Okay, I know. What's with the title? Well I don't know! I tried to think of something catchy, because, while "Theology about Heaven and Hell" is straight to the point, such a title isn't all that inviting. And I want many people to read these posts. I've notice some things lately, especially after a conversation a few weeks back with a close friend. Many people are confused about the very basics about Heaven and Hell. I mean, REALLY confused. I am not surprised if some people think Heaven is a big boring church service, and hell is where the party is at. In fact, I have even heard some church goers say things like this. Or they imagine fluffy clouds with harps, or imps with pitchforks. And this diluting of the images of both Hell and Heaven have caused some major problems.
What type of problems??
Here is one example:
With the death of Bin Laden came a lot of Christians saying things like "good riddance, burn in Hell" Or "enjoy Hell, you scumbag' or Mike Huckabee, former minister saying in a very casual way "Welcome to Hell!". This upset me quite a lot, because it made me realize how little people really know about Hell. I barely know much of what there is to know, but I know enough that I NEVER will wish Hell upon anyone. But many Christians, against the wishes of scriptures, do, and have, and will continue.
So my goal is this: To use scripture to paint as clear a picture of both Hell and Heaven, as possible. I will limit my own guesses and speculations as much as possible. This is a topic of most importance, with no room for errors.
So, as I compile my though I want you to get your own images of heaven and hell in your mind. Ask yourself why you believe them this way. Write it all down. And then in a few days we will begin with the first lesson, which will focus on Hell.
Blessings,
Thomas
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
What is the Gospel?
If you are looking for a deep theological discourse, then this isn't the post for it. I might do this another time. Instead, I want to give an insight on the Gospel as it pertains to me. This is how the Gospel has changed me, is continuing to change me, and will change me more in the future.
I used to lie. Why lie? Because, it made me feel like I was worth something. A friend and I used to always tell lies to each other, as teenagers. We'd say "Oh, I was with so and so girl, and did such and such thing". Now, I know we both lied, and I am sure we knew that we both were lying. So why did we continue this terrible thing? Because, it was a competition to see who the best was. We just tried to see who was better liar.
The Gospel saved me from this.
I used to have an issue with lust, and looking at pornography. But hey, guess what? The Gospel saved me from this.
I used to live in the confines of a demonic world system, but, yeah, you guess it, the Gospel saved me.
The Gospel not only saved me, but it healed me. It is healing me with my battle of self worth/depression. This is a battle that is being won!!! The Gospel healed me from the need to always be right. It healed me of the desire to be approved by everyone.
It redeemed me from the bondage of self. I lived very much for self. I wanted to help people, to get glory and fame. I want to go into politics to be known by people. I wanted to make all this money to live nice. But I was redeemed from self living. And I was transformed into one who cares immensely for the suffering and weak, and less about my own achievements.
It has taught me to live, to love, to laugh, to learn. It has given me freedom from fear. It has soared my soul high, and now I sing psalms of salvation from heavenly places.
I have learned who I am, as a creation in Christ. I have learned who he wants me to be, and how to get there. I have learned, more importantly, who He was, he is, and will always be. I have gained intimate knowledge of a Father who bruised his beloved son, the pinnacle of humanity, that we, the depraved and diseased, may be counted righteous in His eyes.
I don't think people fully grasp what this means. I don't think we fully understand the notion that we are seated in Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. I don't think we know what it means to be called Royalty, by God. I don't think we quite get the physical punishment Christ suffered. And by the Glory of God, if we are in Christ, we will NEVER have to know what it feels like to be fully away from God's mercy and under His wrath.
If we did, I then I know there'd be more emphasis on Gospel, and less on everything else.
Suddenly, politics wouldn't matter. Nor would sports. Or movies. or games. or Do's and Don'ts. We would not be content with simply telling people they need Jesus to save them. Save them from what? Most people look at us and see us using Christ as a crutch. We haven't shown the how inadequate everything is compared to this Gospel of Jesus. We, instead have reduced it down to a meaningless formulaic prayer. There is no suffering, or discomfort, or giving up. There is a nice little prayer, a warm feeling, and life that resembles the former, only instead sleeping in on Sunday, the person is now wasting an hour of their life in a pew.
Where is the Gospel in this? Where is the real, life changing Gospel? Where are those people who go out and not only preach the spiritual need, but fulfill the physical needs? Where are the Churches who stop playing pulpit politics, and are instead welcoming in all those who most need the touch of God?
The Gospel saves us. And if it saves us, then it transforms. And if transforming, then it is giving urgent motivation. And if there an urgent motivation going on in our hearts, then why aren't we acting upon it?
The Gospel saves, but how will people know it, if those who have it, keep it hidden?
My earnest prayer is that every brother and sister in Christ falls to their face, and cries out to Abba, our Father in Heaven, and asks to know the cost of the Cross. I pray we will be filled with the urgency of knowing millions of people are starving, homeless, abused, living a life away from the grace of God, and are dying without knowing Christ.
So what is the Gospel? For me, it has been everything. It has changed me from who I was, to who God called me to be. It saved me, redeemed me, healed me, and has given me the urgency to spread this same love to everyone.
The Gospel is fundamentally more important than my next breath. It is more important than any achievement, any thought, affiliation, or desire.
The Gospel tells of the love and mercy of a Father, who looks upon his children who have rejected him and have loved many other false fathers, and feels pity for them. He desires them so much, that He would spare the best, brightest, most wonderful, in place of us. This is more than just a story, my friends. This is God, stepping down into his own creation. Unlike other gods, he didn't do it to have fun, or to fulfill manlike carnal desires. He, the True God, stepped down to be punished for our sins, so we could be with Him.
So the Gospel is really a love story of Creator and creation. Father and children. God and man.
It is of a God who desires us more than anything else, and pursues us all the days of our lives.
That, is the Gospel.
I used to lie. Why lie? Because, it made me feel like I was worth something. A friend and I used to always tell lies to each other, as teenagers. We'd say "Oh, I was with so and so girl, and did such and such thing". Now, I know we both lied, and I am sure we knew that we both were lying. So why did we continue this terrible thing? Because, it was a competition to see who the best was. We just tried to see who was better liar.
The Gospel saved me from this.
