Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

It was asked of me this past week, whether I believe in baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is a complicated topic. First, I will describe what is usually meant by the concept of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Second, I will describe what I would refer to as a more orthodox theology concerning this issue.  Finally, I will demonstrate through textual references, which of these two positions is more biblically authentic.

The concept of baptism of the Holy Spirit is usually put forward by Pentecostal groups concerning the idea of a higher level of Christian. In this theology, what we find is that the individual is baptized into Christ through water, and then requires a second baptism by the Holy Spirit, or by fire, into the higher, more complete realm of being a Christian. The basic theology this mode of thinking requires is a separation of justification from sanctification. What this entails is that justification occurs at the time of water baptism, while sanctification occurs sometime later based upon an experience of the individual involving the Holy Spirit. This also leaves several areas of concern regarding the relationship between true believers and the idea of the so-called “carnal Christians."  Carnal Christians are justified by baptism, but continue to lead lives of a lower level of piety, never making Jesus “Lord of their life” and continuing to live as if there was no baptism.  In fact, they could become atheists and still claim their baptism for salvation.  But the higher level Christian, the "mature Christian," has a baptism of the Holy Spirit, an experience in which that person feels the touch of the Holy Spirit transform their lives.  The usual manifestation that is considered proof of this baptism by the Holy Spirit is the skill of glossolalia or speaking in tongues. Other gifts of the Holy Spirit are also considered within the realm of proof of this baptism by the Holy Spirit. Typical of this group are prophecy, dreams, visions, healing, and other such activities.  The rewards of this higher level are usually discussed in terms of “jewels in my crown,” referring loosely to Zechariah 9:16, 2 Timothy 4:8, Revelation 2:10, and 1 Peter 5:4.  There is no true exegesis that occurs in this theology, but rather an eisegesis based upon a whole house of cards created by bad hermeneutics.  What this means is that when we give away logic to the devil, we have no framework in which to interpret the Word.  Said another way, if two passages seem to say the opposite, then your understanding of one or both is wrong.

The orthodox Reformed look at this theology is decidedly different. First of all, sanctification is not considered a separate event from justification. Rather, sanctification and justification occur simultaneously at water baptism. Because justification and sanctification occur simultaneously, there is the possibility, nay, the necessity, of a person being justified, sanctified and in the process of becoming sanctified, all three simultaneously, based upon the single event of water baptism.  Therefore, there is no category for separate events of justification and sanctification. The categories of carnal Christian and higher level Christian are nonexistent.  There is only one category of believer.  There are two types of people in church, but the categories are decidedly different.  In a future post, if reminded by the recipient of this missive, I will breakdown these reformed categories based upon Covenant Theology.

Coming back to our discussion of the Holy Spirit, once again, a full systematic theology is helpful in discerning the differences between these two views of the works of the Holy Spirit. Starting with the impact of original sin, and using the classic debate between Augustine and Pelagius as a template for the discussion, we can lay out three basic positions on the impact of Adam's sin on humanity. In the full Pelagian position, the sin of Adam is not imputed to all of mankind. Adam merely introduces the possibility of sin into the world.  Free will remains untouched.  Adam is a bad example. In the semi-Pelagian position, Adam tarnishes humanity with sin; and the ability to choose well, free will, was tarnished, but is redeemable by Christ. The Augustinian position is decidedly different. Augustine viewed original sin as introducing a condition of sin to mankind whereby all aspects of mankind were affected by sin. This includes free will. Therefore, mankind became incapable of following the law. Mankind became incapable of seeking God.  A full Pelagian has no need of Jesus.  A semi-Pelagian is grateful to Jesus for making salvation possible, but still has to work out his own salvation.  The Augustinian is in a real jam.  He is in a desperate plight and has no way out on his own.  The Augustinian is in desperate need of divine intervention. 

The role of the atonement is likewise viewed through different lenses. The full Pelagian view of the atonement is that Christ was the perfect example, where as Adam was the sinful example. There was no real need for Christ to die, because it was his good example that matters to us.  He teaches us ultimate virtue and morality.  The semi-Pelagian view of the atonement is that Christ wipes our slates clean including our free wills making us now capable of filling the law. Again, Christ makes salvation possible.  The Augustinian view of the atonement is that Christ imputes righteousness to believers, justifying them on judgment day, but it does not affect our free will or our condition of sin. We remain in Adam while we are in this world.  But the righteousness of Christ has been accounted to us and our sin has been accounted to Christ in the great exchange.

Extending each of these logically to the area of sanctification, we can now make the following conclusions. A full Pelagian worldview actually has very little need for Christ. In this system, Adam is merely a bad example, while Christ is a good example. Since a believer in this system really didn't get much from Christ's death, resurrection and ascension, there is plenty of room for "something else." It is into this feeling of emptiness, that the Pentecostal places this idea of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Because nothing much was attained by the sacrifice of God’s son, more is required to attain our full eternal reward. The semi-Pelagian view of sanctification is one in which we are constantly working towards perfection. Because our slate was cleaned by Christ, we are now on a cosmic balance scale of sorts hoping to tip our scale towards the side of righteousness. The Holy Spirit's job in the system is to lend assistance in our endeavors toward righteousness. The Augustinian view of sanctification is different. We are at once justified and simultaneously sanctified at the time of baptism. We are in a lifelong process of being sanctified simultaneous with our declaration of justification and sanctification. Our efforts are genuinely in the direction of righteousness because we are covenant members with Christ and through Christ. But these works have no bearing on our righteousness, because our righteousness was declared to us as being imputed from Christ to us at time of baptism. Similarly, our sin is imputed to Christ; so that time of judgment, we may approach the throne of God with confidence clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Christ has already bore the sin of the believers, having once and for all time been the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

So, which argument has the best support from Scripture? Let's start by looking at the Prophets.  In Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others, mankind is clearly declared incapable of following the law. Several of the Psalms echo this problem. Paul's summary of this Old Testament view of the sin of mankind can be found in Romans 3: 1-20.  No one does good; no, not even one. No one seeks God. Their mouths are an open grave. Several places discuss this as well within the parables and teachings of Jesus. Matthew 5: 48 gives us the words be you therefore perfect.  So, logically, if Jesus is telling us to be perfect, and Paul points out that we can't be perfect, we have a problem. Therefore, the bigger view of Jesus, that is, the Augustinian view, becomes necessary to solve this problem.

