Is Christ Within You?

The nature of Christianity is quite unlike every other religion in several ways.  One of these significant differences, one of the genuinely unique ones at that, is that Christian believe that Christ Jesus is living within them.  And this phrase is not semantic and it is most certainly not a hypothetical proposition. No. One of the primary teachings of Christ is that upon His death and resurrection, He has sent His Self–His Holy Spirit–to live inside of them.

This 'living inside' means, among many things, that the Spirit of God is residing within the believer guiding, compelling, leading, encouraging, strengthening, empowering, convicting, sanctifying, and bringing them to deeper levels of grace and praise and worship.

Permit be to be quite direct: we want this.  We want more of Him in us.

This is our prayer, this is our purpose.

Amen.

John 21:14-17–Do You Love Me, Peter?

This  passage, after Jesus' resurrection, chronicles Jesus addressing Peter directly.  He asks Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times, if Peter loves Him.  I find it telling that of all the things to say to Peter, Jesus chose this.  He asked Him quite simply: do you love me?  As if this were the most important qualification for Peter to possess.  And, in truth, it was.

I think it is telling that Jesus was so concerned with Peter's heart, just as He is primarily concerned with our hearts.  It is as if Jesus is asking us, ones who have denied Him like Peter, if we love Him.  This proves to be one of the most honest and profoundly revealing questions we can ask ourselves as Christians.

So, do you love Him?

Can't Live Off Yesterday's Manna

Exodus 16:13-21 gives us the heart of a specific episode in the life of the Israelites as they are walking through the desert that can offer a fine and right principle for us as Christians.  In it, we see that the Israelites, hungry and sick of walking through the wilderness, are grumbling at God.  God hears their grumbling and responds by offering a daily meal of quail and manna, the bread from heaven.

The one stipulation is that the Israelites may not save up any manna for the next day; each day has its own manna.  Of course, the Israelites, as they are want to do, disobey the Lord's request and collect enough manna for the next day.  However, when the Israelites go to the manna the next day they find it full of worms, completely spoiled.

The point is that the people of God were to rely solely on the grace of God for their sustenance everyday.  Every single day was an exercise in relying upon the promises of God.  This is the principle for Christians that we need to get.

God desires us to rest upon His promises daily.  Every day must begin and end and survive with the assured reality that we are seeking after God, trusting Him that He will provide for every need just as He has promised to provide it for us.  This is a perspective, to be sure, but it is also a daily exercise in faith.

After all, we can't live off yesterday's manna!

The Exclusivity of Christ

One of the central tenets of Christianity is that salvation is received only through believing in Christ. Moreover, this doctrine caries itself into all of the other facets of Christianity.  For instance, apart from Christ there can be no peace, no mercy, no hope, and no eternal life.  These are doctrines that point to Christianity being a very exclusive institution, in that admission is only made possible through believing in the death, resurrection, and testimony of Christ Jesus.

To be certain, it is true to say that Christianity is an exclusive religion, in that there is but one gate of entrance into the community, and that it is through the torn flesh and broken body of Christ.  However, we should not mistake the exclusivity of redemption with its conjoined and purposed inclusivity.  What I mean to propose is that, while being exclusive by way of admittance, Christianity is also inclusive in its availability.  In other words, although one is only made new in Christ, all people who seek after that rebirth are given opportunity for it.

Additionally, the Christianity must be exclusive because, in the end, it claims ultimate truth, and truth is, by definition, an exclusive ordeal.  This is to say that for Jesus to actually be the ultimate truth that He claims to be, the content of His testimony is exclusive.  Therefore, Christianity must be exclusive.  To attempt to modify Christianity in order to make it more inclusive is tantamount to calling Christ a liar, for it is, in the end, making His message something other than true.  God forbid!

Let us never give in to the criticisms that Christianity is too exclusive to be relevant, for if it were made any more inclusive for the sake of whimsical trends of culture, we are diminishing the value of Christ and the reality of His great sacrifice.

