Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed?

(Forgiveness & Repentance, Precursors to the New Birth)

by Dr. Pazaria Smith

Introduction
Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the
Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:38].
Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed?
All scripture quotations and bible verses are taken from the
King James, New International, New King James and
Amplified Translations of the Holy Bible unless otherwise stated or
indicated in the text.
Copyright 2012, 2016
Publisher by Lifestream Publications

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Preface

Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed?

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is
born of the Spirit." [John3:7-8].
There is one message that I think is the most decisive and the most
important message of the entire gospel and that is to properly
understand the new birth. There are so many various interpretations
of what constitutes the new birth.
The Lord Jesus Christ says, "Ye must be born again." Without the new
birth, there is no eternal salvation. Without the new birth, we are
doomed eternally to hell. That is how important it is that we are born
again. So how important is it that we properly and rightly understand
the new birth?
There is nothing Satan would rather do than to have us deceived on
this one point: to think that we have been born again. What is more
important than to understand that summons of the Lord Jesus Christ?
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man is born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." [John 3:3]. We cannot see it unless we are
born again.
Just as we favor [look alike, have various attributes and mannerisms
of our earthly (biological, fleshly parents), When we are truly Born
Again, we take on the likeness of our Heavenly (Spiritual Father).
The only way your Spirit (Born Again) can interact with the Spiritual
RealmGod) is through His Word, which is Spirit and it's Truth.

This new birth is a marvelous thing, which cannot be comprehended

with the natural mind: it is a miracle of grace. Nicodemus, the ruler of
the Jews, a Pharisee, and a teacher of the Jews - the tribe of Israel,
the chosen of God - did not understand. "Nicodemus saith unto him,
how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb, and be born?" [John 3:4] He did not
understand that what Christ was speaking about is to be born
spiritually. In (verse 5), "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God."
Last week we studied what it means to be born of water.
Water is the symbol of the Word of God.
The Word of God is the vehicle or the instrument whereby the Holy
Spirit quickens us unto newness of life. The Holy Word of God
quickens us. Therefore, if we find there is no authority in the Word of
God, we can lie spiritually dead thinking we are alive. Understanding
the authority of the Word is vital and most important.
It is by the Word of God that the Lord Jesus said, "Lazarus come
forth," and Lazarus, who was dead in the grave four days, came forth
by the power of the Word. It is the Word of God that has the power to
quicken us spiritually, and the Holy Spirit uses the authority of the
Word to bring us out of spiritual deadness into a state of spiritual life.

A Real Life Experience

There was a young woman who enjoyed all the frills of the world
(fashion, fads, music, rumors, people pleasing and gossip). She
sometimes found herself telling little white lies. One day someone
noticed a marked difference in her character, her speech, her dress
and her general behavior. She was asked if she had been born again.
Although the young woman never drank, smoked, used drugs or
frequented nightclubs, her sins were no less offensive to God.
If you break one of Gods commandments, you are guilty of them all.
She was always a member of the
Apostolic/Pentecostal Church and worked diligently on several
auxiliaries, held several offices and sang in the church choir, she had
not been born again according to the scriptures, with the evidence of
speaking in other tongues.
Her answer to the question that was asked of her was, "I know
something has changed, it might be the world (the people); it might be
my heart; I'm not quite sure what it is, but there has been a great
change somewhere."
The young woman was always seeking the Lord in prayer and fasting,
up to seven days at a time.
What was she saying? She had loved the things of the world, the
pleasures of the world, the entertainment of the world, and all of a
sudden, there was nothing about the world that charmed her
anymore. She did not know if the world had changed. She thought
maybe there was something about the things she had loved so much
that had changed. She was not sure what it was. She did not know for
sure if it was the world or her heart that had changed.

There is a hymn says, "O Jesus, friend unfailing, naught, naught I

count as pleasure compared, O Lord, with Thee."
Verse three says, "O worldly pomp and glory, your charms are spread
in vain." Why is that? It is because something has changed. It says
that to be born of the Spirit is as "The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof," you cannot tell where it came
from or where it went: all you know is something has changed.
You feel the wind; you can feel the effect of it. You cannot see the
wind; you do not know where it comes from, and you do not know
where it goes. That is the way it is when you are born of the Holy
Spirit. You become a different person. You have a new desire. You
have a new nature. You no longer have pleasure in the things of this
life. Your pleasures become centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. Your
pleasures become centered in serving and doing His will.
Our text says in [John 3], "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The new
birth is referred to in Scripture as a quickening from the dead. It
quickens new desires. A dead person has no senses at all.
Do you know that a person sometimes can be so near dead that the
only way to truly tell if he is still alive is by taking brain scans?
Sometimes that is the way I can tell if I have been quickened
spiritually: what brain waves can I detect? Our vital signs become the
very elements whereby we can detect life. We can detect it by our
brain scans.