So, if the Holy Spirit isn't here to give us a second baptism of sorts, why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit? Lucky for us, Jesus answers this question for us.  John 14 to 16 gives us a detailed description of the work of the Holy Spirit. The job of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus, his work, his purpose, his identity, and his saving grace. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the gift of grace, the gift of faith, the gift of knowledge in the redeeming work of Christ through his death, resurrection and ascension. The Holy Spirit is actually quite busy without doing parlor tricks on our command.  The reason the Pentecostal believes that there has to be more, is that the Pentecostal does not understand original sin, the Holiness of God, and just how absolutely desperate his plight actually is.  Without a full understanding of sin and the condition of sin, we cannot appreciate how truly amazing Grace really is.  The bigger the problem, the bigger the solution has to be.  Augustinians have no need for something more.  The work of Christ and his Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, has to be absolutely huge beyond imagination to accomplish redemption for the believers.

The usual places to which the Pentecostal references the Holy Spirit are Acts 2 and 4, 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. A basic tenet of hermeneutics is that the Bible should interpret the Bible. Interpretation of these passages without account for the John passages is bad hermeneutics. But more than that, interpretation of Acts 2 without regard to the actual sermon by Peter in that same chapter is bad hermeneutics. A reasoned approach to all of these passages is to keep things in Biblical and redemptive historical context. Look and see what the context of speaking in tongues is in Acts 2.  The apostles are not babbling senseless noise. They are speaking in the native languages of all of the different peoples who are there to hear them. 3000 people were converted that day, not because of some emotional experience, but because of the convincing words of the apostles in their testimony about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I can say that is because of the work of the Holy Spirit that I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I can say that because of the work of the Holy Spirit at my baptism, I am a new covenant member in Christ. Therefore, I can say that because of the work of the Holy Spirit, I have knowledge of the gospel, of Christ's redeeming work on the cross, and of the justification and sanctification that his death, resurrection and ascension earned on my behalf and was imputed to me at baptism, but that I will not actually receive until death or the last day, whichever comes first. Truly, the Holy Spirit has been very busy in my life.

Gospel Quiz Comments

1. All people are basically good, but there might be a few exceptions.
2. All good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell.
3. The most important teaching of the Bible is to live your life as an example to others.
4. Jesus summarizes the gospel as Love God and Love your neighbor.
5. God understands that we are not perfect, but he just wants us to do our best.  He will do the rest.
6. God helps those who help themselves.
7. The blood of Jesus gives me healing and blessings.
8. The Holy Spirit gives me healing and blessings.
9. You must make a decision to follow Christ to be saved.
10. Jesus saves us from ourselves and our sins.
11. If you make Jesus your savior, you become a carnal Christian.  You can then obtain one of the spiritual gifts and receive your full inheritance, jewels in your crown.
12. Free will is a gift of God.  We must factor in our free will when discussing salvation.

These questions have been asked in many ways over the years and the answers have been changing, usually in a cycle from orthodoxy to liberal drift to reformation to liberal drift.  I have heard 12 yes’s or agrees on these questions recently.  Most people seem to be splitting the difference and averaging about a 6.  Now, I will tell you my own score.  Zero.  Nada.  Zilch.  And now, I will go through each of these and explain why I do not agree.

(1)  According to the Bible, all people are evil, corrupted by sin.  In this present evil age, only two people have entered this world uncorrupted by sin, Adam and Jesus, and only one successfully exited this world without sin.  The condition of sin was not understood by the Pharisees, nor the whole Jewish nation with the exception of the remnant elect, all through the Old Testament.  This is what the prophets kept complaining about.  Remember how Ezekiel laments that he is the last person who believes in the promise of a messiah and God tells him, no, there are 7000 others that He has held back for Himself.  Read Romans 3:1-20 from a good word-for-word translation; ESV, NKJV, NASV all do justice to the passage.  All men are under the law.  All men have evil hearts.  All men will be convicted of sin on the last day if left to the works of Law.

(2)  Christ came into the world, lived, died and was resurrected to save sinners.  He did not come here to save the righteous (or self righteous, as none is truly righteous,) for the righteous do not need saving.  Based upon the answer to comment 1, no one is righteous, no one is good, and no one is going to heaven by the works of Law.  So, actually, since my heart is evil, and I believe that I AM going to heaven, evil people WILL go to heaven.  Of course, there is far more to this than God overlooking my sin.  Of course, He will never overlook my sin.  That would violate His Holiness and Infinite Righteousness.  There has to be another way.  Luckily for us, there is.

(3)  Most nominal Christians, you would think, would recognize the folly in this statement.  Alas, this is not the case.  So many people believe that their best testimony is to live pious lives as an example to the world.  Hello, people!  I’m not putting my life up against the average Mormon, and they are not Christian.  Change that to Hindu if you like, and the answer is the same.  Piety and righteousness before men is not an exclusive province of Christianity.  If you put all of your marbles on your righteousness before men, you will be judged based upon your own righteousness.  Before God, as we are developing in these questions, your own righteousness is, well….  Paul says that his own righteousness that he thought he had was dung.  Surely, there is more to the message of the Bible than living piously before man.  Maybe the real story in the Bible is His rescue of His people for eternity.

(4)  Jesus summarizes the Law as Love God and Love your neighbor.  Love is a verb in this sentence and it is in the imperative tense.  Imperative means command.  Command means Law.  This is not the Gospel.  Jesus was trying to explain to the Jews that their righteousness that they claimed under the law was woefully insufficient.  He takes the Law and raises it to the fourth power.  Sure, I can avoid murdering my neighbor and stealing his wife and his boat.  But can I avoid thinking bad thoughts about him?  Paul says that his heart and mind sin before his body ever gets around to it.  No, this summary is not the Gospel; this summary is the Law.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law because we can’t.

