Grounded in the Faith | Message 12: How to Be Filled with the Spirit (Part 2)

The Holy Spirit Gives Us Power Over Sin

There is a battle taking place within us.

In Romans 8, Paul explains that although believers have received a new spiritual nature through the Holy Spirit, our sinful nature remains. The question becomes: Which voice will we listen to?

Pastor Richard illustrated this by wrapping a volunteer tightly in rope. At first, sin can appear freeing—we make our own choices, follow our own desires, and live however we want. But over time, those choices can become the very things that bind us.

Trying to break those bonds through our own strength isn't enough. But the Holy Spirit gives us the power to experience freedom.

The Holy Spirit breaks the ropes of sin that bind us.

What may initially seem restrictive—following God's direction—ultimately leads us into a much deeper freedom: the freedom we have in Christ.

The Holy Spirit Leads Us

Romans 8:14 tells us that those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

The key word is led.

Pastor Richard compared the Holy Spirit's guidance to using a GPS. A GPS can tell us when to turn, which road to take, and where we need to go—but it doesn't physically force us to follow its directions.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit is ready to guide us, but we still have a choice.

“I Am a Child of God”

Perhaps one of the most powerful reminders of the message came from Romans 8:15:

“You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Through the Holy Spirit, we have been adopted into God's family.

Pastor Richard encouraged the congregation to remember this truth especially during moments of struggle, discouragement, or defeat:

I am a child of God.

Not temporarily. Not only when life is going well.

As Pastor Richard emphasized, believers are fully, finally, and forever children of God.

Catch the Wind

Pastor Richard closed with one final image: a sailboat.

What makes a sailboat move?

It isn't ultimately the sails, the ropes, or the mast. It's the wind.

We are the sailboat. The Holy Spirit is the wind.

On a perfectly calm day, a sailboat can only drift. But when the wind fills its sails, it begins to move.

The same is true of our spiritual lives.

We were not designed to simply drift through life. We were designed to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit—to listen to His voice, respond to His leading, and allow His power to move us toward God's purposes.