Two s Company, Three s A Trinity: Understanding the Holy Spirit SESSION ONE

Two s Company, Three s A Trinity: Understanding the Holy Spirit SESSION ONE

The Jesus event on its own cannot explain the church and Christianity. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus would have had no effect on the history of this world on their own. Without the event of experience of the Spirit, Jesus would have left nothing.

It is equally true that experience of the Spirit alone would not have brought Christianity into being; it cannot be separated from the Jesus event. On the contrary: its purpose is to make Jesus into human history and produce the fruits of his incarnation. --Jose Comblin The Holy Spirit and Liberation

The doctrine of the Trinity arose from the settled conviction that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, together with the settled conviction from the Hebrew Scriptures that there is only one God. The blending of these two convictions led the church over its first three hundred years of theological development to the conclusion

that God exists as a unity in diversity: one essence eternally existing as three persons, all sharing the divine nature. Trinity is the name we use to convey this understanding of god s identity. --Mateen Elass The Holy Spirit

The Trinity

The Trinity Articulated by early church to explain relationship among God, Jesus, Holy Spirit

The Trinity Articulated by early church to explain relationship among God, Jesus, Holy Spirit Nicene Creed (late 4 th century CE) Presbyterian Hymnal, p.15

begotten

begotten Father has begotten Son from all eternity

begotten Father has begotten Son from all eternity Son eternally begotten of the Father

begotten Father has begotten Son from all eternity Son eternally begotten of the Father Father did not create Son

begotten Father has begotten Son from all eternity Son eternally begotten of the Father Father did not create Son create: different from you

begotten Father has begotten Son from all eternity Son eternally begotten of the Father Father did not create Son create: different from you beget: same nature as you

Does not mean there was a time the Son wasn t

Does not mean there was a time the Son wasn t Father and Son are coeternal

Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son

Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son therefore of same substance as Father and Son

Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son therefore of same substance as Father and Son Thus, Doctrine of the Trinity says there is one God in three forms

Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son therefore of same substance as Father and Son Thus, Doctrine of the Trinity says there is one God in three forms not one God split into thirds

Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son therefore of same substance as Father and Son Thus, Doctrine of the Trinity says there is one God in three forms not one God split into thirds each person of the Trinity is fully God

Members of the Trinity are co-equal co-eternal one in essence one in nature one in power one in action one in will

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19

And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:11-14

How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:29

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1 Peter 1:1-2

In the Incarnation, Jesus is the sole focus of the Holy Spirit s presence and activity in the world

Birth

Birth fathered by the Holy Spirit

Birth fathered by the Holy Spirit from the beginning, Jesus is the perfect exemplar of human life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit

Baptism

Baptism makes clear Jesus earthly ministry is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit

Baptism makes clear Jesus earthly ministry is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit The Temptation of Jesus

Baptism makes clear Jesus earthly ministry is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit The Temptation of Jesus driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit

Baptism makes clear Jesus earthly ministry is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit The Temptation of Jesus driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit often assumed Jesus at his weakest but only in terms of human resources

in his reliance on the Holy Spirit was actually his time of greatest strength

in his reliance on the Holy Spirit was actually his time of greatest strength demonstrates what human life lived in full dependence on God looks like and can accomplish

Onset of public ministry

Onset of public ministry Luke (4:18-19), Jesus quotes from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Onset of public ministry Luke (4:18-19), Jesus quotes from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes the unique bearer of the Holy Spirit

Onset of public ministry Luke (4:18-19), Jesus quotes from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes the unique bearer of the Holy Spirit Jesus is the exclusive dispenser of the Holy Spirit

prior to the cross, the Holy Spirit remains exclusively with Jesus

prior to the cross, the Holy Spirit remains exclusively with Jesus after the cross, the Holy Spirit is poured out on humanity at Pentecost

Goal of the Holy Spirit is to make the presence of Jesus universal

Goal of the Holy Spirit is to make the presence of Jesus universal becomes clothed with the character and personality of Jesus

Goal of the Holy Spirit is to make the presence of Jesus universal becomes clothed with the character and personality of Jesus prior to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is ambiguous and undefined, but assumes definition in Jesus life

through the Holy Spirit, Jesus, otherwise bound by time and space, is made available to all people of all times and places

through the Holy Spirit, Jesus, otherwise bound by time and space, is made available to all people of all times and places Holy Spirit s mission is to direct all creation toward Jesus and the Kingdom