(5)  God does understand that we are not perfect, and frankly, He’s not very happy about it.  In fact, He banished us from Eden and convicted us all to death.  He doesn’t just want us to do our best; He expects us to be perfect!  Since we can’t be perfect, in fact, there is absolutely nothing that we can contribute at all to our own salvation, God, in His infinite Mercy, sent His Son into the world to save us all, all of those to whom He would give the free gift of Grace and Belief.

(6)  Amazingly, most people these days think this is a Bible verse.  It is, of course, from Benjamin Franklin.  God judges those who help themselves; He judges them under the Law.  The verdict is guilty, and the penalty is eternal separation from our God.

(7) (8)  These two are the same.  The blood of Jesus is not some magic talisman, nor is the Holy Spirit a cosmic butler.  The blood of Jesus is not an object to be wielded.  Jesus’ Blood was spilled in sacrifice of atonement to propitiate believers to God.  When we speak of the Blood of Jesus, we need to keep in mind why it HAD to be spilled, for whom it was spilled, and what it purchased for us.  The Blood of Jesus is a shorthand for the reconciliatory and atoning work of Jesus on the Cross; nothing more and nothing less.  The Holy Spirit came into the world to give the gift of faith to His people.  He testifies about Jesus; nothing more and nothing less.  Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we are all lost.

(9)  This one will get a resounding yes from most Americans, unfortunately.  If you follow the logical arguments above, there is no possibility of agreeing with this proposition.  The only decision of which I am capable on my own is to deny the Truth of Scripture and to choose that which I perceive is the best available option.  The problem is that my perception is tainted by sin, thus I cannot ever choose God.  The Holy Spirit is the solution of God to this problem.  The Holy Spirit is sent to testify about the Truth of the work of Jesus, in His life, death and resurrection, and to give the gift of faith to those whom He would choose.  The Pelagian heresy is anathamized even by Rome.

(10)  It is amazing to me that people don’t get this one right.  Sin is the problem, the consequence of sin is the Wrath of an Angry God.  The Wrath of God for sin is the main issue.  We have gravely offended the Holy, Almighty and Just God.  Justice will be served.  We are saved FROM the Wrath of God.

(11)  This is the standard Pentecostal formula.  They assert that there are two levels of believer: the carnal Christian verbalizes belief while the fully vested Christian manifests some “spiritual gift” and conforms to some man imposed ethical standard.  The brute damage that this theology does to the Gospel, to the Crucifixion of Christ, is beyond all limits.  This is truly that “other gospel” to which Paul associated the super apostles in Corinth.  As C.S. Lewis says in the Screwtape Letters, just get them to believe the Gospel and….  And anything, it doesn’t matter.  Just add anything on to the Gospel and it is no longer the Gospel.

(12)  Free will is of man.  Free will is nothing more than our mind choosing between the best options available as we perceive things.   The gospel is alien to us, outside of us.  We cannot perceive the Gospel without the gift of Grace from the Holy Spirit.  We are free to choose whatever we like from the options available to us.  But as Paul says in Romans 3:1-20, we are completely incapable of choosing God; we don’t want to choose God; we would not have made a different choice than Adam.  Free will does not help us in the least with our salvation.

I’m sure I’ve been treading on some toes with heavy steel tipped work boots.  I might respond to comments on this thread, or I might respond by email, depending on the tone of the comment and my view of the comment as a teaching point.  I have presented the reformed position.  If you are not Roman Catholic, this is your Christian heritage.  Why are you giving back the farm?  There was a time when Protestants held these positions, believed these Biblical doctrines.  This alien righteousness that Christ provides to His flock by the free gift of faith in Him through the power of the Holy Spirit is the thesis of the Bible.  This is the purpose of that rescue mission.  This is the Gospel.

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Gospel Quiz

Answer the following 12 questions yes or no, agree or disagree.  Total up all of your yes or agree answers and we will discuss the answers in the next post.

1. All people are basically good, but there might be a few exceptions.
2. All good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell.
3. The most important teaching of the Bible is to live your life as an example to others.
4. Jesus summarizes the gospel as Love God and Love your neighbor.
5. God understands that we are not perfect, but he just wants us to do our best.  He will do the rest.
6. God helps those who help themselves.
7. The blood of Jesus gives me healing and blessings.
8. The Holy Spirit gives me healing and blessings.
9. You must make a decision to follow Christ to be saved.
10. Jesus saves us from ourselves and our sins.
11. If you make Jesus your savior, you become a carnal Christian.  You can then obtain one of the spiritual gifts and receive your full inheritance, jewels in your crown.
12. Free will is a gift of God.  We must factor in our free will when discussing salvation.

Write down your total and, if you like, post the number here or on the Facebook starting link.  We’ll talk about it on Monday.

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Romans 5:1-5

Last week, I was questioned on this key passage in the book of Romans.  My answers in person, as usual, were not quite up to par.  I did remember to qualify my remarks with the right to extend and amend, the right I will exercise now.

Romans 5:1-5  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

This section of Paul’s epistle is, in essence, the conclusion of the section on justification that started in the second half of chapter 3.  It is important to remember in Paul’s letters, particularly Romans, that he is delivering a long and carefully constructed argument.  By virtue of the fact that the first word of this section is “therefore,” we know that something important has come before.  Therefore, let’s discuss what has come before prior to attempting to unpack these verses.

In Romans, Paul starts with a key doctrinal point.  All men are at enmity with God.  The heart is a dark cesspool of evil that can lead to no good.  No man seeks God, no not even one.  The sum total value of our efforts to seek God is failure and our deserved death.  Then, starting with Romans 3:21, Paul explains that there is another pathway to righteousness before God, apart from works, that comes from God as a gift.  In Chapter 4, Paul explains the covenant of Abraham and how it applies both to Gentiles as well as Jews.  So, when Paul comes to Chapter 5, he has already laid a ton of doctrine on the table that must be assumed when you come to the word “therefore.”

