UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY SPIRIT (PART 3)

PROF. BEN ONYEUKWU (REV.)

NCE(Eng.) ND/HD (Journalism); BA (Hons) MA, PhD.

Call: +2348037346939  E-mail: professorbenonyeukwu@yahoo.com

. UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY SPIRIT (PART 3)

Devotional Text: John 14:15-27

Introduction:

The Holy Spirit is the Supreme life give. He gives to the natural world, the natural life and gives to the spiritual world – the church, the spiritual life. This implies that the operations of the Holy Spirit are not restricted to the church. He uses the natural world to generate new lives and uses the church to regenerate the depraved lives. This informs the reason for acknowledging Him as the “Breath of life” in the part I of our series. However, it should be borne in mind that our approach in tackling the subject matter is not holistic, since it borders only on the redemptive operations of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, for the purposes of our studies, we shall conclude the series  by looking at the Holy Spirit as the Kingdom Sanctifier, the Bedrock of the Christian unity and also examine the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

GENERAL REMARKS

(1)    The Holy Spirit is  everywhere, (Psalm 139:7-12)

(2)    The Holy Spirit can be quenched in some instances, (I Thess. 5:19)

(3)    The Holy Spirit is the fountain of anointing, (Luke 4:18-19)

(4)    The Holy Spirit is the source of the Christian power for demon casting, (Acts 10:38).

UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE KINGDOM SANCTIFIER (II THESS. 2:13-14)

                        To sanctify simply means “to make holy” or to separate for sacred purposes. “From the scripture, “it becomes obvious that it is the duty of the Holy Spirit to sanctify. Having established this fact, how and who does the Holy Spirit sanctifies?

(i)                   The Holy Spirit sanctifies through the preaching of the gospel (vs. 14)

(ii)                 He sanctifies those who believe in the gospel truth (vs. 13).

(iii)                He sanctifies through the teaching of the word, (John 17:17).

UNDERSTANDING HOLY SPIRIT AS THE BEDROCK OF THE CHRISTIAN UNITY, (EPH. 4:3-6).

                        The biblical concept of the unity of the Christian church is not ecumenical, but pneumatological . The term “ecumernism” is used to described the ideas and movements which try to unite different Christian churches or denominations. As forceful as these ideas and movements may be, the Bible contradicts them as it shows that;

(i)                   the Christian is a pneuma-recognisable phenomenon (vs. 3)

(ii)                 the Christian unity is achieved by means of peace in the Holy Spirit, (vs. 3)

(iii)                the Christian unity is on the basis of the oneness of the Christian course

 and not denominational integration (see vs. 4-6).

UNDERSTANDING THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, (ACTS 1:4-5)

                        The baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is sometimes referred to as the baptism of fire (John 3:11), borders on the infilling of the believer with the Holy Spirit, for effective Christian living and operations. A believer without the experience of this baptism carries some degree of deficiencies, since he or she cannot be dully used of God. Therefore, the evidences of the Holy Spirit are as follows;

(i)                   evidence of other tongues, (acts 2:1-4)

(ii)                 boldness in service (Acts 4:41)

(iii)                oneness in heart and mind, (vs. 32)