You have made a compelling argument for the Spirit being most neglected of the three choices. I like what you had to say defending your position. You stated, “the church has forgotten God’s Spirit is a gift that should not be neglected.” I agree that the church has neglected the Spirit and needs to reclaim an understanding of and a responsiveness to the Spirit and his work. Francis Chan, author of the book “Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit” writes; “The church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”
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Jesus’ miracles were often Spirit-empowered. Luke writes before Jesus’ healing of the paralytic, “And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” (Luke 5:17). Some of us don’t encounter the power of the Spirit because we aren’t engaged in the mission of the Spirit.
Your statement, “Since people do not rely on the Spirit, they do not recognize that the Spirit even exist”, is on mark. Paul exhorts believers and the believing community to make conscious decisions involving the act of the human will. Such decisions will call for me to take practical steps to display the fruit of the Spirit in all situations. That way, and in partnership with the Spirit, I will be in the position to love my neighbor as myself and, by so doing, to fulfil the law (5:14). By self-denial, my walking in the Spirit results from the combined roles of the Spirit and me mutually working together in the Christian life. My demonstrating that sowing to the Spirit means living daily for God within the life of the community instead of living for my own pleasure. Paul’s exhortation to
In the film “The Holy Ghost People,” right away we get individual accounts of what the “Holy Spirit” is to certain individuals. One woman says the Holy Ghost guides her and keeps her going. The people are very intense about their beliefs, which comes from the religion Pentecostalism, which has a hyper focus on personal experience with God and baptism with the Holy Spirit. We see them in their church, we hear the sermon, and see the ritualistic dances and the way the prayer overcomes them, and causes seizure like motions. We see and hear the prayers for the healing of one woman’s eyesight, and another woman’s back pain. One man, seemingly the pastor, says that “if God is not doing what they ask, people aren’t believing hard enough.” Later we get an account from a woman of how she was nursed back to health as a little girl brought her nutrients, and she believes it was
The New Testament is primarily about Jesus’ ministries and teachings. As Jesus traveled from country to country during his last three years on earth, He performed many miracles and healings of sick, lame, and demon-possessed people. As a student, I can relate to this tremendously, since I am studying pre-physical therapy. "A physical therapist can help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of rehabilitation and treatment of patients with chronic conditions or injuries (Occupational Outlook Handbook-Physical Therapists, 2014)." Similarly to Jesus, I can help people and maybe even help heal their injuries as a physical therapist. However, Jesus is the ultimate healer that can work through me to make this possible.
The Spirit helps us implore (Romans 8:26-27). He gives us new life (John 3:3-6). He is our consoler, and he helps us comprehend God's statement (John 14:26). He lifts up Christ (John 15:26). He convicts us of wrongdoing (John 16:7-11). He helps us to live holy lives (Romans 15:16). He gives us love, happiness, peace, tolerance, thoughtfulness, goodness, faithfulness, tenderness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). He helps us share our confidence (Acts 1:8). What's more, he lives inside us (Romans
The Charismatic debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or continue to be used in modern times divides the Christian church. There have been some extremes on both sides of the fence. One view believes that, if a person speaks tongues, the person is under some demonic control and the other says that, if a person does not speaks tongues as evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he or she is not saved. Both views use Scripture to defend their positions. The Scripture was not written to divide, but to bring us closer to God. The Apostle Paul states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). He also reminds Christians that, if “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5). Two views dominate the debate, on one side you have the Cessationists who believes the charismatic gift were intended to cease after the New Testament was completed and on the other side, you have the Continuationsts who believes the Charismatic gift were intended to continue throughout the church. Consider some of the central questions that will be answered in this paper. Are the gifts for today or have they ceased? What is the purpose of the sign gifts, and if they are being practiced today, are they being practiced in a biblical manner?
Now that we have established the Spirit as a person, how does He play a personal role in our lives and what is His role in the Trinity? When we are faced with trials and di...
I have chosen Option A for Layah. Layah is a very quiet and shy student. She initially did not like to raise her hand to answer questions, but is slowly becoming more confident in her ability to answer questions correctly. I selected her because she is on a scholastic academy contract and was not in a gifted setting in pre-K. She will need to take the gifted exam at the end of first grade which includes and reading and writing portion. Layah’s parents state that she did not write much in pre-k, but she did draw pictures. Furthermore, her writing skills were very low at the beginning of her kindergarten year. She did not utilize spacing, capital letters, punctuation, and her handwriting was not very legible. She also had trouble spelling words
"I put my mind on Christ and try to listen and obey the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:5), the Holy Spirit will give me life and peace (Romans 8:6). If a man is a Christian, he has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). His spirit has been made alive (Romans 8:10) The Holy Spirit is giving life back to his body, bringing it back from the deadness of sin (Romans 8:11) and bring abundant new life in Christ."(Graham)
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...
Healing, and the raising of the dead, is part of the continuing work of the apostles. These miracles work together with the spreading of the Word of God, to bring people to the realization that these men were continuing the work started by Jesus.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit begins with examining biblical witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the history of Israel, as well as the ministry of Jesus, and in the life of the church. During the creation account it was the breath of God that grave life to all creation. The Holy Spirit has been a primate actor sin the beginning of time. While the Spirit was present prior to the ministry of Christ, the New Testament speaks in greater detail of the Spirit because it empowered Jesus. From his conception to the day of Pentecost the Sprit was present and active in the life of Christ and the believers. We see in ...
The main point that is trying to be addressed here is the power of simply the word of god. This typology travels over to the New Testament, with the difference being that his Son, Jesus of Nazareth also has the same abilities. According to the book of Luke “In the Synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
In Romans 8:4-5, " who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." If God is equal to Love, then walking in the Spirit is walking with others and bringing one another into the community. Paul's focus is aimed at the building up of a community. Similarly, Paul states in Galatians 5:16 to "walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
The Holy Spirit gives us power to make things possible. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The power enabled the apostles to heal the sick (3:1-10, 5:15-16, 9:32-35) and raise people from the dead (9:36-43). The power also enabled them to speak the truth boldly (4:1-14, 7:1-53,
When one fully gives himself to God, but has not receive the Holy Spirit, he must just keep trusting God that His word is true and that He will do the work. Also one can expect temptation just like Jesus did. When the Holy Spirit comes, He does not leave quickly. When one seeks the Holy Spirit when He is already there, it grieves Him. One should be prayerfully watchful and seek to be an open channel instead of seeking for more power.3