Instead of the constant and usual impulse to look for “practical application for daily living right now” in Romans, try to put that aside for a while.  Paul will come back to it in chapter 12.  The first 11 chapters of Romans need to be considered from an Eschatological perspective.  What does this mean?  We need to view this argument in terms of redemptive history.  These arguments are concerned with a much larger topic than how we live day to day.  Paul is talking about Judgment Day, that day when each one of us will stand before God and make an account of ourselves in a bid for Salvation, eternal union with God and everlasting Joy and Peace with God.  This is the focus.  Let go of the here and now for a while and focus on the big picture.

On Judgment Day we face a problem.  We are all enemies of God.  There is no internal means of righteousness that will satisfy God’s Holiness and expectation for a judgment that is less than death.  This is the Great Court Room and we are all on trial.  The charge is sin and we are all guilty.  The standard for a not guilty verdict is perfection, Matthew 5:48, and we all fall short of the standard.  In this courtroom, the Judge has mercy upon us, because for believers, the Son is also our Mediator and Advocate.  Think about what those words mean in a legal sense.  Our courtroom judge is also our Covenant Attorney.  But then, this is where it gets absolutely incredible, for the believer, our sin is imputed to Jesus and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us.  This is sometimes known as the Great Exchange.  So now, there we believers stand, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, awaiting the judgment of God.  Here comes the best part.  God, who is infinitely Holy and infinitely Just, can now render a Not Guilty verdict for us believers without violation of either His Holiness or His Justice.  That is a very important point.  God’s justice must be satisfied.  But it is better than that.  From Romans 3:25 we believers see that not only are we Not Guilty, but our right relationship with God is restored.  God is propitiated by the exchange; His wrath is not only turned away, but we believers are granted the infinite rewards of Justification, Sanctification and Glorification.

Now, let us define those three words and then place them chronologically in our redemptive historical timeline.  First, Justification is a declaration of our righteousness.  It occurs instantaneously, as we are declared righteous.  The action which justified us was the life, death and resurrection of Christ 2000 years ago.  We become Covenant members with Christ at Baptism.  If the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of true faith, we will not only get the benefits of the Covenant in this present age, but we will also receive the eternal rewards in the Age to Come.  The blessings and curses that attend to Covenants are part of all covenants in the Bible.  I will discuss these in the next post.  Sanctification is both instantaneous and a process.  As long as we are alive, as long as we have this present body in this present evil age, we are IN ADAM, therefore, we remain in sin.  Even though by Baptism we are declared to be new creatures in Christ, our bodies are of this world, of this present evil age.  Read Romans 7 and see how Paul describes his struggle in sin after his transformation because his body is still in Adam.  Sanctification is the process of our moving towards the perfection that we will require on the Last Day.  This is a very difficult concept, but let me try to explain this better.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus were completely sufficient both for our justification and our sanctification.  But our bodies are still in sin, so we struggle while we remain in this world with sin.  There are means of Grace through which we receive renewal throughout our lives to assist us in our Sanctification.  The Holy Spirit provides this grace through two means: the Word and the Sacraments.  Therefore, and notice this carefully because it is vitally important, we have nothing to do with either our justification or our sanctification.  The means of both are external to us.  God provides both.  When we go to church, we repent, we receive absolution, we hear the Word read and preached, we participate in the Sacrament of Communion, and we are sent out into the world again to continue in the Great Commission.  That is Christian Living.  That is God’s purpose for us.  That is God’s plan for us.  That was all provided for us by God for God’s chosen people.  It is all independent of us and our meager efforts.  There are no works in this formula for either justification or sanctification.  That is what Paul is writing about in Chapters 3-5 for justification and 6-8 for sanctification.  We’ll talk about the fruits of the Spirit another time, because I don’t want to muddy the water just yet.  This last bit IS the Gospel according to Paul.

Now Glorification occurs on the Last Day.  That is when we become finished beings.  Our renewed souls are reunited with our resurrection bodies as complete, restored, redeemed and perfect creatures of God.  We will never be glorified until after our death or the second Coming of Christ, whichever comes first.  As Christ passed through death on our behalf to rid the world of sin, so must we also pass through death to inherit His eternal kingdom.  This one is pretty simple.

OK, now we can come back to Romans 5.  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  What Paul is saying here is that because we have been given this faith that justifies, and we have been transformed in our hearts (but not in our bodies yet), we are at Peace with God.  We were at war with God, but now our sin has been declared gone and we are declared righteous before God through our faith.  Let me say this again.  Paul spends 3 chapters explaining that we were at enmity with God.  Read the rest of Chapter 5.  While we were still at enmity with God, He declared us righteous and justified us with by clothing us with a righteousness external to us and restored us to right standing with Him through the propitiation provided by the blood of Jesus.  Now, by the same declaration, we are at Peace with God.  This is a declaration of our status with God.  We may not feel like we are at peace with God, but this declaration is external to us.  This declaration of Peace is a part of the Gospel; it is news.  Think about the benediction that we receive at the end of our service on Sunday.  Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.  This is NOT an imperative; this is a declaration of our condition as believers in Christ.  We are now at Peace with God.  He has declared it thus.

Now, here we come to verses 3-5.  Not only are we at peace with God now, but because of this, we can now rejoice in this life EVEN THROUGH OUR SUFFERING.  We can rejoice because we have been declared at Peace with God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  That string of conditions between suffering and hope are not meant as a checklist for our lives.  That is also a declaration of fact.  Because we are now at Peace with God, we can rejoice in our suffering, because suffering does produce endurance, and endurance does produce character, and character does produce hope.  And very importantly, our hope as believers does not put us to shame, because our hope has been given to us by the Holy Spirit in the form of our faith in the work of Jesus on the Cross and its efficacy for us for our Salvation.  Because of the knowledge that we are now at Peace with God, where before we were His enemies, by no doing of our own, we can now be at peace in this present age, even through our sufferings.