I used to have an issue with lust, and looking at pornography. But hey, guess what? The Gospel saved me from this.
I used to live in the confines of a demonic world system, but, yeah, you guess it, the Gospel saved me.
The Gospel not only saved me, but it healed me. It is healing me with my battle of self worth/depression. This is a battle that is being won!!! The Gospel healed me from the need to always be right. It healed me of the desire to be approved by everyone.
It redeemed me from the bondage of self. I lived very much for self. I wanted to help people, to get glory and fame. I want to go into politics to be known by people. I wanted to make all this money to live nice. But I was redeemed from self living. And I was transformed into one who cares immensely for the suffering and weak, and less about my own achievements.
It has taught me to live, to love, to laugh, to learn. It has given me freedom from fear. It has soared my soul high, and now I sing psalms of salvation from heavenly places.
I have learned who I am, as a creation in Christ. I have learned who he wants me to be, and how to get there. I have learned, more importantly, who He was, he is, and will always be. I have gained intimate knowledge of a Father who bruised his beloved son, the pinnacle of humanity, that we, the depraved and diseased, may be counted righteous in His eyes.
I don't think people fully grasp what this means. I don't think we fully understand the notion that we are seated in Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. I don't think we know what it means to be called Royalty, by God. I don't think we quite get the physical punishment Christ suffered. And by the Glory of God, if we are in Christ, we will NEVER have to know what it feels like to be fully away from God's mercy and under His wrath.
If we did, I then I know there'd be more emphasis on Gospel, and less on everything else.
Suddenly, politics wouldn't matter. Nor would sports. Or movies. or games. or Do's and Don'ts. We would not be content with simply telling people they need Jesus to save them. Save them from what? Most people look at us and see us using Christ as a crutch. We haven't shown the how inadequate everything is compared to this Gospel of Jesus. We, instead have reduced it down to a meaningless formulaic prayer. There is no suffering, or discomfort, or giving up. There is a nice little prayer, a warm feeling, and life that resembles the former, only instead sleeping in on Sunday, the person is now wasting an hour of their life in a pew.
Where is the Gospel in this? Where is the real, life changing Gospel? Where are those people who go out and not only preach the spiritual need, but fulfill the physical needs? Where are the Churches who stop playing pulpit politics, and are instead welcoming in all those who most need the touch of God?
The Gospel saves us. And if it saves us, then it transforms. And if transforming, then it is giving urgent motivation. And if there an urgent motivation going on in our hearts, then why aren't we acting upon it?
The Gospel saves, but how will people know it, if those who have it, keep it hidden?
My earnest prayer is that every brother and sister in Christ falls to their face, and cries out to Abba, our Father in Heaven, and asks to know the cost of the Cross. I pray we will be filled with the urgency of knowing millions of people are starving, homeless, abused, living a life away from the grace of God, and are dying without knowing Christ.
So what is the Gospel? For me, it has been everything. It has changed me from who I was, to who God called me to be. It saved me, redeemed me, healed me, and has given me the urgency to spread this same love to everyone.
The Gospel is fundamentally more important than my next breath. It is more important than any achievement, any thought, affiliation, or desire.
The Gospel tells of the love and mercy of a Father, who looks upon his children who have rejected him and have loved many other false fathers, and feels pity for them. He desires them so much, that He would spare the best, brightest, most wonderful, in place of us. This is more than just a story, my friends. This is God, stepping down into his own creation. Unlike other gods, he didn't do it to have fun, or to fulfill manlike carnal desires. He, the True God, stepped down to be punished for our sins, so we could be with Him.
So the Gospel is really a love story of Creator and creation. Father and children. God and man.
It is of a God who desires us more than anything else, and pursues us all the days of our lives.
That, is the Gospel.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Gratitude
Hebrews 12:28,29
As I have grown and matured in the American society, I have seen how increasingly difficult it has become for the majority of people to be grateful. I have seen the transformation from me excitedly opening Christmas presents and loving everything I got, to seeing my little brothers grumble and complain when they get less than everything they see on TV. They literally are not grateful for what they got, and instead, let their lust for more ruins their experience.
And how can we blame them?
We live in a society in which greed is espoused as a virtue, and is spoon feed to children from the earliest ages. Of course it is NOT limited to just children. I have seen people who have more than plenty in their life, yet are very miserable because they don't have more. I, too, have fallen in this trap. I see a man with a better job than mine, a house, a nice car, a beautiful wife, and so on, and I grow very discontent with my own life. I am sure we've all been there at some point.
Yet, this is quite different than what we SHOULD do. As a believer I am fully aware that all my blessings are from God above. Everything I have is a *gift* to me. And many times, these gifts are simply just for me, but they are also meant to bless others as well. For instance, I am gifted with a car, but I can also bless others by giving them a ride some place. So what does it say to God when I say "I don't want THIS gift, I want that gift over there. It is so much better than what you have given me!" ? I think it show God that I am not deserving of either gift. If I cannot appreciate what God has given me now, why would He think that giving me a newer gift would suddenly change me?
We should be certain that we most certainly have wonderful gifts from God above. The greatest of these is grace. Grace is the gift that can never be taken away, only rejected by us. Grace allows us to be in right standing with God. And with right standing we are given all the treasures of Heaven! We are co-heirs with Christ, after all; a royal people! So, we ought to be a people who are on our knees praising God for this great gift, for none of us are deserving of anything, lest it be death. And if we deserve nothing, and are given the treasures of heaven, why do we grumble about not having the next fad? Why do we act as ungrateful children on Christmas morning?
My prayers for you, brothers and sisters, as well as myself, is that we will never cease to praise God for his great gifts in our lives, whether it is the gift of redemption, the gift of a junker car, the gift of a hand me down, or whatever it may be.
Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
As I have grown and matured in the American society, I have seen how increasingly difficult it has become for the majority of people to be grateful. I have seen the transformation from me excitedly opening Christmas presents and loving everything I got, to seeing my little brothers grumble and complain when they get less than everything they see on TV. They literally are not grateful for what they got, and instead, let their lust for more ruins their experience.
And how can we blame them?
