Return to Alpha Omega Net *** Forthshining Christ's Life
Elihu speaks to Job: "I am young in years and you are old: that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, `Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom'. But it is THE SPIRIT in a man, the BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY, that gives him understanding" (Job 32.6-8, NIV, my emphasis).
Elihu kept respectful silence while his elders quibbled among themselves, accusing, condemning, and generally berating Job. He witnessed Job's attempts at self-justification and finally his ire became "like a skin of new wine, ready to burst", and he directed his speech (the opening cited above) to Job.
The younger man realized that neither wisdom derived from age or from experience proved valid when searching the depth of God's will, and that the aged men with whom he communed were sadly lacking in the understanding so desperately needed to comprehend Job's visitation. Then came this divine illumination: "...it is THE SPIRIT in a man, the BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY, that gives him understanding". Superior wisdom is most certainly never generated by the mind of man. The Hebrew word used for "breath", above, corresponds to the Greek word "theopneustos" (see 2 Timothy 3.16) meaning "God breathed" or "inspired by God". God is a spirit, so when He breathes upon man, He illumines the spirit of man within -- a spirit-to-spirit impartation!
Paul writes "...`No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him' -- but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit..." (1 Corinthians 2.9-10, NIV. See also Isaiah 64.4). The witness of the New Covenant has in itself secrets and Godly mysteries far more profound than those of humanism, paganism, New Age-ism, Jehovah's Witness-ism and all the other "isms" brought to birth in the junked-up mind and cankerous spirit of man-without-God. The secrets of the New Covenant have heights far more noble and sublime than human science can ever reach. They, the secrets, the mysteries, and the soaring reaches of the Spirit, are of a nature that requires a spiritual capacity which only God can give. Without His impartation they appear to carnal, soulish man as contemptible foolishness. There are truths which the natural eye and ear cannot perceive, nor can the unregenerate heart grasp - for only the Spirit of the Living God can communicate them to man:"...but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2.10, NIV).
Then the Holy Spirit carries the promise further, explaining in verses 11 and 12: "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us".
It is by His absolute grace and mercy, which is age-during and boundless, that God enlivens the spirit of man and imparts the understanding needed. The natural man, governed by his animal instincts and passions, can't discern the things of the spirit. It is only as His Spirit imparts to man's spirit that man has a real knowing, i.e. knowing that he knows. This knowledge I write about is not that gained from the "spirit of the world", or as some are pleased to call it; the "spirit of this age". I know that the knowledge of the natural realm has been greatly increased, especially in the era of my earthly life-span, but THAT knowledge is a message to carnal minds and is seldom good news. The true Good News is revealed in and by the Spirit of God, because it is HIS GOOD NEWS to man and not what the traditions of churchdom and human reasoning have preached it to be.
And why? Because the true church of Jesus Christ is the Body of Christ - and that Body is SPIRITUAL. The unity in that body is spiritual unity. Let us not be deceived into thinking that great mass rallies, with hundreds of thousands of people from various sects, claiming to be ecumenical or otherwise, is the Body of Christ, the Church!
The Holy Spirit tells us of the need to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. (See 2 Corinthians 7.1). One commentary on that verse says, "As to the distinction between impurity of the flesh and spirit, we conceive the former to consist in sensual affections, and the latter in pride of heart, which however decent we may think it, is an abomination in the sight of God". He may be right, but let us remember the word "all" in the cited verse, and yield to God, not joining ourselves to the spirit of the world.
The spirit of envy, the spirit of jealousy, of pride, and especially of a haughty spiritual disdain for those without God's revelation, are all intrusions on our union with Him. They defile us. When we get "caught up in the spirit" of anything other than HIS SPIRIT we're forgetting to whom we belong and allowing ourselves to be embroiled in a form of spiritual adultery. Remember: "But a person who is united to the LORD becomes one spirit with Him. You were bought for a price -- purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body" (1 Corinthians 6.17,20; Amplified Bible. The KJV adds "and in your spirit, which are God's" in verse 20).
How many times have we prayed, "Not my will but thine be done"? And in so praying we may have felt very humble -- and not a little self-satisfied with our self-imposed humility -- BUT -- as long as it is necessary for us to pray that prayer we are proclaiming that there are still two wills in us; ours and His.
When Jesus Christ the MAN prayed so in the garden, it was to bring all of HIS HUMANITY into oneness with GOD'S WILL AND THE GOD-NATURE WITHIN. So it must be with us.
