“Be strengthened with might, by my spirit in the inner man.”
Strengthen? to empower, that is, (passively) increase in vigor:(Strongs)
Might? force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): – ability, abundance, meaning, might. (Strongs.)
“Inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth” (Thayers)
Brothers and sisters we must be empowered in our inherent power, which power resides in us through the filling of the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18. Cement is strong and can bear a load, however, cement that is endued with iron is stronger and can bear a heavier load. This is just one way of looking at it. Frankly, every believer has been gifted the Holy Spirit. All of us believers have been baptized into the body of Christ, and made to drink of that one Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:13.
“Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 2Corinthians 1:21-22
Lets look closer at this verse in its parts:
1). Established?
” … the people of God are in a firm, settled, established state and condition; they are encircled in the arms of everlasting love; (Colossians 3:3, Deuteronomy 33:27, Jude 20). they are secure of the favor of God; (Ephesians 2:9-10) they are engraven on his hands, and set as a seal on his heart, (Song of Solomon 8:6) ” Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death”). from whence they can never be removed; they are taken into his family by adopting grace; (Ephesians 1:4). and will never be turned out; (John 5:24 ). they are in a state of justification, Romans 5:1
and shall never enter into condemnation;(John 5:24 ).
they are regenerated (Titus 3:5). and sanctified by the Spirit of God, (Hebrews 10:-10-14). and shall never finally and totally fall from that grace they have received.” John 10:28 John Gill
2). Anointed?
1John2:20,27). “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Hence we become “a sweet savor of Christ”” 1Jn 2:27 ” But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. ” Isaiah 10 tells us that anointing breaks the yoke, (of bondage).
3). Sealed?
All believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13. ” the Spirit indwelling as an anointing is Himself the seal. The presence in the Christian indicates a finished transaction, divine ownership, and eternal security. Chafer
4). Earnest?
“The presence of the spirit in the believers heart is a foretaste of the knowledge-surpassing experience of divine blessing yet to be enjoyed in glory.”
As we are strengthened by these realities which are given to us in the epistles then we can experience what Paul spoke of when he referred to a believer as a living epistle.
2Corinthians 3:2 -3 teaches, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
On the heart, yes, on the heart are the words written by the Spirit of the living God. We know from Proverbs that “as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” (23:7).We might say that the heart is the supreme center of a man, indeed the hidden man, the inner man of Psalms 51.
Beloved we are more than dictionaries, encyclopedias, and knowledge producers. But we are living, breathing, functioning beings who are experiencing, or are at least are able to experience a transformation by the renewing of our minds. This is Romans chapter 12-1 and two. What does this transformation look like?
It ultimately resembles the metamorphosis of a butterfly, having started out as a worm, entering into its own grave of a cocoon, emerging as a butterfly. This is the exact word and use that Paul expressed in Romans 12.
So, in closing let us follow 1Peter 1:13 “gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Friends, we have a great salvation and future. Lets get it now! Love ya
