The Holy Spirit- His Ministries through the gifts and worship

As we have explored the personality and ministries of the Holy Spirit, the overall goal has been to show how the Holy Spirit acts in the Christian's life as "God in us".  We have seen the Spirit's work in Revelation, Incarnation, Creation and Evangelism.  In today's blog we will be finishing up our short study of the Holy Spirit by noting His work in the gifts and worship.  The reason why I chose to include these last two ministries together is because worship is the Spirit's purpose for the believer, with the gifts being given by the Spirit to accomplish that purpose.  

The Spirit's ministry of the gifts 
There are roughly five main chapters in the New Testament that speak about the various abilities or gifts given by the Holy Spirit.  Out of all of them, 1 Corinthians 12 gives the clearest and fullest treatment.  1 Corinthians 12 shows us the involvement of the entire Trinity in this work, with the Holy Spirit being the chief agent in the distribution of the gifts.  1 Corinthians 12:11 tells us - "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will."  

For the sake of length, we cannot go into what all these gifts are.  However we can quickly note two things: first that there are roughly 20-30 gifts mentioned in both 1 Corinthians 12 and other passages, and second, the word translated "gifts" could also be rendered "gracings".  Really the idea of spiritual gifts is not like a box wrapped in paper.  Rather a spiritual gift (or gracing) is a manifestation of the unlimited grace of God the Holy Spirit poured out in the believer's life. (compare Romans 5:1-5)  

In 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, we discover 4 major truths about the giving of the various "gifts" or "gracings" of the Spirit:
1. The plans of the gifts is for evangelism and effective Christian living. 12:1-7
2. The pleasures of the gifts are discovered in God's glory and work. 12:8-13
3. The reasons behind the gifts is to motivate God's people for His will. 12:14-26
4. The revelation in the gifts is God's prevailing love. 12:27-13:13

I would encourage the reader to study 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 to gain a better understanding of the gracings of God.  It is through these that the Spirit accomplishes His main purpose for the giving of them - worship

The Spirit's ministry of worship
In Ephesians 2 and 4 we discover that the Holy Spirit distributes gracings or giftings to God's people for the purpose of making a living, breathing temple. (please compare Ephesians 2:21-22).   It is on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (the written word), with Christ Jesus being the determining chief corner stone that the Spirit constructs this living temple.  Then we come to Ephesians 4:9-13, where we see the Holy Spirit giving various offices  to perfect or mature the saints for the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:12)  The Spirit's main work as "God in us" is to bring us to the point of the worship and praise of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

When we say the Holy Spirit's ministry in worship is to point the way to the Father and Son, being that He is God Himself, the person of the Holy Spirit is automatically included in that worship.  Let me close with these two thoughts of the Spirit's ministry of worship - to make the Triune God experiential in our lives, and to demonstrate the reality of the Triune God to a lost and dying world, both of which bring glory to God.  

The Holy Spirit's work in the incarnation, creation, evangelism

As the Spirit's primary ministry is that of Revelation, all of His other ministries flow from who He is.   As the Holy Spirit works to reveal the work of the Son and the voice of the Father, He reveals His own nature as the God of glory, sharing the same divine life with the Father and Son.  As the God of glory who reveals, the Holy Spirit ministers or has ministered in the other following areas:

The Incarnation
When we say "incarnation", we are referring to the event in which Christ entered into the womb of the virgin Mary and took upon Himself a human nature, literally "being made human flesh".  The term "incarnation" comes from two Latin words: "en" meaning "in" and "carnos"  meaning "flesh".   In a manner that is still more mystery than a known step by step way, the Holy Spirit "hovered" or "overshadowed" Mary, making it possible in history and time for the Eternal Son to become a man.  As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6, the glory of God is revealed on the face of Jesus Christ. 

Creation
In Genesis 1:1-2 we read of the "Spirit of God" hovering over the waters.  Whenever we see the Spirit hovering over anything in scripture, the idea is to bring forth either life or to manifest the glory of God (or in the case of the incarnation, both).  The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life.  Without Him, life on this planet would not be possible. (Compare Psalm 104:30).

