Another Paraclete: The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Author’s Thoughts:

Jesus said “another” Paraclete because He is the first one based on John’s statement in 1 John 2:1. Even after His ascension, Jesus has not ceased being our Paraclete in heaven – He is advocating for us even on His throne! Therefore, we have an Advocate in heaven and an Advocate on earth and within us. The word ‘paracletos’ is variably translated as Helper (NASB), Counselor (NIV), Advocate (NEB), and Comforter (KJV). Obviously, all these indicate that the Holy Spirit indwells us for our good. In a later video we will discuss the many ways that the Holy Spirit does help us.

Author’s Thoughts: As a spirit being, God is invisible. Significantly, the God of Christianity is also a personal being with intellect, will and emotion. How else would we possess those characteristics as personal beings if God, our creator, did not possess them? I will give further documentation of this in video two.

Author’s Thoughts: These two questions can be best answered together. More detail about this will be addressed in session two of this video. For now, there are two clues to this reconciliation. One is that the Hebrew word for ‘one’ in Deuteronomy 6:4 (‘ehadh’) does not mean ‘unique’ or ‘one of a kind.’ Instead, it allows for a multiplicity within the one. Examples given were that in marriage one flesh consists of two persons (Genesis 2:24), one voice consists of many people (Exodus 24:3), and one body in Christ consists of many believers (Romans 12:5). Likewise, God can be one in essence but consist of three persons. The second clue is that in Matthew 28:19 the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are referred to as a singular ‘name.’ Again, the idea is that within the one essential Godhead there is multiplicity.

Author’s Thoughts: I think it is fair to acknowledge that the concept of a tri-personal God is at first difficult to fully comprehend. However, this does not mean that the concept is illogical or unreasonable. It can be explained as “we affirm One in regard to essence or substance, and we affirm Three in regard to persons or subsistencies.” The many Scripture passages cited and the physical analogies reveal that it is logical and reasonable to have a multiplicity within the Divine unity (one). Trinitarianism is the most consistent explanation of all the strands of biblical data.

Author’s Thoughts: “Trinity” is the best word to describe what the Bible teaches about God. What matters is that the concept is taught in the Bible, not whether it uses the word ‘trinity’ to describe it.

Author’s Thoughts: Options ‘a’ and ‘c’ are not correct. Options ‘b’ and ‘d’ are consistent with the Biblical trinitarian concept of God.

Author’s Thoughts:The Bible passages identify Divine attributes for the Holy Spirit in this order: eternal; omnipresent; omniscient; omnipotent; truth. In the subsequent question, it is clear that Peter told Ananias that he lied to the Holy Spirit (v. 3) whom he identified as God (v. 4).

Author’s Thoughts: The qualities present in these passages (in order) are intellect, intellect, a will, and emotions.

Author’s Thoughts: The activities of the Holy Spirit in the order of the passages are in creation, gave specialized knowledge in craftsmanship, gave supernatural strength, and dwelled within selected people.

Author’s Thoughts: The fact that the Holy Spirit is God and is a personal being should give us pause in every waking moment because He is dwelling within us. For a believer, we are never alone and every act is witnessed by God. Furthermore, we can consult, pray to and worship the Spirit within us. Ask your group if they have a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit.

Author’s Thoughts: When Jesus was first introduced by John the Baptist at the beginning of His ministry, John said that Jesus would be a baptizer with the Holy Spirit (present tense – ongoing), in contrast with John’s ministry of baptism with water. It wasn’t until more than three years later in the Upper Room the night before His crucifixion that Jesus Himself made that promise of another Paraclete (John 14:16-17). Then, at His ascension, He gave orders to His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism with the Holy Spirit “not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). They waited in Jerusalem for about a week until the Pentecost event occurred. Pentecost was a unique event that had been prophesied (Joel 2:28-32). It was unique in that from that time on all believers would receive the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit who would advocate for them throughout their life and serve as an ‘earnest/pledge’ guaranteeing that God would complete their redemption eventually by taking each believer to heaven with Him (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; John 17:24). Previously the Holy Spirit only came upon people selectively.

