What is Spiritual?

As I become a better student of Paul, I have found myself accused of not believing in anything spiritual.  Ironically, that is the same accusation that many liberals have leveled against Paul.  The reformers, on the other hand, viewed Paul as the Apostle of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, l thought it would be helpful to look at why I consider myself spiritual.

I believe in the Trinity.  That is surely a good start.  The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit.  We’ve discussed what the Holy Spirit does in the past, but for the sake of review, John 14-16, 20 are all good red letter sources on the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, testifies about the Son, and fills the disciples so that they may testify about the Son.  That is Who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.  The Holy Spirit brings true faith to the believers.  The Holy Spirit is the key to unlocking Salvation through the propitiating life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  That is a very spiritual doctrine.

Secondly, I believe that man has a spirit, a soul, a part of his existence that is completely tied to his body, and at the same time can be separated from his body.  In a way, Salvation is the eternal union of body and soul.  Without the Salvation through Jesus Christ (full formula implied,) the body will die and the soul will burn.  With Christ, first the soul is saved and then later the body is saved and reunited with the soul.  That is Biblical and that is a very spiritual doctrine.

What I don’t believe is any idea of Gnosticism or Mysticism that rips the Holy Spirit from the Trinity and has Him performing parlour tricks at the whim of man.  These ideas have been considered heretical since the first century.  The word-faith, name-it-claim-it groups do such tremendous violence to the Gospel that it is not recognizable as Gospel and constitutes heresy and false teaching in every sense of the phrase.  Paul warns constantly about false teachers, but here is what he says to the Corinthians on the subject.  This is a fairly stern warning.  Their end will correspond to their deeds.  This is a Law statement and it is true of all people at Judgment Day.  The difference is that the true Gospel gives access to a different righteousness that is external to us and given to true believers apart from any perceived merits on our part and regardless of any perceived faults on our part.  This is what Paul says in Romans 3-5 concerning justification.

Therefore, am I spiritual?  Absolutely, I am among the most spiritual people you know.  Am I a mystic?  Certainly not.  Am I a Gnostic?  Clearly not.  There is a type of spirituality apart from the magical realm of the mystic that resides within many faiths.  In Christianity, it is clearly defined in scripture.  Remember why we are not all Roman Catholics today.  Sola Scriptura is not such a bad thing, after all.

--Ogre--