We can detect it by our vital signs: are our heart pulses correct, and
are we breathing? Do we understand what it is to have breath? If I can
see a person is breathing, and I can feel his pulse, I do not need to
take his brain scans. I know that those elements (their vital signs)
prove there is life, but if those are missing, and I cannot detect them
then I can still tell by brain scans whether or not there is still life.
Think about these vital signs as we go into this Revelation Explosion
of the Word: spiritual vital signs, spiritual senses, and spiritual taste.
Can you tell what is sweet and what is bitter? You have the sense of
taste. What is sweet?
Is it the charming things of this world, or is it the blessed atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ?
When our spiritual senses are quickened, our taste buds begin to
work, and no longer can we swallow those things that are bitter nor
delight in those things that are bitter. We now have a taste for the
things that are precious, those things that are of more value. The
nature of the quickening is real, and our Savior in the parable of the
prodigal son reveals it.
I want you to notice how the Lord Jesus Christ explains repentance.
How is repentance demonstrated except through your brain waves,
your attitude, and your mental disposition? It is a change of mind.
Have you experienced a change of mind? Have you had a change in
your values?
Have you noticed a difference in your taste buds so that you now
have a deeper awareness of your spiritual senses and less of the
world? (A spiritual quickening, awakening) of your inner man? I

want you to take notice of the parable of the prodigal son and see how
beautifully our Savior unfolds for us the meaning of the new birth.
As pointed out, with regard to the beginning of miracles, we ask,
"Wheres their delight?" "It was meet that we should make merry, and
be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was
lost, and is found." [Luke 15:32]. "You hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and sins." [Ephesians 2:1].
So where lies spiritual death? When we can walk in trespasses and
sins, when we can live in them and delight in them, which is spiritual
death. We see the father making merry because his son "was dead,
and is alive." Where was the difference? He had gone out and wasted
his living in the things of this life. He was dead; now he was alive.
What had he done? He had come to himself, and returned unto his
fathers house and into his fathers service. He was alive. He "was
lost, and is found. This parable teaches the true meaning of
repentance, which is the first evidence of new birth.
The Lord Jesus began by preaching the gospel of the kingdom
saying, "Repent." The first word in the gospel is repent. The first sign,
or the first evidence, of true spiritual life is repentance. Let us see
how blessedly the Lord Jesus, in the parable of the prodigal son,
illustrates what true repentance is.
First, there is a change of attitude. There is a change of values. [Luke
15:17] says, "And when he came to himself," see what happened. If
you will look in [Luke 15], you will see how the prodigal son had gone
to his father, asked for his living (in other words, for his inheritance),
and went out and wasted it in riotous living. He lived for the pleasures

and the things of this life. The Lord brought him to want. The Lord
brought him down with poverty to the point that he was feeding swine
and eating the husks that the swine left! Then it says that he changed
his attitude.
All of a sudden he came to himself, and he said, "How many hired
servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish
with hunger!" He saw the poverty of serving sin. He saw the
wretchedness there, and how it brings us only into eternal death. He
saw how empty everything is in serving this world. He came to
himself and had a change of attitude. What brought this about? He
was not sure.
As the wind blows "where it listeth" in your life and in mine,
circumstances bring us to the point where we see that the pleasures
of this world are no longer the great goal of our life. He uses
circumstances in providence to bring us to this realization. He "came
to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" He began to
realize what a fool he was. He began to realize that the pleasures of
this life only tend to poverty, spiritual poverty.
Second, there is a well-planned change in our course of life and a
confession of guilt.
True repentance is the means whereby the new birth takes place. As
pointed out concerning the beginning of miracles, when the Lord
Jesus told them to fill the water pots, they obeyed. The Lord Jesus
said to take the water out and bear it unto the governor. In the
performing, in action, in doing what Christ told them to do, the miracle
was performed.

