Help and Hinderance

The Christian life is presented to us in the Scriptures as a great warfare in which we are partakers. We have a great enemy, but we also have a great Ally. There is one, near at all times, who is the great hinderer and there is one, also near at all times, who is the great Helper.

The hinderer is Satan. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, "Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (1 Thess. 2:18). The Helper is the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the Romans, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities . .." (Rom. 8:26). The two verbs are most interesting. Translated, "hinder" means to cut off, to strike in, and the noun in classical usage is used to describe a trench dug against a foe. "Help" means to lay hold with another, to give a lift, or to assist.

The one who is our Helper is the stronger of the two. It was Christ Himself who said, "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). It is this greater one who is our Helper and who helps at precisely the point where we most need help. For "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. . ." In other words, at the very point where we are weak the Spirit lays hold with us for our strengthening. It frequently happens in Christian experience that in the very points where a believer has been defeated he becomes strong because of the Spirit working through his own powers and faculties.

The spheres of the Spirit's help are threefold. It is through the Spirit that we are able to mortify the deeds of the body (Rom. 8:13), and it is in the body that the Spirit takes up His residence (1 Cor. 6:19). In the sphere of our souls, the seat of the emotions and the will, He comes to subdue and to fortify (Rom. 8:2-4). Lastly, He builds our whole spiritual life in its witness to others, in its prayer to God, and in its likeness to Jesus Christ.

Since we have this Helper, greater than any hinderer, why do we go along without recourse to His help? What sin to work and live in our own strength when He is within!

1. What ways does the Holy Spirit help us in our journey combating sin and Satan?
2. Since, the Holy Spirit is our strength and the primary agent of sanctification in our life; do we have any role or participation in the process?
3. If so, what things are we held responsible for that would assist us in the sanctification process?