We live in a society in which greed is espoused as a virtue, and is spoon feed to children from the earliest ages. Of course it is NOT limited to just children. I have seen people who have more than plenty in their life, yet are very miserable because they don't have more. I, too, have fallen in this trap. I see a man with a better job than mine, a house, a nice car, a beautiful wife, and so on, and I grow very discontent with my own life. I am sure we've all been there at some point.
Yet, this is quite different than what we SHOULD do. As a believer I am fully aware that all my blessings are from God above. Everything I have is a *gift* to me. And many times, these gifts are simply just for me, but they are also meant to bless others as well. For instance, I am gifted with a car, but I can also bless others by giving them a ride some place. So what does it say to God when I say "I don't want THIS gift, I want that gift over there. It is so much better than what you have given me!" ? I think it show God that I am not deserving of either gift. If I cannot appreciate what God has given me now, why would He think that giving me a newer gift would suddenly change me?
We should be certain that we most certainly have wonderful gifts from God above. The greatest of these is grace. Grace is the gift that can never be taken away, only rejected by us. Grace allows us to be in right standing with God. And with right standing we are given all the treasures of Heaven! We are co-heirs with Christ, after all; a royal people! So, we ought to be a people who are on our knees praising God for this great gift, for none of us are deserving of anything, lest it be death. And if we deserve nothing, and are given the treasures of heaven, why do we grumble about not having the next fad? Why do we act as ungrateful children on Christmas morning?
My prayers for you, brothers and sisters, as well as myself, is that we will never cease to praise God for his great gifts in our lives, whether it is the gift of redemption, the gift of a junker car, the gift of a hand me down, or whatever it may be.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Forgiveness.
Forgive me, I may have wrote about this before, but I think it is something worth revisiting, if only to help clear my mind and pour my heart out.
I am a fairly forgiving guy. I'v had my fair share of back stabs, heart aches, disappointments, lost friendships, etc. Some have take time, others have been fairly quick, but I have forgiven everyone. Not simply the forgiveness in word only, but actual forgiveness; the type where you treat the person as if they never harmed you in the first place. I can do this for every single person who has ever done wrong to me.
Except for one guy. I think we all have this person in our life. It is that one person who gets underneath your skin, no matter what he or she does. He may open his mouth, and it sound like nails scratching on the chalk board to you. She may walk by you, and you get that terrible knot inside. Or perhaps his name is simply mentioned, and you feel the uncontrollable rage to blot him from all of existence for all of eternity. Needless to say, this person has become quite a problem for me. I really hate even being in the same room as them. If I didn't have such restraint, I'd punch them in the face just for showing their face around me!!!
Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit. However, I said that to make a point. This point is that this person is very hard for me to see favorable, and even forgive them for how they've screwed up my life. This person is ME.
I don't intend for this to be a pity post. Trust me; I don't like wallowing in sorrow. However, I did find myself in that a bit tonight, and it highlighted something that I've known to be true for a while. I simply cannot let go of my past mistakes. This is a big problem for me. I claim to be a Christ follower. As a Christ follower, I proclaim quite boldly that Jesus took upon himself all the my sins and my failures, and drank the wrath of the Father, in my place. This is basic Christianity 101. Yet, I have such trouble with this fundamental.
How can Christ forgive me, if I can't forgive myself? Further, how can I even begin to think I can be used by Him in the future, if I can't let go of the past, here in the present? See, I have knowledge this mindset is very wrong. Knowledge of a situation is different from changing said situation, though.
How do I forgive myself for not being able to keep my family together? How do I forgive wasting two years of my life, resulting in the loss of many dears things to me? How do I forgive the inaction that led to me becoming stagnant? How do I forgive myself for allowing my ex to think I wasn't worth the time and effort anymore? How do I move on from these pains that I have caused myself? How do I right my wrongs? What does it take to erase these memories?
I have so many things to let go, but I simply cannot, and I don't know why. Only a fool would hold on to his chains when he's been released from prison. Yet, I know I embrace these chains of my past, when I should be embracing the cross. The cross is where all this oppression was put to death once and for all, for those in Christ Jesus. And here I am, chains around my legs, grasping all I can, to hold on the Cross of Christ. Either these chains will break, or my strength will run dry and I will lose my grip. Either way, this stretching must stop soon.
This is what I ask: PRAYER. I know it may sound cliche. Yet, prayers have saved me before, and I know they will serve the same purpose now. I need prayers, not for self confidence or anything. Be that far from my mind, so I may focus on Christ and boast in Him. No, instead, pray that God would crush the enemy who whispers condemnation and regret into my ear. Pray that I am given comfort by the Spirit. Pray that He would always let me remember what the truth of the sacrifice means to me, a humbled sinner. Let it remind me that I don't have to keep strapping these chains back on my legs, for Christ holds the key to freedom.
I don't want to keep this fight up anymore.
I want to let go of the pain and hurt that I have caused myself.
I want to let the memories bring joy and not sorrow.
I want to forgive myself, and move on to enjoy the bountiful blessings the Lord has given me.
Blessings,
Thomas
I am a fairly forgiving guy. I'v had my fair share of back stabs, heart aches, disappointments, lost friendships, etc. Some have take time, others have been fairly quick, but I have forgiven everyone. Not simply the forgiveness in word only, but actual forgiveness; the type where you treat the person as if they never harmed you in the first place. I can do this for every single person who has ever done wrong to me.
Except for one guy. I think we all have this person in our life. It is that one person who gets underneath your skin, no matter what he or she does. He may open his mouth, and it sound like nails scratching on the chalk board to you. She may walk by you, and you get that terrible knot inside. Or perhaps his name is simply mentioned, and you feel the uncontrollable rage to blot him from all of existence for all of eternity. Needless to say, this person has become quite a problem for me. I really hate even being in the same room as them. If I didn't have such restraint, I'd punch them in the face just for showing their face around me!!!
Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit. However, I said that to make a point. This point is that this person is very hard for me to see favorable, and even forgive them for how they've screwed up my life. This person is ME.
I don't intend for this to be a pity post. Trust me; I don't like wallowing in sorrow. However, I did find myself in that a bit tonight, and it highlighted something that I've known to be true for a while. I simply cannot let go of my past mistakes. This is a big problem for me. I claim to be a Christ follower. As a Christ follower, I proclaim quite boldly that Jesus took upon himself all the my sins and my failures, and drank the wrath of the Father, in my place. This is basic Christianity 101. Yet, I have such trouble with this fundamental.
