Not only is the Holy Spirit
humble toward the Father and the Son, He is
humble toward sinners. This humility is not easy for us to see because of our
sin.
Polluted Temples
The Holy Spirit dwells in temples. From Scripture, we know of four temples
where He dwells. The first is the true tabernacle made without hands in heaven.[1]
The second were the tabernacle and temples of Israel .[2]
They were earthly shadows and copies of the true tabernacle in heaven, to give
us some idea of heavenly realities. The third is the body of Christ.[3]
The fourth is the bodies of believers.[4]
The first and third are pure. The second and fourth are polluted. They need
cleansing.
The tabernacle had a court called the
Holy Place , but the priest had to “make atonement for
the Holy Place .”[5]
It had an altar, but the priest had to “go out to the altar that is before the
Lord, and make atonement for it.”[6]
In the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels
used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.[7]
Insensitivity to Sin and Humility
It takes a holy person to feel sin. Sinners cannot feel sin. Our consciences
are seared.
Who could see sin in the Holy
Place ? The Holy Spirit saw it, and commanded that
atonement be made for it. Who could see sin in the altar that is before the
Lord? The Holy Spirit saw it.
We do not see the pollution of ourselves as a temple unfit for the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit sees it, and yet He comes to dwell within us. Sin makes
us insensitive to the humility it takes for that Spirit whose name is Holy to
come low and dwell in us.
The Sinfulness of Sin
It is hard for us to see sin for its sinfulness. We see sin as mistakes or
weaknesses. We see sin in examples, symptoms, or consequences. It is hard for us
to see sin in its essence, to see it straight on as sin rather than sins,
as a lack of love toward God, a hatred of him,[8]
an enmity against him.[9]
Paul says,[10]
“Sin, that it may appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good.”
(NKJV) Or, “It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order
that sin might be shown to be sin.” (ESV) Sin is sin, but it does not appear to
us as itself. It does not appear as sin. God, by his law, must unmask sin so
that it will appear as it is, as sin.
To us, sin is not a terror. Sin is not a horror. We do not feel that sin
makes our lives a living nightmare. We do not see sin as the cause of death. We
do not grieve as for a dead person over our sin and the sinfulness of it.
The Worst of Evils
It is hard for us to see that sin is worse than temptation, death, the Devil,
and hell.
Sin is worse than hell. Hell is only the punishment. Sin is the crime. Sin is
what makes hell hellish. Hell is being confined in my sin with no way out. Hell
is my self, alone, forever, the way I am. Sin is what makes hell hellish.
Sin is worse than the Devil. Sin made the Devil what he is. What is devilish
but sin? Not all men are possessed by a devil, but all men are possessed
by sin. The devil gives up for a season, but sin scarcely ever does. When
Jesus endured the Devil for 40 days in a wilderness, the Devil left him until a
more opportune time, but in us sinful desires are incessant.
Sin is worse than temptation. Temptation only acts on and appeals to sin that
already lies within us. Were there no sin, temptation never would have a payday
for its labor.
Sin is worse than death, for sin is the sting of it.[11]
How is it that we do not feel the sting? The sting itself, sin itself, makes us
unfeeling.
A Temple
Worse than Hell
Insensitivity to sin is a not a problem for the Holy Spirit. He sees sin for
what it is. As bad as death, the Devil, and hell are, He ranks sin worse.
Would we think that the Holy Spirit should dwell in Hell? But He does dwell
in a worse place, in us. Though He is holy, He dwells in sinners, to save us.
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is
Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones.[12]
By the indwelling Holy Spirit we may experience grief over our sin and joy
over God’s holiness. When the Spirit comes, He gives us the gifts of contrition
and a humble heart. He comes to us in humility, and He gives us his humility. We
have none of our own.
The humility of Christ in voluntarily humiliating himself to work atonement
for our sin is matched by the humility of the Spirit in voluntarily entering
sinners to apply the atonement to us. God saves us “by the washing of
regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”[13]
The Spirit enters, regenerates, and sanctifies sinners.
The Sole Power of Temple
Cleansing
We are helpless without the Spirit.
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength understanding or effort
believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called
me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me
in true faith.[14]
The temple polluted, defaced and destroyed, the Divine Resident has gone, and
the heart, once so sweet a home of Deity, is now the dwelling-place of all sin.
… But it was God’s eternal and gracious purpose to restore this temple. … In the
restoration of this temple, man was not auxiliary. He could be none. His
destruction was his own, his recovery was God’s. He ruined himself; that ruin he
could not himself repair. The work of restoration is a greater achievement of
Divine power than was the work of creation.[15]
“But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”[16]
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you
may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[17]
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1.
Heb 8:2, 5, 9:11, 23-24.
2.
Ex 25:8, 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11.
3.
Mk 14:58.
4.
Ezek 36:27, 37:14; John 14:16-17; Rom 8:9, 11; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor
6:16; Eph 2:22.
5.
Lev 16:16.
6.
Lev 16:17.
7.
Heb 9:21-22.
8.
Ex 20:5; Deut 5:9.
9.
Rom 8:7.
10. Rom 7:13.
11. 1 Cor 15:56.
12. Is 57:15.
13. Titus 3:5.
14. Martin Luther, The Small Catechism, explanation
of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed.
15. Octavius Winslow, The Work of the Holy Spirit,
pp. 90-91 (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1972 reprint, first published
1840).
16. 1 Cor 6:11.
17. Rom 15:13.