John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing, and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
The "Spiritual Blessing," from the above scripture, is the "Life" Jesus spoke about in John 10:10 (Amplified). Thus, He says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy Life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
For years, the Church has debated about the spiritual death that Adam brought forth in his Garden transgression. Many have tried comprehending this death in the carnal mind, like the religious people of Jesus' days. Jesus' statement that, "I came that you may have Life," provoked such a debate among those who were listening. Those who were present when Jesus said this, were alive and hearing His Words, but most had no idea what He was talking about.
Today's Church is trying to comprehend our new creation man and our new covenant or relationship with the Father. Since we don't understand it in our finite minds, we've missed so much of the Blessing of the Spirit. Paul writes to the Church in Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) saying, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
Many believe Paul was speaking about the Day of Pentecost, when they received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues, "as the Spirit gave them utterance." This is true, but this isn't the full understanding of what came unto mankind The actual Promise entailed God's indwelling His Own children and restoring mankind back to His original intent. Before Jesus came, God could only deal with spiritually dead men from the outside, through their flesh. Now, God can actually live in man again, by giving His Life to us through His Spirit Who lives inside us.
Paul was speaking about an Old Testament prophecy found in Habakkuk 2:2-3 (Amplified) which says, "And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may be able to read it easily and quickly as he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end fulfillment; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, because it will surely come, it will not be behind hand on its appointed day."
Thus, Paul quotes the above scripture in Hebrews 10:37-38 (Amplified) saying, "For still a little while, a very little while and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. But the just shall live by his conviction respecting man's relationship to God and Divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him."
Paul speaks about "living by faith" and quoting the same prophet Habakkuk, in Romans 1:17 (Amplified) saying, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith, and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith; As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
The Life we know in our body, isn't the Life which God gave by His Spirit. In Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; in Him I have share His crucifixion: It is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the Life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherance to and reliance on and complete trust in), the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
Now, we can understand what the Word is saying about "living by faith." When we received Jesus Christ by faith, we also received the Life and Promise of Life, through the Holy Spirit of God, by that same faith. Paul says, "And the Life in now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God." Now that we have by faith, been granted Grace, the Life of the Spirit (the Promise of the Spirit) can be fulfilled within us.
God's Promise of the Spirit couldn't be fulfilled in a man who was spiritually dead. When we received Life through Jesus, all God's Promises can now be fulfilled and appropriated, but only through faith. This is why Paul writes in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith [we were made the righteousness of God by faith] and leading to faith [all the other Promises in this righteousness are also ascribed through God by faith too] disclosed through the way of faith [only the Holy Spirit can reveal them to us and must be appropriated by faith as well] that arouses to more faith [the more we understand by faith, the more assurance we have in this Life of faith] as it is written, The man who through faith is just [we are justified and upright and righteous before God by our faith in Jesus] shall live and shall live by faith."
Without faith in the life we receive in Jesus, we are still dead to the spirit. Now, in Him, all the Promises God made to mankind, can be manifested by our new life in the Spirit. These are the Promises of the Spirit. When God Blessed mankind, he was a spirit. Only in the spirit, did man have these Promises of God. Through his spirit, man had dominion and provision in every aspect of his life (spirit, soul and body). When man died in his spirit, he could no longer receive or fulfill God's Promises to him.
Through our faith in Jesus, Life has now been restored again in our spirit. His Life and His Spirit now live in our spirit. God's Promises of the Spirit are ours and can be once again be activated by our new Life. We have dominion over our flesh and soul, in this Life, to fulfill God's Promises by and through the Holy Spirit. That is our Life. Trying to make these Promises true in our carnal minds and flesh, without the faith in the Spirit, is futile and has no life in it. All of our strength, hope, ability and Life, comes only through our faith in the Spirit.
God took care of the sin problem which brought spiritual death, so He could now indwell in us, be a Father to us and do what His heart has longer to do from the beginning. We were and still are made in His Image and Likeness, according to John 4:24 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)." All God's Promises came form the Spirit, are upheld by His Spirit and are activated by faith in His Spirit. They overflow into the flesh and soul, into this natural realm, but they are empowered by the spirit.
Trying to become righteous by the work of the flesh, is useless. Righteousness that God ascribes or accepts, is by faith in the righteousness He impart to us through Jesus. This righteousness and justification can only be received by faith in the One Whom He sent to justify us. Though they might be well meaning, man-made efforts cannot establish righteousness before God. The Promise of the Spirit was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and is only realized by faith in Jesus Christ. This Promise encompasses all the Heavenly and earthly ability God Promised before the foundation of the earth. We haven't understood this enough, to allow it to work in our lives that are in Christ Jesus.
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