Study 5 Objective: Who or is the Holy Sprit, and why is this relevant to the life of the believer?
Issues
The Trinity has been hotly debated by opposing theological traditions. For example, the Western view is more hierarchical and static, whereas the Eastern view is that there is always movement in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Theologians talk of the social and the economic Trinity and of other ideas. However, any theory that implies that the Father and the Son and the Spirit have separate wills or desires or existences must be regarded as untrue (and therefore heretical) because God is one. There is perfect and dynamic love, joy, harmony and absolute oneness in the relationship of the Father, Son and Spirit to each other. The doctrine of the Trinity is a model for understanding the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Of course, we don’t worship doctrines or models. We worship the Father “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Theologies that suggest that the Spirit should receive His fair share of praise are suspect because the Spirit does not draw attention to Himself, but glorifies Christ (John 16:13). Prayer in the New Testament is made primarily to God the Father. Scripture does not demand that we should pray to the Spirit. When we pray to the Father we are praying to the triune Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The distinctions in the Godhead are not three gods, each requiring separate prayerful attention. Also, praying or baptizing in the name of Jesus is the same as doing so in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism of the Holy Spirit cannot be different from or superior to the baptism of Christ because the Father, the Lord Jesus and the Spirit are one. Receive the Spirit The Spirit is received in faith by whoever repents and is baptised in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 3:14). |
Reflection: In what ways does preserving the oneness of God protect from heresy? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption, who testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:14-16), and we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our (spiritual)
inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). If we have the Spirit, then we belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). The Christian church is likened to the temple of God because the Spirit dwells in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ who motivated the OT prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12), purifies the Christian’s soul in obeying the truth (1 Peter 1:22), empowers for salvation (Luke 24:49), sanctifies (1 Corinthians 6:11), produces godly fruit (Galatians 5:22-25), and equips for the furtherance of the Gospel and the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 14:12; Ephesians 4:7-16; Romans 12:4-8). The Holy Spirit guides into all truth (John 16:13), and convicts “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (16:8). Conclusion The central biblical truth that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit actually shapes our faith and our lives as Christians. The wonderful and beautiful fellowship shared by the Father, Son, and Spirit is the very fellowship of love into which our Saviour Jesus places us through His life, death, resurrection and ascension as God in the flesh. From before all time the Triune God determined to bring humanity into the indescribable life and fellowship and joy that Father, Son and Holy Spirit share together as the one true God. In Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, we have been made right with the Father, and in Jesus we are included in the fellowship and joy of the shared life of the Trinity. |