1 John 2:23: The Father and The Son

1 John 2:23: "No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also."

There is, it would seem, an intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father God.  Taken at face value and without much consideration it could be misconstrued to say either they are different or they are the same; both being misunderstandings of the nature of a God, it turns out. But as John points out, one cannot claim to know God or to abide in Him except for through Christ, and it is our relationship with Christ that defines and determines our relationship to God.  This is one of those non-negotiables of Christianity that, if not understood, can lead to great theological deficiencies.

In truth, Christ forms the lynchpin, the cornerstone of all theology as He is the bridge between man and God, having condescended from heaven to take the form of man in order that He might take all sin upon His flesh so as to irradicate the severe barrier that obstructed man's relationship to the Father.  This the Son did as a fulfillment to the promises made to Adam and to Abraham and to David.  Thus whoever has the Son, because of who He is and what He did, also confesses the Father.  You cannot have the one without the other for they are, ultimately One (and though more could be said about this, as well as the presence of the Holy Spirit, I'll choose to leave it there for now).

In the end, this verse, which is echoed all over John's writing, says all we need to know about Jesus' theological primacy in terms of how vital it is that we would confess Christ.  Let us not forget this fundamental assertion of Christianity but let us form our lives around it!

Living Lives of Good Works to Glorify God

Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

This is such an interesting verse.  It compels the believer to an understanding of life as an exhibition.  This is to say that we are ordained, as Christians, to live life as a light that glorifies God.  

Essentially, what Jesus is telling us is to do good works not from the perspective of meritorious salvation but instead, we are to live lives of good works for the expressed purpose of pointing people to God.

Jesus is calling us to live a certain way (good works) with a specific attitude (to glorify God).  This is, it turns out, the essence of the Christian life: that every thing we do would, ultimately, being glory to God.  

Let us then take seriously this call to do good works, not to be glorified ourselves but that in doing good works we may glorify God!

Dissecting Devotion

Devotion.  It is a word thrown around with such frequency that its meaning has all but disappeared from our vocabularies.  But it, like all words, conveys a specific idea.  It is a noun but a verbal noun, that is to say that it describes a certain type of action, a particular brand of love.  Devotion is, when it is stripped of its periphery connotations, a matter of love.  But this love is unlike the average, it is something more, another level, a deeper degree.  Devotion is a profound loyalty and trust that is rooted.

This is what we are called to as Christians: to be devoted to God.  It is not enough to tacitly claim devotion, for true devotion cannot be tacit: it is holistic and all-encompassing.  If we are truly devoted to God then it matters not which part of us is in use; it is devoted to God.  This is the very essence of the Christian experience, the very crux of Christian life.  We are to be whole-heatedly devoted to God, body, mind, and soul.  There is, it turns out, no other way to love God.  We will either be on-fire for Him in love and devotion, or else we will be lukewarm and loveless.

Let us then always be assessing our devotion as we seek after God and His glory.  Eternally speaking, no amount of firmly held doctrine matters.  The only thing that does is what Christ has done on our behalf and that alone is worthy of every ounce and inch of our devotion for eternity!

Consistency, the Great Task of Man

Consistency.  It is the key to both great growth and great devastation.  For instance, if one is consistent in practicing the violin, she will in time become an excellent violinest.  But by that same right, the man who is consistent in drinking will undoubtedly become an alcoholic.  It is consistency, the daily trudge of one foot in front of the other like so many times before. that we need to bring to the Christian lifestyle in force.  It is the great practice of Christianity, the day-to-day devotion, that is the task for Christians.  We should never forget this truth; let it form the sure and good rituals of life in Christ!

Not Winning Souls, We're Being light

There is a common misconception of evangelism that thinks the Christian's job to be one of 'winning souls.'  This could not be further from the truth.  Our job is not to bring everyone to Christ, it is to bring Christ to everyone.  The very essence of Christianity and thus the Christian life is to live out Christ, to shine as the light of the world.  It is through this that God affects those who may not yet know His holy name.  It is not through argument but it is through influencing people by living out Jesus in every aspect, every facet of our lives.  We need to always keep this in focus when we encounter the world and those of it: we are hear to lighten, not to win.  God captures hearts by the power of His Word applied by His Holy Spirit.  We are merely the instruments through which that blessed music of salvation is played.  Let us not lose sight of this truth!

