Romans 1:4
“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”
Often in Christianity, we focus much on the sins of the flesh. No doubt, most of what we hear about are actions that our flesh commits, but the Scriptures go further than just cleaning up the outside. God is just as concerned with your spirit as He is with your flesh.
Anyone who has ever worked with young people understands that the spirit can sometimes dictate a different perception of someone than their actions. A young person can do right, but sometimes their spirit is not congruent with their actions; this is why parents tell their children that they had better straighten up their attitude before they have to help them with an attitude adjustment. The youth may physically perform the right actions, but their spirit is doing the opposite of their flesh.
The verse above talks about the “spirit of holiness.” God wants the Christian to live a holy life, but He also wants their spirit to be in agreement with their holy living. There are several observations we can learn about having the spirit of holiness.
First, your spirit reveals what is going on in the heart. Just because a Christian does right doesn't mean they are right with God. There are many Christians who go through the motions of Christianity whose spirit is not right. The reason the spirit is not right is because the spirit is a reflection of the heart. For instance, you can be in attendance in a church service and not really be in attendance because your spirit is not there. You can physically hear the preaching of God’s Word, but not listen with your spirit. It is important for you to understand that your spirit dictates what is going on in the heart.
Second, your actions can only camouflage the spirit for so long. Have you ever painted a wall, and when the paint dried the color you painted over bled through? That is what happens with your spirit. You can paint over your spirit with holy actions, but eventually your spirit bleeds through. You may think you can cover your heart with actions, but your spirit is bleeding through. Don't think for a second that you can go through life fooling everyone about how good of a Christian you are when your spirit is one of the flesh more than it is of holiness. You may dress right, look right and talk right, but if you don't have the spirit of holiness, it will bleed through to your lifestyle.
Third, it is more important to get your spirit right than it is your actions. Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” God knows that if you get your spirit right, your actions will follow. I have seen people clean up their actions and not their spirit and eventually fail in the Christian life; however, I have never seen someone get their spirit right without getting their actions right. If your spirit gets right, your actions will naturally follow.
My friend, let me encourage you to look at your spirit. Do you have a spirit of holiness? Does your spirit want to please God, or are your serving the LORD out of obligation? Let me encourage you to clean up your spirit because you will be amazed how your flesh follows.