That is what the reformers believed that Paul was saying in Romans 1-5.  I hope that this fairly lengthy explanation satisfies the enquiry that was put forth to me on the subject.  As always with Paul, when the word “therefore” appears in a verse, we must understand the antecedent before we can understand the verse.

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Rethinking Progress

Rethinking Progress

This is from one of my blog links low in the right column. I hope you will all read it and enjoy it.

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Forgiveness

This post is in response to a conversation I had yesterday.  I suppose everyone, if you have lived long enough, has been wronged by someone.  I know that I’ve been on both sides of that divide more times than I can imagine.  Today, I want to look at a transgression and to work through the theology of forgiveness.

Let us say that your home was violated and many of your belongings were liberated from your possession.  Among those items, most of which were replaceable, was one item that had particular sentimental value besides having enough absolute value that it was stolen.  For the loss of this one item you were heartbroken.  After some time, your emotions changed to anger and distrust.  You did not have an object for your emotions, no accused upon whom you could heap blame, but you were just angry in general.

In this first example, you have sinned against God.  You have placed an idol above your love of God.  Under the standard of the Law, you have failed in perfection.  You have done nothing wrong, in fact you are the victim of a crime, in the world of man.  But at the same time, in the Kingdom of God, you have sinned.

Now suppose that a young vagrant is arrested for the crime.  One of your blankets and some cash is found in his possession.  Now you have an object of your emotional rage.  You hate this man.  He denies his culpability in the crime and says that he found the blanket and some clothes by the side of the road.  He needed the blanket and so he kept it, but he sold the clothes to a second hand store to get the cash.  You don’t believe him.  You hate him.

In this second example, you have sinned against God.  You have committed murder.  According to Jesus’ interpretation of the Law, and He wrote it, so He is allowed to explain it to us, hateful thoughts are just the same as murder.  Now you have violated another commandment.  You have not actually done anything to the man, according to the law of man.  But according to the Law of God, you have committed murder.

The police realize that the man in question actually spent the night in the drunk tank at the local jail on the night that your house was robbed.  He could not possibly have committed the crime.  In fact, his whole story checks out and he is released from custody, uncharged and vindicated.  The police return your blanket and the cash from the sale of your clothes to you.  As you stare at the items, you realize that you have not forgiven the man.  You find that you cannot release your hatred towards this man, partly because you have no other place to put your anger.  You grab your blanket and the cash and storm home.  You have just wronged your neighbor.  You had identified a person who had a greater need of those things, and you took them from him.

In this third example, you have sinned against God and your neighbor.  In addition to all of the above, you have now added direct transgressions against your neighbor.  Consider this line from the prayer of confession.  We confess that we have sinned by thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.  You left undone the Love for your neighbor.

Summarizing the events, your house was robbed.  You have done absolutely nothing wrong from beginning to end according to the law of man.  You have done nothing but sin against God from beginning to end according to the Law of God.  Right now, you are not exactly on top of your game.  What should you do?

First of all, notice where your pile of debt resides.  What is required is repentance.  Whether you agree with every theological point of your pastor and church, this person is by office the representative of Christ’s church in this world.  Go to church.  Take the confession of sins seriously.  Whether it is done individually or corporately, this repentance is sorely needed.  Afterwards, the priest or pastor will say a prayer of absolution.  I wish sometimes we could ask him to slow down so we can savor every word of that prayer.  By office, you can believe that you have received absolution for your sins.  This is vitally important.  Although we as reformed Christians believe that our sin is completely covered by the justification that occurred through Jesus Christ, we remain in this world under the curse of Adam.  This process of repentance, absolution and reconciliation that occurs every Lord’s Day is crucial in maintaining our spiritual growth and sanctification throughout our lives.  Listen to this portion of the service clearly and carefully.  Receive the Grace of God through the Holy Spirit.

Now that you are feeling right with God again, you might go looking for the vagrant.  You might plan to give him the blanket and the cash, two blankets and twice the cash.  Perhaps you might want to feed him.  You might try to clothe him.  You might want to get him plugged into civil aid services.  You may know of a job.  The trouble is that you can’t find him.  Now what?

You take your donations to the local aid center.  You notice a sign that asks for volunteers.  You volunteer.  You learn about what aid is really needed and you learn how to give it.  This isn’t at a church sponsored aid mission.  Who says you have to help your neighbor through the church?  Who says the church is responsible for developing programs for aid?  The church doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to be effective.  The church membership can be very effective through secular missions.  So, you volunteer.

Six months later, a man, who has been avoiding your town, wanders into a soup kitchen.  By chance you are there working.  He doesn’t recognize you, but he is very edgy.  After all, besides being homeless and hungry, he’s had a very bad experience in your town in the not too distant past.  Now is your chance.  You walk over to him….

Who knows?  Perhaps even God smiled that day.

--Ogre--

The Holy Spirit Right Now

The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Holy Trinity.  We all know the story of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit comes to the Apostles.  The goal of this post is to review the purpose of the Holy Spirit, the issue of Sanctification, the sufficiency of the Resurrection, the purpose of the Sacraments and the Spiritual gifts.  As this is an absolutely huge topic.  While there is an overwhelming urge in some to leap to 1 Corinthians to discuss the Holy Spirit, let us instead begin in Acts.

The Holy Spirit is given to Apostles, first by way of introduction in Acts 1, and then in actuality in Acts 2:1-13.  The Spirit comes as if tongues of fire rested on each one of them and they began speaking different tongues.  This is the first reference to speaking in tongues in the Bible.  Read closely what follows in Acts 2:5-13.  They miraculously were speaking the various languages of the Jews from all parts of the world who were in Jerusalem in that time.  What can we say about this?  First, the gift of tongues was an Apostolic gift; it was given specifically to the Apostles.  Second, the gift of tongues means foreign languages in its initial presentation.  Any change in that concept has to be as clearly stated as it is in Acts 2 to alter this perception.

