Reflect on the person and ministry of Holy Spirit in your theological and your personal experience of the presence of the Spirit in your life.
Growing up in the Bible belt, during the 1970’s, one would always here the elders of the church preach fire and brimstone regarding salvation, and then reference it by talking about the Holy Ghost. During that period, a lot of emphases were put on witches, goblins, and television shows such Shock Theater®, and Creature Feature®. These shows painted pictures of spirits, both good and evil, coming to talk to us or attack us. “Movement during the 1970s, "Modern folk have fled from Grandfather's clockwork universe to Great-great-grandfather's grandfather's chamber of gothic horrors." (Sire, 2009) In other words, the supernatural is back with a vengeance. Witches, Ouija boards, communication with spirits, and occult magic have made their way into the popular culture,” shares Paris.
As a child, hearing the term, Holy Ghost, from the King James Version of the Bible, would strike fear as it was thought of as some mystical being coming to punish you for doing something wrong. In contrast, and upon the correct teaching of the Holy Ghost or modern day mention, Holy Spirit, I have come to understand that this is not the case of the Spirit of God. “There are several reasons why the study of the Holy Spirit is of special significance for us. One is that the Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer,” cites
In Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, Gordon Fee outlines a theology of the Spirit in the Divine Trinity, the basis within Scripture for the experience of the Spirit, and the interaction of the two. Fee, a Pentecostal scholar, “redefines the terms of discussion about the Holy Spirit in a way that transcends today’s
In this paper, I will review Charles Ryrie’s book The Holy Spirit. I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.
In this paper, I will review Robert Gromacki’s book The Holy Spirit: Who He is, What He Does I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.
People often think they are people who have died and come back to haunt people still on the earth. That is a very faulty concept. There is a spirit who is real and active today in the life of the Christian. The Bible refers to Him as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The study of the Holy Spirit is called Pneumatology.
The Holy Spirit, as a member of the Trinity, has eternally existed and worked with the Father and the Son to bring about the plan for our salvation (CCC 686). In a similar vein, the Holy Spirit, along with the Word of God, “are at the origin of the being and life of every creature” (CCC 703). The Holy Spirit is present with humanity from the beginning of time and the beginning of our individual lives, for as the Gospel writer John says, “he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:17).
The Holy Spirit comforts: John 14:16, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Helps us in our Weakness. The Holy Spirit intercedes: Romans 8:26, in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans. The Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God: 1 Corinthians 2:11, The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit sanctifies: Romans 15:16, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Bears witness or testifies: Romans 8:16, The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
When an individual comes to faith in Christ he or she is not left alone to battle the struggles of sin, lead people to Jesus, experience heartache and sorrow, find God’s will, or live a life that is pleasing and honoring to the Lord. No, Christians are given an awesome gift that cannot be purchased or earned. Believers are blessed with the gift of a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14:16, “ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”(ESV) Sadly, many believers do not have a correct understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, or what He does. The purpose of this paper is define the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit of God is the active force or power in one’s life, which most certainly includes spiritual formation (Pettit, 2008, p. 46). When Jesus was speaking with his disciples he made it clear – by using the analogy of a vine and branches – that apart from him they could do nothing (John 15:5). Only if one is connected to Christ will they have the ability to bear fruit and the way Jesus empowers those connected to him is through the Holy Spirt that that father will send in his name (John 14:26). The fact is that the triune God dwells in the Christian in and through the Holy Spirit. One sees this when they place multiple passages together to gain a full understanding of this concept. For example, Jesus made it clear that he and the father would come and make their home with the disciple (John 14:23). In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are the very temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them which is similar to what Jesus said would happen when he sent the Holy Spirit after his resurrection and ascension (John 14:17, 16:7).
The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of truth. Once we are born again, the Spirit’s chief aim is to bring truth and reality to the heart and mind of every believer because truth is God. Satan, on the other hand, is a liar and the father of lies. Each time an untruth, lie, or rumor, come our way—we should resist it, and cast it down from our minds so that we can walk in truth, light and spiritual reality.
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person (hypostasis) of the Holy Trinity: the Triune God manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each person itself being God.[1][2][3]
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and is equal in essence and in power in the Trinity to the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit was originally sent by Jesus after his ascension into heaven, Jesus himself saying that he would send a “helper” after he departed from the earth. This spirit is worshipped just as the Father and the Son are, and also participated in the creation of the world, sustaining and giving life continually to all things, and exhibits the uniqueness and characteristics of the third person in the Trinity. This is the same Holy Spirit that divinely inspired the infallible word of God, and although the canon is now closed, the Holy Spirit still works powerfully and constantly in the life of the church and in believers. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts, which are given at conversion and help the believer become more like their creator. The presence of the Holy Spirit is evident in the life of all true believers, and this Spirit turns cowardly men into mighty warriors for Christ who accomplish actions way beyond their natural ability.
The Holy Spirit is God Himself. He is a person that we can have a personal relationship with. Also, the Holy Spirit is the one that God gave to us as a guide, to direct and teach us in living a Holy life (King James Version, John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is the voice inside of us that tells us when something is not right with the choices that we have made. The voice inside of us comes from God, who loves and cares enough to show us our error that we have made. Also, the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity; where God transformed into three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When a person is born again, they believe and receive Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13), God comes through people’s life through the Holy Spirit (1Cor.3:16). The
The baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is it and how do I get it? A teaching from Pat Robertson. The first of two parts.
To start our research, we need to ask a critical question at the very beginning : Who is the Holy Spirit? The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person. Jesus never referred to “it” when He was talking about the Holy Spirit. In John 14,15 and 16, for example, He spoke of the Holy Spirit as “He” because He is not a force or thing but a person. The point is especially important at a time when pantheistic tendencies are
The Holy Spirit plays a very vital role in the lives of each and every believer; He can strengthen us with a strength that we cannot even begin to muster up in ourselves. He can bring us joy that we cannot even begin to find in the things of this world. He can bring peace to our lives more than anything that we can ever find on this earth. “The Holy Spirit which is primarily an energizing process, is also a revealing, refining, consuming, illuminating process, and one by which we are made to glow with love to God, and love to man, and love to souls.”