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Do We Know The Holy Spirit?
Short explanations to 335 Bible texts that speak of the Holy Spirit
III. The Holy Spirit and the Apostles of Christ
3. The Holy Spirit in the early Epistles of the Apostle Paul(written between 50-55 A.D.) 1 Thessalonians 1:4-7 In this written letter of Paul in the year 51 A.D., which was perhaps his earliest, he addresses the church leaders in Thessalonica as beloved brethren in the family of our Father in heaven, chosen and loved by God. Their election was obvious to Paul, for these new believers had not only accepted his preaching, but were also immediately blessed with great power and certainty in the Holy Spirit. At the same time, they were enriched by the example of the Lord Jesus and the lifestyle of Paul. In spite of trial and temptation, they kept the Word of Christ with great joy in the Holy Spirit. They became good examples for all of Greece. 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 Paul commanded the church to avoid every from of immorality. Each was to live together with his wife in sanctification and honour, not in passionate lust, as practiced by some unbelievers (1 Thes. 4:2-5). Whoever has been received into the body of Christ has been called to abandon all impurity and practice holiness in his entire sexuality. Whoever thinks he can continue in immoral relationships just as before is sadly mistaken, for sexual impurity, in whatever form, amounts to a despising of God, who has sunk His Holy Spirit into our mortal bodies. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 In telegram-fashion the missionary to the nations communicated to the Thessalonians the self-evident truths of the Christian life. In spite of temptation and sadness, a joyous spirit belongs to this life, for Jesus lives and God is our Father! Thanksgiving tends to be a rather impoverished child among all of mankind, and needs to be practiced. The Triune-God awaits this gratitude from us. The gifts of His Spirit and His leading are not to be despised, hindered or silenced. Everything needs to be examined in light of the gospel, to prevent any false developments from sneaking in. Every form of evil is to be avoided, for the God of peace wants to sanctify us through and through, and prepare us for the arrival of Jesus Christ. His working in us is far greater than we imagine! 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 Paul wrote that he could do nothing other than thank God for the Thessalonians, for they had been the first ones in Macedonia and Achaia to grasp their being chosen for salvation. He thanked God for their progress in holiness through the Spirit of God, and that they remained firm in the correct faith. Paul called his own proclamation a gospel, which was being circulated even before the four gospel letters were written. Wherever he and his co-workers proclaimed the good news of salvation in Christ it always amounted to a gospel – a call to glorify Jesus Christ! Galatians 3:1-5 There had presumably appeared among the Galatians fanatical Jewish Christians out of Jewish centers. These pressured the new believers to be circumcised and to keep all 613 commands of Moses if they wanted to please God. In a holy rage, Paul asked the wavering new believers whether they would have received salvation through faith, or through their insufficient good works. By so speaking, he made salvation equal with the reception of the Holy Spirit. To help them come to true faith, he had made every effort to portray Jesus, the Crucified, before their eyes in words. They had begun their spiritual walk of faith well. On the basis of their faith, the Lord had given them the Spirit and begun to do marvellous works among them. Now, Paul was hammering into them: No salvation, no Spirit, except through faith in the Crucified One! Where salvation and the Spirit are realized, however, good deeds will appear as the fruit of faith. Backsliding into a spiritless, legalistic piety amounted to a despising of Christ and His free gift of salvation. Galatians 3:13-14 Paul helped the Galatians to understand the problem with the Law of Moses. The law itself is good and spiritual. But no man is good in himself or able to keep all the commands of the law. Whoever violates a command becomes a rebel against God and must suffer, since the law condemns and judges him. For the God-fearing, the law becomes a law of cursing, destroying the pride of every honest person. But now, Christ has become a curse in the place of every sinner, since He took the sin of the world upon Himself, having been hanged in our place on the cursed tree. Therefore, the blessing promised to Abraham and His descendants was free to come upon all of heathen mankind who, for the sake of Jesus´death of atonement, receive the Holy Spirit when they bind themselves eternally to Christ. Galatians 4:4-7 Paul wanted to free the Galatians from staring at the Law of Moses. He showed them that Jesus, by being circumcised, had Himself come under the law. In so doing He could redeem all those suffering under the Law of Moses and its burden. The first thing God offered to