Essentials of the Christian Faith Pastor Mark Johnson

Transcription

1 Essentials of the Christian Faith Pastor Mark Johnson What do we believe about the Holy Spirit? Our church s doctrinal statement: We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the triune Godhead, permanently indwells and regenerates all believers, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and empowers them for works of service (Eph. 1:13; John 14:16; 1 Cor. 12:13). We believe that the Bible commands believers to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) and that the Spirit has bestowed spiritual gifts on all believers for the purpose of glorifying God and building up the body of Christ, His church (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11-13). The believer s relationship to the Holy Spirit is an important part of our Christian faith. It is also a controversial one. What does it mean to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Is this indwelling permanent? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit and what is the difference between indwelling and infilling? What about spiritual gifts? Because it is God s intention that the Holy Spirit is a Helper to us and not an illusive mystery, the answers to these questions and more can be found in His Word. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Triune Godhead The Holy Spirit is a Person 1. He possesses and exhibits the attributes of a person a. He has intelligence 1 Cor. 2:10 b. He shows feelings Eph. 4:32 c. He has a will 1 Cor. 12:11 2. He receives ascriptions which would be given a person a. He is one to be obeyed Acts 10 b. He can be lied to Acts 5:3-4 c. He can be resisted Acts 7:51 d. He can be grieved Eph. 4:32 e. He convicts of sin John 16:8 3. A Grammatical consideration a. The Greek word for Spirit is neuter in gender. The pronoun it is always used when a neuter noun is its antecedent. However, the writers of Scripture (and Jesus himself) always break this rule in the case of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is the antecedent, the writers of Scripture always use the pronoun he.

2 b. Example: Jesus spoke of the coming Holy Spirit in John 14: The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma and is neuter. However, Jesus uses the masculine pronoun he and him to refer to the Spirit. In this same passage the word cosmos appears (translated world v.17) and is also neuter in the Greek. Jesus abides by the normal rules of grammar here and uses the pronoun it to refer to the world. The Holy Spirit is God 1. The Holy Spirit has divine attributes a. Life - Romans 8:2 b. Omniscience - 1 Corinthians 2:10 12 c. Omnipotence - Job 33:4 d. Omnipresence - Psalm 139:7 10 e. Eternity - Hebrews 9:14 f. Holiness - Matthew 12:32 g. Love - Galatians 5:22 h. Truth - John 14:17 2. The holy Spirit is referred to as equal with God a. Acts 5:3-4 According to Peter, Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and therefore lied to God b. 1 Cor. 2:10-12 Paul states that only God can reveal himself because sinful man is unable to apprehend God. Paul also states that the Holy Spirit apprehends God and God reveals himself through the Holy Spirit. The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Believer Baptism of the Holy Spirit 1. Definition: The act by which the Holy Spirit places the believer into union with Christ and into union with other believers in the Body of Christ. 2. Foretold by John the Baptist and confirmed by Jesus (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn. 1:33; Acts 1:5) 3. Spirit baptism began at Pentecost (Acts 1:5; Acts 2) 4. It includes all believers at the moment of salvation (Acts 11:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:13) 5. Are there two Spirit baptisms? a. In some circles, there is a differentiation made between being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ and being baptized in or with the Spirit resulting in a manifestation of power and sign gifts (healing, tongues, prophesy, etc.). b. There is no such differentiation in Greek, however, as the same word (evn) is used in each case. The accompanying gifts mentioned are a manifestation of the

3 indwelling Holy Spirit in specific circumstances in scripture that serve to verify the credibility of the believer s conversion. These instances in scripture are limited and serve a distinct purpose in the context. They are not to be considered the normal experience of believers in general. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit 1. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the OT a. Indwelling was selective (kings, prophets, and other individuals for specific works of service) b. Indwelling was temporary i. King Saul had the indwelling Holy Spirit removed because of disobedience (1 Sam. 15; 16:14) ii. King David was fearful that the same would happen to him because of his sin with Bathsheba (Ps. 51:11) 2. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost a. Given to all believers (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13) b. It is a permanent indwelling (Eph. 1:13-14) c. He indwells believers at the moment of Salvation (Eph 1:13) d. The Holy Spirit indwells carnal Christians (1 Cor.1:4-9) The Regeneration of the Holy Spirit Jesus said, You must be born again (John 3:5-8). This rebirth is performed by the Spirit (Titus 3:5). Because of this we now walk and live in newness of life where sin no longer is our master (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:1-14). The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers to build up the church 1. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all believers as He determines. All believers have at least one spiritual gift. However, there is no singular gift that all believers possess. 2. Three scriptures that denote examples of such gifts are: a. Romans 12:3-8 b. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 c. Ephesians 4:7-13 The Infilling of the Holy Spirit 1. The Spirit of God fills believers and enables them to speak boldly and to overcome sin and live a life that reflects the will of God 2. In Eph. 5:18 we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are several grammatical components to the command to be filled that help us understand what this means:

4 a. It is an imperative it is a command b. It is in present tense denotes a continuing action c. It is passive voice we are to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit d. It is plural intended for all believers The Fruit of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22-23 lists several observable indications that the Holy Spirit is at work in the believer. Such observable attributes are: 1. Love 2. Joy 3. Peace 4. Patience 5. Kindness 6. Gentleness 7. Goodness 8. Faithfulness 9. Self Control The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit has to do with the rejection of Christ. Since the Holy Spirit testifies about God s Son, to reject Christ is, in some sense, rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This rejection has been called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mt.12:31-32). The reason this is a critical issue in most people s minds is that the scripture declares that this sin cannot be forgiven. So what is this sin and can we repeat it today? There are two views that should be considered: 1. Historical View In the context of Matthew 12, Jesus had just healed a man possessed by demons. This caused the crowd to ask, Could this be the Son of David? (Mt.12:23). The Pharisees, however, were quick to respond by stating that Jesus had performed the miracle by the power of Satan (12:24). This comes at the pinnacle of Christ s ministry (according to Matthew s gospel) and is an important turning point. Jesus had revealed himself as Messiah through his teaching and miracles and it was clear that the people were looking to the religious leaders (Pharisees) for the confirmation that Jesus was truly the Messiah, sent from God teaching and performing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit (12:28). When the Pharisees, who had all the evidence before them, rejected Christ as Messiah, they committed the unforgivable sin. According to this view, this sin cannot be repeated. 2. Permanent Unbelief View This view relates the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit to unbelief. Certainly the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was Messiah. While it is true that unbelief cannot be forgiven, it is not the sin in view in Matthew 12. Unbelief is a sin that nearly everyone commits before they are saved. They may hear the gospel many times (and reject it in unbelief) before

5 they finally place their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. It is only if someone rejects Christ all their life and dies in their unbelief that it becomes permanent. The Holy Spirit and Scripture 1. The Holy Spirit inspired the words of Scripture (2 Pet. 1:20-21) 2. The Holy Spirit illumines the minds of believers to understand the Scriptures (1 Cor. 2:13-15). The Holy Spirit and Prayer The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer (Rom. 8:26)