No Substitute for Consistency

Consistency is key.  Doing something with consistency is the surefire way to master it.  Spiritually speaking, this means that bad habits become ingrained while good habits become mastered.

This means that habitual sins that are not dealt with become more and more stubborn.  The only way to overcome consistent unrepentant sin that stems from habits is to change our habits.  When we replace bad habits with healthy ones, we set ourselves on paths to godliness.

An equal measure of consistency is needed to replace habitual sin with godly habits.  Consistency is an attitude as much as a practice in scheduling.  It is not enough to merely plan to be consistent,  effective consistency demands that consistency is purposed for growth and improvement.

In the end, becoming a consistent Christian requires an eye on sanctification and a desire to grow in godliness.  Because of all this, there is no substitute for intentional consistency in the life of the Christian.  Let us, then, make it our goal to be consistent Christians!

What's So "Christian" about Christianity?

At what point does something become "Christian?"  Is there a certain level of activity that once passed the activity then becomes a "Christian" one?  Or is there a critical-mass, a minimum number of Christians needed to be present in order to make any activity "Christian?"  Or, is Christianity merely a quality of any activity that Christians perform?  Is all music Christian or is there a specific genre to be called "Christian?"

While the above questions may seem tedious if not frivolous, the questions might not seem so ridiculous whence we consider how flippantly activities may be deemed "Christian."  But it is precisely this thing that many Christians find themselves trying to ask on a regularly basis.  It has practical ramifications, for the Christian is called to live out his/her Christianity in every aspect of that life.  So the question becomes real at the moment of turning belief into lifestyle.  How we answer this question, then, is important.

There is a propensity to consider any thing that a Christian does to be, by that regard, a "Christian" thing, as if the fact that a Christian was involved transforms one activity from a non-Christian one to a Christian one.  To belay the Christian-ness of any activity to the adherents of that activity would be to amputate Christianity from the very thing that makes the Christian Christian.  For that, one only needs to examine the prefix that predicates Christianity: Christ.

We should never forget this utterly irrevocable truth: Christ makes Christians.  It is Jesus of Nazarene as conferred by the Gospels that changes a person from non-Christian to Christian.  The determinant of Christianity is, as it were, Christ Jesus Himself.  So, to answer any of the aforementioned questions, it is at the very moment that Christ Jesus takes precedent and primacy that anything becomes Christian.  In the end, what makes anything "Christian" is its interaction with Christ.

If Christ is met with praise and penitence then it is, in fact, "Christian."  The involvement of Christians is rendered a moot consideration, for they do not make Christianity; Christians are entangled with Christianity only as Christians connect with Christ Himself.  This is it.  It should also compel us to think of what makes up Christianity in terms not concerned with Christians, it turns out, but Christianity is defined by its connection to Christ.

Christianity: Not just another Spiritual Philosophy

One of the great and forceful enemies to Christianity has, in recent decades, been the ever growing propensity to deem Christianity as merely another of the many possible and tenable philosophies that is offered to the modern world.  To think of Christianity categorically of the same kind as that of any other philosophical posture or spiritual idea is akin to amputate Christianity from, as it were, Christ.

On the contrary, Christianity is not and has not ever been a set of abstract philosophical postulations severed from any actual reality.  Christianity is and has always been a set of historical facts, actual space-time history that demands a verdict on the part of the listener: faith or not.

Christianity should not be allowed to devolve into mere postulations of theology as if abstract theological postulation could ever come close to the actual Christianity that is found in the person and resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene.  Theology, though good and necessary exercise, is grounded solely in Christ.  To sever Christianity from Jesus, the actual factual person of history, would be a travesty and would relish it impotent and irrelevant in the stream of spirituality.

Instead, Christianity is intimately and necessarily tied to the actual events of history, for it is in these events that God has stepped into creation and enacted His grace in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazarene.  These things should never leave our lips as we discuss Christianity and its power to transform lives for God!

Clive Staples Lewis.