Yes, Jesus was and is TOTALLY GOD! He was and is also TOTALLY MAN - and tested in all points as we are. HE OVERCAME all testings and brought full obedience - perfected, completed, made whole, to the outworking of the WILL OF GOD. When we arrive at that place where there is only ONE WILL in us, because of our covenant relationship in Christ, when we live and breathe and are functionally ONE in HIS will, then we can fully lay hold of John 17.23; "I in them, and they in Me, that they may be made perfect in One"!
How's that for victory!?!
Externally and INTERNALLY HE is the Creator: He "who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the Spirit of man within him" (Zechariah 12.1). In making manifest His New Covenant dispensation He is looking deep in our spirit, indeed, for He says, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall heed my ordinances, and do them" (Ezekiel 36.26-27 Amplified Bible).
A NEW SPIRIT -- HIS SPIRIT living in us in such union that the ours/His becomes ONE NEW SPIRIT. Not two spirits living in the same temple -- but His Spirit and our Spirit merged into ONENESS, so that it is ONE SPIRIT fulfilling the counsel of His will. THEN we will walk in His statutes and heed His ordinances. His indwelling spirit is the sufficiency of ALL things.
In taking away the "stony heart" He takes away the whole "first" covenant written on tablets of stone. No longer do we labor under the ponderous ministration of condemnation and death -- because no matter what the jumping-jack-a-napes of the doom-dealing "church" preach -- the whole ministration has been changed into THE SPIRIT OF HIS LIFE!
Our Saviour-God knew the limitations of that old covenant before He gave it: limited in its action, accomplishment and duration. He also knew that man's limitations made him incapable of keeping the law which was given him so EVEN THEN we hear from God's own Father-Saviour heart: "Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever" (Deuteronomy 5.29, NASB).
All the symbols and signs, all the rituals and impressive ceremonies, even the God-written law on tablets of stone couldn't prevail and bring solace to His heart-cry. The "Law" deals "only on foods and drinks, and various washings, and fleshly ordinances until the time of setting things right (KJV "reformation) has been imposed" (Hebrews 9.10, Green's Literal, my emphasis and parenthesis).
The word "reformation" used in our King James Version is in the Greek "diorthosis" and properly means, in a physical sense, a making straight; a restoring to normal or correct condition something that has gotten out of line, as in broken or misshapen limbs. When used of acts or institutions it means the perfecting or completion of things -- as in the fulfilling of a law or promise. I once listened to one of the benighted brotherhood of word winders preach that this time of reformation has come and passed with Martin Luther. He was wrong about other things, too.
Under the ministry of the law man's life style wasn't coming out of his inner being; rather, it was imposed upon him from without. It, the law, was dictated by an absolute Lawgiver, our God, who, even as He laid it on man, looked to the time when He would rectify ALL things by bringing forth a NEW Covenant. He has planned from before the beginning to place His laws deep in man, written on his heart -- his innermost being -- and on his mind so that man's NATURE would be converted. This conversion causes man to live out His laws, His commands, His judgements and will, because it is his very NATURE to do so.
You can readily see how far this new nature excels anything imposed from without, because it is an expression from the spirit, not caused by exterior limitations and restrictions circumscribing man's pathway to an outward cleanliness.
Jesus knew this great WILL-DESIRE and echoed the Father's cry in Isaiah 48.18 by saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together..." (Matthew 23.27) and He wept over them, "Saying, `If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes'" (Luke 19.42 NASB).
They DIDN'T KNOW! They didn't have an internal experiential knowledge of Him, His peace, or His way. They only knew Him as most of the church world knows Him -- by the flesh and hear-say -- never having a spiritual union with Him. "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had they would not have crucified the LORD of Glory" (1 Corinthians 2.7-8) and He's crucified again and again daily by people who seek to know Him by the flesh.
BUT -- their ignorance wasn't (and isn't) their fault because it is in God's purpose for a time: "For God has bound ALL men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them ALL" (Romans 11.32,NIV, my emphasis). He said in Isaiah 6.9-10, "...go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving; make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (NIV). See also Acts 28.25-27.
Jesus Christ came as THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, yet He spoke to the people in parables because He knew the will of His Father for the blindness and deafness of that people. Matthew 13.11 and 16 says that when His disciples asked Him why He spoke so: "He replied, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given you, but not to them. But blessed are your eyes because they see; and your ears because they hear" (NIV).
