Is Your Spirit Being Held Captive?

[HKHaugan]

Having a mind and having a heart are two facets of being human images of God. The third has to do with spirit, that which drives us into action. Everything Paul writes aims at bringing the spirit of a man in line with God the Holy Spirit. 1Cor.2 tells us that not only does God have the Holy Spirit but that man, being an image of God, has a spirit as well (vs.11). But there is another spiritual reality and that is the spirit of the world (vs.12). It is generated by ‘the prince of this world’, the devil (Jn.12:31). Its direct target is sin in each individual. It has a multitude of other spirits waiting entry through it. Fear, pride, control, compromise, anger, depression, lust, gluttony, greed, envy, jealousy, describe a few. As the demoniac named himself before Jesus, “My name is legion for we are many (Mk.5:9).” This is the reality Jesus went to the Cross to defeat as our personal Savior from sin and as our personal Lord over all Creation both visible and invisible.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, the Person of power who defeated and continues to defeat the devil and all his forces. He is the power that put the universe into being at Jesus’ command. When John wrote of the spirit and spirits of the antichrist he declared that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are supreme, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1Jn.4:4).”

Having said all this we need to spiritually examine ourselves. As David requests, “Test me O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth (Ps.26:2).” Here Paul tells us further to live by the Spirit and to keep in step with the Spirit (Gal.5:16, 25) whom Jesus says is the Spirit of Truth who will guide us into all truth (Jn.16:13).
As you have noticed by this time I have quoted Scripture to be the cover the Spirit uses to protect and guide how we think, what we feel and the action we take. The Word is the sword of the Spirit to free us from the spirit of the world by exposing its trickery, traps and troubling. The closer we are to the Word the closer we are to Jesus.

Now we can ask the question about whether or not our spirit is being held captive. Everything starts and ends with the person of Jesus. In Scripture we have His mind, His heart and His Spirit revealed. The main activator of our spirit is the Holy Spirit in whom is the gift of faith. It is faith that Jesus had at the most critical point of His mission, the Cross. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith that recovers, restores and redirects our spirit to act in faith. The faith that the spirit of the world blemished before we were reborn in the Spirit was wrapped in self-centered fear and pride and those spirits are being quenched little by little as we move in and with Jesus. This is why we are free now to begin comparing ourselves with Him as He opens Himself to us in the Word. This will reveal where our former captivity by the spirit of the world has held us.

There are three ways to approach our comparison---authority, attitude and acceptance.

First, authority.

Accept His complete and total authority to answer any and all questions through His Word. There everything we need to know is given. What we need to know about being a true image of God is seen in Jesus. He is the exact image of God (Heb.1:3) raised form the dead through perfect faith.

Second, attitude.

Take the parables of Jesus and compare where your heart and mind is with what He taught. The parables are attitudinal examples intended to challenge the attitudes that have influenced us whether from culture, family or self-made conclusions. They deal with prejudice, first impressions, risk, emotions, heart condition, defensiveness, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy and the identity of strongholds that keep our spirit from acting in faith. Add your own issues here.

Third, acceptance.

Be willing to be challenged. Accept the results of your comparison, seeking out brothers and sisters to share what you have discovered. Practice the kind of honesty with self that wards off self-deceit. We spend so much of our young life playing the cultural conformity game that we need a spiritual overhaul from top to bottom---mind, heart, spirit and body.

The real challenge comes when we are out there in the world among spiritually resistant people. What is our inner reaction? Do we hear them through the Word that instructs us in those situations? They are the object of Jesus’ mission and ministry. We are His disciples called to let the Holy Spirit guide us toward their hearts. Will we follow through what we start when we begin that relationship?

If our spirit is being held captive, that captivity will be quickly exposed to our heart and mind when we are challenged in every next moment where we are and by the persons who present that challenge.
It might be helpful to think of ourselves being on a stage with one person as our audience. He is the director. We are not sure of the lines for every next moment but rather than condemnation for fear of being reprimanded we hear words of care, of redirection, of emotional understanding, of challenge to step out alone knowing he is supporting you regardless of the circumstance. You are playing for him because of who he is and the complete involvement he has with you as a person. You know he only wants the very best for you and all his energy is directed toward you. Only at the end do you realize what he has done, the influence he has been and the joy of hearing that there was a larger audience applauding you he had invited. And those wonderful words ring out in chorus-like crescendo, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”