those enslaved by the law was their adoption. Everyone who believes on Jesus Christ becomes, judicially speaking, a child of God. Yet this legal recognition only sets up the foundation of their salvation. The LORD desires to, as a second gift of grace, transform His adopted ones into real children of God. To do this, He sinks the Spirit of His Son into their hearts. This Spirit cries out: “Abba, dear Father!” As a third gift of grace He has promised to give His children, as their certain hope, the right of inheritance, so that they can receive their portion of the fullness of God and His glory. None of this, however, happens through their keeping of the law or their good works, but alone by Grace through faith! Galatians 4:28-29 Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, the son of the maid Hagar, and Isaac, the son according to a special promise of God made to Sarah. The hidden line-of-blessing, however, went through the one begotten of the Spirit, who was persecuted by his brother. In the same way, the One begotten of the Spirit, Jesus, as well as His through the Spirit born-again followers, are hated and persecuted by the sanctimonious, who cling to the law and their own achievements. The fact that they are oppressed and suffer, however, could be a sign of their belonging to the line-of-blessing. Galatians 5:3-6 Paul stood before the Galatians, just as Moses had once stood before his people, whom he challenged to choose between blessing and curse. Paul laid down clear basic principles before the Galatians: Whoever lets himself be circumcised must fulfill all the commands of Moses, which is impossible. Paul summarized his message: Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision profit anything, but only faith in Christ. This faith becomes active through the love of the Spirit. The Fruit of the SpiritGalatians 5:16-25 The difference between a life in the Old Testament and a life of faith in the New Testament is great and far-reaching. Whoever wants to live in the Old Covenant must serve the LORD as a slave of the Mosaic Law, while the one who lives in the New Covenant has been freed from the judgmental demands of the law through the atoning death of Christ. He can then live in the freedom of the Spirit of Christ, his Redeemer. Whoever lives in the Holy Spirit receives power to overcome the longings and desires of his flesh. This battle, between flesh and Spirit, goes on as long as we live on this earth. Our consolation remains the forgiveness of Christ. The Spirit of God not only brings about, in all followers of Christ, the nine listed Fruits of the Spirit, but other unnamed fruit as well. Fruit grows slowly, yet incessantly. It gives proof to the type of tree. Jesus said: “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:16, 20; 12:33; Luke 6:44). The fruit of the Spirit arises not as a result of the merit or service of a person, but from the working of the grace of Jesus. These fruits are a foretaste of heaven! The prudent one will memorize this verse. Whoever is wise will ask the Lord to cause all this fruit to come to maturity in him. Whoever wants to know Jesus and the Holy Spirit should study this list of the fruit of the Spirit carefully. He needs to prayerfully contemplate that Jesus is the true incarnation of all the attributes of the Spirit of God. In Him dwell all the brilliant rays of glory of His Father (Heb. 1:3; 13:8). Galatians 6:1-7 Everyone makes mistakes. Measured by God´s standards we are all very deficient and guilty. But since Christ atoned for and forgave us all of our sins we, too, learn to forgive, just as Christ forgave (Matt. 6:12, 14, 15). We don´t wash the head of each other, but kneel down and wash the feet. The love of Christ compels us to do even more; we are to bear with the weaknesses of each other and help to carry one another´s burden´s. We are to help the other, to pray for him, and to go with him. We can all be tempted, and we all need each other. Everyone needs the power of the Holy Spirit if he or she is to survive in love and in truth. At the judgment day, Christ will not, first and foremost, ask us about our faith. Instead, He will ask about the fruit this faith brought forth. A mother in the home is often more experienced in the service of love than her husband, with all his forceful words. Let us allow the Spirit of Christ to bring forth and cause to ripen His fruit in us, so that we might, even today, stand in His eternal life. What a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:17-18 Paul almost ran out of patience with the Galatians. Ministering in the name of Jesus, he had suffered much in body, soul, and spirit. He saw himself as having been co-crucified with Christ, and was ready to remain on the cross, even when it caused him great pain. Finally, he entrusted the Galatians to the free grace of the Lord Jesus. Without that, their human spirit would never be able to stand against the temptations in this world. He still called those being tempted “his dear brethren”. He closed with an “Amen”, as a sign that Jesus is victorious. His truth would continue on even in this tempted and tried church. |