…we who serve God by his Spirit…
Summary: The concept of serving God is clearly explained in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, obedience becomes more Spirit-driven.
If you ever wonder why it takes us so long to get through a short book of the Bible, this passage is a great example of why.
Paul’s sentences are built on a deep understanding of both the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible, which is the Christian Old Testament) and the Gospel message given to him directly by Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23). Because of their intellectual depth, it is easy to gloss over a passage like this one without fully appreciating what is behind Paul’s words.
So let’s take a closer look.
He begins with who “we” are. The “we” refers to all people who recognize Jesus as Lord and accept his forgiveness and authority.
Then he turns to what “we” do. We serve God.
Finally, he mentions how we serve God — and this is the part that deserves our attention — we serve God “…by his Spirit.”
Under the Old Testament covenant, believers served God by complying with his Law. Under the New Covenant, the Law has been fulfilled (Matthew 5:17). After the resurrection of Jesus, he kept his promise to send God’s Spirit (John 14:26). Now, instead of serving God by the Law, we serve God “by his Spirit.”
What does that mean?
This is where things get really interesting. Under the old covenant Law, everyone did the same thing. The Law was clear:
• No other gods except God.
• No idols.
• Don’t take God’s name in vain.
• Keep the Sabbath
• Honor your parents
• Don’t murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or covet.
Then there were a bunch of laws about temple worship, festivals, giving, and the occasional Jubilee.
The point is that everyone was supposed to know the rule book and follow the rules.
With Christians, it is different. Jesus tells us:
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
Does that sound like every believer is doing the same thing?
I don’t mean to suggest that God’s Law no longer applies. As Jesus points out, he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17). In fact, Jesus famously summed up “all the Law and the Prophets” this way:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
So God’s Law provides the guardrails for Christian living, but the Spirit sits behind the steering wheel, and we “cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”
Application: Trust Jesus and leave the driving to the Holy Spirit.
Food for Thought: How are people who are “born of the Spirit” different than those who are not?
Good devotion brother. I am going to answer this by simply quoting another Scripture. We are different in that we use God’s wisdom instead of the worlds. We are different in that we are alive spiritually as opposed to dead spiritually. There are many differences, but I thought Paul summed it up well in the passage below.
1 Corinthians 2: 13 – 16: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Thank you, Rich!
Your point is well made. I have been thinking a lot about this since the news of Charlie Kirk’s passing.
He delighted in engaging with people who were not “born of the Spirit.” The contrast between the Spirit in Charlie, and those he engaged with is stark.
How are people who are “born of the Spirit” different than those who are not?
Spiritual power is the divine energy God choses to reveal in and through us. The divine authority we require to carry out the work He calls each of us to do.
Matthew 3:16, As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
Acts 1:8, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
His power is not just for preachers, evangelists, or people who work in special ministry. The power of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer who willingly surrenders moment by moment to His will over our own. .
We cannot take the power of the Spirit in order to use God. we can only experience this power, given by God and received by believers as we experience His power when we surrender to be used by Him for His purposes. God releases His power through us as we walk in obedience to Him.
Three ways He releases His power to us are:
Through the fruit of the Spirit:
God’s power enables us to exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which reveal the character of Christ in us.
Through witnessing:
Scripture always refers to the power of the Holy Spirit in relationship to witnessing and glorifying God. It is His power through us that emboldens us and carries out the work.
Through the work we are called to do:
God will not place you in a position or ask you to accomplish a task for which He will not fully equip and enable you.
Thank you, Ron!
Very well said!
You remind me of the hymn, “There Is Power in the Blood”, written by Lewis E. Jones:
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.