It was out of the love and mercy of God that salvation
was born. Then, in Titus 3:3-5 it says:

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and
hating one another. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost.

The word love in this passage is sometimes translated
“pity.” This is not a good substitute. It should be correctly
translated “mercy” as it is in other places. The thought here
should be that just as salvation is an act of mercy, so is the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to us as mercy and
comfort. He also prayed and asked the Father to send us
the Comforter, who has the same ministry of mercy to us
that Jesus had.

When a person makes Jesus the Lord of his life, the
Holy Spirit changes the nature of the person on the inside.
Then, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the outer man
begins to be changed. Romans 12:2 tells us we are not to be
conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing
of our minds. The Holy Spirit reveals the Word of God
to us, and if we are obedient to His Word, our habits and
behavior begin to change. The outer man is not changed
overnight. The Holy Spirit conforming you to the image of
Jesus is a process.

A good illustration of this is the difference between a
mule and a racehorse. You can take a mule and raise him
in the stable with thoroughbreds. You can give that mule
the same food and treatment as a thoroughbred racehorse.
You can even do plastic surgery on his ears and make him
look pretty good. But when you take him out there to the
starting gate and that bell goes off, the mule is a mule and
there is no doubt about it. He gets left behind. Why? He is
not a mule on the outside, he is a mule on the inside.

God in His mercy knew you could not do anything
about the junk on the inside of you. So instead of asking
you to clean yourself up, He asked you to receive Him
and let Him clean you up. It was His mercy that hung on
the Cross and sent you the Holy Ghost to be a Comforter
to you.

Gloria Copeland

Galatians 3:5
KJV—He therefore that ministereth to you
the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you,
doeth he it by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith?

Amp—Then does He Who supplies you
with His marvelous (Holy) Spirit, and works
powerfully and miraculously among you, [do
so on the grounds of your doing] what the
Law demands, or because of your believing
and adhering to and trusting in and relying
on the message that you heard?

Moffatt—When He supplies you with the
Spirit and works miracles among you, is it
because you do what the Law commands or
because you believe the gospel message?

NEB—I ask then: when God gives you
the Spirit and works miracles among you,
why is this? Is it because you keep the
law, or is it because you have faith in the
gospel message?

Proverbs 4:20-24
KJV—My son, attend to my words; incline
thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not
depart from thine eyes; keep them in the
midst of thine heart. For they are life unto
those that find them, and health to all their
flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life. Put away from
thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put
far from thee.

Amp—My son, attend to my words; consent
and submit to my sayings. Let them
not depart from your sight; keep them in
the center of your heart. For they are life to
those who find them, healing and health to
all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance
and above all that you guard, for out
of it flow the springs of life. Put away from
you false and dishonest speech, and willful
and contrary talk put far from you.

Moffatt—My son, attend to what I say,
bend your ear to my words; never lose
sight of them, but fix them in your mind;
to those who find them, they are life, and
health to all their being. Guard above all
things, guard your inner self, for so you live
and prosper; bar out all talk of evil, and
banish wayward words.

NEB—My son, attend to my speech, pay
heed to my words; do not let them slip out
of your mind, keep them close in your heart;
for they are life to him who finds them, and
health to his whole body. Guard your heart
more than any treasure, for it is the source
of all life. Keep your mouth from crooked
speech and your lips from deceitful talk.

Gloria Copeland

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

This scripture in Romans 12 is talking about crucifying the flesh, as is Galatians 5:24-25: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” We are admonished to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We are to lay aside our own natural desires in order to fulfill God’s desires. The Wuest translation of Romans 12:1 says we are to “place [our] bodies at the disposal of God….”

According to the Bible, then, this is only our reasonable service—though it might seem an unreasonable demand to some. Why is it our reasonable service? Because Jesus gave His body as a living sacrifice for us. We have been bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

The Greek word translated Lord means “master” or “owner.” Jesus became your new owner the moment you made Him the Lord of your life. Most Christians want to be born again but will not allow Jesus to be Lord in their lives. They want to continue to walk in the darkness of this world, when they could be walking in the light of God.

“[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13, amp). We have been transferred into the kingdom of God and are to place our bodies and minds under His authority, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live under the dominion of God.

This sacrifice of our bodies is to be a holy and well-pleasing (acceptable) sacrifice. The Greek word thusia, translated sacrifice, denotes “the act of offering.” We are to make an offering of our bodies. We are the offering God desires. He wants to change our bodies from a dedication to worldliness to a dedication to godliness.

How do we do this? We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. W.E. Vine says the word renew means “the adjustment of the moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God.” We are to adjust our thinking to the mind of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us to think like God thinks and to act like God acts. As we do this, the outward expression of our bodies will begin to match the inward expression of Jesus. We will begin to walk in the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Lay down your own desires in order to fulfill His desires.

This is not an unreasonable thing for God to ask. It is only your reasonable service, because you have been bought with such a precious price. Jesus purchased you with the crucifying of His own flesh, and shed His own blood to redeem you. He became a living sacrifice for you. The least you can do is give your body to Him, for you are not your own. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)

There is a decision to be made. Are you going to serve your own interests or the Lord Jesus? I believe you are going to decide to offer yourself as a living sacrifice. And when you do, you’ll find you don’t have to fight the war between your flesh and spirit, but your spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, will stop the war! As you obey the Holy Spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death.

