Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. “The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the Cinderella of Christian doctrines… Christian people are not in doubt as to the work that Christ did; they know that He redeemed men by his atoning death, even if they differ among themselves as to what exactly this involved (Pettegrew 15.)” When it comes to understanding the Holy Spirit, none of us will ever fully understand or comprehend it. Pettegrew explains the dangers of superficial study when it comes to the Holy Spirit Pettegrew explains that “…even for us who live in a time when the Holy Spirit seems to be the most popular member of the trinity. Of course we must discipline ourselves to study to study this important doctrine with the utmost care (Pettegrew 16).” …show more content…
Matthew twenty-eight is the first time the “Trinity” is talked about as a whole, combining the three as one person, The Godhead. “The Holy Spirit should not be thought of as merely the power of God or the presence of God, but is, like the Father and the Son, a distinct person within the eternal Trinity. This is the implication of verses that speak of the Holy Spirit as distinct from the Father and the Son …show more content…
Therefore Paul can speak of ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’. And he emphasizes that differing spiritual gifts are intended to draw us together in the body of Christ, for they are given ‘for the common good’, and the church is like a body that has many different parts with different functions, but it remains ‘one body’ and the differing parts of the body need each other (Grudem).’” As one body, under the Godhed, three in one, we are unified as
...nity. The Holy Spirit allows human beings to become closer to God, and the relationship between the Father and the Son. After writing about both the Trinity and Salvation, I have learned that they are immensely interconnected. The Trinity allows human beings to find Salvation. All in all, the Trinity is not three separate parts, but one part with three different essences.
The Bible never makes of the specific reference of the trinity, the Bible does talk about the divine existence of each of the three members of the Trinity, God (The Father), The Son (Jesus Christ), and the Spirit (The Holy Spirit). It is still a complex idea for me to understand fully but scripture does indeed tell of the work and existence of the trinity.
People have been struggling with the writings of the Apostle Paul from the time he first walked on this earth and began proclaiming the gospel all over the eastern part of the world. However, over the past 50 years the debate has intensified as leading scholars have come to different interpretations of Paul’s literature. This has led to a reexamination of Paul’s writings and the articulation of a strong defense of one’s beliefs about the historical Paul. This paper is being written in order to articulate some of the newer positions pertaining to Pauline Research and to provide some possible implications from their outcomes. The new perspectives on Paul can be rather confusing for the general layperson, so it is the goal of this paper to clarify and explain these new positions in contrast to the prevalent and classically held orthodox view that contains many doctrines that the church has stood upon for years.
The Triune God What does it mean to say the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How is God best understood? How can the Church communicate this today? D14734
...ty in the world that even remotely resembles it”. (p91) Going forward what is needed is for the Corinthians is to stop being self-centered and repent. The church is God’s sanctuary. Paul’s portrayal of the church expands upon the role of the “Father Son and Holy Spirit in relation to the church”(p91). Which minimizes the role of its leaders, the leaders are not to be put on a pedestal. Because all the glory goes to God the leaders are mere servants of their flock and servants of God. The growth in God’s field is caused by God not humans as for God’s building the only foundation is that of Jesus Christ, and God’s temple is where the Holy Spirit dwells. According to Romans 8:17 what is Jesus’s is ours 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The ministries of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are closely related, each one serving an individual purpose while complimenting the other. Although the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one in the trinity, they each have different roles that they play. The Holy Spirit plays an active part in our lives, as does Jesus. The role of the Spirit changed with Jesus. When Jesus died and rose from the cross, He opened up a new doorway for us, a new opportunity for us to experience the Holy Spirit. The Spirit became active and real to us in a way that He never could before. Today, our lives are focused on Jesus, focused on His love and sacrifice. His present ministry is seen through His believers. We are His lights in this present dark world.