Clive Staple Lewis, more commonly known as C. S. Lewis, was a mighty mind and an expert linguist.  His english skills were of such mastery that he held the teachings posts at Oxford and Cambridge, two of the finest universities of the highest repute.  He made a name for himself as a literary critic and scholar, but it was his children's novels, particularly The Chronicles of Narnia, that made him the star he was.

However, arguably Lewis' greatest writings were not of fanciful fare but of theology.  The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity rank among the highest theological wares ever composed outside of Scripture.  Because of this (not to mention that I am a fan), I wanted to post just a couple Lewis quotes to tickle the day and maybe spark some thoughts.

"You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body."

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that He will make us good because He loves us."

"We are not necessarily doubting that GOd will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."

"Pain insists upon being attended to.  God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.  It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

"I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer.  You yourself are the answer.  Before Your face questions die away.  What other answer would suffice?"

This is just an introduction.  Suffice to say that God is good and we should not ever disconnect from the Christians of centuries' past.

Denying the Self

Luke 9:23: "And He said to them all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"

This striking and convicting statement by Jesus is directed at not only His immediate disciples who will go on after His resurrection to lead the Church, but it is also directed at us.  The point is clear and succinct: God wants us to give Him our very best and to not let anything prevent us from this utter and total commitment.

When it comes to our faith, to our dedication, there is no substitute for recklessly-abandoned, wholly-devoted faith that is ready at a moments notice to give up, if need be, anything and everything in total submission to Christ and to His Word.  This is Christianity.  This is the Word of Christ.  There is no "half-way" or "moderate" form of Christianity that is anything less than disbelief and lukewarmness.

We should be always and ever eager to give up more of ourselves so as to be filled with more and more of Him.  This is the deal.  There is no "trial" version, no "Christianity Lite" for people to try for a taste of this Christ thing.  Therefore, we should keep this at the forefront of our minds whenever we would consider limiting our devotion by not going that extra mile, by not caring that extra bit, or ignoring the friend that needs a helping hand or ear.  Let us then always keep this before us as we strive to live as Christ has called us to live.

God Helps those who Cannot Help Themselves

There is a common aphorism that's thrown around Christian circles with such frequency that many people have come to think that it is actually a biblical quote.  How many of us have heard this used in a devotional context: "God helps those who help themselves."  And, although there is a grain of truth to the statement, it is neither sacrosanct nor scriptural in nature.

For starters, this quote was not written by an apostle, a prophet, a pastor, or even a Christian.  It was written by Benjamin Franklin, an avowed deist who truly lived his life by this maxim.  The deists believed in God's existence as a transcendent being, the Creator and original cause, but they did not believe that God was imminent, in that, He never intervened in creation.  Therefore, Franklin and those like him felt that self-reliance was necessary as one could not depend upon God, who is transcendent and distant, to intervene on the human's behalf at any time.

The issue at hand is self-reliance and its biblical basis.  At the onset, a basic definition of self-reliance is in order.  Self-reliance refers to an individual relying upon their own strength, resources, guile, volition, intelligence, effort, or general power to achieve, sustain, and support themselves all while eschewing input, of resource or otherwise, from others.  Using this as our basic definition Scripture gives a remarkably unified indictment upon self-reliance, unequivocally indicating that self-reliance is not only unbiblical but is, in fact, disbelief that leads to outright sin.

The first instance of self-reliance, and a revealing example at that, occurs in Genesis 3, when Eve picks and eats of the forbidden fruit.  Eve did not trust God to provide her with wisdom and knowledge, but rather relied upon her own gumption, which led to sin.  Think of the Israelites wandering through the desert.  As they came to the Promised Land, they saw the giants and trembled in fear, believing that they could never defeat them and possess the land.  The result of their self-reliance was death in the wilderness and an entire generation failing to reach the Promised Land.  Or think of Saul, chosen to be king of all of Israel, but because he did not trust in God in patience, but rather relied upon his own will and assessment of the situation, sacrificed to the Lord in unbelief and the kingdom was removed from him for his self-reliance.