ONLY AS OUR SAVIOR-GOD IMPARTS THE REVELATION BY HIS SPIRIT WILL MEN EVER KNOW HIM.
When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 16.15-17, NIV, emphasis mine). It was by the Holy Spirit and impartation of revelation that Peter received this knowledge -- because without His life in us WE DO NOT AND CANNOT KNOW HIM!
The people of that era had the law, the signs, the symbols, ceremonies and all the rigid ritualistic brouhaha that goes with an outward only religion --; in fact they had enough of the above listed burdens to seriously challenge the mock-up, short-change, semi-pagan church of this day. But neither the religious ruckus of then nor the holy hullabaloo of now can change man's INNER BEING. The Holy Spirit so witnesses about that hour, "They knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day" (Acts 13.27). Isn't it the same now? Every Sunday, most Wednesdays -- (and many other days during a "revival", i.e. an attempt to enliven the dead) people hear -- but they don't hear. There is no life in most of the church today -- a "church" living by ritual, rote, hymn # so-and-so, a quick prayer and pass-the-plate-and-see-you-next-Sunday kind of worship in which there IS NO SPIRIT OF LIFE. The stony heart is still there.
Is it any wonder that God cried out, "O, that there was such a heart in them..." and He foresaw the day when He would provide a NEW HEART which would respond to His will and worship Him in Spirit and Truth; live out HIS LIFE as He foreordained it should be lived. But in the meantime He gave His people a spirit of slumber, He closed their hearts -- so that He could work out a purpose so far beyond man's natural understanding that until it is accomplished, man won't know what HE is doing! "All that He does is apt for its time; but though He has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3.11, Jerusalem Bible).
Man walks out his days in blindness because he doesn't know what the future -- , whether the next minute or day or year -- , will bring. Jeremiah expressed it thus: "Well you know, Yahweh, the course of man is not in his control, nor is it in man's power as he goes his way to guide his steps" (Jeremiah 10.23, Jerusalem Bible). The Psalmist knew this, too, but God had imparted to him a bit of understanding: "The steps of a man are established by the LORD; and He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the One who holds his hand" (Psalm 37.23-24, NASB). So we see that though man doesn't know his own way - God does, and GOD RETAINS CONTROL OF MAN'S WAY, guiding him toward that chosen day when He shall make all things thoroughly right. Our victory is secure in Him!
It's interesting to note that in the scripture cited above, (Deuteronomy 5.29) the words "O, that" are a figure of speech expressing a feeling of intense desire, and literally mean, in both Hebrew and Greek, "Who will give?" so "Who will give man such a heart so as to obey Him and serve Him from deep within and with all their being?" No man is able to give another man such a heart. There are no religious programs, exercises, retreats, studies, singings, seminars, or any other pseudo-cristo leftovers from paganism able to place such a heart within a people. Only the Creator, who has formed the spirit within him is able to put a NEW HEART and a NEW SPIRIT in man; it is the sovereign work of GOD!
And, of course, God saw this inability. "And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him." (Isaiah 59.16, NASB). Who could stand between Divine and earthy and unite them and give them His life?
ONLY HE COULD DO IT -- AND HE DID IT!! "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them..." (2 Corinthians 5.19).
God Himself gave His Son, HIMSELF: "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?" (Romans 8.32, emphasis mine). But He didn't give His Son apart from Himself - because the Father INDWELT the Son, God was IN Christ, so it was HIS OWN ARM that reached out to reconcile the world to Himself.
The plan of our salvation, from the beginning to the completion, is our Savior-God's, plainly presented in His Son, HIS ARM! "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that, just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1.30-31; see also Jeremiah 9.24).
All of this great working is His working through His Son, to bring us into complete oneness with HIMSELF.
"Behold, days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days", declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord", for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them", declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31.31-34, NASB).
A NEW COVENANT!! NOT according to the old covenant which He once made with Israel as He led them out of Egypt -- the land of slavery to flesh and ignorance. This New Covenant is NOT based upon works. It is NOT dependent upon man to keep his side of the covenant -- because now God steps into the breach and freely makes promise for both parties - HIMSELF and us and says, "I WILL and THEY SHALL"!!!
This is the promise: a new covenant based in a new heart, and a new spirit; HIS covenant, HIS heart and HIS spirit. When His spirit dwells in us we live out His life - and we do this by HIS INHERENT NATURE:
"For it is God Himself whose power creates within you both the desire and the power to execute His gracious will". (Phillipians 2.13, Weymouth).
