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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What does Scripture say about the Spirit | NT general Archive 1 | Ray | 13825 | ||
Hi Joren, Keep on being a logical/analytical person for you'll need that trait to understand the Scriptures. May I suggest to you that if you know the Father and the Son, you know the Holy Spirit also for there is one God. God is Spirit and if you recognize the (capitalized) Son then you know that He is Holy. We as believers have the Spirit within us even as Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;..." Notice the bad grammar for showing that He lives within and you are one with Him. Another comment that I would make is concerning your statement, "I have learned that the Spirit is that which God uses to reveal His truth to us." I believe that the Spirit is not an it, or a which, or a that which. God reveals His truth to us through the Scriptures and the words of God. John 3:34 says, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit (I would say spirit) without measure." Jesus spoke the words of God as a gift of spirit and promise and they are there for everyone. But not everyone is filled with this "spirit". Ephesians 5:18 to my mind says, ...but be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms..." So, Joren, I would say that if you want to know this Holy Spirit, keep reading your Scriptures. (I prefer the NASB.) John 10:14, "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me." |
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2 | What does Scripture say about the Spirit | NT general Archive 1 | Joren | 13882 | ||
I do know the Spirit in a relational sense. As naturally happens in any relationship, one wants to understand the Spirit a little more as time goes on. The retreat/study made me realize how little I know about the roles of the Spirit. Also I have heard many perspectives on the Spirit that at least to me sound contrary to everything I have read in Scripture, but then I try not to dismiss things out of hand without hearing about it first. I wanted to get an informed opinion. For some reason, I usually see/hear the Spirit referenced as an "it". Because of that, it slips into my vocabulary against my will, even though I know the Spirit in the Bible is referred to as a He. I do not easily adjust... (BTW, what is the reason you lower-cased Spirit? Spirit I take to mean God's third person of the Trinity, spirit I take to be any old spirit, truth or not...do I understand correctly?) NASB - I have read up on the differences between the translations, and I would like to obtain one of these when I get the chance. Presently I have an NIV, that is the one I am most familiar with. Thank you for the time you have taken to reply to me, it is appreciated. -- Joren |
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3 | What does Scripture say about the Spirit | NT general Archive 1 | Ray | 13898 | ||
Hi Joren, When I started studying the Trinity many years ago, I decided against reading any books about the Holy Spirit but to read the Bible alone. I cannot tell you about the roles of the Holy Spirit for I think of all three as One. What I think I discovered however was that although the Holy Spirit was a Person there was also a filling of the holy spirit. You yourself wrote, "You could have the Spirit, but not be filled with it. To be filled with the spirit was to be under the Spirit's control". I believe that your statement is quite right. We as believers have the Spirit within us, but we are not filled with His words, His commandments, His love, whatever. But we should be for it sounds like a commandment in Ephesians 5:18, "...but be filled with the spirit," giving thanks for all things and being subject to one another. If it is a commandment then who does the filling? That is up to us I would think just as it is up to the drunk to be filled with wine. That is why I chose "spirit" in that passage. Scripture tells us to test the spirits and that what I have done in my personal study in capitalizing Deity. I did read one book on the occurances of the Holy Spirit in the Bible which was an impetus for me but after that I haven't read any. It is in knowing your Bible and the spirit that is therein that will give you the ability to be that good witness. What I have attempted to do in my study is to be consistent. In one of your paragraphs you spoke of the filling of the Spirit and also the filling of the spirit. I have not done that in my study. But I agree with you that "To be filled with the spirit was to be under the Spirit's control" in that we should desire to do His will in our lives as we understand it from the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit is "One called alongside to help" and is another Comforter just as Jesus was; just as God the Father is. Both Jesus and the Helper proceeded from the Father, both did not speak on His own initiative, and both did not glorify Himself but were glorified by the Father. I do not see roles of the Holy Spirit. I see a change of places. |
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4 | What does Scripture say about the Spirit | NT general Archive 1 | Joren | 14013 | ||
Actually I am instinctively quite leery of extra-Biblical sources because many times they become the wisdom of man instead of God - especially when some of the conclusions do not come with readily apparent Scripture citings. I saw a lot of people whose Christian lives seemed to revolve mostly around devotional materials without much actual Bible reading. My reaction was to throw out devotional materials PERIOD and go STRAIGHT to the Bible! I am thankful for that pull I was given. However, since then I've realized that sometimes they do have valuable insights that are not immediately obvious when reading the Bible; on the other hand, often reading these can be like gleaning wheat from chaff, silver from dross. To balance the desire for more insight and reliance on Scripture alone, I usually read the booklets and then seek to confirm/deny what they say by what the Bible says. I wanted to know what justification, if any, there was for what the booklets, (and for that matter the extreme Pentecostalist viewpoint), have to say before tossing them out the window. However, despite having read the entire Bible through, there are always things I don't understand right away. I found it difficult to understand what the Bible had to say on this topic, so that is why I posted. Re: the filling being up to us. I remember the booklet's viewpoint was that filling was something we should pray to God to have happen. Now, that prayer is a whole new thing that put me on edge; it said that if you pray you will be filled with the Spirit immediately, although it may not be obvious. I pray to God almost continually for His will and direction these days, but I have never viewed it as a light switch. The booklet used the interesting justification that, well, it is obviously God's will that we be filled with the Spirit (It did use a verse but I don't have it with me right now), and "if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." (1 Jn 5:14) I do not fully agree with the argument, because we do not always understand how God wishes to fulfill His will (right away, over time, or in a way we haven't even conceived of yet?) It may even be His will to let us willfully rebel now and then so we may remember how weak we are. And sometimes we must suffer so that we learn to rely on Him. God's will has many objectives for the good of those who believe in Him, not just that one, so God finds ways to fulfill them all. (Maybe this belongs in the predestination thread; I'll go back on topic now) Back to the BIBLE, though! The wording in the Ephesians verse leaves a little wiggle room for interpretation, "Be filled with the Spirit." Be, as in a state that is achieved by continually doing something? (Fill yourself with the spirit) or a passive state (Allow God to fill you with the Spirit)? To confuse the wording even more, here is Lk 1:15: "for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth." At least from birth, the passive sense is probably intended in that one particular verse. Prompted by the responses of both of you (thank you again!) I went and re-studied it again. While I do not remember nearly all the good verses I found, here's what I've been reading from Galatians: Gal 5:16-25 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." I guess a rational conclusion would be that it is in a way both an active and a passive thing. We should live by the Spirit's direction (v. 16, 18, 25), but the words, commandments, love, etc are the fruit of the Spirit (v. 22, 23) that we cannot get for ourselves (v 18, Ro 8:1-17). Re: Consistency. Yes, two times either I forgot to press the shift key, or once again this keyboard gave out on me. Sorry my typing isn't up to your standards. May God bless you, -- Joren |
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5 | What does Scripture say about the Spirit | NT general Archive 1 | Ray | 14074 | ||
Hi Joren, You have expressed yourself very well here. Regarding Luke 1:15 and the nine or ten other places that speak of the "filling of the spirit", whether active or passive, I in my personal copy put the holy spirit in lower case. As far as Romans 8:1-17 is concerned, I go with the NASB for verse 15; " For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" Please correct me if I miss a shift key, OK? Later, Ray |
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