This is a minute swatch of biblical evidence but the point is clear: God does not ask believers to be self-reliant; He wants us to be God-reliant.  This means that we will rely on Him for our strength, for our resource, for our direction, and for our decision making.  Self-reliance is the very essence of pride, which leads to all sorts fo sin and debauchery.

However, and this needs to be heard clearly, to say that God does not want us to be self-reliant does not in any way, shape, or manner mean that God wants us to be lazy, lackadaisical, or unintentional in work.  He demands that we work.  Yet, the point at hand is that we would work for Him and through His empowering and in accord with His will.  In fact, God helps those who cannot help themselves, those who have no strength of their own at all, and have no resources of any sort.  This is the very essence of grace.  Let us then strive not to be self-reliant but to be God-reliant in all things!

Recognizing Sin By Remembering Love

The essence of friendship is love.  The essence of love is compassion.  The essence is mercy.  The essence of mercy is sacrifice.  And the essence of sacrifice is humility.  All of this boils down to Christ.  Jesus is the ultimate example of friendship and love.  He gave every it of his very life to save humanity from sin and to reconcile a broken creation to a Holy God.

This is utterly and devastatingly beautiful.  God Himself has overcome sin, cleansing all who come to Him in faith by the blood of the Holy Lamb.  Unfortunately, from time to time, our understandings of sin can become cavalier and nonchalant, as if we lose sight of how disgusting sin actually is.

For the essence of sin is disobedience and seeking to take things into our own hands.  Whenever we sin, we esteem that which is not God to be more valuable than God.  If we recognize sin with the sober seriousness that it warrant, we can then begin to understand why God treats sin with such disdain.

When we sin, we are, in action, indicating that the friendship, the love, the compassion, the mercy, the sacrifice, and the humility that Christ Himself fulfilled in His flesh is insufficient to change us.  As in what Christ did was not enough to stop us from sinning.  As has always been true, every generation of Christianity has its own theological posture.  The last few generations has downplayed sin to such a degree so that some people don't even believe in sin at all.

Needless to say, this is blatantly blasphemous disbelief.  When we neglect or diminish sin, we are in fact equally diminishing and neglecting the work of Christ.  For Christ's work was purposed on overcoming and defeating sin.  When we forget sin, we are in turn forgetting Christ.  Let us then always remember what Christ has done for us, and strive to never diminish sin in light of what Christ has done!

Does What We Advertise Match What We Sell?

For over a year, the business trip had been on Denise's calendar.  Yet, two days before she was set to take off, she realized that her dress clothes were in serious need of dry cleaning.  Denise knew of a same-day dry cleaning place on the other side town, os she packed up her clothes and headed over.  Outside of the cleaners was a huge, neon sign, "One-Hour Dry Cleaning."

After filling out the tag and handing the clerk her dress frocks and asked for confirmation, "So, I'll be back in an hour for these."  The tiny lady behind the counter looked up through her thick, wire-rimmed glasses, "No, I can't get to these until next Thursday."

Denise replied, "But I thought you guys did one-hour dry cleaning?"  The clerk looked at Denise with a sly grin that spoke of her frustration at yet another customer missing the point, "No.  That's just the name of the store.  We don't actually do that!"

To many, Christianity is the just a title that many people claim but few actually live.  However, when someone looks into our hearts to see the goods, will they see real Christianity, or will they realize that our Christianity is just a nice mask to get us in with the right crowds.

But Christianity is much more than listening to Christian music, reading the latest Christian authors, voting the right way, or even speaking the right lingo.  Instead, being a Christian is about obeying the Commandments of Christ, keeping them with discipline and loving God and our neighbors.  Thus, if we commit to this, then when people look into our hearts, the identities and testimonies we put out for the public will be confirmed as true.

How Jesus Summarized the Christian Lifestyle

Summing up the whole of the Christian life in a single phrase is no small feat.  Some Christians point to John 3:16 for this task, while others may point to Eph. 2:8-10, or even Romans 10:9-10.  But, luckily, we are not left to our own theological preference when it comes to summarizing Christianity, specifically in matters of living, for Jesus Himself summarized the Christian life for us.

