“What about…”Aledo Church of Christ

Summer Series2014

“Trinity” & Holy Spirit

“Define, describe, explain the Holy Trinity”

“How does the Holy Spirit work in us today?”

One Last Thought on the Trinity

Do you have a…

fax?

copier?

printer?

How does the Holy Spirit work in us today?

If the Holy Spirit is God, then He can do anything He desires just as the Father and Son can do.

But, I can only know how God acts if He chooses to communicate His actions.

Therefore, I can only know how the Spirit works from what I read in Scripture.

“…for all things are

possible with God.”

(Mark 10:27, NASU)

5 Views of the Indwelling of the Spirit

1. Does not dwell in humans at all.

2. Dwells representatively by the Word.

3. Dwells in miraculous measure and empowers tongues, miracles, etc.

4. Dwells in Christians effecting salvation, sanctification, and preservation of the saints.

5. Dwells in the Christian literally/personally but in a non-miraculous way.

Does the Holy Spirit Dwell In Us?

Guy Napoleon Woods1908-1993

Bunyan Augustus "Gus" Nichols

1892-1975Through the Word onlyPersonally, Literally, but not Miraculously

Wendell Winkler was the first man I remember talking about the Open Forum, spirited debate between Gus Nichols and Guy N. Woods over how the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian. In those days, despite the vigor with which each man presented his view, the matter was not seen as divisive or worthy of a breach in fellowship. So long as the Spirit’s Deity was not denied or so long as one did not believe that the Spirit miraculously or directly operated upon the heart of an individual to convert or exert His will upon that one, the “how” was not seen as crucial. I remember that many of my role models, Wendell Winkler, Hugo McCord, William Woodson and Roy H. Lanier, Jr., on one side and Franklin Camp, V.E. Howard, and Winfred Clark on the other, loved each other and worked together despite their divergent view on how the Spirit dwells in us. (Neal Pollard, Bear Valley Bible Institute)

Word Only?

The Spirit

Strengthens (Eph. 3:16)Sanctifies (2 Thess. 2:13)Saves (Titus 3:5)Justifies (1 Tim. 3:16)Witnesses to us (Hb. 10:15)Prompts to love God (Rm 5:5)Leads as sons (Rm. 8:16)Raise from the dead (Rm. 8:11)

The Word

Strengthens (Eph. 6:10-17)Sanctifies (Jn. 17:17)Saves “engrafted” (Jms 1:21)Justifies (Romans 5:1 w/10:17)Witnesses to us (Jn. 5:39)Causes to love God (Jn. 3:16)Leads us (Psalm 119:105)Raised from the dead (Jn. 5:28)

Woods, Guy N. How the Holy Spirit Dwells in the Christian. Haun: Pasadena, TX; n.d., pp. 15-16

Word Only & Spirit Dwells Passages

Passages quoted:1. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none

of his.” [KJV] Rom. 8:9b2. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the

Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” [KJV] Cor. 3:163. Lists: Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2:224. “But do these passages assert the manner or mode of

such “indwelling”? No. They assert a fact, but they do not indicate a mode.”

Woods, Guy N. How the Holy Spirit Dwells in the Christian. Haun: Pasadena, TX; n.d., p. 16

Test: “But do these passages assert the manner or mode of such “indwelling”?

Ephesians 5:18b-19

but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to

yourselves in psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and

admonishing one another in psalms and

hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace

in your hearts to the Lord.

Woods, pp. 13-14

Wood’s Conclusion:

“Is this to say that the word and the Spirit are the same? By no means. Of course not.

Not at all. It is to say that the manner in which the

Spirit leads, guides, directs and dwells in us is by means

of the word.”

Woods, p. 14

Other Spirit Dwells Passages

1. “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:14)

2. “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Other Spirit Dwells Passages

3. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:8-11)

Other Spirit Dwells Passages

4. “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!”” (Galatians 6:4)

5. “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…,” (1 Cor. 6:18-19)

6. “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thess. 4:7-8)

Other Spirit Dwells Passages

8. “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

Word Only?

The Spirit

Strengthens (Eph. 3:16)Sanctifies (2 Thess. 2:13)Saves (Titus 3:5)Justifies (1 Tim. 3:16)Witnesses to us (Hb. 10:15)Prompts to love God (Rm 5:5)Leads as sons (Rm. 8:16)Raise from the dead (Rm. 8:11)Sealed by (Eph. 1:13)“Don’t grieve” (Eph. 4:3)

The Word

Strengthens (Eph. 6:10-17)Sanctifies (Jn. 17:17)Saves “engrafted” (Jms 1:21)Justifies (Romans 5:1 w/10:17)Witnesses to us (Jn. 5:39)Causes to love God (Jn. 3:16)Leads us (Psalm 119:105)Raised from the dead (Jn. 5:28)

Why a reluctance to accept the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit?

1. “Some, among us today, are taking such passages which merely assert the fact, and from them conclude that because it is said that the Spirit is in us, it must be literally, personally, and immediately… It is an obvious error. It also encourages Pentecostalism now making great in roads…” (Woods, pp. 16-17)

Why a reluctance to accept the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit?

2. “It is a conclusion which results from disregard of the personality of the Holy Spirit. One person, though he may be in another by his teaching and influence, cannot literally inhabit another. It is simply and only the denominational doctrine of the direct operation of the Spirit on the heart of the sinner applied to the Christian. It is no less false because advocated by some brethren…” (Woods, p. 20)

My Conclusion

1. There is strong evidence in the New Testament which shows that the Holy Spirit uses the means of the Word to accomplish His work.

2. There are no passages which specify that the Holy Spirit is in us only through the Word.

3. There are many passages which specifically state that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

4. It is possible to distinguish the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and miraculous operation of the Spirit.

Why a reluctance to accept the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit?

3. “We earnestly entreat our brethren to avoid encouraging current Pentecostalism by a reversion to the denominational doctrine of special, direct and immediate influence of the Spirit.” (Woods, p. 24)