Evangelism
It is the Holy Spirit who applies the salvation accomplished by Christ and planned by God the Father.  It is He, the God of glory, who calls men and women to Christ, convicting and effecting them with the gift of firm persuasion (faith). It is the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  The Holy Spirit, as God, has ordained Christian people to be the means by which this gospel is brought to lost sinners, in order to accomplish His end: convicting, calling and convincing the sinner of their need for Christ.  No evangelism can be done without the Holy Spirit.

When we think about the Spirit's work in these three areas, we can see how they are all connected.  Because the Holy Spirit works in evangelism to bring forth life out of the sinner's spiritually dead human heart, they in turn are able to see Jesus Christ as the Creator whom they have offended, and the Savior who became a man to save them, and thus believe on Him. (Please compare John 1:12-13; Ephesians 2:1-10)

The Holy Spirit - His Ministry through the Bible

Quick Review
Having seen the Deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit, we now move to the ministries  of the Spirit of God.  To quickly remind the reader of our central points about the Holy Spirit:

1. He has a Personality - mind, emotions and will
2. He alone is able to fully reveal the infinite (without beginning and ending) God the Son, who infinitely, visibly reveals the invisible, infinite, God the Father.
3. Any person who can infinitely reveal an infinite person is Himself infinite (without beginning and ending)
4. Thus The Son and Holy Spirit have the same, Divine, infinite nature as God the Father.
5. Thus since anything that is infinite cannot be divided up into smaller pieces, we can truly say then that the One God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is this set of assumptions that give the background for understanding how God the Holy Spirit calls lost sinners and ministers daily to Christians.  We will now briefly look at the Holy Spirit's work in revealing the scriptures.The God of Glory in RevelationPaul writes in Ephesians 1:18 - "¹⁷That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  ¹⁸The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints".   The "spirit of wisdom and revelation" should be capitalized.  Only by the Spirit of God affecting our understanding, or "quickening us to see" God and His truth will there be any true love for Jesus Christ.  Under this general heading of the Spirit's work of revelation, theologians identify three "sub-ministries". The first two are complete, and the last one is vital for Christians today.

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S REVELATION OF SCRIPTURE  TO THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLESPeter reminds us that it was the Holy Spirit who spoke to the prophets of old, revealing to them the otherwise unrevealed riches of God's will in the scriptures (1 Peter 1:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21). 

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE THROUGH THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLESOnce the Holy Spirit revealed a given truth to a prophet or apostle, the author's own words and writing style would be used by God to compose error free documents called the scriptures.  This process, whereby the Holy Spirit "breathed" out these scriptures through the pens of the human authors is what we call "inspiration" (literally God breathed). (compare 2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S ILLUMINATION OF SCRIPTURE TO CHRISTIANS TODAYOnce the scriptures were complete, Christians of every age would use them as the standard books by which they would know and live out the will of God.  The Holy Spirit, in every true Christian, enables understanding of the scriptures.  This ministry is called "illumination" (see 1 Corinthians 2:14-16).  It must be made clear that there are no "new revelations" or "no new inspired writings" flying off of the presses of heaven.  Scripture is complete, without error and never to be added to.  However the Spirit is all the time shedding light on the meaning of the text.  It is vital for Christians everywhere to read, study and think on the scriptures.  It is through them we receive illumination to live by. (compare 1 Peter 2:1-2)

Who is the Holy Spirit? - His Personality

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ⁴ “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Matthew 28:19-20 ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

GOD IN US, WITH US AND ABOVE US
As we consider the God of the Bible, biblical testimony reveals that God is One in existence and three in identity. The Holy Spirit, who will be the focus of today's blog, is for the Christian "God in us".  God the Father is "God above us", unseen, dwelling in thick darkness, immortal and invisible (Jude 24-25).  God the Son is God with us, visibly revealing the Father, fully divine and completely human (John 1:14,18). God the Holy Spirit is in scripture the Third Person of the Trinity who comes to indwell the Christian at salvation (John 16:17).

