THE PATISM Of The HOLY SPIRIT

“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

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.

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

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

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).

Brengle identifies baptism by the Holy Spirit with the blessing of a clean heart only attained when one gets rid of all evil from his heart. According to

Gromacki’s book is comprised of fifteen chapters. The book focuses on the personality, deity, and symbols of the Holy Spirit. Six chapters are dedicated to the various aspects of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. There is a chapter that focuses on the baptism of the Holy Spirit as well as one that discusses what it means to be indwelled and filled by the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as speaking in tongues are covered in the book. Each chapter is divided by headings and these headings are separated into sub-headings. Theses headings and sub-headings keep the reader focused on what the chapter is about. The book ends with a discussion of the future of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit came onto the scene because Christ told his disciples which trickled down to every generation of believers that the Holy Spirit will be a comforter to all mankind. The Holy Spirit is an important part of the Pentecostal Movement for he will give men a gift to speaking in tongues after being baptized. Albert Simpson was a leader that began the Pentecostalism religion in England in the year of 1875. Mr. Simpson was a teacher of the divine healing in which comes from the Holy Spirit. Charles F. Parham was a one of the first men that started the Pentecostal Movement in Topeka, Kansas in the year of 1901 (Yong, 2004). Parham asked his Sunday School class to tell him and the class the purpose of the Holy Spirit and why after being baptized receiving the Holy Spirit is important (Synan,

Unity was also another area of impact influenced by Holy Spirit. Within the body of believers, the Spirit enabled them to share all things and submit to the authority of leadership, and ultimately the authority of God. Chapter 2:44 says that all believers had sold all of their possessions and distributed them to others as they had need. The Holy Spirit clearly provides humility and unity in the hearts of

The Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of people before, and after the baptism. God bestows upon all the baptized persons the anointing and promise of the Holy Spirit and marks them with a seal that makes the baptized claim the inheritance as God’s children. The Holy spirits also nurtures the life of faith in the hearts of those who are baptized.

Pentecost is the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit to The Apostles. When the

Acts 2:1-13 tells the story of Jesus’ ascension and the Pentecost. After Christ left, the disciples felt afraid and gathered to pray inside a room. In the middle of their prayers, a loud blowing sound was heard and tongues of fire were seen on each of the disciples’ heads. The experience empowered the disciples to

Many of us were not alive at the time of Jesus’ resurrection, but it is still a hot topic all around the land, especially in light of the 50th anniversary of the amazing event. The story of Jesus and his resurrection is well known and has been passed down through generations depending on particular religious thoughts and beliefs. Another significant event that occurred approximately 50 days after his resurrection is Pentecost. Sources say that around 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, a group of his followers, Apostles, were gathered in the great hall hoping to spread the word of God. It is then said that an abnormal gust of wind blew through the window, and suddenly tongues of fire appeared above each and every one of the Apostles heads, in turn allowing them to speak a number

Many Christians summarized the ministry of the Holy Spirit as conversion and sanctification. Because our God is holy, He wants us to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). Once we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are legally righteous before God because of the atonement of Jesus. Therefore, we are called saints in Christ. However, we do have sin-polluted minds and body that are not perfected yet. The result is we are like bipolar man that have inner wars continuous going on. This is the war described in Romans 6. Although many theologians have different opinions, I believe this passage is describing the struggling of a believer, instead of a non-believer.

However, the Book of Acts narrative has made it available to its readers a perfectly implicit eschatological interpretation of the Pentecost events from a theological perspective both Christology and pneumatology beyond any computation of natural religious opinion. Therefore, tying the Book of Acts as the events of the working unity of the Triune God