Jesus opens His famous Sermon on the Mount with ten ‘blessings’, known as ‘The Beatitudes’. And number one on His list is spiritual poverty – the willingness to admit, most humbly, our need for God and His grace. Some have called this the foundational virtue that makes way for all of the other blessings and graces of God:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Matthew 5:3
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
I didn’t really understand the first Beatitude until I heard Tara Leigh Cobble describe spiritual poverty as “‘Square One’ on this journey with Jesus.”1 Tara Leigh explains that if we won’t admit our need for forgiveness and salvation, then we’re also refusing to confess our need for Jesus – and we won’t ever really receive Him as Lord and Savior. We might know about Him, but we won’t know Him personally. We certainly won’t live this life from His grace and truth.
Square One. What an incredible picture. Humbly admitting that we need Jesus moves us out of prideful self-sufficiency and into a holy surrender that embraces our need, as well as the One who meets us in that need. Spiritual poverty gets us out of the gutter of ‘self’ and onto the path of new life in Christ.
However, Jesus doesn’t expect us to break free on our own from all the sin that entangles us. He doesn’t expect us to be able to see our need for Him through eyes that see so dimly. And that’s one very big reason He sent us His Spirit of Truth.
Grace and Truth
But first, let’s better understand ‘truth’ and its companion, ‘grace’.
The opening chapter of John’s Gospel describes Jesus as the Word “who came from the Father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). From the beginning of His days as a living, breathing tabernacle, Jesus embodies God’s grace and truth. It’s why we see Him compassionately healing and delivering the lost and the hurting, confidently forgiving sins, and calling out anyone who refuses to see their need for God.
Grace and truth. Jesus is never one without the other because God’s character is always perfectly balanced with both. Working in tandem, truth upholds God’s holiness and exposes sin while grace pours out over those who sin with undeserved forgiveness and redemption.
The challenge for believers is to move through this life on earth with the same balance of grace and truth – because grace without truth spirals into general sentimentality, lacking backbone and purpose and justice.2 Truth without grace becomes rigid rule-following, a most stifling judgment without any actual goodness. God is both grace and truth, and Jesus embodies them for us so that we might witness how they work together, so that we might live with both.
One of Jesus’ parables helps us see the difference between someone who stands on Square One and one who does not; it opens this way, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable” (Luke 18:9 NIV). Notice the audience Jesus was addressing – people who were so confident of their righteousness that they failed to see it for what it was: self-righteousness. As such, they didn’t see their need for God, much less His grace and forgiveness. The parable follows:
“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
“I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14 NLT
Without seeing our need for Jesus and His grace and truth, we won’t step out of our self-made, stubbornly held prisons. We won’t make it to Square One.
But before we doubt our faith in Jesus or condemn ourselves for such self-focused leanings, let’s remember that the One we seek to follow with our whole hearts brings truth and grace. So, if the truth is that we still need to bow humbly before our Lord, to name the truth of what we’re carrying, and to admit our need for His forgiveness, then we trust that the truth always, always comes with grace. We trust that when we sincerely confess our deep need of Jesus, He will embrace us with His nail-scarred hands – and all the grace we don’t deserve.
It’s never too late to step up to Square One.
Yet. While spiritual poverty may be the place to begin, it is also meant to be a foundation, a place from which to build our lives with Jesus – for all our days. If we enter the path of sanctifying grace with Jesus, growing and maturing in Him, there’s another truth to embrace: we must remain in that humble posture of spiritual poverty every single day. There is no growth so complete this side of heaven that we will ever, ever outgrow our need for Jesus.
The Spirit of Truth
And so it is that we finally arrive at Holy Spirit, whom John describes as the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 16:13). The Spirit whom Christ sent into the world to dwell in every believer for all their lives, He is meant to be our truth. Jesus told His disciples before He left this world that He had much more truth to share, but it was more than they could handle at the time (John 16:12).
When I consider how much Jesus had already shared with His befuddled followers, up to this point in the story, it dawns on me why He might have said that He’d wait to tell them everything until Holy Spirit arrived.
Jesus knew that we would need such a Helper, One who lives with us and in us; One who comes to us with all that God is (John 14:15-18). Truth. And grace.
Without Holy Spirit in us, we cannot know the mind of God; we cannot fathom His ways; and we cannot handle His truth. Without Holy Spirit, God’s truths and ways seem impossible, even foolish (1 Corinthians 2:14). But with Holy Spirit, our spiritual eyes open, and we’re able to see more clearly the deep things of God (v.10).
Holy Spirit in us makes all the difference. He guides us “into all truth” (John 16:13). He tells us what He hears from the Father and the Son (v.13,14,15). Then He helps us take it in and make sense of it, to absorb it with discernment and understanding (1 Corinthians 2:10–14).
Jesus also knew that without the Spirit of Truth constantly residing in us, we’d veer of His path. We’d choose our own way. We’d pridefully, mistakenly believe we know the truth – all the while having lost our spiritual poverty.
If there’s any doubt about these facts, I submit to you Exhibit A: The Israelites, God’s chosen people, who entered a covenant of both truth and grace with God Almighty and failed to keep it – over and over and over. No matter how sincere they were at Square One, pride or fear or some combination of both always won out. Without Holy Spirit, they were hopeless on their own to remain humbly postured before God.
And that’s why it was so important Jesus came to earth, to live and die, to resurrect and ascend – so that Holy Spirit could come in fullness. So that we would have the help we need to find Square One and keep it as our forever foundation.
Spirit of Conviction
The Spirit of Truth “convict[s] the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8 NLT).