"I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed" (Isaiah 44.3).
"I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2.28).
"And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed" (Acts 3.25, citing Genesis 22.18 and 26.4).
"For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself" (Acts 2.39, NASB).
This is a tremendous promise -- God pouring out His Spirit upon ALL flesh, upon ALL kindreds and nations of the earth so that "they may ALL call upon the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one consent" (Zephaniah 3.9).
Man, for the "greater glory of God" builds his mega-churches, and then saddles his brethren with fear and guilt in order to raise money for a bankrupt God. Then he buys TV and radio time -- so that he can produce more projects and programs -- all of which he says is to magnify God and establish His Kingdom. B U T -- it is "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Zephaniah 4.6). All the dollars and endeavors, the raucous raving and ranting, and all the fear-bearing harbingers of hell-fire who fail to feed their flocks -- will be of no avail, "Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever" (Isaiah 32.15-17, NASB).
What poor substitutes churchdom has offered in lieu of the anointing of His Spirit!
While we wait for the fullness of the OUTPOURING OF GOD'S SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH, we thankfully praise Him that we are even now "...sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise...". "OF PROMISE" -- literally "sealed with the Spirit of promise, the HOLY ONE".
Over and over again, all through the writings of what we call the Old Testament, God announced that He would pour out His Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, when there was an outpouring of that Spirit, Peter declared, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh". (Acts 2.16-17). God revealed to Peter that it was at least a part of the fulfillment of THE PROMISE, because it was God's Spirit which was poured out upon them, even though the coverage wasn't upon "all" flesh at that time. There have been many occasions of partial fulfillment, and there will no doubt be many more as the LORD advances us steadily toward that hour when it will truly be said, "THIS IS THAT" which was promised -- now gloriously fulfilled -- upon "ALL FLESH".
Later on the Holy Spirit made more of a distinction in the timing and clarified its working when He pointed out that those who have received of His Spirit have only "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1.13-14). The Amplified Bible says, "stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance -- the firstfruit, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our inheritance -- in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it, to the praise of His glory".
The word "earnest" as used in our King James Version is translated from the Greek "arrhabon" and is used only three times in the New Testament -- and always in direct reference to the Holy Spirit. Besides the above cited reference the other two are:
"Who has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1.22).
"Hath given us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 5.5).
In these three scripture verses it is clearly said that it is "of" the Spirit that we receive the earnest, the pledge, the first portion -- so it follows that whatever we shall receive as our inheritance, it must be of LIKE KIND -- Spiritual. God is not imparting a measure of His Spirit as a pledge of fullness to follow, and then later substituting a lesser something or other (Pie-in-the-sky-palaces, perhaps!) for the remainder of our inheritance.
Again the Holy Spirit used Paul to emphasize this "same" or "like kind" truth, "Be not led astray; God is not mocked; for what a man may sow -- that also shall he reap, because he who is sowing to his own flesh, of the flesh shall reap corruption; and he who is sowing to the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life age-during" (Galatians 6.7-8, Young's Literal Translation).
Simple, isn't it? Sow into the flesh, reap out of the flesh. Sow into the Spirit, reap out of the Spirit.
As fundamental as this truth is, its astonishing how many want to cross over, thinking that if they sow some "good flesh works" they can reap spiritual life. Conversely, there are those unhappy people who think that if they offer up praise and worship to the LORD in "spirit", they can coerce and cajole from Him a whole catalog of earthly riches.
Sure, God is over all -- natural and spiritual, but the point remains: the fullness of our inheritance is of the same nature and kind as the earnest. The earnest is a measure of the Holy Spirit -- that Spirit that was announced to all by God's promise, and which some have now received. He lives in us by His Spirit!
We must note that we presently have just the FIRST PORTION or FIRSTFRUIT, (not the whole), because that's what the "earnest" means. It is enough to seal us until the fullness of our redemption is realized. It's truly a marvel that there are those who think that God has given them of His Spirit, the earnest of their inheritance in Him in accord with the outworking of the New Covenant, and then think they must turn back to the ministration of the OLD to finish the job themselves. "Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" asks the Spirit in Galatians 3.3.
Observe the hyperactivity of church organizations; the steps to sonship, to perfection, to nirvana, et alia. How many people try to imitate revised and edited sinners they call saints, seeking perfection!? Some even say they're imitating Christ, condemning their action from their own mouths, because an imitation won't do at all. We must have and be the REAL THING!! Isn't it a fact that we have spent much time and effort struggling to be whole, complete, perfect --, and yet always knowing in our heart that we cannot ATTAIN perfection -- but only RECEIVE it?
