"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the
calling you have received . . . Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace." - Ephesians 4:1,3 [NIV]
Later this month we celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. Pentecost, together with the Cross and the Resurrection, is part of the core of the Gospel. The person and ministry of the Holy Spirit are not extras tacked on as some kind of appendix or footnote to the main text of the Gospel. Nowhere is this made clearer than in Luke's account [notes about?] of Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost. As you recall, he begins by linking the events witnessed by the crowd to Joel's prophecy, goes on to tell of the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, and reaches the pinnacle of his argument saying, "Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ". At this point the crowd responds, "what shall we do?". Notice Peter's reply is what some describe as "the Gospel package" - "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" [Acts 2:38]. See how the "bundle" contains repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This ties in with Jesus' promise to the disciples in the Upper Room discourse [John 14-16] of His sending the Holy Spirit, "another Comforter", to them.
The Holy Spirit has an Assuring Ministry: Part of the Spirit's role in the Christian's life is to give us confidence in our relationship with God. In Ephesians, Paul has the metaphor of the Holy Spirit as God's seal of ownership on our lives, the mark of genuineness on our discipleship and relationship with Himself. In Romans 8, he uses the pictures of the Spirit setting us free from the law of sin and death by imparting a new mindset, of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God thus we naturally address God as "Father", and that the Spirit helps us in our weakness when we don't know what to pray by interceding for us "with groans that words cannot express". John in his first letter has a great deal to say about our "knowing" various things - that is, being fully assured about the reality of our relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit has a Unifying Ministry: As Christians we are bound together in one family. We belong to one another as we belong to God and Christ. The Holy Spirit imparts that sense of oneness and belongingness. We do not require to seek it or to strive for it. We are required to maintain it, work at preserving it. This ties in with the metaphor of the Church as the Body of Christ under the control and direction of the head. The picture is one of cohesion, integration and co-ordination. Paul's injunction, "do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" [Ephesians 4:30], comes in the middle of a section dealing with our relationships with one another. Jesus' prayer in John 17 includes the petition "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" and the reason given is "that the world may believe you have sent me". However, John 17 also has the component within it that the disciples are different from the unbelieving world, they do not belong to the world, and the world hates them. The difference is in the Word which the disciples have received and the world has rejected. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth". However we regard it, there is a real relationship between unity and truth - i.e. unity in the truth. A significant part of the present confusion and conflict within the PCANZ is due to real differences in our perception of the truth of God in terms of Gospel, Scripture and theology. While on many things Christians may well agree to differ, there surely must be some core beliefs of the Christian faith. There must be some parameters, boundary markers of faith. Departing from these must mean crossing the line between belief and unbelief, authentic Christianity and something which is not Christian belief. Traditionally, these have been expressed in the classic creeds of the Church - for example the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.
The Holy Spirit has a Transforming Ministry: One of the key functions of the indwelling Spirit is to make us more and more like Jesus. This is the ministry of sanctification - making us holy. The followers of Jesus are commanded to be holy. This is part of the "new creation" motif found in Paul and the "eternal life" motif in John. How many gospel songs talk about Jesus changing us, "What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought" or "Jesus, you are changing me". This is probably most dramatically expressed in Paul's contrast between the "works of the flesh" and the "fruit of the Spirit" [Galatians 5]. The catalogue of Christian virtues, qualities, characteristics includes Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Other lists are found elsewhere in the New Testament. The point is they are illustrative rather than exhaustive! I appreciate the notion of personal holiness is not one which registers well in modern society. It smacks of primness and prudishness and has strongly negative connotations. Really it has to do with God filling us more and more with something of His own character. It is beautifying as well as transforming.
The Holy Spirit has an Empowering Ministry: In Acts 1, immediately before his Ascension, Jesus told his followers, "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" [8].We cannot engage in the life of discipleship in our own strength. We cannot fulfill the Kingdom-tasks to which God calls us on our own. We require His enabling and empowering. The Holy Spirit works in us and through us to that end. It is for this He is described as the Comforter. He gives us the spiritual energy to be and to do what God wants.
God bless you all.
