This week we are looking at the sixth statement that
comprises our doctrinal statement as a church, which addresses what we believe
as a church about the Holy Spirit. This statement summarizes the answer to the
question “What is the Holy Spirit? And what does the Holy Spirit do?"
Yesterday, we looked at the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person; the Holy Spirit is not a
force; the Holy Spirit is not an “it”. Instead the
Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. In addition, the Holy Spirit,
as part of the Trinity, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, in everything that the Holy Spirit does, He does in order to
make much of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is consistently at work to influence the
opinion of others in a way that enhances Jesus reputation in the eyes of
others.
In a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible
called the gospel of John, began to explain to His closest followers the Holy
Spirit’s function and activity here on earth. First, Jesus stated that the Holy
Spirit, upon His arrival, will convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit will act like a
prosecuting attorney to bring about the world’s conviction of selfishness and
rebellion.
The Holy Spirit, like a great prosecuting attorney, will provide
the evidence that will result in a guilty verdict for those who oppose God and
reject the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. The Holy Spirit
reveals the selfishness and rebellion of those in humanity who reject God and
the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit reveals that God is right and those who
oppose God are wrong. And the Holy Spirit reveals that the just God wins and
Satan loses.
We see Jesus transition from explaining the role that the
Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who oppose God to explaining the
role that the Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who follow Jesus in
John 16:12:
"I have many more things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now."But
when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for
He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and
He will disclose to you what is to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will
take of Mine and will disclose it to
you. "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He
takes of Mine and will disclose it to
you.
To understand what Jesus is communicating here, we first
need to understand how the Holy Spirit engages followers of Jesus. The Bible
teaches us that God captures and transforms a person’s heart through the power
and activity of the Holy Spirit, so that we would receive and
respond to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.
Now the
big 50 cent theological term for the Holy Spirit's activity in our rescue from
selfishness and rebellion is the word regeneration. This is what is referred to
in the next phrase of the doctrinal statement, which says “He regenerates
sinners." Regeneration simply
means that God gives us a new heart.
As the
prophet Ezekiel promised, God, though the Holy Spirit removes our heart of
stone that resists and rejects the claims of Christ and message of the gospel
and gives us a new heart that results in us responding to the claims of Christ
and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as
Lord and Leader.
At the moment of regeneration the Holy Spirit takes
up residence in our lives, which is referred to in church mumbo jumbo talk as
being baptized by the Holy Spirit. This is what is referred to in the next
phrase of the doctrinal statement, which says “and in Him they are baptized
into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God."
When we talk about being baptized into union with
Christ, this refers to the reality that the Holy Spirit also unites us in
Christ and to one another to form the body of Christ the church. This means,
that, on a mystical level, when God sees His followers, He see them “in
Christ”. As we talked about last week, the phrase “in Christ” refers to the reality that when God the Father looks
at us as followers of Jesus, He does not simply see us. Instead, He sees us in
Christ.
Right now, in a mystical and
spiritual way, God the Father sees you, in Christ, in Heaven. As followers of
Jesus we are part of the church, which is the body of Christ here on earth. But
even now, we are mystically and spiritually a part of the body of Christ in Heaven.
In addition, the Holy Spirit influences the opinion of others
in a way that enhances Jesus reputation in the eyes of others by His activity
that results in us being adopted as sons and heirs of God. In other words, as
followers of Jesus, we become a part of the family God, with the full rights of
inheritance of eternal life in relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit’s activity in our adoption into the
family of God describes how our old lives
prior to Jesus are fading away in the rearview mirror of our lives. We now have
a new life that provides us a new hope and a new future with God as a result of
our relationship with Jesus.
Now a question that could arise
here involves an issue surrounding the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that
question would be "Is there a difference between being baptized by the
Holy Spirit and being filled by the Holy Spirit? And if there is a difference,
what is the difference? And when does the baptism of the Holy Spirit
occur?"
The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment
of regeneration, while the filling of the Spirit is a result of a follower of
Jesus submitting their life to His control and is related to our obedience to
Jesus. Thus a follower of Jesus can receive many “fillings” of the Spirit, but
is only “baptized” by the Spirit once.
You see, we do not get more of the Holy Spirit after
the Holy Spirit initially takes up residence in our lives as followers of Jesus.
When we talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are talking about
being controlled, influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out our
day to day lives as followers of Jesus in a way that reveals and reflects Jesus.
While we have as much of the Holy Spirit as we will
ever need, we can choose to live our lives in the power of our old nature apart
from Jesus. So instead of thinking of the idea of being "filled with the
Holy Spirit" as "how much of the Holy Spirit do you have?",
think of the idea of being "filled with the Holy Spirit" as "how
much of you does the Holy Spirit have?"
As followers of Jesus, we are to live Spirit filled
lives, which simply means that we are to live lives that are controlled,
influenced, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to reveal and reflect Jesus to
others in a way that enhances the reputation of Jesus to others.
Friday, we will look at several questions that are
asked regarding the Holy Spirit and His activity…
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