Third, let’s deal with Acts 2:37-41.  In response to Peter’s Pentecost Sermon, Jews ask the Apostles what to do.  The response is to be Baptized in the name of Jesus and to receive the Holy Spirit.  What is absolutely clear in this passage is that the Holy Spirit is conferred upon believers at the time of Baptism.  Acts 2:39 “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Now this is huge on a number of levels.  This is a generational promise, to the children of believers.  This is also a promise to those who are far off.  This might be Jews who are geographically far away.  But as we shall see later, Paul has a different idea of what this means; he is referring to the Gentiles.  This is clearly covenant language as well.  Peter is speaking of the promise.  We know from previous study that he is referring to the promise of God to Abraham, manifest in Christ Jesus and now demonstrated in the Holy Spirit indwelling in all believers.  So far, so good.  Not much controversy yet.  Let’s plow on.

Acts 5:1-11 is the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  I am bringing up this account for selfish reasons as well as this being a window into understanding James.  Without a proper hermeneutic to handle this story, it was a very real stumbling block to me in my systemic theology undertaking.  Let’s examine this story.  The couple profess to have true faith.  They withhold a part of their earthly treasure.  Peter accuses them of lying to the Holy Spirit and they are stricken dead.  Does this mean that tithing is not enough, but we have to do as the Apostles did, give up everything and follow Christ?  If that is the case, how do you reconcile Jesus’ teaching about the Law?  Let’s try a different understanding of this passage.  Let’s look at it in terms of true faith, a theme that James will develop in great detail.  This couple did not place their faith in Christ.  They held back, not just their treasure, but their true faith.  By their disobedience, they demonstrated where their true faith resided, in the things of this world.  Since this was a rejection of Grace, Peter merely allowed their death sentence under the Law to be brought forward to the present time in order to instruct on the wages of sin.  This Law passage is not intended to be an instruction concerning tithing or Sanctification.  This is a passage about true faith.  This couple clearly did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling; therefore, Peter did not want them dwelling in and among the disciples. 

In Acts 5:32, Peter again lectures the Jewish leadership after the Sadducees had caused the arrest of the Apostles.  He is saying here that the Holy Spirit witnesses to these things.  This is important, to which things does the Holy Spirit witness?  God raised Jesus, who was killed by the Jewish leadership.  God exalted Jesus to His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 

Let’s break this down.  The resurrection is the key.  The Holy Spirit is given as a witness to the resurrection.  Jesus is now on the Right Hand of God. (This is an important passage for the arguments against dispensationalism, but that’s for another day.) Jesus is Leader and Savior; He is prophet, priest and King.  That’s pretty much a statement of messiah.  He gives repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  Who can forgive sins?  God, therefore, Jesus is God.  Putting this all together: The Holy Spirit witnesses to these Truths: Jesus is God, Jesus is messiah, and proof of these is that Jesus was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the God.

Therefore, (and remember what “therefore” means,) any reference to the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts must be thought of in the context of these definitions.  If an interpretation of either is contrary to these passages, then we have not used a proper hermeneutic in interpretation of those later passages.

Let’s switch gears for a moment and discuss Sanctification and the Sacraments.  Sanctification begins with Baptism.  We know this from many sources, but Paul explains that Justification and Sanctification are both external to us, through Jesus alone, and that the elect will be moved by the Holy Spirit to receive these gifts.  So, Paul clarifies the purpose of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit makes us aware of the true nature of these gifts (Justification and Sanctification) and allows us to receive them.  In so far as the Great Commission is concerned, the Holy Spirit in us assists us in the spreading of the Gospel.  The Gospel, again, is the Good News that Jesus is God and messiah, and that the resurrection really happened.   It is not up to us how that message is received.  If the Holy Spirit moves the listener, either immediately or in the future, it is no act of ours, either as speaker or as listener.  It is all up to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit seeks out the elect and moves them towards the Gospel.

The Sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion (or the Lord’s Supper), are more than just public demonstrations of faith.  It is clear from Peter, that Baptism is the mechanism to receive the Holy Spirit.  Holy Communion is our covenant renewal ceremony wherein we receive small boosts of Grace that assist us in our Sanctification.   Listening to the Gospel preached to us is the other mechanism in which we receive our Sanctifying doses of Grace.  To what does the Holy Spirit witness?  To the Gospel!  Therefore, the Gospel is not just for the unregenerated or not yet regenerated, but it is also for the transformed elect!  We must regularly hear the Gospel preached correctly and receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  The Holy Spirit always reveals that which is past, the external and saving events of the Gospel.  One final note about the notion of receiving Grace: I am not referring to the Roman Catholic notion of discrete, quantifiable doses of grace that contribute to the overall equation of a works based sanctification.  These doses of Grace are more of a continual renewal, like filling up the tank.  This is not meant to undermine justification, but to support sanctification.

OK, now let’s get controversial.  Some of you are Pentecostal and subscribe to a different theology.  It begins with the idea that the Holy Spirit is given after Sanctification and the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit must be seen in public displays of “spiritual gifts” such as glossolalia.  Expression of such “gifts” is seen as evidence of the person attaining a higher or fuller level of believer.  If a person fails to exhibit one of these higher “spiritual gifts,” they remain a “carnal Christian” and remain in a lower level of Heaven for eternity come Judgment Day.  In a minute, we’ll plow through some key passages, but for now, let’s talk about the logical outcome of this type of theology.  Is the resurrection of Christ sufficient for your salvation?  If yes, why do you need to demonstrate something in the flesh?  If no, then you have just gutted the Gospel.  It really is that simple.  There is no Biblical support for this notion of a carnal Christian.  This theology is oppressive, idolatrous, unbiblical and heretical.  Is that emphatic enough?  Practice flows from theology, not the other way round.

Either Jesus is Lord and Savior, Who was resurrected on the third day, so that He could provide for His elect, through substitutionary atonement, propitiation for our sin, and this was a completely sufficient sacrifice for us and for our salvation; or He isn’t.  You decide.  A negative response is all about you.  It is the only answer you can come by on your own.  A positive response is indicative of the Holy Spirit at work in you.  You could not have truly answered positively otherwise.

Read that last paragraph again.  It is the key to understanding the Holy Spirit.