Gloria Copeland

We know the beginning and the end of God’s plan for earth. We have to learn the “how to” from the Spirit of God. We have to learn to walk in the spirit one step at a time, just like we learned to walk in the natural. When we spend time praying in the spirit, we give the Holy Spirit opportunity to pray the perfect will of God for our lives.

We may not have any idea what the perfect will of God is and therefore cannot pray effectively with our understanding. But the Holy Spirit knows exactly what to pray in order to get God’s will done in our lives.

And in like manner also the Spirit lends us a helping hand with reference to our weakness, for the particular thing that we should pray for according to what is necessary in the nature of the case, we do not know with an absolute knowledge (Romans 8:26, wuest).

The Holy Spirit gives us utterance that is founded on absolute knowledge. He goes right to the root of the problem.

And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will (Romans 8:27, amp).

With our limited understanding of spiritual things, often we only know the result of something wrong in our lives. The best way to explain this is with an example: You might be asking God to heal your body.

You think sickness is the problem, when sometimes it is a result of something more serious. The Holy Spirit may be prompting you in your spirit, saying, You should forgive your sister-in-law. But you pay no
attention to that prompting because the sickness in your body is so important, and your sister-in-law is far down on your list of priorities.

The Holy Spirit is going to the root. He is endeavoring to stop the problem at the source of the trouble. If you receive healing but continue in that sin, then another problem will occur. Unforgiveness is sin. To God, the first priority is that we walk in love. To walk in love is God’s commandment to the Church.

The Holy Spirit will continue to lead you to forgive. If you determine to walk in the spirit and spend time praying in the spirit and seeking God’s will for your life, then you’ll pay attention to that leading. You’ll obey, not even realizing your own healing is contingent on your obedience. If you’ll go after God and His will, you’ll learn to make adjustments quickly and cause your will to agree with His.

Every day as you believe God for the healing of your body, you also pray in the Holy Spirit, giving Him place and control in your life. While you have been asking for healing, which is merely a side issue, He has been praying the perfect will of God through you in this matter—that you walk in love with your sister-in-law! With your cooperation, He overcomes your weakness. You hear His voice and obey it. You forgive. Now, you’re back in agreement with God. Sickness loses its foothold. You have victory, and the Holy Spirit has you!

Gloria Copeland

You cannot live in sin and expect the blessings of God. As you give your time and attention to spiritual things the Word of God, prayer and fellowship with the Lord you will hear the Holy Spirit. You’ll hear His promptings and He’ll show you how to walk in the spirit. But you have to dedicate yourself to God.

You have to think about Him. You have to sow to the spirit. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).

If you have been thinking, I need to spend more time in prayer or watching television all the time isn’t good for me spiritually or I shouldn’t talk about people the way I do, then the promptings of your spirit are being led by the Holy Spirit. He’s trying to pull you aside from the things of the world and lead you to give God control of your life.

Once you begin to respond to and obey those promptings, you’ll notice that direction from the Lord gets stronger and easier to discern. The voice of your flesh will get quieter.

The Holy Spirit in you bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-17). This means that as a born again believer, you have the life and nature of God in your spirit right now. Notice, this witness is in your spirit not your mind.

You have the ability to walk in the spirit in glorious liberty on this earth. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to live free from evil. Jesus prayed that the Father not take us out of the world, but keep us from the evil in the world (John 17:15).

Romans 8:21 says, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” That “glorious liberty” referred to is walking in the spirit! You must commit to that liberty. You can’t enter into it halfheartedly, but must sell out to God and give Him your whole heart.

Gloria Copeland

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2).

A mystery is something we can’t know with our intellect something beyond our knowledge. Mysteries are in the realm described in Ephesians 3:20 a realm beyond what we can ask or think. The Bible says we know in part and prophesy in part. We are not nearly as smart as we think we are.

When you pray in the spirit, the Holy Spirit brings the mysteries of the Father into the earth. Praying in the spirit is not “praying in part,” but causing the Father’s perfect will to overwhelm the course of this earth. In this hour it is so critical we pray and intercede in the spirit, because God wants to do things in the earth we’ve never even thought of, much less asked for.

Let your spirit speak by the Holy Spirit to bring into this earth the magnificent era of God’s plan that He desires to manifest in these last days.

God doesn’t do anything in the earth unless man gives Him opportunity. If people don’t pray and ask God for answers, then nothing will happen. The Spirit of God doesn’t move in the natura realm unless people pray and use their authority in the earth. In Exodus 3:7-8 God said, “I…have heard their cry…and I am come down to deliver them.”

First Corinthians 2:6-7 says, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.”

Now read verse 7 in The Amplified Bible: But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God—[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

Verse 8 continues: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

God has a plan. He has always had a plan. He began working His plan before the foundation of the world, and has never deviated from it (Ephesians 1:4). He has a way to bring this earth back into fellowship with Him. The Bible says God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation (2 Peter 2:9).

He has the way for the Church of Jesus Christ to rise up as the glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. He reveals His plan to us as we get in the spirit. There are some things we know about His plan (Ephesians 1-2), but often we lack knowledge of how to fulfill the day-to-day details. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth and shows us things to come, but only by obeying Him one day at a time, can we accomplish His will in our lives.

The Holy Spirit reveals the wisdom of God to us the “hidden wisdom” which God ordained before the foundation of the world (1 Corinthians 2:7). When we the Church hear and obey that wisdom, it will remove the spots and wrinkles, so that this glorious Church will be holy and without blemish.

Gloria Copeland