Reg
01-17-2007, 09:50 AM
In going back over some threads, I ran across this and looked it up. I also like it a lot.
Mary wrote:
www.monergism.com is a wonderful website. Cuts through the mountains of absolute garbage
re: religion that's on the Internet these days.
This led me to notice what some others wrote.........
Meg wrote:
You have to rely on the ''true Holy Spirit'' to see you through so as to not be snared by the
system.
Enochwar wrote:
I've been so wound up in trying to "find the answer" and "figure out what's going on" I forgot the
basics....Trust God...depend on the guidance of His Holy Spirit...
Ex-shep & Elenor also mentioned, “ Who grows the church- US or the Holy Spirit?”
“The classes definitely ring a bell. I have taken them. It can have the tendency of putting God in a
box.
Where is the Holy Spirit is an excellent question.
I can understand the critics complaints on growth. Christianity is not a numbers game.”
That is why I am posting this.
The Working of the Holy Spirit - What Does He Do?
This is the one area that opens up a clearer understanding of the nature of God. The Holy Spirit works in complete agreement with the Father & Son having the function of living in us personally. He should be considered, our best friend who will constantly help us. We need to realize that sinning disrupts that relationship. You wouldn't intentionally do something to hurt your best friend, yet that is exactly what happens when we sin. How do you feel
when you hurt your best friend and the closeness & intimacy is broken? Not very good. Right? Anyone who is married & has an argument with their spouse knows how bad that feels until they make up. It's the same with the Holy Spirit. Until we feel sorry & repent, we don't feel so good. Yes, of course, we live in a state of grace & all R sins R forgiven. But, we want to restore that close initmate relationship so that we can feel good again. We depend on the Holy Spirit to help us in our daily lives. To feel separated from Him leaves us feeling alone. No wonder He is also called the Comforter. How can you refer to that as some impersonal force. Of course, in our limited mental capacity, the concept of the Trinity in it's fullness is an article of faith.
I'm not talking so much about restoring the relationship. Using the best friend analogy is not a perfect one. But, it is one we can grasp with our minds for better understanding. I am using it more for an attempt to explain how WE feel the way we do. I know how I feel when I do not sin. I also know how I feel when I do sin. I'm sure not everyone feels the same way. I'm only attempting to find anwers for myself. I don't like pat answers. If my analogy has helped some have a closer walk with their Saviour. Great! It's not a matter of right or wrong. Like a lot of things, we have learned that there are more colours than black & white. As long as we know what's Black ...and ... white....Fine! Let's enjoy the other colours of the rainbow.
We have come from a religious culture that liked to have all the answers to these sorts of things. We needed a nice tight package that sort of tied up all the loose ends. Anything outside the box & our pat answers, had to be wrong.
After all, WE were the ONLY True Church. ALL others were pagan, therefore wrong.
Thinking like that has a lot of carry overs. It is cultish. We have to learn to think Outside the box. We need faith & loads of Grace to accomplish this. We also need perfect love.
1John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love.
It is through the working of the Holy Spirit in a person's life that convicts them of sin & moves them to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts & lives. We & new converts believe that it is by His blood that their sins are forgiven &
washed away. It is when they accept Christ as personal Saviour that they become Christians.
Specifically what does the Holy Spirit do?
Here is a partial list.
1) His primary work is to lead us into truth and convict us of sin.
2) This lead us into a repentant attitude. We understand what Christ has done for us and our need
for forgiveness. The Spirit convicts our hearts of this and our need to have a personal relationship
with Jesus. He points us to Jesus.
3) Next the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to communicate with God directly. We are now considered sons & daughters.
Ro 8:15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father!
Ga 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
4) He helps us develop a relationship with the Father.
Eph 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
5) He helps us to pray.
Ro 8:26 ¶ Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
6) He helps us have wisdom to understand God's word.
Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in [the] knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
7) He gives us a family likeness (morally).
Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
8) He brings unity into the family.
Eph 4:4 [There is] one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
9) He gives gifts to all the children for the common good of the family.
1Co 12:1 ¶ Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brothers, I would not have you ignorant....to vs 11
1Pe 4:10 each one as he received a gift, ministering it to yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Eph 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
10) Gives growth to the family.
Ac 1:8 But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to [the] end of the earth.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
Mt 28:19 Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
I'm sure you will find out other things the Holy Spirit does but this is a good start.And what a shame that we didn't recognize this third member of the of the God Family. Pity. He is th e one who has been working so abundantly among us and we ignored Him. He was stubbornly resisted by many, especially
the heirachy of the wcg. I know this personally. No wonder there was so little power there. Thankfully I am in a church that has always recognized the Holy Spirit and the work He is doing. I am still learning many things about Him I didn't know before. Praise God!