Now, we are ready to discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  There are a few lists of these gifts and we need to be complete.  They are divided into two types: ministry gifts and spiritual gifts.  All of these gifts are given to us to use for what purpose?  There can be only one purpose: to proclaim and witness to the Gospel.  If the body of Christ has needs, needs that ultimately facilitate this primary end, the answer to those needs will appear within the body of Christ.  These gifts might be as mundane as secretarial skills.  In fact, it is far more likely that these gifts will be mundane.  Exciting, supernatural skills are rarely needed and rarely provided.  Even in the recording of Acts, supernatural gifts faded in frequency.  The expectation of the supernatural is akin to what was asked of Jesus in His trial.  How did He respond?  He said that the sign of Jonah was the last sign they would have.  The next thing Jesus did was not just a sign, it was the whole enchilada: he arose from the dead and walked on this earth again in His glorified and resurrected body.

In order to handle the debate about the more supernatural gifts, these categories are helpful: continuation, dormancy and cessation. Continuation means that the spiritual gifts continue into the present day. Dormancy means that the spiritual gifts are in a period when they are not needed, but that they will return as we approach the Second Coming in the period of the Apostasy.  Cessation means that they have not manifest since the time of the early first century church.  The frequency of the use of these gifts was less frequent as we wind through the book of Acts.  These gifts were specifically offered to the 12 Apostles in Acts 2, a position that is supported in scripture. Throughout Acts, no disciple except for Ananias in Acts 9 has such gifts, and that instance is given not just by the Holy Spirit, but by either the Father or the Risen Lord Himself.  Otherwise, it is only in the twelve that they are manifest in Acts.

Before we plow through the lists, remember the definitions supplied above concerning the purpose of the Holy Spirit.  Any manifestation of a spiritual gift must satisfy those criteria to be authentic.  The Holy Spirit is not going to help you choose friends, win at sports, generate worldly goods or even heal your ailments unless there is a direct and obvious connection to proclaiming the Gospel.  Evangelism is for the unconverted and prophecy is for the elect.  In each of these regards, manifestations of the Holy Spirit will work to proclaim the Gospel.  That is the stated purpose of the Holy Spirit in Scripture in the red letters of Christ.

Ephesians 4 lists the ministry gifts, whose purpose is to "equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ:" Apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers.  There is nothing particularly supernatural that is translated to the modern era in this list. The Apostles are a specific set of people who had their time and are gone.  Prophets are rooted in time also, but with some allowance given for prophecy near the time of the apostasy.  Evangelists and teachers are not particularly supernatural other than receiving the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through Baptism. These people are tasked with the ministry of the Body of Christ. It can be argued that there are specific offices that are set up to minister.  Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus come to mind in this regard.  There is also the idea that every member of the body of Christ is expected to minister.  Is there value to particular offices in the church if everyone is evangelizing and teaching?  Absolutely!  The sacraments are vital parts of the life of a Christian.  In addition, the preaching of the Word from the pulpit is an inspired office that through the Holy Spirit imparts the renewal of Grace to Christians.  While I may attempt to teach, this is not preaching.  These offices in the church are essential in these two capacities.

The arguments for spiritual gifts in the present age are rooted in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  In this passage, Paul is answering a query from the church in Corinth.  We do not know the exact question that was asked, but we can draw a couple of inferences.  First, worship in Corinth had become unruly and disorderly.  Paul was an ex-Pharisee.  He didn’t much like disorder.  Therefore, a good deal of the discussion in this section is about order in the church.

Paul quotes Joel 2:28-31 in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.  The point of this is the context of the idea of prophesy in Joel.  It is clear that the prophesy in this passage concerns the period of the apostasy.  Likely, since this is the modus operandi of Paul to quote OT scripture and reinterpret them in the context of Christ, this passage in Corinthians is meant to chasten the Corinthians.  He is educating them as to the purpose of these gifts.  We’ll come to this idea again at the end of this argument.

Wisdom and knowledge are polemics against Greek paganism. The wisdom and knowledge of Christ is a public knowledge of His resurrection, while the Greek wisdom is hidden.

Concerning healing: we will all be bodily healed on Judgment Day, and this may be the purpose of this passage. In some cases, the causes and outcomes of disease are obvious, and in other cases they remain unknown. The context of healing that occurs both by Jesus and the Apostles in Acts has a couple of distinct features. First, the purpose of these healings is always in order to advance the Gospel. The benefit to the individual who is healed is secondary to the benefit to the whole body of Christ. See verse 7. For the common good means for the body of Christ, not for the individual glorification of any one member of the body. If these same gifts appear to glorify an individual, you can be sure that it is NOT the Holy Spirit operating there. Second, all of these healings are accomplished in a public place, often in view of hostile, non-believing witnesses who have both motive and opportunity to offer contradictory accounts of these events.  Take Acts 3-4 for example. Whether it was Peter or John who did the healing, the point is that it was done very publically. Also, Peter was given an opportunity to advance the Kingdom of God from the event. So, when evaluating healing and any other spiritual gift, ask whether the event in question satisfies these two points.

As Paul winds up his argument in 1 Corinthians 14, in verse 23 he quotes Isaiah 28:11.  Again, the OT context implies a foreign language rather than glossolalia, but that still is not the point.  In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is completing his argument for order. The last verse of the section cannot be more explicit.  The church in Corinth is in utter chaos. Paul is trying to put things in order. This is not so much an instruction to have everyone speak in tongues, but rather an instruction on orderly worship. And finally, remember my first rule. All gifts of the spirit are supposed to witness to the Gospel. If the gifts cause division within the church, you will know that these tongues are NOT the inspired gifts of the Holy Spirit. God wants order. Paul really is lecturing the Corinthians on order in worship.  Read 36-40.

36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But all things should be done decently and in order.

If this is Paul’s summary of this section, shouldn’t also be ours?  Verses 36-37 are particularly important.  It is the implied “therefore” of Paul.  If you do not accept all of Paul’s teachings, then are you truly a prophet?  Are you really the only ones to whom the Word of God came?  It is an intense section of rebuke when you read the whole passage.  

