The Holy Spirit and His role in telling the truth about God...

For the next three weeks we are going to look at an aspect of Christianity that is often misunderstood and abused. This aspect of Christianity often separates followers of Jesus into different denominations and classifications. This aspect of Christianity causes some followers of Jesus to be called Charismatic and some churches to identify themselves as “full gospel” or “spirit filled”.

Other followers of Jesus respond to this movement within Christianity by denying that this aspect of our lives as followers of Jesus even exists. And for those outside of Christianity, the differences and divisions that arise over this aspect of Christianity serves as another reason to reject Christ and the church. This aspect of Christianity that is often misunderstood, abused, and argued over is the role of the Holy Spirit and Spiritual gifts in the lives of followers of Jesus.

So for the next three weeks, we are going to spend some time looking at the issue of spiritual gifts. We are going to discover that the debate that rages in Christianity about spiritual gifts is not a new debate. And as a man Paul addressed the issue of spiritual gifts in a letter that he wrote to a church in Corinth Greece, we are going to discover that, as in most cases, followers of Jesus tend to fall into one of two extremes when it comes to spiritual gifts, neither of which line up with what the Bible teaches. So let’s begin where Paul begins his conversation on spiritual gifts, by looking together at 1 Corinthians 12:1:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Corinth by addressing an issue that they had brought to his attention in a letter that they had written to him. Paul explains that he does not want the members of the church to be uninformed about spiritual gifts. Paul then reminds them that before they became followers of Jesus, they lived lives that were continually carried away to the worship of false gods in Corinth. And since they had a history of departing from the truth to worship idols, and since there were many false philosophers and teachers who claimed to be speaking for God, Paul provides a guiding principle to help interpret what they were hearing.

Paul explains that no one who is empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak for God is able to deny the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. In addition, no one is able to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and Leader apart from the Holy Spirit’s guiding influence. Paul’s point to the members of the church and to us today is that someone who is speaking on God’s behalf will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak truthfully and accurately about the claims of Christ and His message and teachings. That is why the Bible tells us to test the spirits.

Those who deny Jesus nature and character reveal the reality that they are not speaking for God by the power of God. In addition, those who deny the timeless truth of what is recorded for us in the Bible reveal the reality that they are not speaking by the Holy Spirit.

But not only does the Holy Spirit play a prominent role in proclaiming the truth about the message and teachings of Jesus. The Holy Spirit also plays a prominent role in the giving of Spiritual gifts. We will look at that tomorrow.

Do you test the spirits? Do you evaluate everything that you here about God from others based on who they believe Jesus is? How do you evaluate what is truth?