HE is perfect and HE is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and life. HE IN US BECOMES OUR PERFECTION as we receive HIM, as HIS SPIRIT is poured out upon us.
That's the Spirit of the New Covenant -- a Spirit bringing us into His glorious wholeness, without flaw, and absolutely cleansed of the pollution of sin. Our own efforts and all the self-propelled piety we might drum up can't fulfill God's vision -- but HE has sealed us -- HE has guaranteed that He will finish what He has begun in us, and He doesn't need a boost from us.
In that old covenant there was no guarantee of victory -- because it was based upon "do this, and thou shalt live". In this New Covenant He imparts HIS SPIRIT LIFE, and, therefore, we live and do according to His will. Under the Old Covenant the laws were specific and clearly written, but man was unable to meet the demands of the law: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3.23). But the New Covenant promises, "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed my ordinances and do them" (Ezekiel 36.27, Amplified Bible). When HE CAUSES us to live in peace, we will live peaceably. When HE CAUSES us to love, we'll truly love; when HE CAUSES us to walk in His way -- we'll walk there! The Psalmist utters a prayer that is in the heart of many: "Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee" (Psalm 148.8).
And how does He CAUSE us? BY HIS SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US!!
We have really tried hard to produce the fruit of the Spirit by our own puny, soulish work, but the fruit of the Spirit is not of our flesh, of our intellect, of our vain imaginings. The "fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5.22) -- and being OF THE SPIRIT, the fruit is a Spirit of love, a Spirit of joy, a Spirit of peace, et cetera. When He dwells in us by His Spirit, it follows plainly that He will manifest all the various fruits of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit asks a very searching question, and then gives a wonderful answer: "Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by law... So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3.21,24, NIV).
The law and the promises are not in conflict; each has its own proper function. The law was a ministration to condemnation; the promises are a ministry of salvation and we perceive that the law wasn't intended to express God's attitude towards man; His attitude towards us has always been one of grace. So, the law and grace are not against each other, but they operate in vastly different spheres.
The former was purposed for a limited time to restrain, to discipline, to train, and show man his weakness and to hold man until the Christ should come, to conduct man to Christ.
The ANOINTING SPIRIT brings an end to that former realm of condemnation, and that realm's service being accomplished -- the SPIRIT has taken over and is bringing man into HIS Perfection, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HIS fullness of LIFE.
We see that though the Old Covenant couldn't give life, it wasn't without purpose, but was only meant to serve until the Creator should allow the GREATER covenant to appear. All the works of the flesh, as dictated by the Old Covenant law, could not then, and cannot now, make man spiritual; only the infilling with His Spirit can do that.
While the Old Covenant wasn't against the promise, neither does it continue after we receive the SPIRIT OF PROMISE: "But when HE, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth...And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgement" (John 16.13,8,NASB). But His "convicting" is not to condemnation and death; it is a corrective purging so that He might bring us into HIS LIFE.
The magnitude of the victory of effective living is unimaginable when He writes His laws on our heart and mind, thus energizing us to actually live out those laws, BY HIS SPIRIT! We no longer need someone to stand by to brandish the "tables of the law" in our faces and spend tedious hours admonishing and urging us to "do right and live". Why? Because within us we have that promised SPIRIT OF TRUTH, judging, correcting, encouraging, and guiding us into the fullness of our redemption and glorification.
Further, as our personal walk is controlled by the Spirit, so is our ministry and we seek, by His direction, to share with others the work He has wrought in us. We can do this, because in Christ we feel safe and certain before God. We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves because it is God who makes us able to do ALL that we do. He made us able servants of His New Covenant -- the Covenant HE made between Himself and His people. And this New Covenant is not a written law, but is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Look it up; it's at 2 Corinthians 3.4-6!
The only lasting results of any ministry are those which are wrought BY THE SPIRIT -- and, of course we long to be fully controlled by Him, led by Him, energized by Him -- and to live to His praise.
As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the LORD; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and forever" (Isaiah 59.21).
Yes, by the mighty arm of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, we have been stamped with God's seal, the Holy Spirit. This earnest of our inheritance is given us now but the fullness of the New Covenant still lies before us when we all shall receive the outpouring of His Spirit in unlimited measure. By His Spirit, remaining IN US, He is making all things new.
Keep yourselves from idols.