The Holy Spirit

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.

The previous description of the trinity does not occur in the bible. The specialized language describe the trinity was developed in the fourth century and expressed in various creeds issued by church councils of that time. I believe that many words were not found in the bible; even bible is not even stated in the bible. But, that doesn’t mean that we don’t use them to describe the attributes of God. We can’t say that because trinity is not stated in the bible, it can’t be

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 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.

It was first revealed at Jesus’ Baptism where: “And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [sic]” (Matthew 3:16-17). Then in His ascension Jesus commands them to go forth baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. At the Last Supper also Jesus tells His Apostles that He will ask the Father to send the Spirit upon

God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit constitute the whole context of Catholic religion. We may have a pretty good point on who Jesus Christ was, we may ponder on who God is, but we must also balance the work of the Holy Spirit within the Catholic church and its followers. Often we think of Jesus Christ as related to the Father, but I think his life was highly influenced and his actions were all the more possible through the help of the Holy Spirit. Christ's actual birth is marked by the intervention of the Spirit, Christ himself acknowledges the work of the Spirit done through him and the moment of the baptism is introduced by the descending of the Holy Spirit as a pigeon. Other moments in the Bible describe the presence of the Holy Spirit as well, thus making it obvious that it has had a major influence on the work of Jesus Christ.

God’s ministry started in the very beginning with the creation of the universe (Willmington 645). Psalm 19:1 says, “the heavens declare the glory of God… (NKJV)” proving He created the universe. Another ministry He worked through is the writing of the scriptures. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Scripture. He had three basic preparation and reception guidelines for His divine manuscript, these are called the “steps of the spirit”. They are revelation, Inspiration, and Illumination (Willmington 645). In both the Old and New Testaments it is proven that the scriptures are the work of the Holy Spirit (II Samuel 23:2, John 14:25-26). Another ministry of the Holy Spirit is that of the devil. The Holy Spirit limits Satan’s power (Willmington 646). “…when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). He also came to set up the most important of the three basic institutions in the Bible, marriage, government, and the Church. The Church is by far the most significant of the three. The Holy Spirit came to help the early churches start and then continued to help them grow. These are just four of the eleven ministries recorded in which the Holy Spirit did. He took part in many ministries (Willmington

The premillennial supposition is the basis for the article . The Scriptures foretells that after the rapture of the church a seven year period of unparalleled trouble will follow, known as the tribulation, according to Daniel 9:27. During the tribulation, incomprehensible sin will abound and then divine judgment will prevail.

Though the word “Trinity” is not explicitly found in the Bible, the teaching that there are three individual personalities of divine nature (known in the New Testament as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is thoroughly scriptural and has been generally acknowledged by the writers of “Christendom” since the apostolic age.

But one day we must know that for 4 thousand years in the Old Testament, the Father worked in forefront. For 4 thousand years, Yahweh led his people and took care of them. However, after Jesus came and being baptized in Jordan River, He was filled with the Holy Spirit and carried out the ministry of the Gospel for 3 and half years, it was the time of the Son. But after Jesus died and went to heaven, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and now it is the era of the Holy Spirit. Now the Father works through the Holy Spirit and the Son works through the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son appear when the Holy Spirit works.

Acts 2:2-21 shows a picture of the community that is filled by the Holy Spirit. The disciples gathered together in one place, and “all of them were fulfilled with the Holy Spirit” (v.4). The scene leaves some people amazed, confused and marveled (v.6-7). Even some thought that the people were drunk (v.13). While many people were perplexed by the work of the Holy Spirit, Peter validates this scene by reciting the prophecy of Joel (v.14-21). This text shows the new understanding of a community of believers with the work of Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? What a Spirit-filled community looks like? How does a Spirit-filled community differ?

The Bible, composed by 40 authors inside a 1500 year time frame, is an assorted collection of books varying in types, ranging from history, law, prophecy, gospel, and personal epistles. One book telling one story, the Bible’s author, the Holy Spirit, inspires all the writers to tell the world God’s story of salvation through His son Jesus Christ. Featuring God as originator of creation, King of creation, and source of creation, the Bible highlights the kingdom of God as one good fun loving family living together peacefully. This family was to live in God’s place forming a kingdom in the Garden of Eden, under God’s rule, enjoying His blessings in fellowship with Him. Unfortunately, a separation of the family unit occurred,

There are many believers, faiths and doctrinal teachings that acknowledge the power of the Holy Spirit, however, they do not ascribe his actions and the power to an individual essence but rather to mere influence. I do believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, in-fact the Third Person of the Trinity who is equal with the Father and the Son in essence. When it comes to the individual acts of the Holy Spirit as recorded in scripture, Elmer Town says it best “the Holy Spirit does a number of things only a person can do; and it is the unfolding of this precept that I believe continuously bears witness to the person of the Holy Spirit. I also believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third person of the Trinity is also God and as God, He is worthy of our worship and our praise. I believe in the ministry and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit; and despite all of the external influences and desires of the flesh, the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit is enabled to live a godly life in this present ungodly and evil world (Ezekiel 36:2, Acts 2:38). I believe that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in this world especially in the life of the believer so to purify and convict us of our sins (1 Cor 6:11, John 6:8-11 and Acts 7:51) . From the foundation and creation of the world scripture bears witness to the power of the Holy Spirit. In the book of Genesis it was the Holy Spirit that moved in the darkness upon the face of the waters to

I believe in the bible but I am seeing a lot of contradictions. When Eve ate the forbidden fruit god cursed all women to have painful childbirth and periods. When Jesus died he wiped away all sins. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that when Jesus died that sin also got wiped away and made it to where we didn’t have to be in so much pain. Then he talks about how to turn to Christianity it doesn’t mean your cheating on Judaism but instead Judaism has died and now we can all get ‘remarried’ to Christianity. He says that there are new laws and you will not know about them until you learn them. It says that the spirit of Christ lives in you. I wonder how one knows if It does or not. In Sunday school the teachers said if you ask then the holy spirit will be in there. As a small child and up into this day I cannot say I feel any different than I did as a child. I do not speck in tongues, I do not have a voice in my head, other than my own, telling me right from wrong. It is strange the longer I take the time to read the bible the less I understand and the less I feel is true. As I type this I think maybe the reason I am so confused is because I am reading this and trying to use my mind to decipher it and figure out how to write and intelligent 250-word response. Which I hope I’m doing well at, but maybe I shouldn’t focus on making since and start trying to ‘feel’. If the holy spirit is able to tell us how to live our life’s maybe it will try to tell me how to read the bible.

I again talked with my mom for this week’s Sharing the Journey. We were able to be outside and in the garden which was a great place to see God in action. I had read Hailey’s post about God being the Gardner and this was a great launching place for our discussion. Sharing parts of the lectures from Mr. Timms and the information from the text provided guidelines for our discussion as well (Boa, 2001). I changed the order of the questions because I felt the chat was better led from the starting point of establishing a base thought for the Holy Spirit.