The Doctrine of The Holy Spirit

     In Matthew Chapter 26, before his betrayal and arrest, the Lord took with him Peter, James, and John. The Lord on that fateful night told them, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mat 26:41) Paul in all of his epistles spends a great deal of time talking about the Spirit and the Flesh. Today I would like to analyze the doctrine of the Holy Spirit from Paul’s epistle to the Galatians.

     According to T. Paige, Paul’s concept of the Holy Spirit came from three main sources; (1) The Old Testament, (2) Intertestamental Judaism, and (3) Christian thought. Paul’s Old Testament understanding of the Spirit was God’s presence and power.1 As of note Paul did not have a Hellenistic idea of the Spirit as something being at the beck and call of man. Paul understood that the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and because God is One there is only one Spirit in all.2 Paul believed that the Galatians received the Spirit by hearing the gospel message with faith. God is the one who provides the Spirit and works miracles among them. (Gal 3:1-5)

     As stated earlier Paul speaks often in his epistles about the Spirit and the Flesh. John Calvin believed that the believer has two natures; a spiritual nature and a fleshy nature. Even though the Christian has been redeemed, he is helplessly subject to the power of the flesh until the resurrection.3

     There is not sufficient space in this essay to give my personal views on this matter; however, I will say that both the Spirit and the Flesh are present in the believer’s life. Prior to receiving the Holy Spirit, you had one nature (the flesh), and therefore were subject to fleshy desires. Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16) Who was Paul talking too? Believers, therefore, believers who walk by the Spirit will not carry out the desires of the flesh. However, a word of warning, never think that you have won dominance over your flesh, and never consider your flesh redeemed. There will always be a war between the Spirit and the flesh until the consummation. “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” (Gal 5:17) If you are in Christ you must crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal 5:24) “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25)

     In addition to the Holy Spirit working in the believer’s life against the flesh, the Holy Spirit is also at work in evangelism; convincing those who have heard the gospel to believe (Gal 3:1-3), and giving believers the boldness and wisdom to testify about Jesus.4 Paul understood that Justification, Christ, and the Spirit are always linked, you cannot have one without the other.5

     Paul believed that the greatest outcropping of the Holy Spirit is love (cf. 1 Cor 13), being in the Spirit, or being in Christ expresses itself in fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 list the fruit of the Spirit.6 The reason that one goes out and testifies about Jesus is out of love and obedience towards God in Jesus Christ, and love and concern for one’s neighbor. The reason that a believer bears the burden of his brother, restoring him who is caught in a trespass with gentleness is out of love for his brother. (Gal 6:1-4) To be in the Spirit is to be concerned for what is best for the other even at one’s own expense.

     So brothers and sisters let us walk in the Spirit of Holiness as Christ walked. Let us testify about Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel with boldness and wisdom in this world. Let us walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh, putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Let us walk in unity bearing one another’s burdens and praying for one another. Let us do so knowing that the consummation of the Kingdom is coming. Until that day let us worship the Lord together in the Spirit of Christ.

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     1 T. Paige, “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 404.

     2 T. Paige, “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 405.

     3 T. Paige, “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 409.

     4 T. Paige, “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 409.

     5 T. Paige, “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 410.

     6 Ibid.

A Counseling Plan For Depression Based on the Book of Ephesians

Being both a Registered Nurse and a Theology student I know and understand that there are both physical and spiritual causes for depression. Believers are often told that we should not be despondent, but should be joyful at all times because of the hope that is in us. In fact Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit. (cf. Gal 5:22) Yesterday evening before sitting down to write, I met as is our costume on Wednesday nights with my local church for a fellowship meal and prayer. I was humbled by the prayer request. A man struggling with his father’s decisions after the death of his wife (the man’s mother). A husband and wife whose adult daughter is confused about her gender. A missionary and friend who is detained in Turkey, and his wife deported. And these are just a few examples of some of the things that our brothers and sisters are struggling with today.

I believe that the root cause of depression in a believer is a tendency to walk according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit of promise with which we were sealed when we believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. (cf. Eph 1:13) What do I mean by walking according to the flesh? The flesh looks at self and our physical surroundings; when this happens our happiness is based on wither or not our surroundings please us. The book of Ephesians causes us to look above self; to look towards God and his great love for us. By doing this we then want to be imitators of God, Christ Jesus is our example.

The book of Ephesians begins by praising God. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” (Eph 1:3-4) Why should he be praised? He has chosen us as his own people, he has forgiven our sins, and he has redeemed us from the bondage to sin by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith.1

Ephesians 2:1-10 is an awe inspiring text, because in it our spiritual state prior to salvation is altogether described . Then the text turns towards God and his amazing love for us, magnificently describing what God has done for us in the now, and what he will do for us in the ages to come in Christ Jesus. There is nothing that we have done to deserve his grace, mercy, and kindness. Now that God has done this, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.

