My thanks to both David Jarnes and the Sings of the Times magazine of November 21013 pp. 18-21.
As. Mr. Jarnes explains in his prologue, this question has been examined, debated for close to 2,000 years by many a theologian.
However, as J.B. I know that there's still much confusion of the topic of the Holy Spirit, even within the ADS church members. Some within hold that the Holy Spirit, is not a person, but the Spirit of God, ONLY! Well, if this is so, please explain these passages:
Psalms 51:11 "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me." Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" John 14:16-17 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Note: I count four (4) pronouns in John's passage, as HE. This is a personal pronoun,j used only regarding a individual, and NOT used to describe a force, but a Divine Being! But lets get back to this article.
Last October, my wife and I spent a weekend with our daughter and her family, to celebrate two birthdays..... our granddaughter's third an my.... well that number isn't essential to this story.
We had all piled into a van and gone out to enjoy the fall day. On the way back to my daughter's house, I noticed the black cats and witches and spiderwebs with which some people, anticipating Halloween, had already decorated their years. Seeing a particularly spooky ghost mounted on the side of a house, I assumed my scariest quavery voice and stared to call my grandchildren attention to it.
Before I could say any more than a word or two my daughter cut me off, warning that if my granddaughter saw that ghost, someone would have to stand guard by her bedroom door for hours that night.
Halloween's ghosts are scary things... supernatural and other-worldly, and more often than not, downright evil. Why in the world then, is the Third member of the Godhead [David used the word Trinity] called the "Holy Ghost" (mostly in the KJV and other older versions) ? Should the emphasis be Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit? The two words don't seem to belong to each other.
Another word for ghost is spirit, which isn't as spooky but still close. We commonly think of bot spirits and ghost as wispy, ethereal beings that skulk around invisibly and reveal themselves only when they want to, And often when they do, someone gets hurt.
Is the Holy Spirit some kind of a faceless divine power we can't relate to?
In both the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek, the words translated as "ghost" and "spirit" can also be translated as "breath" and "wind." For example, Genesis 2, describing the creation of the first human being, [Adam] in these simple terms:
Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The Hebrew word Neshamah, translated as "breath",
in this verse is the same word translated as "wind" and "spirit", in other places.
It would seem, that's what Jesus conveyed in this story to Nicodemus.....
John 3:5-6 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
He compared the Spirit to wind. He said that just as the wind goes wherever it wants to and no one can control it, so the Spirit takes us to places we never have thought of going without His guidance. Vs.8
John 3:8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Please, note, that I said, "His guidance," The Greek word for "spirit" ( pheuma) is of a neuter gender, so technically [ (jb) by proper grammar] the Spirit should have called an "IT". But the writers {GOD USED} for the New Book all used "HE" and "HIS" to refer to the Holy Spirit, as in John 16:7 and Romans 8:26-27.
John 16:7-8 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"
Romans 8:26-27 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
I think they're telling us that despite the fact that the word spirit suggests something that is less that a real deity, a personal being, the Holy Spirit is every bit as much a Person as re the Father and the Son. In fact, speaking of God the Father, Jesus said that "God is spirit" John 4:24. The Bible certainly pictures the Father as a Person, and the Holy Spirit has the same essence as the Father. If the Father can be fully both a Spirit and a Person, then so can the Holy Spirit.
The ceremony through which people proclaim their (jb Public) commitment as Christians gives the Holy Spirit equal terms as the other members of the Godhead...
Matthew 28:19 . "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
Can you, dear reader, see any distinction here between the Father and the Holy Spirit?
Plus notice this, from the then Church leaders of the Christian Church....in a letter.....
Acts 15:28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;"
Plus Paul told the Corinthians that he was praying that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with them all...
2 Corinthians 13:14 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen."
Would not both both seem proper ONLY while addressing a genuine Person? Rather that some force?
In the Holy Bible, { (jb) IF one accepts it as from God, via His chosen servants the writers] the Holy Spirit is pictures as contending..Gen. 6:3
AS: CONTENDING:
Genesis 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
AS: TEACHING:
Luke 12:12 "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."
AS- CONVICTING:
John 16:8 "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"
AS..DIRECTING: THE CHURCH
Acts 13:2 "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." (jb a force that thinks and speaks?)
AS HELPING:
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
AS- INSPIRING:
1 Peter 1:21 "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."
(JB "Who by HIM do believe in God..." Question how think you, that an impersonal thing as a 'force' can make one believe anything?
AS SANCTIFYING:
1 Peter 1:2 "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."
NOTE (JB) Sanctification, is the gradual changing of a believer's character, into becoming more and more as the character of Christ. SO HOW, can a impersonal force do this? But a Divine Person as the Holy Spirit can and DOES! I know, I can remember what I used to be like!
These are not the activities of some impersonal force. They imply independent intelligence, will and personality, do they not? The Holy Spirit is a real Divine Peron in His own right! In point of fact, WHEN you study the Bible, you'll realize that what it says about who the Holy Spirit is, and what He does , makes sense ONLY if He has omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and all the other characteristics of divinity---including that of Person hood.
Luke 12:10 "And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."
Note (jb) This word Blasphemy , in other translations the word evil is used, so I ask my friends in the J.W. faith, how can we possibly insult, or speak or use evils against a force? Just asking!
From the perspective of years of study, within the Holy Bible, many have come to the conclusion that the WORK, of the Holy Spirit can be fitted into two categories:
1. He leads people to Jesus Christ.
2. He helps people to stay true to their commitment to Him.
It IS only by people who feel their Spiritual need, who will turn to Christ. Thus by His turning the world of guilt in regard top sin and righteousness and judgment { John 16:18} that the Holy Spirit makes people feel this need. As Paul spoke in ..
1 Corinthians 12:3 "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is essential, in His role convicting people of a deeper need, that Christ only is able to fill.
(jb) Please allow me the digression of telling David's Story, by this passage first:
John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Now here's David: "Several children, playing in the front room, noticed their Mon, putting on her coat, while heading to the front door. One child asks, "Where are you going "?
"I am going to my Father's house, to prepare a place for you"
"Can we go with you?"
"Not now, but I will come back and take you to be with me."
"How long will you be gone?"
"Just a little while"
"Who will take care of us while you're gone?"
Now, that was, and is THE key question, agree? The disciples also asked Jesus that same basic question of their concern, and Jesus answered....
John 14:16-17 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
James Somerville, the man from whom this illustration came, said, "I don't know that the Holy Spirit has ever been compared to a babysitter. But if YOU can picture Christ as a mother, then it may not be so hard to imagine the Spirit in this role, as The One who cares for the Church in the interim between Jesus' departure and return, as One Who comforts, and yes sometimes even romps with the sons and daughters of God.
Jesus' promise to His disciples is a promise to us also. He may not be physically and visibly present with us, but through the Holy Spirit we can have the benefits of Jesus' divine guidance and teachings just as surely as did those who followed Him when He walked on this earth.
And Jesus said that while we wait for His return, far from scaring us, the Holy Spirit will be our Comforter,. He substitutes for Jesus in the interim. Therefore He must be a Person just like Jesus.
(jb) Yet unlike Jesus, who left Heaven to be be born of flesh woman, as flesh men and women, Christ Jesus is still a flesh man in body, Glorified yes but as the Just shall be also! Flesh can only be in one place at any one time, Yet a Person who is a Spirit being as is the Father, can be everywhere at the same time, flesh can not! That's God's purpose for this His "Office" for the Holy Spirit!
Need more info?
Visit your Seventh day Adventist Church any Saturday/Sabbath @ 9:15 AM You just might be very glad you did.
Questions?.........................Comments?
www.servant@frontier.com
www.blbn.org www.amazingfacts.org/
Thanking YOU for your time
john B.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment