WRITTEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT by Claude Houde
In the New Testament, Christ is the perfect Lamb of God who is offered for the sins of the world. His blood is shed on the cross and it is a supernatural Passover for each of us. We are saved from death and we find eternal protection and peace in Him. Whoever places himself, by faith, under the blood of Christ is spared from eternal death and finds salvation.
Fifty days later, it is Pentecost, the beginning of the Church where the promise of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit is powerful and personal. The laws, desires, purposes, plans and promises of God are not written on tables of stone any longer, but can be written by the Holy Spirit every day on the tablets of our hearts. It is one of the truest and most extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit available to human beings.
Ezekiel, the man of God and biblical writer, received a prophetic picture. It is a promise for every believer who will pray, “Lord, increase our faith.” Ezekiel prophetically described what would supernaturally take place when someone sincerely asks God to be empowered to receive His resolution by Him and for Him.
“I will give you a new heart and I will put a new Spirit in you. I will take away the heart of stone (impenetrable) and I will give you a heart of flesh (upon which God can leave His imprint — a modern analogy would be like wet cement). I will put My Spirit in you and I will cause you to know and obey my ordinances. I will write my laws upon your hearts and you will walk in my commandments” (see Ezekiel 36:26-27).
What assurance, what confidence! God promises that by His Spirit new passion, values, changes, convictions and commitments are made possible.
Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.