The reader is told that a leader is chosen who is "fully of the Spirit and wisdom" and "full of faith" (Acts 6:3,5). The first book of Acts shows the disciples looking at external qualities for a good leader and are thus unable to come to a decision; they end up asking God to make the decision for them. It is only after the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit that they are able to find others who are "full of the Spirit." This shows that before being filled with the Holy Spirit, one is not able to see who else is filled with it. One doesn't know God or things of God until they have the Spirit in them.
The Greatest Works of the Holy Spirit in Acts
There are five distinct circumstances in the book of Acts in which there is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit…...
mlaBibliography
DL Bock, Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Baker Academic, 2007).
FF Bruce & GD Fee, the Book of Acts (Wm. B. Eerdsman Publishing; Rev Sub-Edition, 1988).
Joseph a. Fitzmyer, the Acts of the Apostles: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Anchor Bible, 1998).
Martin Hengel, Acts and the History of the Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia, PA:
These is no other evidence in the Gospels or in other areas of the epistles out side of Corinthians. Certainly, Acts is the foundation stone for all of the talk of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without Acts, there would be no other firm evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (ibid.).
Obviously, the speaking in tongues is still valid today because it is still happening. As it says in
1 Corinthians 13:8-10, "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Very simply, when Jesus returns and the Messianic Age begins, then things will be "perfect." Before that, things will not be perfect,…...
mlaReferences
"The Holy Spirit of God: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Executableoutlines.com.
(accessed February 25, 2012).http://executableoutlines.com/hs/hs_11.htm
"What does "when the perfect comes" mean in 1 Corinthians 13:9-10? Printer-friendly version."
Bible.org. http://bible.org/question/what-does -"when-perfect-comes"-mean-1-corinthians-139-
" (Gen. 1:2.)
The Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit is seen as the original creative force that creates all life. However, the reference to the Spirit in Gnesis also refers to its distance and potential separation from mankind. In times of sin and wickedness God warns that "...my Spirit will not always strive with man." (Gen. 6:3) the passage also implies that the"... Spirit's very presence and ministry could be withdrawn from the human race in some sense."
At this point the apparent distinction between and Spirit and Holy Sprit should be reiterated. As one commentator notes; " Although the Old Testament uses the epithet "Spirit of God," it does not speak of the Holy Spirit per se.
The appellative Spirit of God became popular in late Old Testament narratives to replace the name of God by its attributes. The epithet did not infer the idea that the Spirit was a…...
mlaWalther Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, trans J.A. Baker, Vol. 2 [book online] (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967, accessed 7 October 2008), 80; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=85792449;Internet .
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=85792449
Walther Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, trans J.A. Baker, Vol. 2 [book online] (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967, accessed 7 October 2008), 80; available from Questia,
Baptisim in the Holy Spirit
James Dunn and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
James Dunn's book: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a traditional exegesis of the religious phenomenon which has been relegated in modern times to the Pentecostal Christian churches. The baptism in the Holy Spirit was prophesied in the Old Testament (OT) writings. The experience was demonstrated in special circumstances among OT leaders, but the prophet Joel promised that in the latter days, this experience would be available and present across the entire church. Joel promised that:
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2.28-29 ASV)
In the second chapter…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bultmann, R. 1958, Jesus and the Word. ET. Fontana
Conger, M.J.O.P. 1939. Divided Christendom, Translated b y M.A. Bousfield. London.
Dunn, James D.G. 1970. Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Re-examination of the New Testament Teaching on the Gift of the Spirit in Relation to Pentecostalism Today. Naperville, Ill.: Allenson.
Dunn, James. 1975. Jesus and the Holy spirit: A study of the religious and charismatic experience of Jesus. Wesminster Press, Philadelphia.
egeneration is a rebirth. "The birth of a child of God is a spiritual resurrection, the passage of one into new life who was formerly dead in trespasses and sins. A child of wrath becomes a child of the Father who is in heaven. The theological term for this is new birth is regeneration."
Just as in the actual birth process, the birth is just the beginning. A newborn human being is absolutely unable to care for himself and lacks knowledge and insight into life as a human. Likewise, a newly born Christian lacks the same type of knowledge, and it is that knowledge that people most commonly refer to as faith.