Author’s Thoughts: Throughout all the teaching of the apostles in the rest of the New Testament books, it is assumed that when a person confesses their sin and believes in Jesus as their Savior that they receive the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is clear from Romans 8:9 which says that if you don’t have the Holy Spirit you “do not belong to Him” (to Jesus). That is affirmed in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are a “temple of the Holy Spirit” and is the basis for the teaching that Christians are all “one body” in Christ because all believers have been baptized with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Of course, this is what He promised during His ministry as well when He referred to the future indwelling of the Holy Spirit as “living water” (John 7:37-39). The reality of this began to happen right after His resurrection as well (John 20:22). Every believer today needs to be conscious of the fact that they are never alone. The Holy Spirit lives in them as His temple and therefore we are to “glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Author’s Thoughts:

Pledge. The term “pledge” is equivalent to our “earnest” which we often pay to hold a home purchase until the closing date. We are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit to indicate that we now belong to God, and the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge that God will be there at the closing to complete our redemption and take us home with Him.

Pneumatikos. The term “pneumatikos” applies to all believers because they all have the indwelling Holy Spirit (“pneuma” is the Greek word for ‘spirit’) – we are “spirit people” just like tires are pneumatic and a lung disease is pneumonia in reference to being filled with air (“pneuma” can also be ‘air’ or ‘wind’ John 3:8). This is in contrast to “psuchikos” people (“natural man” without the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:14) who are “soul people” (“psuche” is Greek for ‘soul’).

Temple. Our bodies are referred to as a “temple” where the Holy Spirit makes His residence. Again, as God’s temple we should strive to be holy – our bodies are sacred.

Testifier. In Romans 8:16 another activity of the Holy Spirit as our advocate is indicated – giving us assurance that we indeed are children of God and testifiying the certainty of our salvation.
Intercessor. Finally, the Holy Spirit is manifested as our prayer “intercessor” – praying for us fervently according to the will of God (Romans 9:26-27). I wonder how many Christians really have much of a consciousness of the Holy Spirit living within them and how many communicate and commune with Him?

Author’s Thoughts: Genesis 1:2 states that initially the earth was formless and without order. But God, in Isaiah 45:18, said that He did not create the earth to be a “waste place” but rather to “be inhabited.” It was the creative power of the Holy Spirit that “hovered over” it and transformed it so that God could “give it to the sons of man” (Psalm 115:16). Psalm 104 is a testimony to God’s populating the universe with heavenly bodies and the earth with all its creatures. In v.30, much of that activity is attributed to the Holy Spirit. In that sense, the Holy Spirit brings diversity and order out of previously created matter.

Author’s Thoughts: It is likely that Jesus was promising that the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles in the future composition of the New Testament Scriptures. The word that John used is translated “disclose” (NASB) [“make it known” NIV], but elsewhere in the New Testament this work of the Holy Spirit is referred to as “inspiration” by the Holy Spirit. In fact, that is what the apostles Paul and Peter claimed of their writing (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Paul’s use of “inspiration” there is literally “breathed out” by God. Peter’s use of “prophecy” means the “forth-telling” of truth (meaning all Scripture) and not just “foretelling the future.” The result of this activity of the Holy Spirit is an inerrant Bible in the autographs.

Author’s Thoughts: The apostle Paul said that if we are in Christ we are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus He referred to this as being “born again” (John 3:5). A better translation of that is “new life from above” – the creation of spiritual life within us by the Holy Spirit. This is affirmed by the other passages in the question. Unfortunately, our attitudes and actions in life are often thought to be our own natural ones. In fact, we would not be positive toward Jesus and the Gospel if the Holy Spirit had not created us anew. Christian believers need to recognize this miracle of the Holy Spirit and give Him praise.

Author’s Thoughts: Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would take up permanent residence within us (John 14:17) and will be like ‘living water’ within (7:37-39). That we belong to God is the apostle Paul’s teaching as well because the Holy Spirit considers our body His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). This means that the Holy Spirit has a permanent lifelong activity in us as an advocate in many ways as we will discover below.

Author’s Thoughts: In Part Five I will go into more detail about spiritual gifts. This is often an area of the Holy Spirit’s work that is not clear for most Christians. The Bible’s teaching, though, is very certain that every believer is given one or more spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul dedicates two chapters in one of his letters to spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians12 and 14). I will include those chapters in my discussion in video five.