How can Christ forgive me, if I can't forgive myself? Further, how can I even begin to think I can be used by Him in the future, if I can't let go of the past, here in the present? See, I have knowledge this mindset is very wrong. Knowledge of a situation is different from changing said situation, though.
How do I forgive myself for not being able to keep my family together? How do I forgive wasting two years of my life, resulting in the loss of many dears things to me? How do I forgive the inaction that led to me becoming stagnant? How do I forgive myself for allowing my ex to think I wasn't worth the time and effort anymore? How do I move on from these pains that I have caused myself? How do I right my wrongs? What does it take to erase these memories?
I have so many things to let go, but I simply cannot, and I don't know why. Only a fool would hold on to his chains when he's been released from prison. Yet, I know I embrace these chains of my past, when I should be embracing the cross. The cross is where all this oppression was put to death once and for all, for those in Christ Jesus. And here I am, chains around my legs, grasping all I can, to hold on the Cross of Christ. Either these chains will break, or my strength will run dry and I will lose my grip. Either way, this stretching must stop soon.
This is what I ask: PRAYER. I know it may sound cliche. Yet, prayers have saved me before, and I know they will serve the same purpose now. I need prayers, not for self confidence or anything. Be that far from my mind, so I may focus on Christ and boast in Him. No, instead, pray that God would crush the enemy who whispers condemnation and regret into my ear. Pray that I am given comfort by the Spirit. Pray that He would always let me remember what the truth of the sacrifice means to me, a humbled sinner. Let it remind me that I don't have to keep strapping these chains back on my legs, for Christ holds the key to freedom.
I don't want to keep this fight up anymore.
I want to let go of the pain and hurt that I have caused myself.
I want to let the memories bring joy and not sorrow.
I want to forgive myself, and move on to enjoy the bountiful blessings the Lord has given me.
Blessings,
Thomas
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Transforming Wind
I know, I know. It has been 2 or 3 weeks since I last posted here. I am awful about keeping things going.
This pretty well describes me lately:
Anyways, on to the blog post!!!
Today, I am going to post another installment on the Holy Spirit. I previously covered the Holy Spirit as the source of Comfort for the Christian. I hope to give an insight on what it means to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Specifically, I am going to look specifically at the Apostle Peter.
We know from scripture that Peter was a Jewish man born, with he name of Simon, in the town of Bethsaida, Galilee. Peter and his brother, Andrew, made a living by being fishermen, which was evidently profitable because he owned his own boat. He lived, for a time, with his mother in law in Capernum, meaning that he was married(his wife was said to have been martyred, when he was away in Rome), and likely had children at some point. In all reality, Peter seemed like your 'average joe' type of guy. Blue collar worker, wife and kids, and all that.
After Peter becomes an Apostle, he sort of has this mixed record. For example, he was very willing to say that Jesus was Christ(Matthew 16:13-18), to which Christ commended him saying that his faith was the rock which the church would be built on, and not even the gates of Hell could prevail against it. This is a very awesome positive check mark for Peter. On the other hand, we have other accounts where he didn't have the faith to continue walking on water(Matt 14:28-31), was called Satan by Christ, when he said Christ wouldn't have to suffer(Matt 16:23), and most famously was known to deny Christ three times.
Here is one account of his denial story:
And:
Essentially, Peter knew how to talk the talk, but fell very short while walking the walking. From this same chapter in Matthew, and recounted in the other Gospels, all the apostles, including Peter, were seen as cowards as they ran from the area when Christ was arrested, beat, and crucified. John says they were even hiding behind a locked door(John 20:19).
Even when there was a report of Christ's body being missing from the tomb, Peter ran over to the tomb, saw the empty tomb and linen, and this is what scripture says:
Okay. SO let me get this straight. Peter was with Jesus for three years, having watched him work all these miracles, predicting things to come true, and all this. He then says that he will be crucified, and then will rise on the third day. Peter had to have heard this many times from Christ. It wasn't like he was hiding it form anyone. YET, Peter has seen his master and friend crucified (as he said), and then three days later Peter see this empty tomb. And instead of jumping around for joy, and looking for the risen Christ, he simply "went away, wondering to himself what had happened" This is the character of pre-transformed Peter
Yet, two marvelous things happened to forever change not only Peter, but the other apostles, and eventually all of us. First, he came face to face with the resurrected Christ. Luke and John detail how Jesus appeared to them and they were both filled with fear (Luke 24:37,38) and then filled with joy(John 20:20), so much that they could hardly believe it(Luke 24:41). Even at one point, Peter was so excited to see Jesus that he jumped out of his boat while fishing when the apostles saw him on shore.(John 21:7-14)
However, this wasn't ultimately what set him on fire to be a bold witness. Don't take my word for it. Here is what scripture says that Jesus said before his death:
And then Jesus says this as well, after his resurrection:
Luke further records this conversation in Acts 1:4-8
Jesus seemed to be very clear in these passages, saying they will be the bold witnesses ONLY after they are filled with the spirit. Notice that the didn't go out and start proclaiming even after having seen Christ alive, on three different occasions.
After saying all of this, Jesus ascended into heaven. At this point, Peter starts to fill his role as the leader of the apostles, by speaking to all the disciples on choosing a replacement for Judas, who had committed suicide after betraying Christ. Yet, they are still waiting around for that spark. And that spark finally came in the form of a wind from heaven filling the room, and setting them on fire. They began to speak in other languages, declaring the wonderful works of God! The people are half amazed, half amused. Some thing they were all drunk. With this, Peter steps fully into his role as chief apostle. He begins to speak very boldly to those mocking them. Later on, he begins to speak before the Sanhedrin, who had condemned Jesus and called for his death, and directly defied their orders to stop speaking about Christ( Acts 4:7-22, 5:18-22). Peter was critical in the decision to reach out to Gentiles, as well as going on a mission to Lydia, Joppa, and Caesarea. After this point not too much is known about Peter, unless one considers extra biblical accounts, which say he went to Rome and was crucified for Christ by Nero's orders.
