Q130_081926 Rom. 8:9,10 Don't Look For A Higher Experience Than Christ. He Is ItQ130_081926 Rom. 8:9,10 Don't Look For A Higher Experience Than Christ. He Is It
How it Happens with Colin Cook
Colin Cook reflects on Romans 8 and related passages to question the idea of seeking a higher spiritual experience than Christ. He links ongoing struggle, addiction and temptation with the normal Christian life and emphasises completeness in Christ and the Spirit’s quiet work within believers.
14:40•19 Aug 2026
Christ Is Enough: Rethinking the Search for a ‘Higher’ Spiritual Experience
Episode Overview
- Christ is presented as complete and sufficient, so chasing a "higher" experience of the Holy Spirit over Jesus is questioned.
- The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ are described as one, stressing the unity of the Trinity.
- Struggle between flesh and Spirit is framed as normal for Christians, rather than proof of lacking the Holy Spirit.
- Believers are reminded they remain human and tempted, yet are "counted" righteous and reconciled in Christ by faith.
- Inner conflict and discomfort with sin are suggested as signs of the Spirit’s work, a reason to give thanks rather than despair.
“The idea that we Christians should go after the Holy Spirit as a deeper experience than knowing Jesus is false.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol, yet still feel spiritually "not enough"? This episode of *How it Happens with Colin Cook* tackles that nagging sense of incompleteness head-on, especially for Christians wrestling with addiction and ongoing temptation. Colin walks through Romans 8:9–10 and Galatians 5:17, unpacking why Paul speaks of "the spirit of God, and the spirit of Christ, and Christ" in the same breath.
He argues that many believers chase a so-called higher spiritual experience, thinking, "I need the filling of the Holy Spirit" as if Jesus were only a starter pack. As he puts it plainly, "The idea that we Christians should go after the Holy Spirit as a deeper experience than knowing Jesus is false." Instead, he keeps pointing back to Christ as complete and sufficient, quoting Colossians: "For in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily.
For you are complete in him." That message is aimed squarely at those who feel their persistent struggles with sin, addiction or dark moods must mean they're spiritually defective or "missing" the Spirit. Colin offers a different lens: the very struggle can be evidence of the Spirit at work.
He reads Galatians 5:17—"For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh"—and calls this "the normal Christian life." Instead of despairing over temptation, he suggests thanking God for the inner conflict as a sign that the Spirit is resisting the flesh.
Throughout, he keeps the tone pastoral and honest, encouraging people to come to God with their failures, to see their human nature as "no longer counted" against them, and to rest in being "counted as reconciled" in Christ. For anyone battling addiction and wondering if their faith is broken, this conversation raises a comforting question: what if the struggle itself shows you're already closer to God than you think?
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