Author’s Thoughts: To be like Jesus will mean some transformation in our lives and that is what the Holy Spirit will do if we yield to Him. He is our teacher (John 14:26) and our sanctifier (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8) [‘sanctification’ means the process of becoming like Jesus in greater righteousness; that is, spiritual maturity]. If we study God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will transform us increasingly to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18), manifesting the fruit of the Spirit rather than the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-25).

Author’s Thoughts: The great passion of Jesus during the forty days He was on the earth after His resurrection was that His followers would tell everyone about His victory over sin and death (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:46-48). But Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to do the work that we could not do; that is, bring conviction of sin and regenerate the repentant person. Our role as believers is to be the messengers of the Good News. The Holy Spirit does the convicting and saving.

Author’s Thoughts: Most people in churches today have little awareness nor pay much attention to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They only practice water baptism and either assume that Spirit baptism must occur automatically at water baptism or have no knowledge of Spirit baptism at all. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what unites all believers which is what 1 Corinthians 12:13 is teaching “by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” The unity referred to is the result of Spirit baptism and not water baptism. This is demonstrated in Acts 10:43-48 when the Gentiles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit first and were baptized with water afterward.

Author’s Thoughts: Pentecostal believers are brothers and sisters in the Lord – that is not in question. They teach that ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ is after salvation because the apostles were already believers and had received the Holy Spirit previously (John 20:22), then they were baptized with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But as I said in the video, the apostles could not receive the fulfillment of prophecy (baptism with the Holy Spirit) before it happened historically. They were an exception because they believed before and after the historical fulfillment. Note that the 3,000 at the end of Acts 2 repented, believed, and received the baptism indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the same time in one event. That is the normal subsequent to Pentecost. Furthermore, a Hermeneutic rule for establishing Christian doctrine is that it be based on didactic (teaching) passages and not historical reporting. I maintain that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is an initial Christian experience upon repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ.

Author’s Thoughts: Pentecost resulted in a Jewish church (or so they thought!). For non-Jews to be saved would require that they convert first to Judaism (see Acts 15:1, 5). God had to intervene to change their mind and expand His Church to include the whole world. The reprimand of the apostle Peter for going to the Gentile Cornelius’ household clearly shows the Jews viewpoint.

Author’s Thoughts: God used the sign of speaking in tongues (as the Jews experienced at Pentecost) as the evidence to prove to them that He was putting His Spirit within all who believe in Jesus without regard to race, ethnicity, etc. This assured the creation of His Church as one body in Christ. Subsequently, in all the evangelism and instruction of the New Testament books, we do not see any mention of “baptism with the Holy Spirit” or the validating sign of speaking in tongues for new believers. Baptism with the Holy Spirit was assumed to occur with the confession of faith in the Lord Jesus and the sign of the speaking in tongues was no longer needed to validate that fact. Note that the speaking in tongues as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) is not the same as the sign of tongues at Pentecost.

Author’s Thoughts: The first reason that believers today can know that they have the baptism of the Holy Spirit is because Jesus said so (John 7:37-39; 14:16-17). These passages state it matter of fact. The second reason is that the Bible says so (Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 3:2, 5, 14). Faith in Jesus is the only condition given. A third reason is that we can only claim to be a Christian if we have the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Fourth, our confidence and assurance of salvation is sourced in the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16). Finally, most of the teaching throughout the New Testament assumes without hesitation that it is true for every believer (1 John 3:24; 4:13; 1 Corinthians 12:3, 13; 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8; Titus 3:5-6). The initial sign of speaking in a dialect (tongue) they did not learn was to persuade the reluctant Jews that God was indeed building His Church with believers from the entire world.

Author’s Thoughts: In the main passage of Paul’s teaching (1 Corinthians 12:4-7), v. 4 will be paired with motivational gifts and Romans 12:6-8; v. 5 is paired with ministry gifts and Ephesians 4:11-13; and vv. 6-7 is paired with manifestation gifts and 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Every believer has one of the seven motivational gifts through which they do ministry gifts and through which the Holy Spirit displays manifestation gifts.