So, Peter went from an average joe, who talked big things but failed to show up with action, and even being a coward who ran away from his best friend and master, to being one who became a leader who spoke boldly of Jesus Christ to all people, even into his own martyrdom. This is quite a change for anyone person, and this change was only made possible by the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. Here is one more proof of this:
In the time that Jesus was arrested, it was recorded that Peter actually drew his sword to attack one of the captors and struck his ear off. Jesus condemned this action, saying that living by violence would lead to violence. From scripture, we know that the some of the marks of the Spirit are peace, meekness, and love. Here is what Peter later said in his first Epistle:
Peter is writing that we should obey all authority, as Christ did! What did Christ do? He was beat, mocked, and killed, yet he never once struck out at those doing these things, instead praying for them! Peter went from pulling a sword ready to kill, to one who said believers should endure suffering for the sake of Christ(In acts, it said John and himself even rejoiced for being considered worthy enough to suffer for Christ.
This is a change that only the Holy Spirit is capable of bringing.
Now, I know what you are thinking "Thomas, Peter was special. He was chosen by Jesus to do all these things. Do you believe that you or I can be anything like that?!" Be like Peter? No. Peter was Peter. He had a certain role to fill, and He did it. You and I have our roles to fill. Maybe we will do things greater than Peter, or less than Peter. I actually even hate saying it like that, as if it is some sort of competition. It is not. We all work for the same kingdom, slaves to the same King. The Spirit transforms every believer to fit the role they will playing for this kingdom. So to ask whether or not we are going to be a Peter, or Paul, or John, or whoever is silly.
I am Thomas(not the apostle!) and the Spirit has transformed me so much from my old man into a new man. I drank. I partied here and there. I lied. I doubted the existence of God. I lived to make myself the best. I desired so much to be known by everyone, to be loved and desired, to have fame and power. Yet Christ saved me from the sins I was committing, and gave the Spirit to change me into one who wants only to make Him famous and adored. This Spirit convicts me of sin when I do it. It leads me away from temptations to avoid sin. It even gives me wisdom to help those who are sinning. I love this Holy Spirit so very much. It has changed me from an unstable, stumbling man who swayed with the wind, to one who is more firmly rooted. And though I am changed a lot now, I know that as I grow more mature, this Spirit will lead me to be more and more like Christ. That is the goal of the Spirit. It praises the Son, and gives the believer reminders about what the Son did. But most importantly, it changes the believer to look more and more like Jesus every day.
So it comes to this: as a believer you can be as I was, as Peter was, as many people currently are. You can say all the right things, yet fail to show true belief when it matters. You can say all you want that you will love Christ forever, yet continuing in the love of your sin in those secret times. You can do that. OR, you can let your life be completely overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit of God. I pray that any who believes this, no matter how mature they are, will take upon the challenge of being immersed in the Spirit more than they currently are. And with that challenge, I leave with this picture as the final thought:
This pretty well describes me lately:
Anyways, on to the blog post!!!
Today, I am going to post another installment on the Holy Spirit. I previously covered the Holy Spirit as the source of Comfort for the Christian. I hope to give an insight on what it means to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Specifically, I am going to look specifically at the Apostle Peter.
We know from scripture that Peter was a Jewish man born, with he name of Simon, in the town of Bethsaida, Galilee. Peter and his brother, Andrew, made a living by being fishermen, which was evidently profitable because he owned his own boat. He lived, for a time, with his mother in law in Capernum, meaning that he was married(his wife was said to have been martyred, when he was away in Rome), and likely had children at some point. In all reality, Peter seemed like your 'average joe' type of guy. Blue collar worker, wife and kids, and all that.
After Peter becomes an Apostle, he sort of has this mixed record. For example, he was very willing to say that Jesus was Christ(Matthew 16:13-18), to which Christ commended him saying that his faith was the rock which the church would be built on, and not even the gates of Hell could prevail against it. This is a very awesome positive check mark for Peter. On the other hand, we have other accounts where he didn't have the faith to continue walking on water(Matt 14:28-31), was called Satan by Christ, when he said Christ wouldn't have to suffer(Matt 16:23), and most famously was known to deny Christ three times.
Here is one account of his denial story:
Matthew 26: 33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
And:
Matthew 26: 69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed.
75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Essentially, Peter knew how to talk the talk, but fell very short while walking the walking. From this same chapter in Matthew, and recounted in the other Gospels, all the apostles, including Peter, were seen as cowards as they ran from the area when Christ was arrested, beat, and crucified. John says they were even hiding behind a locked door(John 20:19).
Even when there was a report of Christ's body being missing from the tomb, Peter ran over to the tomb, saw the empty tomb and linen, and this is what scripture says:
Luke 24:12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Okay. SO let me get this straight. Peter was with Jesus for three years, having watched him work all these miracles, predicting things to come true, and all this. He then says that he will be crucified, and then will rise on the third day. Peter had to have heard this many times from Christ. It wasn't like he was hiding it form anyone. YET, Peter has seen his master and friend crucified (as he said), and then three days later Peter see this empty tomb. And instead of jumping around for joy, and looking for the risen Christ, he simply "went away, wondering to himself what had happened" This is the character of pre-transformed Peter
Yet, two marvelous things happened to forever change not only Peter, but the other apostles, and eventually all of us. First, he came face to face with the resurrected Christ. Luke and John detail how Jesus appeared to them and they were both filled with fear (Luke 24:37,38) and then filled with joy(John 20:20), so much that they could hardly believe it(Luke 24:41). Even at one point, Peter was so excited to see Jesus that he jumped out of his boat while fishing when the apostles saw him on shore.(John 21:7-14)
However, this wasn't ultimately what set him on fire to be a bold witness. Don't take my word for it. Here is what scripture says that Jesus said before his death:
John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you
And then Jesus says this as well, after his resurrection:
Luke 24: 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke further records this conversation in Acts 1:4-8
1:4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Jesus seemed to be very clear in these passages, saying they will be the bold witnesses ONLY after they are filled with the spirit. Notice that the didn't go out and start proclaiming even after having seen Christ alive, on three different occasions.