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "PERSON"?
Personhood is that quality of a living being that includes the conscious expression of intellect, emotion and will.  The Holy Spirit has emotions, being that He can be grieved by our sin (Ephesians 4:30).  We also see that as the Spirit of revelation He has a mind by which to communicate and articulate Himself to Christians (Ephesians 1:18, 2 Peter 1:21). Finally, the Holy Spirit has a will by which He calls and gifts Christians in the church (Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12,14).  Perhaps the greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit's personhood comes from the lips of Jesus Himself.  Time and time again Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as "He", not "it".  

HOW DOES THE SPIRIT'S PERSONALITY POINT TO HIS DEITY?
John 14:16 has Jesus stating - "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever".  The word "another" in this passage refers to "another of the same kind".  When Christ is speaking to his disciples, He is clearly explaining His Deity, being that to see Him is to see the Father (John 14:7).  In saying to the disciples He is going to "send another comforter", He is stating that the Father and He are going to send forth the third person of the Trinity who shares in their nature.  The logic of Jesus' statements can be summarized below:
1. The Father is God(John 14:1)
2. To see and believe Jesus is to see and believe in God (John 14:1, 7)
3. The Holy Spirit is "another of the same kind" as Jesus Christ (John 14:16)
4. Thus the Holy Spirit is God, sharing in the same Deity as The Father and The Son (John 14:23)

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE PERSONAL GOD OF GLORY
The Holy Spirit is God who comes to the sinner, calling them to fall in love with God the Son.  In later blogs we will be exploring more about the God of Glory, the Holy Spirit, "God in us".  

Assurances of Salvation - P4

True Christians long for Christ's return and to be led by the Holy Spirit

We have looked at five assurances or fruits that one can look for when evaluating the genuineness of saving faith in their lives.  How can I know, that I know, that I know that I'm a Christian?  Thus far we have seen that true Christians hate worldliness, love God's word, Christ, God's people, obedience and prayer.  Today we will conclude the assurances of salvation by noting that true Christians long for Christ's return and want to be led by the Holy Spirit.

1. True Christians long for Christ's return

1 John 3:1-3 states - "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 

 It is no accident that the Christian's pre-occupation with Christ's return should grow over time, since satisfaction with the things of this world gradually pale, and longing to see Jesus should increase.  It can seem at times we are more caught up in the here-and-now than in the sweet-by-and-by.  Yet God's grace prompts us, reminds us, to long for His return.  This is why God's love is the motivation.  If we will but "see, behold" God the Father's love, we will then long for the second coming of Jesus. 

2. True Christians want to be led by the Holy Spirit

As Christians, we will either be "self-led" or "Spirit-led".  Ephesians 5:18 uses the language of "filling" to remind us of the repeated need for the Spirit's leading: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit".  At salvation, the Christian gets all of the Holy Spirit they will ever need.  From that point onward, the issue becomes: "how much of me does the Holy Spirit have?" 

1 John 4:13 states - "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."  The battle between "self" and "The Holy Spirit" is a daily affair.  Will I let my emotions and my thinking guide me, or will I order my emotions and thoughts under God's word.  The Holy Spirit living inside every Christian is "God in us", pointing to Jesus, who is "God with us", who bids us to love The Father, "God above us". 

What happens if I cannot gain assurance of salvation?

My prayer is that as you look at your heart, that these various assurances will clarify for you whether or not you are truly a Christian.  The basis of your salvation rests not in how you feel, but rather in God's written word - the Bible; and in God's Living word - Jesus Christ.  Have you by faith trusted in Christ alone by faith alone?  More importantly, are you right now, at this moment, relying upon Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord and Treasure?   If you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, Romans 10:9-10 is the plainest verse I know for settling the issue: "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." 

Assurances of Salvation - P3

True Christians love to pray, obey and be with God's p

Assurance of salvation is the Christian's level of confidence in knowing that they know that they know they are Christians.  In today's blog we continue by noting three additional fruits, or grace driven attitudes that should be evident in the person's life who claims Christ as their own.  If the reader would like to review the wider context of this discussion, please look at the last two blogs of this series to review how you can evaluate the genuineness of Christian faith in your own life.