As far as salvation is concerned, perhaps the Gospel of John has the most to say about faith and salvation.  While John's Gospel is unified in pointing to the efficacy of belief in receiving salvation, which is that grace of God enacted by Christ Jesus' work in life and death, it is how Jesus answers the sly questions of the slithering scribes in Matthew's Gospel that give us the best summary of how God desires believers to live.

The scene goes something like this: while in Jerusalem before his Passion, Jesus is having to deal with constant barraging attacks and theological traps set by the religious leaders who wish to destroy Him.  In one such inquisition, the Pharisees, seeking to trap Jesus, ask Him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?"  Jesus, without a flinch or beat responds, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:37)."

While this is a beautiful and easily memorizable passage the importance of it should not be lost due to its ease.  Jesus quoted directly from Deuteronomy in His reply (Deut. 6:4-5).  In doing so, not only did Jesus defend Himself by relying on the authority of Scripture, He also made clear to Christians that what God has asked from humans in history past is the same thing He asks of us now: utter and complete devotion.

This should be a convicting but comforting truth.  For God has not changed in what he requires of us: everything.  So, when Jesus responds to the testing traps of the Pharisees and leaders of the Law, He is not only answering them their question, He is answering us ours.  How far does God ask us to go in our devotion? All the way.  Every single crevice and nook is to be focused and filled with devotion to God.  This is the Christian life style in a nutshell straight from the mouth of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Guitar Teaching, Practice, and Christianity

For the better part of the past decade, I have been giving guitar lessons.  I've taught 6-year-olds to 50-year-olds and everything in between.  Students come and students go as with the seasons, but over the course of my time as an instructor, it is been repeatedly confirmed what the single most important element that makes up a musician is: practice.

It consistently amazes me how this seemingly rudimentary method of repetition for the purpose of improvement and growth is so often neglected.  Out of every practicing guitar student there are ten that do not.  However, without fail the single determining factor in whether someone will be able to play the instrument or not has far less to do with their natural talent or abilities than with their willingness to practice.

Strangely enough, what is stunning about practicing as a concept is that it has such broad applications.   Someone who knows how to practice has the necessary tools for successful life that goes well-beyond the quest to learn an instrument.  It is for this reason that it seems fitting to put forth a method for practice.

The first thing to know about practice is that it is not a magic wand that offers instant change but is a time-worn method that causes dramatic change over time.  This is sometimes the misconception.  Instead, practice is based upon a methodological tripod: challenge, consistency, and repetition.

The Challenge aspect of practice could be described as a matter of direction.  This is what good teachers do.  Good teachers direct the student towards new areas of challenge for the purposes of growth.  This is the major reason that most people plateau because they do not know what to do next.  A good teacher can also help point out areas of weakness that may be blind to our eyes.  Additionally, if you are not being challenged you are not doing something new but re-hashing what you are already able to do.  This cannot be overlooked, because if we are not challenged, then we will not grow.

As for Consistency, it is a matter of forming habits.  Practice is not doing something one day a week.  No, practice is doing something several times a week, if not multiple times a day.  Think of the most effective workers in the work place: the consistency of working five days a week for years means that they have consistently practiced their work to the point that they excel at it and perform it with ease.  This idea can be easily translated to the weightier matters of life in the way of practice.

Lastly, and most importantly, is repetition.  This element of practice sometimes drives people crazy because of the inherent implications of monotony.  But the reality is that if someone is unable to repeat results then all that is being practiced is how to achieve poor results.  Repetition forces memorization and reinforces technique, both useful things in the achievement of goals.  Therefore, practice must include a healthy dose of repetition though it need not feel stale.  Rather, repetition can be made enjoyable when creativity is employed to modify the repeated thing, to add an element of competition, or simply to contextualize what is being repeated so as to recognize its usefulness.

Although practice is associated with sport or music, practice is at its most usefulness in regards to godliness.  As Paul exhorts Timothy to "train in godliness (1 Tim 4:7-8)."  What is it to train but to practice and grow?  Therefore, practice is something that must be applied to the spiritual life.  Some of the things that Christianity demands to be practiced is Bible study, godliness, humility, service, patience, and brotherly love, et al.

