Jars of Clay

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." - 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

When we are born again and the Spirit of God takes up residence in us, our jar of clay if you will - That is a mystery that is not clearly explained in the New Testament. What we do know is that the Shekinah Glory - the visible presence of God was in the Holy of Holies over the Ark of the Covenant. The Bible does not make a clear connection between the Shekinah Glory of the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit of the new but Christians are referred to as the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

So, to my point. You are well aware that the presence of the Spirit in you does not protect you from temptation or from sin for that matter. The Spirit does convict us of sin and does seal us for the day of redemption. We are cautioned that we should not quench the Spirit and go our own way. 

"Do not quench the Spirit." - 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Quenching the Spirit would be to ignore or deliberately disobey the leading of the Spirit. Jesus said the Father would send the Spirit to help us. Help us do what? Live our new life - our spiritual life. I have always thought of the Holy Spirit as the heavenly connector or adapter. When we were living in an RV in Mississippi, Florida and Texas our trailer was powered through a 30 amp circuit and a specific plug. Sometimes there was not 30 amp connection only a 50 amp connection that requires a different plug. So, we had to get an adapter (30 to 50) that allowed us to connect to the source of power.

That is like the Spirit in us. The Spirit gives us a spiritual connection so these Jars of Clay can connect to the Father. To give us the spiritual power we need to live our new life. Quenching the Spirit is like pulling the plug. We are on our own at that point. That is not to say we have lost our salvation - but we are living on our own power. Not a good place to be but it is all too easy to go there, as you probably already know if you have been a Christian for more than a week!

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone