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NASB | Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 11:13 "If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!" |
Subject: Do we receive *holy *spirit as a gift? |
Bible Note: Hi, Ray. Thank you very much for explaining your thoughts to me in such a way that I think I understand what it is you are wanting to convey. I must admit though, it didn't come easy! I only have a few moments to write this reply but hopefully I will be able to cover everything I want to point out. You say that you are "...merely suggesting that there is a holy spirit in Scripture as well." We know there is a spirit. Romans 8:16 speaks of "the Spirit" and "our spirit" in the same sentence. I guess my response to your statement would have to be; do you believe our spirit (obviously after conversion) is holy? If we are to walk "according to the spirit" it would seem, by necessity, it would have to be holy. The same is true of verse 9. If we are "in the spirit" because the Spirit of God dwells in us" and being "in the spirit" means we are not walking in the flesh, our spirit would have to be holy. So this is why you are wondering if the "gift of the Holy Spirit" is really the "gift of the holy spirit" or God giving us the gift of making our spirit holy. Yes? No? You wrote: "2) Verse 6, NKJ, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Verse 6, NASB, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." We have to decide whether the Scripture is talking about being spiritually minded or be thinking of the Spirit. Is it speaking of spirit or Spirit?" I believe that verse is saying (in both forms) that we are to have our minds set on the things of the Spirit. Wouldn't being carnally minded mean our minds are focused on the things of the flesh? Why we would want our minds focused on the things of the spirit? To use spirit in this way we would have to say our minds are focused on the things of OUR spirit, wouldn't it? Even if our spirit was holy, why would we be told to focus on the things of our spirit rather than God's? Because our spirit now looks like His? What would it mean for our spirit to be holy? What would it "look like"? Isn't holiness the absence of sin? If you could define "holy" that would help. Because to say our spirit is without sin is to say that part of our being has already attained a form of perfection. (I can't wait to hear the "Be ye holy as I am holy" quotes!) Unfortunately, my brain functions at an even slower pace at this time of night so I have to quit for now. The more I try to reason this out the more I get tangled in my circles. I just want to add one last thing. In verse 6 of the NKJ it speaks of being "spiritually minded". I don't think it's in error to equate this with setting our minds on the things of the Spirit. To be godly (lower case) minded still means to have our mind toward the things of God. In the same way, to be spiritually minded would mean to have our mind toward the things of the Spirit. Your turn. :-) In Him, Karen |