These traits do not come passively but are practiced and learned.  They take time and dedication to grow.  Community does not happen by chance but by practice.  Thus, we should apply these concepts of practice to our Christian life: challenge, consistency, and repetition.  Then we will grow in Christ and bear fruit by His power.  The most tragic thing is when an individual with vast potential never uses it because they get in their own way.  We do not want such a fate.  Let us then put practice into practice in our spiritual walks so as to grow, to be challenged, and to live out life as God has intended for us!

Understanding the Holy Spirit

Throughout the Church, there seems to be much teaching and doctrine about the Father, and certainly the Son, but the work of the Holy Spirit is oddly neglected.  To be sure, it is challenging. For however many and eloquent words we might employ to depict and discuss the Holy Spirit, we are inevitably left using material and human words to describe an altogether un-human being.  This leaves us inclined either to dig deeper into the Scriptures for clarification or simply to ignore teaching about the Holy Spirit entirely for fear of doing Him injustice.  Needless to say, the latter is unacceptable.  Instead, we should look at the opportunity to learn about God, His Holy Spirit, with joy and energy.

At the onset, the Holy Spirit is unique to Christianity.  Only Christianity teaches that God Himself, in His Holy Spirit, will actually descend upon and indwell believers.  This should excite us to know that God desires to indwell us with His very person so as to guide, to teach, and to grow us from the inside-out.  Because we are discussing a Spirit, we should be sure to consider a couple of points of clarification: we are referring to the Spirit not a material substance; we are talking about One who indwells within believers not everyone; and there is an emphasis in the New Testament, particularly Acts, for a baptism of or being filled by the Holy Spirit.  These three basic assertions form a trifecta of foundations supported and supplemented by the Word, specifically the New Testament.

While the Holy Spirit plays a major role in nearly all of the New Testament works, none more so than that of the Gospel of John and Acts.  More than any other writing does John chronicle Jesus specific teaching about the Holy Spirit.  For starters, people are to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33), which equates to be born of the Spirit (John 3:5).  This can seem both odd and confusing, and has sparked much debate over what amounts to this baptism.  Luckily, Jesus does not leave us without reference about this, as chronicled by Luke throughout Acts.

In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, "He said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'"  Jesus, quite clearly, tells the disciples that, though they had already been baptized with water and were believers, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, just before Jesus ascends, in His final words to His disciples, He says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8)."  The event Jesus prophesied is Pentecost (Acts 2:4), accompanied by the physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit, namely speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Much destructive and unbiblical teaching has been done on this subject, to the effect that the Church seems polarized.  In an effort to keep true to the Scripture and reserved, we can point out a couple of clear things about this.  For one, believers are to be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit.  These being two things, they do not necessarily mean two separate occasions; they could be simultaneous.  Secondly, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God.  If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we could believe all the right orthodoxy but never bear fruit.  In this far-too-normal scenario, we need to earnestly pray to receive the Holy Spirit who guides, counsels, teaches, helps us grow spiritual fruit and is the medium of worship (John 4:23; 14:15-18, 25-26; 16:4-15).

The other, and most controversial, aspect of the Holy Spirit that should not be neglected for fear of disrupting our denominational doctrines or sensibilities is in reference to the "sign" gifts: healing, miracles, prophecy, visions, and tongues.  In an effort to let the Word determine theology as opposed to the dire case of the reverse, it must be said unambiguously that these gifts are still in effect today.  We still live in the age of grace, and God still empowers believers who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit with these gifts and He still works in these ways today.

In the end, understanding who the Holy Spirit is, how He is received, and what He does within believers is essential teaching.  Certainly, it is challenging teaching that can convict and push us in unforeseen ways but this should not allow us to neglect it.  In closing, Paul indicates that the Holy Spirit "seals" our inheritance in the Father, and is a "guarantor" of our eternity (2 Cor.21-22; Eph. 1:13-14).  The purpose of this article has not been an exhaustive or comprehensive teaching on the Holy Spirit, but just a taste of the more important things that Christians need to be aware of.  Let us then pray to be baptized by the Holy Spirit so as to be empowered by God Himself!