Therefore, to understand the relationship between regeneration and faith, it is important to keep in mind that "rebirth is a metaphor of the initial step in salvation."
egeneration is only the beginning part of salvation; it precedes faith. More significantly,…...
mlaReferences
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1996.
Boice, James. Foundations of the Christian Faith: a Comprehensive and Readable Theology.
Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press. 1986.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing. 2006.
lds.org/manual/2014-outline-for-sharing-time-families-are-forever/october-the-family-A-proclamation-to-the-world-came-from-god-to-help-my-family?lang=eng
Supplement the ideas provided here with some of your own. Plan ways to identify the doctrine for the children and help them understand it and apply it in their lives.Ask yourself, "What will the children do to learn, and how can I help them feel the Spirit?"
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" came from God to help my family.
Identify the doctrine: Show the children pictures of the Ten Commandments and the scriptures. Ask, "Where did these come from?" Explain that they came from God through His prophets to help us know what to do. Show the children a copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and explain that it came from God through His latter-day prophets to help our families.
Encourage understanding (singing songs): Explain that not all families are the same, but each family is important; God wants all families to be happy and return to…...
mlaReferences
Allen, O.W. (2005). The homiletic of all believers: A conversational approach to proclamation and preaching. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Bohannon, J.S. (2009). Preaching and the emerging church: A homiletical analysis and critique of a select number of emerging church pastors -- Mark Driscoll, Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren, and Doug Pagitt -- with contemporary implications for evangelical (expository) preaching. Retrieved from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary website: http://search.proquest.com//docview/305159784
Brown, T.L. (2008). Delivering the sermon: Voice, body, and animation in proclamation. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Christenson, L., & International Lutheran Charismatic Theological Consultation (1987). Welcome, Holy Spirit: A study of charismatic renewal in the church. Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub. House.
Holy Spirit in Social Preaching
David M. Doran, a theologian with the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, emphasizes that Biblical preaching is vitally important to the fulfillment of the mission of Christianity. The Scriptures explain to readers that the way to honor God is through what Doran calls "Christ-centered preaching" -- and Paul explains, "e proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ" (Col 1:28).
Doran makes it clear that God intended his disciples to be given the power to actually go out and do the preaching that was necessary. God gave the Apostle Paul the "ministry of the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:8, 12), which Paul of course needed to carry out the work that he was appointed to do. On page 105, Doran explains that Paul was "so zealous of having this power in him" that he…...
mlaWorks Cited
Doran, David M. 1998. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Preaching. Detroit Baptist Seminary
Journal. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from http://www.dbts.edu/journals/1998/doran.pdf .
pp. 103-121.
Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit
The Promise of God the Father
Chapter one of Charles Stanley's book begins with a definition of exactly what is the Holy Spirit. Stanley states that it is the "Promise of our heavenly Father to each one of us." (Stanley, 11) The Holy Spirit, as God's promise, is for each and every human being, not just hose who are priests, and holders of other religious positions. Luke 24 is used as an example of this concept that the Holy Spirit is for all people. (Mays, 1988) Stanley next examines the question of what is the power of the Holy Spirit? He asserts that it is the "divine authority and energy that God releases into the life of every one of his children in order that we may live a Godly and fruitful life." (Stanley, 13) It is like a spiritual cloak.
The author is careful…...
mlaReferences
Campbell, Gordon. King James Bible. Oxford: Oxford UP. 2010. Print.
Mays, James Luther. Harper's Bible Commentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. Print.
Stanley, Charles. Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Nashville, TN: Nelson, 2005. Print.
street what the Holy Spirit represents one would probably get a consistent answer regardless of the number of people asked, or the spiritual beliefs of those asked. Christianity is based on several foundational premises, with one of the strongest being the Holy Spirit. Regardless of one's religious background or beliefs most people in the U.S. have a basic understanding of the tenet of the Holy Spirit in the Christian faith. The Holy Spirit is commonly understood as the host of the trinity, "The Father, The Son and The Holy host." When one receives the Holy Spirit into their heart and sole it is believed that the Lord has entered that person's heart and soul and is guiding them in their daily lives.
Christians often speak of the Holy Spirit moving them, or the fact that they felt the Holy Spirit enter their hearts. It is these and other common sayings…...
mlaGraham, Billy (2003). Holy Spirit is in You Whether You Know it or Not. The London Free Press.