It was in doing that the water was changed into wine. There was joy in
serving. The filling of the water pots with water is the symbol of being
filled with the power of the Holy Word of God (His Spirit). These pots
were there for the cleansing of the Jews, which they were doing
through Jewish ritual. The Lord Jesus showed them that it had to be
by the power of the Word: it is by the washing of the water of the
Word that we are cleansed. As they obeyed, the miracle was
performed.
The miracle of the new birth takes place as we begin to obey. That is
the instrument that the Lord uses to bring it to pass. There was a wellplanned change in the prodigals life. Watch how he carefully planned
what he was going to do. "I will arise and go to my father, and will say
unto him, Father; I have sinned against heaven, and before thee."
[Luke 15:18].
He came to himself, he realized what a fool he had been, and he
carefully planned how he was going to retrace his tracks: I will go to
my father, confess how wrong I was, and ask him if I can re-enter his
service. The third element of repentance is an urgent desire to return
into the service of our Lord.
When we have served sin, and it is no longer a delight and a pleasure
to us, and we find the emptiness of sin, the emptiness of riches, and
the emptiness of everything of this life, then we start to see the
fullness that there is in Christ, and we have a desire to return to His
service.
We no longer can serve sin. We no longer can serve the things of this
world. We now want to return to the service of our Lord.

Take Note of the Third Element in [Luke 15:19].

"And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy
hired servants." He was not looking for a place of glory and honor in
the service of God; he was just saying, "May I be as one of your
slaves? May I be as one of your hired servants? May I just enter your
service again?
I have wasted everything I have. I have taken my inheritance, I have
gone out, and I have wasted it." Now he wants to know, "May I come
back into your service?" This is one of the elements of repentance: a
change of attitude. We no longer want to serve the world. We now
have our chief delight in serving the Lord.
What brought about these changes? The wind blows where it lists.
The Lord gives this change of attitude and He uses His providence
and circumstances to bring about these changes in our attitudes.
We do not know where these changes came from. All we know is they
are there. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about the new
birth in ones soul.
Fourth, as the Holy Spirit instills the Word in our hearts, this well
planned repentance is put into action. If the prodigal son had made
this plan ("Ill do this, and I will arise and Ill go to my father, and Ill
ask if I can re-enter his service."), what would all of this have availed if
he had not put it into action, if he had not, after the plan was made,
gotten up and done it? It was in doing, it was in putting this plan into
action, that his restoration to his father took place.

That is how his reconciliation was put into effect. His father would
never have become reconciled to him if he had stayed there planning,
but never doing anything. What did he do? "And he arose."
[Luke15:20]. "And he arose, and came to his father."
That is how the new birth brings us into reconciliation with the Father:
not only have we come to a change of attitude, not only have we come
to a change of mind, not only have we knew desires (including the
desire to come back into the service of Him from whom we had
broken away), but now "he arose, and came to his father.
" "But when he was yet a great way off." See how the Lord looks
upon you, the joy, and me that there is in heaven over one sinner that
repents, that comes to himself and truly desires to return to the
service of his Lord. See how He responds: "But when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him." [Luke 15:20b].
He did not even get a chance to make to his father a confession of all
his sins. His father ran and kissed him and said to bring the best robe
and a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet. What the Lord looks at
is your heart. He saw in the heart of this man that he was returning
into his house and his service. He was no longer serving the things of
this life.
As this well-planned repentance is put into action, the beginning of
miracles takes place. What is that? The power of the Gods Holy Word
becomes our authority, and we put it into action, coming into the
service of our Lord. Then the beginning of miracles takes place the
water is turned into wine (the wine is the symbol of joy and rejoicing).
As the Word of God becomes our highest authority, as we put it into

action, and obey the Word of God, then we see the joy described in
[Luke15:32]. There the father says unto the elder brother (who
criticized), "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for
this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is
found." Do you see the joy? There was rejoicing. They killed the fatted
calf and they brought together their friends and their relatives to
rejoice.
As the Lord Jesus says in the parable, just before this story, in that
same chapter, there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, and
the angels in heaven rejoice over that one sinner true repentance.
When that beginning of miracles has taken place, there is no more
desire to serve sin or live in the pleasures of this world. Our taste
buds have been restored.
As we have been spiritually quickened and our senses have been reenlivened, we can taste the bitterness that there is in sin that we had
not tasted before. We no longer see pleasure in the things of this
world. We have no desire to do those things. [1 Timothy 5:6] says,
"But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."
If we can find pleasure in this world, and if we can live in the pleasure
of this world, we are dead spiritually while we are alive physically.
Our text compares the work of the new birth to the wind: "The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is
born of the Spirit."
The word Spirit comes from the Greek word, pneuma (pnyoo mah.
The first translation of pneuma is a current of air, or breath. "The wind