Author’s Thoughts: Perhaps the higher incidence of serving gifts is consistent with the statement of James (1:22) – “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” Both are needed, and they both suffer if the other is weak or missing. The distribution of spiritual gifts is clearly according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:11) and reflects the Holy Spirit’s wisdom. It is instructive that about 30% of all spiritual gifts is that of ‘mercy.’ (see John 13:34-35 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

Author’s Thoughts: As part of the body of Christ we are to minister to anyone for any need, anywhere, anytime. We cannot use the excuse “that is not my gift!” But each will do it in different ways that are influenced by their motivational gift. My wife had the gift of mercy. In her teaching she shows mercy. I have the gift of teaching. In showing mercy I tend to teach. Keeping this in mind should give us better understanding and tolerance of the different ways people view issues and what they promote as a priority for the church. Learning from each other we should take a “both-and” perspective rather than an “either-or” attitude. This balanced approach will better advance the mission of the church as the Holy Spirit intended.

Author’s Thoughts: There can be several factors. First, some people have a lack of involvement with others and their needs. Our gift is stirred up and more likely to be recognized as we serve family, participate in small groups, and are active in church. Second, some may attempt to mimic the motivations of others to avoid being different and to ‘get along.’ This causes them to disregard their own basic motivation. Third, some fail to analyze why certain activities appeal to them (even in the secular world of work, community activities, etc.). Often the activities we like and tend to choose are the means to fulfill our basic motivational gift (whether we recognize it or not). Fourth, often the problem is a confusion between our motivational giftedness and various ministry gifts. A person may thoroughly enjoy the ministry of pastoring. That person may have the motivational gift of teaching which the ministry of pastoring is fulfilling. The ministry of pastoring may also fulfill the motivation to show mercy, to serve, to exhort, etc. For my wife, teaching small children fulfilled her desire to show mercy.

Author’s Thoughts: The passages indicated in the question actually command believers to prophecy, serve, teach, encourage and show mercy (in that order). That’s why we cannot ignore one another’s needs because “it is not my gift.” However, each person’s motivational gift will energize them to exercise all the rest to some extent. However, each person has the potential to excel in the area of their motivational giftedness. They will more likely lead in this area and emphasize that in their involvement in the church.

Author’s Thoughts: God is clearly involved in giving us both our natural abilities and our spiritual giftedness. Spiritual giftedness is usually consistent with natural abilities given at conception. This is confirmed by a study of Christian identical twins. Even when raised apart in different homes, schools, and communities, they almost always have the same natural interests and motivational spiritual gift. Whether or not the gift is present at conception, it is certainly activated at salvation and emerges/matures by the ministry of the Holy Spirit over time.

Author’s Thoughts: I have often told people that spiritual gifts are “church (Body) property.” What I mean is clearly indicated in the passages given in the question – spiritual gifts are for the edification of the body of Christ. They are to lead to spiritual growth, balance in decisions made, and bringing praise and glory to Christ. Gifts are not “mine” but “ours.” That is why every member of the Body needs to be a participant so they can offer their giftedness as the Holy Spirit intended (Ephesians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 12:14, 27).

Author’s Thoughts: Both in video five and now in six, the three categories were identified as motivational, ministry, and manifestation gifts. Each of the three is identified by a different Greek word (v. 4, v. 5, and v. 7). The session identified Romans 12:6-8 with the seven motivational gifts, Ephesians 4:11-12 with the ministry gifts, and 1 Corinthians 12:6-7 with the manifestation gifts. It should be noted that the understanding in this series is that each believer receives one of the motivational gifts, but can have in addition one or more of the ministry and manifestation gifts.

Author’s Thoughts: It is likely that in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit the gifts are given for balance and efficiency within the Body (1 Corinthians 12:11, 18). There are no unimportant gifts – read 1 Corinthians 12:14-26. To suggest that teaching gifts must not be important or less important would be difficult to defend in view of the list in Ephesians 4:11-12 of mostly speaking gifts given to the church. The greater problem in the church today is that few believers have been instructed about spiritual gifts and few decisions in the church even consider spiritual giftedness; for example, in filling pastoral, staff, and lay leadership roles.

Author’s Thoughts: This would be personal responses. The video discussion was not sufficient to form much of a conviction about these questions. The second session will go into some additional detail which may help.

Author’s Thoughts: I am persuaded that our ‘personalities’ (“the way we are”) is definitely related to our spiritual motivational gift (“the way God made us”?). If we knew that and accepted it, I think it would contribute to greater patience and understanding of one another in the body of Christ. If we would emphasize ‘listening’ more and ‘talking’ less, the ideas would likely lead to better decisions, plans, solutions, etc. God’s gifting of His children is not a mistake but we must learn to utilize it for good rather than division.