Holy Spirit (2002). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition.
ABRAHAM KUYPER, D.D., LL.D.THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM. TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES BY REVEREND HENRI DE VRIES. COPYRIGHT, 1900. FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
" (John 15:26-27) John explicitly tells those who have come to walk in this way of knowing to pursue this knowledge in others.
In his set of three epistles, which are held up with the apostle's other writings as central doctrines to the humanistic elements of Christianity, John delivers a summation of the relationship between man's regard of God and his treatment of his fellow which points to the morality underscoring his spiritual vision. In each letter, the author showers his addressees with evaluations on this topic. In each, he explicates the Christian missive that 'walking in truth,' or knowing God, should be observable in one's love for his fellow man, noting that the Johannine conception of Christian ethical behavior interprets the sharing of faith as the greatest good. This may be considered to differ from the synoptic perspective in that it pays less heed to the essential and practical goodness…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bellinzoni, Arthur J. The Early Christian Community: From Diversity to Unity to Orthodoxy. Wells College, 2000.
Blasi, Anthony J. A Sociology of Johannine Christianity. Mellen Press, 1996.
Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the Gospels of John. Doubleday Press, 1997.
Creech, Charles F. III John 9. Bible Gems, 2005
Introduction To preach is to be called by God, to serve in the glorious undertaking of disseminating scriptural truths. Unlike any ordinary endeavor, preaching requires spiritual strength and conviction. Most importantly, preaching depends on the Grace of god, received as the Holy Spirit, as well as by and for the Holy Spirit. To take preaching lightly would be to commit the sin of pride, in assuming that the undertaking is about charisma or even just about spiritual counseling. As admirable as charisma is, and as noble as counseling, preaching is something different altogether. In the 40th anniversary edition of his classic book Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones explicates the nature of preaching with dutiful attention to scriptural authority. Ultimately, Lloyd-Jones shows how preachers can transform their sermons from mere motivational speeches into the transformative means by which listeners can achieve union with God. Lloyd-Jones presents the purpose of preaching as reaching…...
mlaReferences
Driscoll, M. (2014). Martin Lloyd-Jones on the Holy Spirit. Resurgence. Lloyd-Jones, M. (2011). Preaching & preachers: 40th anniversary edition. Grand Rapids, MI: ZondervanPiper, J. (1991). A passion for Christ-exalting power. Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/a-passion-for-christ-exalting-powerhttp://theresurgencereport.com/resurgence/2009/03/21/martyn-lloyd-jones-on-the-holy-spirit
HTH-515 Topic 2Revelation and GodI. Ranking Christian Doctrines Activity and ReflectionWithout doing any prior research, use the chart below to organize the following 20 doctrines by placing them under the category you think they best fit.Election Sinful Nature Baptism Rapture Church GovernmentJustification Hell Trinity Atonement Jesuss Virgin BirthYoung Earth Predestination Inspiration Lords Supper Deity of JesusDemonology Millennium Sanctification Origin of Evil Gifts of the SpiritRanking Christian Doctrines ChartFirst OrderSecond OrderThird OrderSinful NatureHellDeity of JesusBaptismTrinitySanctificationAtonementOrigin of EvilGifts of the SpiritLords SupperJesuss Virgin BirthChurch GovernmentPredestinationElectionInspirationElectionJustificationPredestinationMillenniumRaptureChurch GovernmentYoung EarthDemonologyInspirationAfter you have finished placing the 20 doctrines in the chart, do some research and reconsider where you placed each doctrine. If you decide to change a doctrine from where you originally placed it, cross it out using the strikethrough function and retype it in red in the category where it was moved. Also, feel free to add other doctrines that you might encounter. Place these…...
