Luke 1:13-17 English Standard Version
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Yesterday we talked about the possibility of dual citizenship, life in this world and Kingdom living. Allow me if you would to talk about Elijah and John the Baptist in terms spoken of in the gospel of Luke.
John’s birth announcement says John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from conception. John leaped with joy in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. In Luke 1:41 we see that Elizabeth was at that point filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had not even been born yet, had not performed miracles, had not died and risen, and yet the Holy Spirit filled John and Elizabeth.
The signs of being born again, being filled with the Holy Spirit, were present in them but Christ had not even begun His earthly mission. It would seem that the presence of the Holy Spirit is not the only sign of spiritual rebirth.
Matthew 11:13-15 English Standard Version
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus said it right here that John was the forerunner spirit spoken of in prophecy in which people were looking for Elijah, not John. Even John himself denied that he was Elijah as shown in John 1:21. I say all this to clarify an issue that can be confusing in reference to what it means to be born again.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
It is the Father that sends the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus Christ and have placed their faith in Him by virtue of the death and resurrection of His Son on the Right Hand Throne of God. John and Elizabeth, even though filled with the Holy Spirit, were not born again.
Now let us address the second issue of Luke 1:17, the power of Elijah.