Author’s Thoughts: When one gift “bullies” the rest, it leads to disengagement of the rest and creates an imbalance because each ‘part’ in the body is not contributing. A long-range solution is maturity as described in Ephesians 4:11-16 leading to “unity in the faith.” The root of most dissension, including marriage relations, is immaturity. The church can be a major factor in resolving conflict by insisting the children, youth and adults of all ages continue in lifelong Bible classes. The Word can be a healing balm. The church also needs to teach people how to understand and manage their motivational gift.

Author’s Thoughts: When people say, “That’s just the way I am,” they may be more correct than they know – it may be explained by their motivational gift. People don’t leave their motivational gift behind when they go to college, a ballgame, a parent-teacher conference, and a neighborhood barbecue. Our likes and dislikes, the choices we make, what turns us off, etc. is related to “who we are” – irregardless whether the occasion is secular or religious. Everything we think and do is impacted by our motivational spiritual gift. Since each spiritual gift has a “down-side” as well, Christians need to be more insistent on maturing the tendencies of the gift. As we grow in the Lord, our giftedness will increasingly result in good, unity, and productivity. That’s the importance of our next and last video – filling of the Holy Spirit.

Author’s Thoughts: Author’ Thought. The meaning of ‘fruit’ in this first session is the transformation of believers into Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Our character development is identified with nine qualities starting with ‘love’ in Galatians 5:22-23. The quantitative dimension asks how many of the nine do you have (complete; entire), and the qualitative dimension asks how much (0-100%) of each of the nine qualities do you have (perfect; mature)? Both the James and Thessalonian passages make reference to the ideas of completeness and perfection. We may be mature in our ‘kindness’ but lacking in ‘self-control.’ We may be quite ‘patient’ but do not have much ‘joy.’ We may not have any ‘patience’ at all!

Author’s Thoughts: Author’s Thought. The ‘baptism’ of the Holy Spirit occurs only once in each person’s life, is not commanded, and results in salvation and placement in the body of Christ. The ‘filling’ of the Holy Spirit can be repeated often, is commanded, and results in power for living and ministry. It might be added in your discussion that it is the filling of the Holy Spirit that occurs throughout the believer’s life that leads to the qualitative maturity referred to as ‘sanctification’ (Romans 6:19).

Author’s Thoughts: Author’s Thought. The most common negative response that I get from people is that this is like “faking it.” In response, I point them to what Jesus taught in John 15:10? He said that if we want to abide in His love, we need to obey His commandments. By obedience (even if I don’t feel like obeying), am I ‘faking it?’ No. We act in obedience (whether ‘love’ or anything else in the Bible) and trust God for the feelings.

Author’s Thoughts: Author’s Thought. Jesus referred to this kind of activity that results in “fruit for life eternal” (John 4:36); that is, “fruit that will last” (John 15:16 NIV). Perhaps Jesus had in mind what He taught in the Sermon on the Mount about His followers being “salt” and “light” that they [the world] “may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). Clearly the fruit that Jesus desires will result from our investment in people (who are eternal), whether family, friends, and unbelieving neighbors and work associates. This is certainly the passion of Jesus as reflected in John 17:18 and Matthew 9:37-38 (an appeal for workers who will harvest the fruit of salvation that the Holy Spirit is consistently preparing for our witness.

Author’s Thoughts: Author’s Thought. These passages all concur that spiritual growth is the work of God. We cannot make ourselves ‘spiritual’ nor anyone else. But God depends on us as His instruments through whom He channels the work of the Holy Spirit that we discussed in a previous session. We are the branches and He is the vine. Our spiritual growth and impact comes from remaining connected to the vine. That will be addressed in the next question.

Author’s Thoughts: Author’s Thought. The answers from the passages may be summarized as follows (in order): Surrender your life to God; Stay out of the world’s darkness and bask in God’s love and truth; Keep your eyes fixed on relationship with Jesus; Be devoted to the study of God’s Word and to prayer; Be committed to a local fellowship of believers (usually a church) for accountability and spiritual stimulation. In other words, apply Jesus’ teaching in John 15:1-11. Another reminder of how to keep the main thing the main thing is Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”