John describes the way Holy Spirit moves through the unbelieving world, constantly nudging all people to see their own sin and repent, to acknowledge Jesus as the only truly righteous being, and to believe that a Day of Judgment is coming when everyone will be held to the standard of Christ and His righteousness (vv.9-11).3 Holy Spirit brings with Him prevenient grace and holy truth with conviction, working to get as many people as possible to Square One.
This is the work of conviction, not condemnation (Romans 8:1). This is a work of the Spirit who is Truth and Grace (Zechariah 12:10; Hebrews 10:29). And the only holy, acceptable response to such truth is to see our need for grace, admitting our need for forgiveness and the One who died to give all of this to us.
Our big YES to Jesus justifies us once and for all, sealed forever by Holy Spirit. But everyday with Jesus also requires a lot of little yeses. So, when we fall short, the Spirit of Truth will tell us. And by the grace of God, we’re meant to respond with repentance, by receiving forgiveness.
We experience the beauty of grace every time we accept the truth brought to us by the Spirit of Conviction.
This is why Scripture constantly urges believers to remain in the ongoing process of asking the Spirit to search our hearts and minds “to see if there be any grievous way in” us (Psalm 139:23-24 ESV). It’s why Paul encourages us with his own battle with sin, confessing, “I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:14-15 NLT). Every human ever lives in the tension of flesh and spirit, pulled by the tug of sin’s temptation.
But we’re not on our own to resist sin. We have the Spirit of Truth residing in us, and He will, in His kindness, always make known to us the truth about our choices and motives, our thoughts and actions. Then we can choose to remain in that sin, to beat up ourselves over it – or to return to Square One and confess our need for Jesus and His forgiveness. When we live in the truth, confessing our sins to Him, He will always be “faithful and just” to “forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
Friends, we’ve been given the Spirit of Truth, which means we have the spiritual help we need to remain aware of our constant need of God, of His truth and grace. And so, may we make it a daily practice to seek the truth about ourselves from the Spirit who resides in us. May we walk humbly through this life forever aware of our brokenness apart from Christ – grateful that in Christ and with Holy Spirit we are forgiven and redeemed.
Today’s prayer is taken from the lyrics of two songs: “Holy Spirit, Light Divine” and “Lord, I Need You:”4
Holy Spirit, Truth divine,
dawn upon this soul of mine;
Word of God and inward light,
wake my spirit, clear my sight.
Holy Spirit, Pow’r divine,
cleanse this guilty heart of mine.
Long that sin without control
held dominion o’er my soul.
Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Yes, where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Lord, I need You, oh I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus You’re my hope and stay
And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus You’re my hope and stay
Holy Spirit, All divine,
dwell within this heart of mine;
cast down ev’ry idol throne;
reign supreme, and reign alone.
In Jesus’ name we pray, amen
[Please remember that throughout this series, we want to move through information gathering to Holy Spirit experiencing. As such, I will be adding an ‘experience’ of Holy Spirit each week in our “Rhythms” section below. I hope you’ll jump down there to see how you might stretch yourself in the way of experiencing more of the Spirit in your life. You can trust I’m doing the same!!]
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – Tara Leigh Cobble in The Bible Recap video teaching Week 283 gives one of the clearest, most helpful explanations I’ve ever heard about what Jesus is saying in the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes. Her descriptions of spiritual poverty as ‘Square One’ will clarify what I’ve been trying to say in this post. Can’t recommend this video more wholeheartedly!
- 2 – This GotQuestions article helps unpack grace and truth more fully.
- 3 – This GotQuestions article detangles Jesus’ words about Holy Spirit as Convictor.
- 4 – We’ve prayed a few stanzas of the hymn “Holy Spirit, Light Divine” before, but today we pick up a couple we haven’t prayed before. This song can also be found on our Holy Spirit Playlist on Spotify. The other part of this prayer comes from Chris Tomlin’s version of “Lord, I Need You.” Both songs make a great prayer to help us forever remain humbled with a heart of spiritual poverty. (I didn’t, however, add Chris’ song to our playlist mostly because it’s not specifically referencing Holy Spirit – though we know and understand His role in all truth and grace!) XOXO
- Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
- My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.
- The rhythm we are employing for our summer Holy Spirit series falls in the category of a weekly experience. And this week, we enter into the rhythm of confession and repentance, opening ourselves up to receive grace and forgiveness so that we remain in step with Jesus — not running ahead in our own self-sufficiency nor lagging behind in our apathy or complacency or fear. Instead, we engage with the Spirit of Truth daily, asking Him to search our hearts, to reveal any sin, anything at all that might knock us off course with Him (Psalm 139:23-24).
Each time we place ourselves humbly back on Square One, we experience God’s grace all over again. And we’re able to step back into all Jesus has for us to see and learn, to hear and do.
As you come before Holy Spirit, asking Him to do His work of revelation and conviction, to bring His truth and grace to our minds and hearts, quietly sit with the Spirit for five minutes, expectantly awaiting Him to reveal what He wants you to see about yourself. Then receive it with the grace with which it is given. And repent — confessing the truth and choosing to turn from the habit, thought, or practice that Holy Spirit convicts you about.
One last thought — the level of maturity you have in your walk with Christ will more than likely determine how much of a ‘turn’ you’re making as you repent. For someone confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior for the first time, for example, their repentant-turn is one-hundred-eighty-degrees — from total depravity to saving grace. But as we mature, what Jesus calls us to turn from may only be a degree or two from where we are now. I point this out as an encouragement to keep listening to the Spirit of Truth, trusting that He always brings grace as He guides you in this process. Trust that He never condemns — but convicts. Trust that truth and grace will lead you in the dailiness of turning toward Jesus with a humble heart.
- We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!
Featured Photo is a photo of a stained glass, “Descent,” window from The Church of the Holy Spirit in Lebanon, NJ
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Zrng N Gharib on Unsplash.
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