Tag Archive: living by the Holy Spirit

I must handle anger better than the most religious people!

I must live more righteously than the most religious people, the people who make a show of keeping all of the rules in their own strength. Jesus’ first example of this is that I must handle my anger better than the most religious people do, and better than the traditional interpretations of the Law of Moses prescribed. I am responsible not only for letting the Spirit control my anger, but for doing what I can, led by the Spirit, to avoid giving a brother or sister an occasion to develop a grudge against me. If I love my brother or sister, I will try to reconcile with them promptly when I know I have aroused their anger.

The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

Jesus came as a man–fully human–and lived under the control (“filling”) and power of the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same way we can, if we will permit him to do it. In this respect, the only difference between Jesus, as a human, and us, is that Jesus was never anything but fully under the Spirit’s control. Jesus invites us to live as He did, obeying the Spirit’s direction and living by the Spirit’s power.