After saying all of this, Jesus ascended into heaven. At this point, Peter starts to fill his role as the leader of the apostles, by speaking to all the disciples on choosing a replacement for Judas, who had committed suicide after betraying Christ. Yet, they are still waiting around for that spark. And that spark finally came in the form of a wind from heaven filling the room, and setting them on fire. They began to speak in other languages, declaring the wonderful works of God! The people are half amazed, half amused. Some thing they were all drunk. With this, Peter steps fully into his role as chief apostle. He begins to speak very boldly to those mocking them. Later on, he begins to speak before the Sanhedrin, who had condemned Jesus and called for his death, and directly defied their orders to stop speaking about Christ( Acts 4:7-22, 5:18-22). Peter was critical in the decision to reach out to Gentiles, as well as going on a mission to Lydia, Joppa, and Caesarea. After this point not too much is known about Peter, unless one considers extra biblical accounts, which say he went to Rome and was crucified for Christ by Nero's orders.
So, Peter went from an average joe, who talked big things but failed to show up with action, and even being a coward who ran away from his best friend and master, to being one who became a leader who spoke boldly of Jesus Christ to all people, even into his own martyrdom. This is quite a change for anyone person, and this change was only made possible by the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. Here is one more proof of this:
In the time that Jesus was arrested, it was recorded that Peter actually drew his sword to attack one of the captors and struck his ear off. Jesus condemned this action, saying that living by violence would lead to violence. From scripture, we know that the some of the marks of the Spirit are peace, meekness, and love. Here is what Peter later said in his first Epistle:
1 Peter 2: 11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority,
14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.
17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.
20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter is writing that we should obey all authority, as Christ did! What did Christ do? He was beat, mocked, and killed, yet he never once struck out at those doing these things, instead praying for them! Peter went from pulling a sword ready to kill, to one who said believers should endure suffering for the sake of Christ(In acts, it said John and himself even rejoiced for being considered worthy enough to suffer for Christ.
This is a change that only the Holy Spirit is capable of bringing.
Now, I know what you are thinking "Thomas, Peter was special. He was chosen by Jesus to do all these things. Do you believe that you or I can be anything like that?!" Be like Peter? No. Peter was Peter. He had a certain role to fill, and He did it. You and I have our roles to fill. Maybe we will do things greater than Peter, or less than Peter. I actually even hate saying it like that, as if it is some sort of competition. It is not. We all work for the same kingdom, slaves to the same King. The Spirit transforms every believer to fit the role they will playing for this kingdom. So to ask whether or not we are going to be a Peter, or Paul, or John, or whoever is silly.
I am Thomas(not the apostle!) and the Spirit has transformed me so much from my old man into a new man. I drank. I partied here and there. I lied. I doubted the existence of God. I lived to make myself the best. I desired so much to be known by everyone, to be loved and desired, to have fame and power. Yet Christ saved me from the sins I was committing, and gave the Spirit to change me into one who wants only to make Him famous and adored. This Spirit convicts me of sin when I do it. It leads me away from temptations to avoid sin. It even gives me wisdom to help those who are sinning. I love this Holy Spirit so very much. It has changed me from an unstable, stumbling man who swayed with the wind, to one who is more firmly rooted. And though I am changed a lot now, I know that as I grow more mature, this Spirit will lead me to be more and more like Christ. That is the goal of the Spirit. It praises the Son, and gives the believer reminders about what the Son did. But most importantly, it changes the believer to look more and more like Jesus every day.
So it comes to this: as a believer you can be as I was, as Peter was, as many people currently are. You can say all the right things, yet fail to show true belief when it matters. You can say all you want that you will love Christ forever, yet continuing in the love of your sin in those secret times. You can do that. OR, you can let your life be completely overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit of God. I pray that any who believes this, no matter how mature they are, will take upon the challenge of being immersed in the Spirit more than they currently are. And with that challenge, I leave with this picture as the final thought:
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Wind of Comfort
Not exactly my best post ever but....here it goes:
I celebrated a special anniversary recently (March 3rd, to be exact). It was the anniversary of when I became a Christian. To be short, I will simply say that my path to Christ was full of confusion, wishy-washiness, and so on. The day it happened, I was out by myself, trying to find some sort of clue from God to see what I needed to do with my life. There was one problem; I kept trying to find things which sounded appealing to my own ears. However, God had another plan in mind. There was a light breeze (I was inside, mind you) that kept blowing the pages of my Bible over to a passage in the book of James(4:7-10). After reading this and having it on my heart, I was in a group worship time, and I felt the same breeze hit the back on my neck, and I felt like I had a hand on my shoulder, and I dropped to my knees, submitting my life to Christ and becoming a Christian. Fast forward a year and a month, and I was stepping into a cold lake, in the middle of the night submitting to God in being baptized. As I came out of the lake, I remember a wind coming and causing the bonfire on shore to shoot up (it did this every time a person was baptized that night, in fact). Since that time, there have been uncountable amounts of time where I’ve been in prayer, worship, meditation, fasting, reading of scripture, etc, and this same familiar, comforting wind has descended upon me.
So what is this wind? This post will be discussing the Spirit as Comforter.
As I mentioned in my introduction to this series, one of the words used for the Holy Spirit in Greek is Pneuma(πνεύμα). It literally means breath. As a friend of mine pointed out to me, when God gave life to man in Genesis, He breathed it into his nostrils. This, I believe, is to be interpreted as showing intimacy between the created and Creator. This is, after all, why man was created. God made everything for His glory, but made man to also be intimately in love with Him. This is, in fact, the ultimate form of worship. With this in mind, we need to realize and remember that God is one who is intimately connected with that which He loves most: us.
This is one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in the Gospel of John. For example:
John portrays Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit as one who helps, comforts, and advocates for the believer. So what does this mean for you and me? I mentioned in the opening how I felt a calm breeze in many of the important events of my life. For me, this is the comfort. Some days I am really stressed about life, and I pray or cry out to God, and suddenly a wind hits my face, and then I feel the pouring of the Spirit flow over my head, down my body. It brings complete peace and calmness. It gives me hope and strength. It whispers into my heart that everything is fine, for Jesus is still alive, sitting on His throne, and because of this I have the hope of Life. When I am lonely, the Spirit comforts my heart, and helps me through the pain. When I am scared, I am given strength. When I have questions, I am helped by being given answers. When I doubt, I am given faith. The Spirit is a guaranteed promise to me, by my Savior. He even went as far as to say that it would be MORE beneficial for HIM to leave and send the Spirit.
