that the secret to having the strength to glorify Christ even in the face of death is to be adequately supplied with the Holy Spirit. This is what he means by "the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" in v.19.

Just as it was the Holy Spirit that Paul needed in order to be what he needed to be in the face of whatever came, so it is with us. Without His help, we are totally incapable of living as we should. But with His help, all things are possible. This is the way we need to learn to think about our lives. We tend either to give ourselves too much credit or to count ourselves as too hopeless. But the right and Biblical way to think about ourselves is to be ever mindful of both our absolute weakness and of the Spirit’s superabundant and all-sufficient power. In this way we are protected against both pride and despair.

O Lord my God, I thank you for this lesson. I thank You for reminding me that You are what I need. I come to You today as a weak man, unable by myself to do anything good. But I thank You that You have not left me by myself. I thank You that You have sent Your Spirit, and that He dwells in me, and that He is my Helper. O Father, may I walk today continuously in His power. May I know His glorious strength like Paul did. May the fruits of my life today be the fruits of the Spirit. May I not yield to the sinful desires of my flesh today, but may I yield to Your Spirit. No matter what I face today, I know that if only I have His help, I can do and be all that I need to do and be. May He hold sway over my life today.