bloweth where it listeth." Jesus compared the Spirit with the wind.
When the Holy Spirit works grace in your heart, the first thing that
takes place is that you receive breath. It is a current of air or a breath.
The second translation is a spirit, that is, the human rational soul, a
vital principle, or a mental disposition. As soon as spiritual life is
breathed into your soul, it changes your mental disposition, your
mental attitude, which is repentance. That is what it is to be born of
the Spirit: to have a change of mind, a change of attitude, a new life,
or a new breath breathed into your soul.
The third definition of the word pneuma is translated as the Spirit of
Christ, the Spirit or the mental disposition or the attitude of Christ
(which still applies to our mental disposition). The Holy Spirit is
another definition of the word, and then after that it means life,
spiritually minded. That word Spirit means attitude.
However, he turned, rebuked them, and said, "Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of." [Luke 9:55] What does that mean? You do
not realize the attitude you have. To be born of the Spirit is to have a
change of attitude, a change of mind. It is a mental disposition; that
which I used to like I now hate, and that which I used to hate I now
love. The word wind and the word Spirit in our text are both from the
same word in the Greek.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth [Our attitude is uncontrolled, it
goes where it wants to], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." How can you tell
what is the source of your attitude? When the Holy Spirit quickens,
our attitude becomes the Spirit of Christ, that spirit of self-sacrifice

and that spirit of reverence for the Will of God. The Spirit of Christ
becomes our attitude, and it begins to take control.
First, let us see how the new birth of the quickening of the Spirit is
referred to in Scripture as breath. Let us see how this is referred to in
Scripture as the quickening of our life, our spiritual life. [Genesis 2:7]
is where it all began. In the creation, when man was created, he was
no more than a brute beast like every other beast until "the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Do you know what it means to become a living soul? We are able to
rationally think and understand. We were given a mental disposition.
We were given the ability to reason.
A beast has no reasoning power. Man was given a reasoning mind.
When the Lord led the Prophet Ezekiel into the valley of vision to
illustrate the spiritual deadness of Israel, He showed him a valley full
of dry bones. "And he said unto me,
Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord
GOD, thou knowest." [Ezekiel 37:3]
He gave Ezekiel a vision of a valley filled with dead bones: dead, no
sinews, no flesh, no skin; dead bones. He asked, "Can these bones
live?" Ezekiel replied, "Lordthou knowest." As the prophet
prophesied (the Lord told him to prophesy unto these bones) the
bones came together, bone to bone, and the sinews of flesh came
upon them, and the skin covered them, but there was no breath in
them. Do you know what this parable symbolized the professed
Christian.

He was talking to them to illustrate what Israel had become. The

professed Christian church was nothing but dead bones. As the
prophet prophesied, they came together, "bone to his bone": they
were spiritually dead. Their hearts were still filled with the things of
this world.
This is the message the Lord in the teaching of Ezekiels vision of the
valley. He was teaching that Israel had become apostatized and had
forsaken the Lord, even though they were going through all their
religious rituals. They were not serving the Lord. They had the wrong
mental attitude. There was no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind [The wind and the
Holy Spirit the breath of life; if you and I have spiritual life, we have
spiritual breath], prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus
saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and
stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." [Ezekiel 37:9-10].
This valley of dry bones became a standing army by the breath of life
being breathed into their nostrils: quickened by the Holy Spirit,
quickened by the wind. This is the symbol of the Israelites and how
they had become spiritually dead. The Lord is telling Ezekiel to
prophesy that the wind should blow upon them and breathe into them
the breath of life. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how futile it is for
us to gather together in a church where the Spirit, or the breath of life,
is missing.
How many churches today go a-whoring away from the blessed
Bridegroom, so that they even go to the extent of worshipping a