1. True Christians love to approach Christ in prayer

1 John 2:1 tells us: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".  What is an advocate?  It is someone who is willing to represent our concerns to one who can do something about it.  Knowing that God can hear me, and knowing that I can hear God, can make prayer transform into something that I look forward to.  Note what David states in Psalm 42:3: "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and  appear before God?"  David could not wait to pray.  True Christians will grow over time to appreciate Christ in prayer. 

2. True Christians love to obey God

1 John 2:3 notes - "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."  Do I find obeying the Lord a drudgery or a delight?  Undoubtedly Christians experience up and down times in their Christian walk, where some days seem easier to obey God than others.  Yet it is in the area of following the Lord's leading where I truly gain the confidence of assurance.  For if I walk out the light God grants me in a given area of obedience, God pledges to grant me greater light to walk by (please compare 1 John 1:7-8).  It has been well said by older saints that one the one hand, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone apart from works.  However, following our committment of faith, we are being saved by a faith that is never alone.  1 John 5:3 states plainly: "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome."

3. True Christians love being with other Christians

1 John 2:10-11 makes this observation - "The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes."  The verbs underlined in this verse indicate a "continual, ongoing, persistent attitude".  More often than not the Bible measures the genuineness of one's love for Christ by how much on-going love they have for other Christians.  Why?  Because loving the brethren gives us practice for loving those who are not Christians.  If anything, loving other Christians is the most basic level of expressing God's love to other people. 


Unless hindered by circumstances out of one's control (such as illness or emergency), the Christian will ache in their heart whenever they miss church.  Grace-driven motives makes church attendance not a matter of a check-off list item, but rather an event whereby I reinforce my love for Jesus by being around other Christians.  Hebrews 10:25 states - "and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  

Come back tomorrow, dear reader, as we will look at further assurances of salvation described by 1 John.  May the Lord bless you this Lord's day. 

Assurances of Salvation - Part 2

Assurances of Salvation - The Christian's love for God's Closeness and the scriptures 

Yesterday we noted that assurance of salvation refers to "knowing that I know that I know that I am a Christian".  We also observed that a true believer in Jesus Christ is known by what he or she loves, and what he or she hates.  From this point onward, 1 John gives us affirmations of assurance based upon various things that the Christian loves.  Truly if we say we love Jesus Christ, then it will be exhibited by loving the things that He loves.  As we progress into 1 John, let me mention the key verse of the letter, 1 John 5:13 "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."  So what particular areas should a true believer in Jesus Christ see themselves growing in love with as they walk with the Lord?  What areas indicate, bear witness, give evidence that I truly am saved from the wrath to come, and have a true heart of faith in Jesus Christ?  Below are a couple of key areas that a true child of God should see more and more love.

1. True Christians will ultimately love closeness above comfort

 1 John 1:7-9 states: "but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   Positively speaking, to fear God means that I will make it my aim to not let anything get between me and my closeness with the Lord.  John especially is fond of describing the believer's walk in terms of "walking" and "light".  Do I find the pattern of my life gravitating more towards those things which will build me up in my relationship with Christ, or do I go for those things that will gain me favor in the eyes of men? 

As we noted yesterday, there will be those moments when the true Christian may choose the things of this world above the things of Christ.  However, the true heart of faith cannot persist in such a state.  That is why verse 9 is included, since a true believer will correct their course and ultimately strive towards the light.  Their love for Jesus, ultimately, is greater than anything they could have towards the world.

2. True Christians have a growing love for His word

1 John 2:3 states - "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."  Jesus says a similar statement in John 14:21"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”  The way I regard the written word of God is directly related to how I regard the living word Jesus Christ.  Love for the scriptures is the response of a human heart that is open to and touched by the work of God's Divine Grace.  When I find myself wavering in my love and passion for the word, I find the words of Psalm 119:18 helpful " Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law."  We need God's grace to enable us to love the things He loves.  A true believer, over time, will not only learn to love the scripture, but to live to love the scripture.  Why?  Because it is the written word of God that points the Christian to their first love, Jesus Christ.