Reading: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.”— Ephesians 3:16

We have been considering the spiritual strength of the Christian and have seen our own weakness and the source of our strength. Let us see now the agent of that strength—our text says, “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit.”

Many times in scripture the Spirit is given the name of power (e.g., 2 Timothy 1:7). This is the office of the Spirit and He is sent for this purpose. The Spirit of God strengthens us by leading us to the fullness of grace and strength in Christ. But how does He do this?

The Spirit of God sheds abroad the love of Christ in our hearts (verses 17, 18, 19). When the Spirit of God communicates to His people a sense of the love of God for them, it has a most profound effect. The moment we lose the influence of the Spirit will be the same moment we lose a sense of the love of Christ for us. The more the Spirit leads us to the love of Christ, the more we are amazed and constrained in every way, and therefore the more we reflect the glory of the Lord.

The Spirit also applies the promises of the gospel to us. There is a difference between reading the promises and having the promises applied by the Holy Spirit. He makes the scripture real, bringing it to life in the context of my life and in my heart. Lord, give me your Holy Spirit and apply the promises of Christ to my heart so that I may be grounded in your love and filled with all your fullness.

“The sense of the love of God never exists in the human heart till communicated by the Holy Ghost.”—Robert Haldane