female god under the profession of Christianity? They have gone awhoring away from the true Bridegroom. In Revelation, 3:1 Jesus is
talking to one of the seven churches of Asia that had been instituted
by the apostles. "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write;
these things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven
stars;
I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead." Sardis was an organized church, organized by the apostles.
It was an apostolic church, but how did He discern it? He said, "I
know thy works." There was no repentance. There was no change of
attitude. Their hearts were still going awhoring after the world. He said
that He knew their works, but they were dead. They professed to be
living Christians, but they were dead. These are solemn truths. These
are solemn realities in our day.
The professing Christian church, largely, is a dead church. It does not
have that Spirit of Christ. It does not have that new desire. There is no
desire to know and do the will of God. There is no reverence for the
authority of His Word. Since it is possible to have a name that we are
alive while we are in fact spiritually dead, and since this distinction is
all decisive for eternity, it is of utmost importance to rightly divide
these truths.
In [Matthew 7:22-23] we read, "Many will say to me in that day [in the
Day of Judgment], Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
[Havent we preached the gospel in thy name?] And in thy name have
cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? [This
was about the church of Christ, the believing church, the professed
church].

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity." Oh, what a solemn day that will be! On that Day
of Judgment, when many shall say, "Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name," Jesus will say, "I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity," you that are still
serving sin, you that have never been quickened, nor born again, you
that have never come into the service of God. What does Jesus mean
by "ye that work iniquity"?
See what He said in the preceding verse. "Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." [Matthew 7:21].
We can talk about repentance, but repentance was not repentance
until "he [the prodigal son] arose, and came to his father." Until he
had carefully planned and put it into action, it was no repentance at
all. Jesus says, "Not every+
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
Does this mean that all we have to do is say that we are sorry for our
sin, say a few prayers, and do what we can to reform our lives? Is that
the new birth? Many people teach this based on [Romans 3:28], which
says, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law." What they teach by that is that we do not have
to obey the law. After all, we are washed in the blood, we are saved:
we confess we are sinners, and we are saved.
There is no repentance. One thing is very clear: we may be able to
change our sins, but we cannot change our hearts. That is the work of
grace. That is the work of the Holy Spirit to change your heart.

The Pharisees, as touching the law, were blameless. They never broke
the letter of the law, but oh, how miserably? They crucified the spirit
of the law. The law says, "Thou shalt not kill." They thought that as
long as they did not kill their brother literally, they had not violated the
law, but the Lord Jesus says that we may not hate our brother. Hating
our brother is also murder.
We need a change of attitude, a new heart, and a new nature! We may
make many reforms. If we were drinkers, we might quit drinking. If we
were smokers, we might quit smoking. We might say, "Now, look at
the change in me!" We may break many old habits, but we cannot
create a new principle within.
Among other, what we need is a new heart. We need to ask the Lord to
give us that quickening grace of His Spirit that new attitude. We
need that new mind, new desire, a desire to serve and that delight in
serving. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, [Have you ever thought
of an Ethiopian changing the color of his skin?] It is impossible!
Not all the soap and water you want to use on your outward skin will
change what is in the heart. What we need is a change of heart. We
need a change of attitude!
Does the leopard his spots? [If that were possible] then may ye also
do good, that are accustomed to do evil?" [Jeremiah 13:23]. That
means that we might wash the outside of the platter, but inside it is
still full of death and dead mens bones. What we need is a change of
heart, a change of attitude, and a change of mind.

Another thing is equally clear: there is no pastor, or any man, who can
effect this change. Have you ever tried to talk to one of your children,
one of your loved ones, your husband, or your wife, and tried to use
the Word of God and the authority of the Word of God to effect a
change in their attitude? You cannot do it.
The Holy Spirit is the only one that can change that. You cannot do it,
but the Holy Spirit can do it by the power of the Word. When the Holy
Spirit takes the Word of God with power and applies it to the heart,
then there comes a new breath, a new desire, a new quickening, and a
new taste.
You cannot bring Gods Word with power into the soul regardless of
how clearly you explain it. They will always gainsay it with, "Yeah, but
I believe." All of a sudden, the Word of God means nothing because
of what they believe or what they think. What they think has to be
changed.
You cannot penetrate below the surface. Just like the Ethiopian: if he
could take enough soap and water to clean his skin, it is still only the
skin that is cleansed, but the natural color remains.
The apostle Paul says in [1 Corinthians 3:6], "I have planted, Apollos
watered; but God gives the increase." You can preach to your loved
ones all day long and it is our duty to do so because it is by hearing
the Word that they are persuaded but it is not you that is going to
persuade them; it is the Spirit applying the Word that is going to
persuade them. "
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gives the increase." So who
can take a dead soul and make him alive? No one except the Creator