Mary wrote:
www.monergism.com is a wonderful website. Cuts through the mountains of absolute garbage
re: religion that's on the Internet these days.
This led me to notice what some others wrote.........
Meg wrote:
You have to rely on the ''true Holy Spirit'' to see you through so as to not be snared by the
system.
Enochwar wrote:
I've been so wound up in trying to "find the answer" and "figure out what's going on" I forgot the
basics....Trust God...depend on the guidance of His Holy Spirit...
Ex-shep & Elenor also mentioned, “ Who grows the church- US or the Holy Spirit?”
“The classes definitely ring a bell. I have taken them. It can have the tendency of putting God in a
box.
Where is the Holy Spirit is an excellent question.
I can understand the critics complaints on growth. Christianity is not a numbers game.”
That is why I am posting this.
The Working of the Holy Spirit - What Does He Do?
This is the one area that opens up a clearer understanding of the nature of God. The Holy Spirit works in complete agreement with the Father & Son having the function of living in us personally. He should be considered, our best friend who will constantly help us. We need to realize that sinning disrupts that relationship. You wouldn't intentionally do something to hurt your best friend, yet that is exactly what happens when we sin. How do you feel
when you hurt your best friend and the closeness & intimacy is broken? Not very good. Right? Anyone who is married & has an argument with their spouse knows how bad that feels until they make up. It's the same with the Holy Spirit. Until we feel sorry & repent, we don't feel so good. Yes, of course, we live in a state of grace & all R sins R forgiven. But, we want to restore that close initmate relationship so that we can feel good again. We depend on the Holy Spirit to help us in our daily lives. To feel separated from Him leaves us feeling alone. No wonder He is also called the Comforter. How can you refer to that as some impersonal force. Of course, in our limited mental capacity, the concept of the Trinity in it's fullness is an article of faith.
I'm not talking so much about restoring the relationship. Using the best friend analogy is not a perfect one. But, it is one we can grasp with our minds for better understanding. I am using it more for an attempt to explain how WE feel the way we do. I know how I feel when I do not sin. I also know how I feel when I do sin. I'm sure not everyone feels the same way. I'm only attempting to find anwers for myself. I don't like pat answers. If my analogy has helped some have a closer walk with their Saviour. Great! It's not a matter of right or wrong. Like a lot of things, we have learned that there are more colours than black & white. As long as we know what's Black ...and ... white....Fine! Let's enjoy the other colours of the rainbow.
We have come from a religious culture that liked to have all the answers to these sorts of things. We needed a nice tight package that sort of tied up all the loose ends. Anything outside the box & our pat answers, had to be wrong.
After all, WE were the ONLY True Church. ALL others were pagan, therefore wrong.
Thinking like that has a lot of carry overs. It is cultish. We have to learn to think Outside the box. We need faith & loads of Grace to accomplish this. We also need perfect love.
1John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love.
It is through the working of the Holy Spirit in a person's life that convicts them of sin & moves them to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts & lives. We & new converts believe that it is by His blood that their sins are forgiven &
washed away. It is when they accept Christ as personal Saviour that they become Christians.
Specifically what does the Holy Spirit do?
Here is a partial list.
1) His primary work is to lead us into truth and convict us of sin.
2) This lead us into a repentant attitude. We understand what Christ has done for us and our need
for forgiveness. The Spirit convicts our hearts of this and our need to have a personal relationship
with Jesus. He points us to Jesus.
3) Next the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to communicate with God directly. We are now considered sons & daughters.
Ro 8:15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father!
Ga 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
4) He helps us develop a relationship with the Father.
Eph 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
5) He helps us to pray.
Ro 8:26 ¶ Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
6) He helps us have wisdom to understand God's word.
Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in [the] knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
7) He gives us a family likeness (morally).
Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
8) He brings unity into the family.
Eph 4:4 [There is] one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
9) He gives gifts to all the children for the common good of the family.
1Co 12:1 ¶ Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brothers, I would not have you ignorant....to vs 11
1Pe 4:10 each one as he received a gift, ministering it to yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Eph 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
10) Gives growth to the family.
Ac 1:8 But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to [the] end of the earth.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
Mt 28:19 Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
I'm sure you will find out other things the Holy Spirit does but this is a good start.And what a shame that we didn't recognize this third member of the of the God Family. Pity. He is th e one who has been working so abundantly among us and we ignored Him. He was stubbornly resisted by many, especially
the heirachy of the wcg. I know this personally. No wonder there was so little power there. Thankfully I am in a church that has always recognized the Holy Spirit and the work He is doing. I am still learning many things about Him I didn't know before. Praise God!