I think this is often over looked, and we tragically fall in the traps of the world.
Why?
We don’t realize the potential of what the Spirit is offering us. How can we enjoy a deeper, fuller relationship with God, if we don’t realize that He is offering it? Furthermore, it is BECAUSE He offers the Spirit to comfort us, that we can honestly say that what we have is more than religion, but is rather a deep and intimate connection with God! After all, if I were married and didn’t comfort my wife when she was sick, hurt, depressed, upset, scared, etc… how long would our marriage last? Not very long at all. In fact, it’d be hard to even see me getting married if I didn’t promote comfort towards my significant other. In the same manner, we say God is love, right? We always talk about how He loves us, and wants a relationship with us, and all that. So why don’t we live it and believe it? I think it grieves the Spirit when we face the troubles of life, and He is there waiting to comfort us, and instead we seek refuge in things of this world, people, or whatever it may be.
So my advice is this, and I think it is sound advice; use the gift that you are given. You don’t need drugs or alcohol, sex or sin at all. You don’t need to live in fear or doubt or depression. You don’t have to deal with things on your own, or even go through a 12 step self help group. All you need to do is pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort you. He is waiting this very moment to pour the love and mercy of God over your body, mind, and soul.
Blessings.
I celebrated a special anniversary recently (March 3rd, to be exact). It was the anniversary of when I became a Christian. To be short, I will simply say that my path to Christ was full of confusion, wishy-washiness, and so on. The day it happened, I was out by myself, trying to find some sort of clue from God to see what I needed to do with my life. There was one problem; I kept trying to find things which sounded appealing to my own ears. However, God had another plan in mind. There was a light breeze (I was inside, mind you) that kept blowing the pages of my Bible over to a passage in the book of James(4:7-10). After reading this and having it on my heart, I was in a group worship time, and I felt the same breeze hit the back on my neck, and I felt like I had a hand on my shoulder, and I dropped to my knees, submitting my life to Christ and becoming a Christian. Fast forward a year and a month, and I was stepping into a cold lake, in the middle of the night submitting to God in being baptized. As I came out of the lake, I remember a wind coming and causing the bonfire on shore to shoot up (it did this every time a person was baptized that night, in fact). Since that time, there have been uncountable amounts of time where I’ve been in prayer, worship, meditation, fasting, reading of scripture, etc, and this same familiar, comforting wind has descended upon me.
So what is this wind? This post will be discussing the Spirit as Comforter.
As I mentioned in my introduction to this series, one of the words used for the Holy Spirit in Greek is Pneuma(πνεύμα). It literally means breath. As a friend of mine pointed out to me, when God gave life to man in Genesis, He breathed it into his nostrils. This, I believe, is to be interpreted as showing intimacy between the created and Creator. This is, after all, why man was created. God made everything for His glory, but made man to also be intimately in love with Him. This is, in fact, the ultimate form of worship. With this in mind, we need to realize and remember that God is one who is intimately connected with that which He loves most: us.
This is one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in the Gospel of John. For example:
John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper(or advocate/comforter), to be with you forever,”
John 14:26 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.
John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
John portrays Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit as one who helps, comforts, and advocates for the believer. So what does this mean for you and me? I mentioned in the opening how I felt a calm breeze in many of the important events of my life. For me, this is the comfort. Some days I am really stressed about life, and I pray or cry out to God, and suddenly a wind hits my face, and then I feel the pouring of the Spirit flow over my head, down my body. It brings complete peace and calmness. It gives me hope and strength. It whispers into my heart that everything is fine, for Jesus is still alive, sitting on His throne, and because of this I have the hope of Life. When I am lonely, the Spirit comforts my heart, and helps me through the pain. When I am scared, I am given strength. When I have questions, I am helped by being given answers. When I doubt, I am given faith. The Spirit is a guaranteed promise to me, by my Savior. He even went as far as to say that it would be MORE beneficial for HIM to leave and send the Spirit.
I think this is often over looked, and we tragically fall in the traps of the world.
Why?
We don’t realize the potential of what the Spirit is offering us. How can we enjoy a deeper, fuller relationship with God, if we don’t realize that He is offering it? Furthermore, it is BECAUSE He offers the Spirit to comfort us, that we can honestly say that what we have is more than religion, but is rather a deep and intimate connection with God! After all, if I were married and didn’t comfort my wife when she was sick, hurt, depressed, upset, scared, etc… how long would our marriage last? Not very long at all. In fact, it’d be hard to even see me getting married if I didn’t promote comfort towards my significant other. In the same manner, we say God is love, right? We always talk about how He loves us, and wants a relationship with us, and all that. So why don’t we live it and believe it? I think it grieves the Spirit when we face the troubles of life, and He is there waiting to comfort us, and instead we seek refuge in things of this world, people, or whatever it may be.
So my advice is this, and I think it is sound advice; use the gift that you are given. You don’t need drugs or alcohol, sex or sin at all. You don’t need to live in fear or doubt or depression. You don’t have to deal with things on your own, or even go through a 12 step self help group. All you need to do is pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort you. He is waiting this very moment to pour the love and mercy of God over your body, mind, and soul.
Blessings.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Holy Spirit, part one
Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about the Holy Spirit. I think over the next few blog posts I will be discussing the Holy Spirit. First, I am going to give a general introduction. This is a paper I wrote a few years back for a religion class, at a secular university. Be kind, I wrote it, like I did every paper, the night before it was due. :p
---------------------------------------------
Notes:
(1)Pneuma is the Greek in this case.
(2)John 14:16-17: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you
(3)Matthew 3: 16-17 says that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit after He was baptized.
(4)John 15:26, 16:13-14;1 Cor. 6:19-20
(5)See also John 14:16.
(6)Compare to Romans 8:26. The Spirit helps us in weakness.
(7)Romans 15:16
(8)John 16:13
(9)Romans 8:26
(10)Romans 8:14
(11)Galatians 5:22-23
(12)Acts 8:16
"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). If there is one verse that could describe what the Holy Spirit meant to the First Century church, one could make a very well placed bet that the preceding verse would have hit the nail on the head, so to speak. The Holy Spirit has been a very important aspect of the Christian faith, both in times ancient and even still today. As seen in the book of Acts, the recordings of the earliest Christians, the Holy Spirit played an important part in emboldening the Apostles and early converts through signs, healings, and acts of supernatural means. This will show that through Scripture, the Holy Spirit is a part of God, given to those who follow Christ, as a testament of their faith as well as Spiritual guidance, as this is how the 1st century Christians saw the Spirit.