For Christians it is impossible to comprehend all of God’s mysteries, all of God’s plans, all of God’s desires, abilities, mercies, and blessings. It’s impossible to comprehend all of God. This is the price they pay for serving a divine God of infinitive complexity. Even when he spells it out for them, as he did with creating the bible, the human mind is incapable of understanding how God works. Since people are simple minded and selfish beings, debates over what God is trying to tell them in scripture can be formed, and can get to the point where these debates spilt the Christian churches. The question of whether or not the gifts of the holy spirit still has an active role in the modern day churches is one that has been greatly argued among the believers. Although many ideas have been presented on the matter, three major viewpoints have been formed; Cessationism, Continuationism, and an open but cautious view. Whether or not the gifts of the spirit are still part of the Christian chu...
Paul follows that illustration of the “one’s” by expounding even further on how Christ has equipped us spiritually to achieve this oneness. He begins the new explanation by explaining the meaning and purpose of Christ’s ascension and dissention. The purpose was to fill the whole universe (v10). In doing so he equipped men with divine gifts affording us the opportunity to rejoin a standing relationship with God.
Paul summarizes all this preaching in seventeen stanzas by referring to the "Spirit" and the "Flesh." We are first introduced by Paul of these topics/words in his letter to the Galatians. Paul contrasts the two ways of living in a community in chapter five of Galatians. "Spirit" is the caring of others and builds interpersonal relationships within a community. The "Flesh" is a self centeredness and a natural way to live of only caring for oneself. The "works of the flesh" will break apart a community.
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
The doctrine of the church is ecclesiology, which comes from the greek word church - human beings who are like Christ. This doctrine is a doctrine for the universal church. We sometimes enter a singular way of talking about our culture when the bible speaks in plurality. Ecclesiology gives us the basis of our belief and marks of the church which gives us clarity of what it means to be “one holy catholic and apostolic.” The church bears four marks: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity. These four marks are the truth about the church. We must act in Unity because the church is one, 1 Corinthians 12:12 say “Just as the body is one and as many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” The Holiness is a inheritance given to us by Christ. However we can not achieve that alone. As we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He actualizes that for us. Catholicity is the universality and wholeness the church, making room for people to enter the body of Christ. Lastly is apostolicity which is about the authority and truth, and the authority of the apostles is in their eyewitness testimony of Jesus (2 Peter 1:16). The church teaches about the apostles truth that is true to the gospel of Jesus
The Trinity is one of the most essential pillars in the Christian faith. It is the mystery of the unity and oneness of God in one of three persons. This unity is a crucial part of the foundation of the faith and cornerstone to those who believe. “The mystery of the Holy Trinity, who believe in the church was not if the result of the thought of a human is not the outcome of a religious or external philosophical effects of late, but it was based on the gospel of the apostles themselves they lived and passed themselves as an experience deified and life. ”1 The idea of the Trinity is not something that has been made up by people of the faith, this is a concept that has been explained and shown throughout the disciples and the Holy Bible.
Biblical witness centers on the Spirits activity of “binding believers to Christ, incorporation them into the church as the body of Christ and equipping the church for mission.” Despite the best effort of the Church to be the hands and feet of Christ it is reassuring to know that the Spirit is still present and working in the hearts of people outside of the church’s work. Without the work of the Spirit in the hearts of believers and throughout the word, humanity would not know the love of God. The Holy Spirit gives liberates and brings new life it unites, encourages and brings hope to a world pledged by darkness.
The ideal of unity seems to be of great importance in the religious world, but rarely is it ever achieved among professed Christians. However, it is vitally important to comprehend unity in its Biblical light. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” By definition, unity is the state of being one. In order to have a unified church every member must be one one with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, to achieve such an oneness, each member must be perfectly holy, because God is holy. Unfortunately, this is where a clear contrast is made between the saints and mere religious professors.
Green, Chris E. "'The Body of Christ, the Spirit of Communion': Re-Visioning Pentecostal Ecclesiology in Conversation with Robert Jenson." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20, no. 1 (2011): 15-26.