of heaven and earth. The one who breathed into our nostrils in
Paradise the breath of life and made us a living soul: He can do it!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. [The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word]. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him
was not anything made that was made." [John1:1-3]. Life comes
through Christ and Christ is the only source of life. Christ is The
Word.
The unction, the power and the authority of the Word is what the Holy
Spirit uses to quicken our souls. So how do we identify this being
"...born of water and of the Spirit"?
As has been pointed out, the meaning of the word Spirit in our text in
the first place means breath, or the breath of life, but in the second
and third instance, it means a spirit: that is, the human rational soul,
vital principle, mental disposition.
It is also translated as the Spirit of Christ (which still refers to the
mental disposition), the Holy Spirit, or spiritually minded.
This is what constitutes being born of the Spirit. As the Spirit works in
you, "Godworketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." [Philippians 2:13]. He gives you the desire so you do it
willingly and the ability (enabling grace) to do it. "
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind [theres the new birth and
this results in action]; and that ye put on the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness." [Ephesians 4:2324].

There is the new birth: being "renewed in the spirit of your mind."
(verse 24) shows how it is put into action by putting on the new man,
"which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Righteousness means a right attitude towards our brother. What is
true holiness? It is the first table of the law; it is to love God with our
heart, our soul, and our mind. It is to start observing the law of love.
The two preceding verses tell us what it is to put on the new man, to
be created in righteousness and true holiness. [Ephesians 4:21-22].
says, "If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him,
as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts."
What does the word for conversation mean? The word conversation,
as set forth in Scripture, means your mental disposition. You do not
always have to be talking to have a conversation.

Everything that passes through your mind is your conversation. That

is what is going through your mind. So walking down the street,
driving a car, or riding a bike, your mind is always thinking about
something. What is the conversation of your heart?
It says, "Put off concerning the former conversation the old man":
that your heart and your mind are no longer filled with the things and
the desires of the flesh "which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts." You put off the old man that corrupt thought process; that
mental disposition. The greatest sinners see the greatest changes.

Think about Mary Magdalene. She was possessed of seven devils, but
when she was renewed in the spirit of her mind, she received the
forgiveness of sins. Salvation, to so many people, means to go to
heaven to escape hell.
Do you realize that the forgiveness of sins is not even to be preached
to a person that has not repented? The gospel begins with "repent."
We should not talk about forgiving sins, in which we are still living
and have no desire to change, if we still cherish.
The first word of the gospel is "repent." Our Lord Jesus showed that
Mary Magdalene was walking in the law of love and received the
assurance of the forgiveness of her sins.
See what comes first in [Luke 7:44-48]. If you read the preceding
verses, you will see that He came into Simons house, and Mary
Magdalene followed.
She was sitting at His feet and wiping His feet with the hairs of her
head as she wept over her sins.) "And he turned to the woman, and
said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet
with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but
this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto
thee [As she walked in the law, as she washed His feet with her tears,
and as she came in the way of repentance], her sins, which are many,
are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little.

And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." See the word for there?
"for she loved much": in other words, she now has a complete
change of heart. She has become a new creature.
She no longer is possessed with seven devils. She is sitting at His
feet, washing them with her tears, mourning over her sins. It says,
"Her sinsare forgiven; for she loved much."
Do you know what that word for means? It means because: because
"she loved much." Do we want our sins forgiven? Are we only looking
for a fire escape to escape hell? Do we still cherish and love sin? We
are hell-bound.
Do we know what it is to have remorse over our sins, over having
sinned against such a loving God, that we truly weep tears, come to
His feet, and want to serve Him because we are so remorseful over
having sinned against such love?
That is what the Lord means when He says, "Her sins, which are
many, are forgiven; for she loved much."
When we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, the strongest and the
worst habits are broken like burnt flax. Habits can be so strong that
you and I have no power against them. We are not able to break them,
but all these old habits are broken as easily as burnt straw because
they have lost their power.
We no longer yearn after these things. Now we have a new desire, to
walk in the ways of God. We have learned to see how displeased our
Heavenly Father was with sin so that rather than let one sin go
unpunished, He placed it upon His Son at Calvarys cross.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, His own Son sweat blood and said,
"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not
my will but thine be done."
Therein was the Father so pleased that the Son of God was willing to
obey and to step into His wrath and take the penalty of sin as an act of
obedience. That is what made His blood acceptable before the Father
as the appeasement of His wrath.
Do you see why it is necessary that we must love much before we talk
about forgiveness of sin?
We must first come to where we love to do the will of God, so that it
becomes our chief and our highest pleasure and delight. That is the
work of the New Birth.
That is being Born Again: our hearts have been changed, and we love
to do His will.
He says, "For she loved much"; therefore, she is forgiven. The Father
was able to accept that blessed blood of Christ for the appeasing of
His wrath because He loved much, because He loved the Father to
such an extent that He said, "Not my will but thine be done."
When a person gets a faith-view of forgiveness, the power of sin is
broken. Those old habits no longer have any power or control over
us. The new birth purifies the most impure mind. No matter how base
and how vile we have been, the new birth purifies us.
The apostle Paul says in [1 Corinthians 6:9-10], "Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor

abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor

drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionist, shall inherit the kingdom of
God."
Does that leave room for any one of us? Can any one of us say that
we have never been covetous, that we have never desired something
that was not ours?
The Apostle Paul goes on to say in (verse 11). "And such were some
of you [Some of you have been under the power of these sins, but you
cant remain under the power of that sin and enter the kingdom of
God]: but ye are washed [Washed by the water of the Word. You are
no longer serving in these sins, but you are washed], but ye are
sanctified [That means cleansed, set apart for the Lords service].
Then it talks about justification; but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," by the mental disposition of
Christ, by the Spirit of Christ. You are first washed, then you are
sanctified, and then you are justified. There is no justification while
we are living in sin and continue in sin. When the Holy Spirit changes
the spirit of our mind, He can change the most obstinate Pharisee into
an apostle of the very Jesus he had been persecuting. The Apostle
Paul had received license to put the children of the kingdom in prison,
and the Lord Jesus said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutes."
Paul said, What would thou have me to do?" The same Manasseh,
who had filled Jerusalem with idols, murdering his own children in
honor of these false gods, was renewed in the spirit of his mind, and
he went on to purify the temple.

I want you to see the total contrast when the Holy Spirit works grace
in the soul: a man who had been promoting idols and who had been
sacrificing his own children unto these false gods, then purified the
temple and put down idolatry.
" So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err,
[as king, he commanded them to do these things, to serve these idols]
and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed
before the children of Israel." [2 Chronicles 33:9].
After Manasseh was renewed in the Spirit of his mind, "he took away
the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all
the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and
in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. (He completely reversed
his actions). And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed
thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah
to serve the Lord God of Israel." [2 Chronicles 33:15-16].
Now instead of ordering them to serve idols, he ordered them to
"serve the Lord God of Israel." His actions were in total reverse when
he was renewed in the spirit of his mind. Like Manasseh, we do not
need to question whether we have been renewed in the spirit of our
mind; our actions will reveal it. Our hearts prompts our actions. "The
fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way,
and the froward mouth, do I hate." [Proverbs 8:13]. Do you
understand the work of the Spirit and the work of the new birth? Then
you learn to hate evil.
Those things that we have cherished, not of God, we now hate. If we
have been quickened, we will prove it by our spiritual growth.

Spiritual life is not like the life of a beast; it is like the life of a tree.
[Isaiah 65:22] says, "They shall not build, and another inhabit; they
shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days
of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands."
A tree grows as long as it is alive. As long as you have spiritual life, it
is going to grow. Many people may say that they have are saved by
faith, but see what Peter says about spiritually growing.
[2 Peter 1:5-7] says, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue [You receive faith, now you add to it, keep growing
spiritually]; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to
godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." All
this godliness keeps growing, adding one to the other.

Conclusion
See how these things grow into a blessed assurance of our salvation
in [2 Peter 1:10-11], "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall

never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly

into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
In doing these things, in growing in these graces, we see the love of
Christ as He ministers His abundant grace and mercy toward us,
leading us into His everlasting kingdom.

Our Prayer of Thanksgiving

Father, we repent for all our sins and we thank you for forgiving us of
our sins. Thank You for the Precious gift of the Holy Spirit, which
leads and guides us into all righteousness and truth.
Thank you for giving Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as ransom
for our sins. We are forever indebted to You and will always glorify
Your Mighty Name.
In the Matchless, Mighty Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.