Introduction The safe group of participants who joined with me in the commitments of the course included four others, all of whom were interested in exploring the realm of pneumatology as a group rather than as a unique individualized experience. Thus, from the outside there was a shared sense of expanding the bandwidth of what counts as a story of the Holy Spirit. First, we discussed what the Holy Spirit is—which was important for us to connect on because by defining what we are experiencing we can erase any misconceptions and give clarity to what might otherwise be opaque. As Leonard points out, the Holy Spirit is not a junior member of the Holy Trinity and is not shy about coming to others. We wanted to discuss what we believed the Holy Spirit to be before beginning so that we could ensure that we were united on the same page. What…...
mlaWorks Cited
Leonard, Allen C. Poured Out: The Spirit of God Empowering the Mission of God. ACU Press, 2018.Love, Mark. It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us. Digital file.Sheen, Fulton. Life of Christ. Martino Fine Books, 2016.Smith, Christian. \\\\"Why Christianity works: An emotions-focused phenomenological account.\\\\" Sociology of Religion 68, no. 2 (2007): 165-178.“St Patrick’s Breastplate.” Tolle, Eckhart. “Eckhart on the Dark Night of the Soul.” https://www.eckharttolle.com/eckhart-on-the-dark-night-of-the-soul/https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/st-patricks-breastplate.html
Development of the Christian Doctrine of Holy Trinity The word trinity traces its origin from the Latin trinitas which literally translates to ‘triad’. In Latin trinus means threefold. This therefore implies that God is one but in that oneness exists three coeternal consubstantial persons- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Trinitarian doctrine can be inferred from the New Testament teaching about God. Many falsely believe that Trinity Doctrine was formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E. (Tuggy, 2016). This is not true because at the Council of Nicaea it was pronounced that Christ was the same substance as God. This became the foundation for Trinitarian Theology. It should be remembered that at the Council of Nicaea there was no mention of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the triad. This essay seeks to illuminate how the christian doctrine of Holy Trinity has developed over the…...
mlaReferences List
Holland, J. (2004). Modern Catholic Social Teaching: the Popes Confront the Industrial Age 1750-1958. New Jersey: Pauli Press.Ngon, D. (2016). Lumen Gentium Icon of the Trinity.Retrieved May 18, 2018 from www.academia.edu/15882414/Lumen_Gentium_ICON_0F_THE_TRINITYPontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (2001). Mystery of our Recollection: Reading from Letters of Pope Saint Leo the Great (Letter 28, 3-4) Retrieved May 18, 2018 from ww.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010325_leon-mago_en.htmlTuggy, D. (2016). History of Trinitarian Doctrines Retrieved May 18, 2018 from www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/trinity-history.html
Understanding Israel and Palestine
Part 1
“A denial of life is a rejection of the God of life” (Keum 4). This gets to the heart of what I felt as I experienced Palestine for myself. Seeing the West Bank in person allowed me to witness a whole new level of marginalization and oppression that I had never seen before—even though I had been to South Africa and India. Here the marginalization was so deliberate, so offensive, so hypocritical and unchristian that I was shocked to find Christians here in Bethlehem who still found joy in life and calmly expressed their faith in God. To see the Israelis treating the people on the West Bank with such contempt, illegally building settlements, bulldozing their acreage and fruit trees and homes, erecting barriers of humiliation, treating these people like animals and criminals—it was to understand exactly the affirmation of the WCC publication that “a denial…...
How to Study and Teach the Bible by Elmer L. Towns:
1. Begin by praying for guidance and understanding before reading and studying the Bible.
2. Use a reliable translation of the Bible that is easy for you to understand. Some popular translations include the NIV, ESV, and NLT.
3. Start with a specific passage or book of the Bible and read it in its entirety to get a sense of the overall message.
4. Use study tools such as commentaries, concordances, and study Bibles to deepen your understanding of the text.
5. Take notes while studying to help you remember key points and insights.
6.....
The Imperative of Living in God's Will: A Exegetical Examination of 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10
Introduction
In the tapestry of biblical exhortations, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 stands as a clarion call, summoning believers to a life in accordance with God's will. This passage, addressed by the apostle Paul to the young church in Thessalonica, provides a profound framework for understanding the pivotal importance of living according to the divine purpose. Through a detailed exegetical examination, we will delve into the multifaceted teachings of these verses, uncovering their transformative implications for our daily conduct.
Exegetical Analysis
Verse 4:
"For we know, brethren beloved by God, that you are....
1. The biblical teaching that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus challenges traditional gender roles by promoting equality among all individuals, regardless of their gender (Galatians 328).
2. The story of Deborah in the book of Judges challenges traditional gender roles by showcasing a woman in a position of leadership, as she served as a prophetess and judge in ancient Israel, leading the people to victory against their enemies (Judges 4-5).
3. The teachings of Jesus in the New Testament emphasize the value of every individual,....
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