Page 39 - Overcoming Addiction

Chapter 6 - The Spirit is Life

n the first chapter of this book the statement was made, “The only real answer to
Ithe problem of addictive behavior is to restore light and life to our beings.”
Death, physical and spiritual, is the natural consequence of sin. Mortal man needs
to receive life back into his being in order to walk in victory over sin. When we
receive the divine life of God into our being we are able to walk as spiritual men,
both desiring and performing the will of God.

Philippians 2:13
For it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and
creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good
pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
[Amplified Bible]

The life of God must enter into man’s being in order for man to live a life of
righteousness. Apart from the life of God, all we have in these bodies is death, the
principle of sin at work in us. Yahweh has made a way for men and women to
receive His life inside their mortal bodies. This is through the indwelling Spirit of
Christ.

Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ Yahshua from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The Spirit of Christ is imparted to the believer to do much more than act as a
guide. Not only does He reveal those things that Yahweh wants each individual to
do, but He produces the desire to do God’s will, and supplies the power to do it.
This is the result of the very life of God being present in us.
In the previous chapter we spoke of asking God to give us His Holy Spirit.
Without this Spirit dwelling in us we have not truly changed. We may be forgiven
for our sin by the shed blood of Christ, but we have no power to walk in victory
over sin until the we receive the Spirit of Christ into our being. Without the Spirit
we can have forgiveness of sin by faith in Christ, but our bondage still remains.
That faith in Christ’s atoning work and the impartation of the Spirit are two
separate works, is shown in the following Scripture.

Acts 19:1-6
It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the
upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to
them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said
to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he
said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's
baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling
the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in
Yahshua." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the