To understand the purpose of the Holy Spirit and its actions, as written in scripture, one must first come to understand the nature what the Holy Spirit actually is. The word used for the Holy Spirit in Greek, is most associated with wind or breath(1). Acts 2:2 says “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting”. The word usage of wind is not likely accidental. When one imagines breath or wind certain images come to mind. For example, if one were to look outside as the wind blew, one would be able to see the effects of the wind, while not being able to see the wind itself. The Holy Spirit is seen much in the same light. There is no record of the Spirit having ever taken a physical, seen presence. Instead, it is this invisible force that is only measured by the works that are performed by it(2). And just like wind, it can be very subtle, like a gentle spring breeze, or as a heavy wind, as seen in Acts 2. But, as mentioned, it’s not only seen as wind, but as a breath. Why? Breathing is a sign that a person is a life. It is essential for those who are alive to take breaths. Christian Scripture is loaded with rhetoric about new life, especially after baptism, when the Holy Spirit fills a person(3). The idea of filling a person is also tied into breathing. Take a breath. When one breathes in, one’s lungs are filled with life giving breath, until the point that one is so full of it that they have to literally expel some. Essentially, this is the same with the Holy Spirit. The idea is that God will pour so much of himself into a believer through the Spirit, that that believer will in turn pour it into others to witness to them the wonders of God. God is using a part of Himself to allow others to know him fully. Then again, how does one know that God and the Holy Spirit are of the same ilk?
Luke answered the aforementioned question in Luke, while narrating the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Acts 5: 3-4 says “Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” Luke mentions first the Holy Spirit, as saying that Ananias had his heart filled with Satan, causing him to lie to the Holy Spirit. However, in the very next verse it says that God was lied to. It seems that the author realized that the connection would be made that God and the Holy Spirit are one. A similar word exchange is used in 1 Cor. 3:16 and 6:19, where the Christian is described as a Temple of God, and then as the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Both of these will be important later on when Christians begin to think more in depth about the relationship of the Godhead, in terms of Trinitarian theology. Matthew 28:14 has also been used to show that the Godhead is composed of multiple parts, including the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in that verse, that the Apostles should go and make disciples in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, showing a relationship between the three. Jesus also is recorded as saying in Acts 1: 4-5, that the Father would give a gift to the believers, in the form of the Holy Spirit. Can the Father give away something that is not His? Surely this is the logic that many early Christians used when explaining the Holy Spirit.
Up to this point this paper has focused on what the Spirit is, including that it is part of the Godhead, and is of supernatural or divine origin, per Christian scripture. But what exactly does the Holy Spirit do? Several passages in the book of Acts reveals to us that the Holy Spirit preformed several miracles for believers to witness to them the power of God. The most famous example is in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit comes down on the day of Pentecost to a group of believers in Jerusalem. The Spirit could have done a multitude of wonders for the believers and non-believers alike there, yet it chose to give the power of speaking in tongues to believers. One could only assume that the reason for this action is that the Holy Spirit desired to get people of various tongues to hear the wonder of Christ. Readers of the Bible know that the Spirit glorifies Christ(4) , so this would make sense as to why the Spirit chose this particular supernatural event. But perhaps another reason was attached to this. As mentioned before, the Holy Spirit was known by the Greek word for breath. However, it was also know by the word for Comfort, paraklete. Jesus said in John 15:26 ““But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”(5) The Helper here is more accurately translated as comforter. In acts, we see the Spirit working as that comfort and that help. Take for example Acts 9:31: “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”(6) Notice that the Holy Spirit here is seen as helping and comforting the believers by encouraging them. Though there was a time of peace, no doubt that many of them were unsure about the times ahead of them. The Holy Spirit gave them encouragement as well as strength in numbers, so that they could continue to do the work of Jesus Christ.
The last rather important piece of information about the Holy Spirit is that it has much to do with the process of salvation. While the Father begot a Son which died for mankind, it is the Holy Spirit which convicts people of their sin. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit this: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). Not only does He convict the heart of sin, but He also has a great deal to do with Baptism, and important Christian rite. In Acts, every time there was talk about salvation, there was talk about Baptism afterwards, and then the Holy Spirit would fill a person’s life. For example, Acts 2:37-38 is a point where Peter is speaking about what to do in regards to being saved. Peter said "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Even in the case of Jesus, the Holy Spirit only came upon Him once and only once He was baptized. This author personally believes that this is the case because the Holy Spirit is involved in a process known as sanctification, in which a person is cleansed of the past sins and desires through faith and acts of said faith(7).
Much more can be said about the Holy Spirit than what has been covered. Consider other works it does, such as giving wisdom(8) , interceding(9), giving guidance(10) , etc... One can even say that the fruit of the Spirit is a work of the Spirit(11). Or perhaps one could also consider a less spoken side of the Spirit, such as when people who were baptized were not given the Spirit(12). Yet, this author believes that with what has been said about the Spirit in the selected Scripture is sufficient to paint a picture of a force that is not of this world, which is divine in nature, and works miracles and wonders in whomever it comes in contact with. It is clear that 1st Century Christians relied heavily on the Holy Spirit. They relied on it for strength, guidance, hope, comfort, and so much more. And like a fresh spring breeze, it never failed, nor fails in this day and age, to comfort and bring serenity. At the same time, like a tornado, there is nothing, neither ancient nor modern, that can stand against its power.
---------------------------------------------
Notes:
(1)Pneuma is the Greek in this case.
(2)John 14:16-17: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you
(3)Matthew 3: 16-17 says that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit after He was baptized.
(4)John 15:26, 16:13-14;1 Cor. 6:19-20
(5)See also John 14:16.
(6)Compare to Romans 8:26. The Spirit helps us in weakness.
(7)Romans 15:16
(8)John 16:13
(9)Romans 8:26
(10)Romans 8:14
(11)Galatians 5:22-23
(12)Acts 8:16
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)