| The Apostles' Creed, Part 17: "I believe in the Holy Ghost" |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, February 06 2012 00:00 |
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Because the English word ghost has come to describe a disembodied soul, modern translations render the Greek word pneuma as Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, for He has the characteristics of God. He is eternal (Gen. 1:2), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7), omniscient and omnipotent (1 Cor. 2:10-13, Rom. 8:14-27, John 14:17-17, John 15:26, John 16:12-14), and He is entrusted with sovereign powers (Rom. 12:1-11). The Spirit always deflects glory to God the Father and God the Son, but He is no less God. His work is divine work in bringing life to people in the great work of regeneration (John 3:3-8, Titus 3:5), in sanctification (Rom. 8:1-25, 2 Cor. 3:18), in intercession (Rom. 8:26), in revealing new truth to the apostles and prophets who recorded them in the Holy Scriptures and illuminating that revealed truth in the hearts of believers (see Jesus’ comments to His disciples in the above cited passages and Paul’s comments in the cited passages in Romans and First Corinthians), and sealing believers as a guarantee of eternal life (Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 4:30, 2 Cor. 1:22, 2 Cor. 5:5). It may be said quite accurately that God the Father planned our redemption, God the Son accomplished our redemption, and God the Spirit applies our redemption. If one reads carefully Eph. 1:1-14, which is actually one long sentence in Greek, he/she will see those summations delineated. God predestined us to be holy and adopted as His children (Eph. 1:3-5, 11), Christ redeemed us by His blood (Eph. 1:7), and the Holy Spirit sealed us and is given to us as a deposit to guarantee our eternal redemption. But notice also that after the work of each person of the Trinity is set forth, Paul adds the reason: “to the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6), “according to his good pleasure (1:9), and “to the praise of his glory” (1:14). (I recommend John Murray’s excellent book Redemption Accomplished and Applied.) Jesus’ statement to the disciples that He would not leave them as orphans but continue with them through the indwelling Spirit (John 14:18) is very significant. Also the fact that He later tells them that it is good for them that He go away, for otherwise the Counselor (Holy Spirit) would not come (John 16:7) is eye-opening. Christ continues with us in the presence of the Spirit, who was ever with Jesus and guided Him through every trial, tribulation and temptation. The Spirit can remind us when we face doubts, trials and temptations of our own, that he has “been there, done that” with Jesus. Truly the Christian life is one that is directed by the Spirit. We walk by the Spirit, are led by the Spirit, are controlled by the Spirit, overcome sin by the Spirit, receive intercessions from the Spirit and are assured by the Spirit that we are children of God, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ! (Rom. 8:1-17) Indeed, as the Spirit transforms us with ever-increasing glory into the image of Christ, it is all because of our Lord, the Holy Spirit! (2 Cor. 3:18) |
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