The Holy Spirit will always glorify The Lord Jesus and
The Heavenly Father
I remember in the 1970s and early 80's during the Pentecostal/Charismatic revivals there was a great backlash from the traditional churches against the perceived obsession with The Holy Spirit and His gifts. Among Evangelicals there was the accusation that the revivalists had abandoned the focus on Jesus as the centre of the Christian faith. Revivalists were rebuked on pulpits around the world and quoted John 16:14 (highlighted) which reads,
"12 “I still have many things to say to you, nbut you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, othe Spirit of truth, has come, pHe will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 qHe will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 rAll things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He 3will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Ironically, while the revivalists were being derided, in fact, they were being obedient to The Lord Jesus' command to be baptised in The Holy Spirit so that they will become the temple of God. The obsession with the theology of the centrality of Christ became itself an idol or religious barrier like the Pharisees and Scribes in Jesus Christ's time. At that time religious leaders, even when God, in Christ Jesus, explained the Scriptures to them, they could not see past their entrenched positions.
We know that later on after The Lord Jesus' resurrection in the book of Acts that some of these religious leaders realised they were entirely wrong in their understanding of the Messiah's arrival and purpose. The Apostle Paul is the best example of such a change of heart as a result of revelation by the Grace of The Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit will have The Church understand that it is in error to even remotely suggest that a focus on Himself for the purpose of intimacy will mean an iota less of glorifying The Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit cannot, will not and does not work at cross purposes with The Lord Jesus Christ or The Heavenly Father. It is impossible, therefore, for anyone who focuses on intimacy with The Holy Spirit to find themselves not having The Lord Jesus Christ as the central figure in their Christian life and belief.
On the contrary it is entirely possible and has happened throughout Church history that an obsession with doctrine of the centrality of Christ in Christianity can lead one to end up with Christ not being the centre of the Christian's life. The doctrine becomes the idol of security rather then The Christ of the doctrine becoming the centre. The only certainty that The Christ in the doctrine of the centrality of Christ can be entrenched in the heart of the believer is by The Holy Spirit who dwells in them. He will guide them and reveal to them this eternal truth.
Satan's wedge theology
Since the great Pentecostal revivals of the early 1900s, Satan
has driven a wedge between Christ and The Holy Spirit in the minds of
theologically obsessive Christians on both sides of the faith. The
non-Pentecostal were easily distracted and like the Pharisees of Jesus' day
stuck fast to what they believed even to their own loss. The Pentecostal's
on the other hand derided their opponents as having a form of godliness but
denying the power of it. They, however, failed to see that their new found
theology was based on driving a wedge between The Holy Spirit and Christ because
they were unable to demonstrate convincingly why it was imperative that a person
had to be baptised in The Holy Spirit. To the non-Pentecostals it seemed
they were being told that their decision to be born-again was not for real until
they were baptised in The Holy Spirit. It became an us and them divide.
The Holy Spirit is removing Satan's wedge theology
The Holy Spirit now wants to remove this wedge theology by revealing that:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ came to save repentant sinners through His shed blood and to give them eternal life (John 3:16, Heb 9:26-28)
2. The Holy Spirit came so that those who are born-again may be indwelt (through the baptism of The Holy Spirit) by The Living God in the Person of The Holy Spirit for eternal intimate communion and fellowship (John 14:12-21). In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it reads,
"19 Or tdo you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, uand you are not your own? 20 For vyou were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body 7and in your spirit, which are God’s."
Also in 2 Cor. 6:16 - 7:1 it reads,
"16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For syou 6are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
t“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore
u“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I vwill be a Father to you,
And you shall be My wsons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”
3. There has never been any theological wedge as far as The Lord Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit are concerned. They have different Roles and methods for fulfilling the single Divine Vision that the Triune God has declared in the Scriptures - Eternal Redemption of and Re-Union with those who are born-again.
4. Whenever, The Holy Spirit is at work healing the
sick, saving souls, doing all manner of miracles all these point to the
wonderful reality of what The Lord Jesus Christ has secured for humanity through
His death and resurrection
5. Sin, rebellion, and a rejection of God and His very
existence by unbelievers means that it is not possible for God to reach out and
help. The activity of The Holy Spirit is a clear demonstration of the eternal
accomplishment of The Blood of Jesus Christ and the significance of repentance
in obtaining God's power to deliver in time of need.
6. The very fact that a born-again Christian can have
a relationship with The Holy Spirit is a wonderful demonstration of Christ's
crucifixion and faithfulness to His promises. It would have been impossible for
a Holy God to agree to live within sinful man. The
two are mutually exclusive. This is very evident in the Old Testament when
God's anger against the whole nation of Israel was kindled because of one man's
sin as told in Joshua 7 - 8:29. The amazing work of
the Cross to allow God Himself to dwell in sinful man is clearly demonstrated on
the day of Pentecost when The Holy Spirit arrived to
take up residence in the spirit of repentant believers so that they became
temples of the Living God by The Holy Spirit.
Published 2006