When watching periods of glossolalia or even simple prayer in some Pentecostal churches, the thing that usually strikes me is the complete lack of orderly worship.  Everyone is speaking different things at once, and it is encouraged.  Remember that the summary of this section of Paul’s Epistle is a rebuke.  There is a large difference between earnestly desiring to prophesy and actually doing it.  Remember what Christ himself said in Acts 1:7-8.

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit is about witnessing to the Gospel; nothing more, and nothing less.  Amen.

--Troll--

Tolerance and the Law

It has been the issue that has split the Episcopal Church USA.  You cannot help but take sides on this issue.  The key points of the battle come down to interpretation of the same passages.  But at the root, there are fundamental doctrinal issues at state.  The issue is homosexuality.  There is great confusion expressed concerning the summary of the Law by Jesus and particular lists of sin found throughout the new testament.  The dogmatism that accompanies these discussions has been divisive.  So, let's review the doctrine and then go to the specific passages.

The doctrines of salvation as expressed in the New Testament are justification, by faith alone, in Christ alone, through His Grace alone, to the glory of God alone, as attested by the Scripture alone, and sanctification, beginning at Baptism and continuing through life with the infusion of Grace from the Sacraments and the hearing of the Gospel preached correctly.  Sanctification is both external to us and already accomplished and also a persistent life time of works by the Holy Spirit in which we are allowed to participate.  So, then, what of the Law, Love and Obedience?

One of the arguments that is often used against homosexuality is the various lists found in the Bible.  It seems that every list contains some mention of sexual immorality, often with homosexuality being explicitly mentioned.  It is interesting that theologians can on the one hand deal with the issue of all sin being equal in the eyes of God, and yet on the other hand, single out this one sin as being demonstrative of disobedience to the Law.  Note these passages in Acts, 1 Corinthians and Romans:  Acts 15:28-29, 1 Corinthians 5, 6:12-19 and Romans 1:18-32.  Each talks about lists of sins including sexual immorality.  What is troubling to me in this discussion, is the complete disregard for Paul's arguments in Romans 4-11.  Is sanctification tied to our success in obedience to the law?

This is the real key to the discussion: the doctrine of sanctification is viewed in terms of works while the doctrine of justification is held as grace.  My view is that this is wrong on so many levels.  If sanctification is based on works, then a part of salvation is based on works.  If any part of salvation is based on works, then you are doing violence to the Gospel.  If instead, the arguments of Paul in Romans lead you to the conclusion that Jesus accomplished not only our justification, but that through the Holy Spirit He also provides for our sanctification, then you must come to a different conclusion regarding sin.  All sin was imputed to Christ as a part of our justification.  To say that sin gets back into the equation through sanctification is to undermine justification.  This is Pelagian theology and heretical.

I recently read an argument by one of my favorite bloggers, a SBC pastor who is both a Calvinist and an amillennialist.  He argued that the doctrine of repentance was undermined by a person who continued to practice homosexuality; therefore, because of these actions, their transformation would be hindered.  This would in essence not be considered true faith.  (He was citing an interview between Mark Driscoll and J.I. Packer which I have provided here.) This is a horrible turn of thought.  Let's change the sin and continue his line of reasoning.  Who among us, particularly in this country, is guilty of covetousness?  Everyone?  Daily?  Hourly?  So, if we continue to covet as a regular part of our existence, then our faith is not genuine and we are back to justification by Law instead of by Grace.  That line of reasoning completely guts the Gospel.  Sanctification cannot be tied to works without losing justification to works as well.

So, what then are we to say about repentance?  If a homosexual person understands that God views his behavior as sin and is truly repentant, where does that leave him?  I am not aware that either Jesus or any Apostle has stated that any one sin precludes visitation by the Holy Spirit and therefore true faith.  It is not written on my heart to know who may be truly regenerate persons.  Scripture says that the Book of Life is hidden until Judgment Day, Daniel closed it and John got a peek at it, but it remains closed to human eyes until the Second Coming.

What then of James?  If we are to know the elect by their fruit, is the measure of visible sin in a man's life evidence of a lack of transformation?  This is a tough question, of course.  But we must resist the temptation to be fruit inspectors.  The farmer who grows fruit checks his own crop and tends to it so that he might have a successful harvest.  In so much as he worries about his neighbors crop, it is only to assist his neighbor in a successful harvest as well.  The job of fruit inspection falls to another.  We will all face judgment and fail the inspection without the redeeming work of Christ on our side.  James admonitions should be accounted as advice to the farmer.  It is not up to us to usurp the duties of the inspector.  No one knows the heart of man but the Creator.  He knows his elect.

Therefore, when we are instructed to love our neighbor, help them know the Gospel.  While we are busy laying waste to their crop with the passages I listed above, don't forget to tell them about the Good News as well.  Romans does not end at chapter 3, nor pause and resume at chapter 12.  Justification is the key doctrine of Christianity.  It is the one doctrine that we cannot compromise.  Any violence to justification compromises the sufficiency of the Resurrection.

Finally, since this is the point of division of the Episcopal Church USA with the Anglican Church of North America, can we say that this division is justifiable on these grounds?  My answer in 2004 was yes.  Now, my answer is a resounding no.  It is unfortunate that wisdom did not prevail in the election of leadership for the church; instructions to Timothy and Titus seem to have been disregarded.  Nonetheless, there was no violation of Justification in the actions of the 2003 convention.  The public statements of the presiding bishop concerning other religions, however, are another matter.  In the case where she stated that there are many paths to God, she has relinquished the truth claim of the Gospel.  In other words, the presiding Bishop is not Christian.  Is this fruit inspection on my part?  Perhaps.  But when the leader of a church denies the Gospel publicly, we are charged with calling her heresy out for what it is.  The liberals in power in the Episcopal church who deny the Gospel are the real problem.  Homosexuality is just a sin, like any other sin.  The Gospel is what may not be compromised, or we cease to be the church.

--Ogre--