Tozer: Self-sins and the Holy Spirit

A recent coffee shop visit with two brothers in Christ yielded this "bonus" on top of good conversation. One of the men shared this passage with me from a Bible that offers devotionals from A.W. Tozer. Do I truly live my life "under authority?"

"Before a man can be filled with the Spirit he must be sure he wants to be. And let this be taken seriously. Many Christians want to be filled, but their desire is a vague romantic kind of thing hardly worthy to be called desire. They have almost no knowledge of what it will cost them to realize it.

"Let us imagine that we are talking to an inquirer, some eager young Christian, let us say, who has sought us out to learn about the Spirit-filled life. As gently as possible, considering the pointed nature of the questions, we would probe his soul somewhat as follows:

"Are you sure you want to be filled with a Spirit who, though He is like Jesus in His gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life? Are you willing to let your personality be taken over by another, even if that other be the Spirit of God Himself? If the Spirit takes charge of your life He will expect unquestioning obedience in everything. He will not tolerate in you the self-sins even though they are permitted and excused by most Christians.

"By the self-sins I mean self-love, self-pity, self-seeking, self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-aggrandizement, self-defense. You will find the Spirit to be in sharp opposition to the easy ways of the world and of the mixed multitude within the precincts of religion.

"He will reserve the right to test you, to discipline you, to chasten you for your soul’s sake. He may strip you of those borderline pleasures which other Christians enjoy but which are to you a source of refined evil. Through it all He will enfold you in a love so vast, so mighty, so all-embracing, so wondrous that your very losses seem like gains and your small pains like pleasures. Yet the flesh will whimper under His yoke and cry out against it as a burden too great to bear. And you will be permitted to enjoy the solemn privilege of suffering to 'fill up in (your) flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s  afflictions' in your flesh for His body’s sake, which is the Church (Colossians 1:24). Now, with the conditions before you, do you still want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?"

A.W. Tozer “God’s Pursuit of Man”