He loved us, therefore, we should love other people; especially those within the church. The man who wrote Ephesians is a Jew and is in prison for preaching the gospel to the gentiles. “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.” (Eph 3:1-3) The revelation and mystery that Paul is talking about is that both Jews and Gentiles are both fellow members of the body in Christ Jesus.

Because of God’s great love with which he loved us we ought to seek the best for our brother. In chapter 4 he begins to talk about the different way that a believer should walk. “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.” (Eph 4:25) In Chapter 5 we should be imitators of God; “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Eph 5:1-2)

In doing so wives are to be subject to their husbands and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. No where do you find in this writing were the husband demands this of his wife, or the wife demands this of her husband. This happens when we walk in the flesh and not according to the Spirit. If you are walking according to the Spirit your concern is for the other and not yourself.

In chapter 6 he talks about other relationships like kids and parents, and slaves and masters. In each of these relationships ones consideration is not for self, but for the other. He concludes the letter by saying that our real struggle is not with other people, but with the schemes of the devil. Therefore, we must put on the full armor of God.

Therefore when counseling a believer who is struggling with depression I would use the book of Ephesians to tell them: 1) About the Greatness of God. 2) About who they were before salvation. 2) What God has done for them and what he will do for them in the ages to come in Christ Jesus. 3) That Christ is exalted and seated at the right hand of God, and that we the church are seated with him.2 He is the head and we are the body.3 4) Therefore, because of what he has done live a life pleasing to him by seeking the best for the other. 5) Remember that our war is not against flesh and blood, but against the schemes of the devil.

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1 C. E. Arnold, “Ephesians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 246.

2 C. E. Arnold, “Ephesians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 246.

3 C. E. Arnold, “Ephesians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 248.

A Philosophy for Addressing Sexual Sin In the Church

When asked by the Pharisees about marriage, more specifically about divorce, the Lord gave this answer; "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ' For this reason A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh '? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." (Mt 19:4-6) This was not asked because the Pharisees wanted an answer, but because they were challenging the Lord’s authority as the new and better Moses. Their follow up question demonstrates that point, but I have quoted the Lord’s words because in saying it, the Lord defined marriage from creation.

The more a society as a whole becomes sexually immoral, the more likely it is that sexual immorality will invade the church. Sex was created by God and given to men and women with a two fold purpose; (1) it binds the man and woman together, (2) and by it a new human being is created. It is nessasary for the man and woman to be bond together to effectively raise up the child in fear and adminition of the Lord.

Sexual immorality is becoming more prevelent in our society as a whole, and therefore threatens to invade the church. Paul in one of his epistles to the church at Corinth addresses the subject of sexual immorality within the church in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6. Corinth was a large and important city in the Roman empire and controlled the overland between Italy and Asia. It was literally at the cross roads of the world. Also being a sea port Corinth was renowned for its sexual corruption and other vices.1 It is said that Plato used the term “Corinthian girl” when speaking about a prostitute.2

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for having a man among them that has his fathers wife. Paul is amazed by this, because this kind of thing does not even exist among the gentiles. The Corinthians had become lackadaisical in their persuit of holiness and had become concerned with boasting about their human wisdom. Paul had previously told them not to associate with immoral people, not the immoral people in the society, but immoral people within the church, not even to eat with such a person. Paul is telling the Corinthians to excommunicate this man.3 Christianity is a community faith, it is impossible for someone to live out the faith on their own; his hope is that by putting this person out of the church his flesh well die and he will repent.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul then tells the Corinthians that they need to judge their own disputes. The Corinthians need to look at things differently and not go to judges outside of the church, but judge their own affairs because the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.4 (1 Cor 6:9-10) Paul then begins to talk about the body and how the body of the redeemed belongs to the Lord. Paul then brings it back around to the understanding that sex binds. “Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’” (1 Cor 6:16)

Since the Lord defined sexual relationship (marriage) as the binding together of a man and woman for life, any other sexual relationship by definition is immoral. Paul in 1 Corinthians has given the frame work of how to deal with sexual immorality within the church. It is not to be tolerated within the body, because like leaven in bread it will spread throughout the entire body. (1 Cor 5:6) Therefore, it must be cleaned out (1 Cor 5:7) and is done so by the whole body judging the members of the body who are envolved in sexual immorality for the sake of love.

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1 S. J. Hafemann, “Corinthians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 172.

2 S. J. Hafemann, “Corinthians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 173.

3 S. J. Hafemann, “Corinthians, Letter to the” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1993), 172-173.

4 Ibid.