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HYPONE AUGUSTINE
- Because when our Lord blew upon the disciples by saying.
- “Receive the Holy Spirit.
- ” he certainly wanted to understand that the Holy Spirit was not only the Spirit of the Father.
- Nor of the one Son.
- For the same Spirit is.
- In truth.
- The Spirit of the Father and the Son.
- Making with them the trinity of the Father.
- The Son.
- And the Holy Spirit.
- Not a creature.
- But the Creator.
SAM STORMS
It is rare for Christians to find it difficult to think of God as Father and to see God as a Son is not a problem for many. These personal names can easily arise because our lives and relationships are inextricably linked to parents and children here on earth. But often God as the Holy Spirit is a different matter. Gordon Fee talks about one of his students who commented, “God the Father has perfect meaning for me, and God the Son, I can understand it; but is the Holy Spirit a gray and oblong blur?.
How different from what we read in the scriptures! Here we see that the Holy Spirit is not the third category of the Divinity, but equal and coeternal with the Father and the Son, sharing with them all the glory and honor because of our Trinity. God. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal power or an ethermal or abstract energy. The Spirit is personal in every sense of the word. He has a mind and thinks (Is 11,2; Rom 8:27) He is able to experience deep affections and feelings (Rom 8:26; 15. 30) The Spirit is willing and makes decisions about what is best for God’s people and what the Son will glorify most (Acts 16. 7; 1Co 2. 11).
We see even more the personality of the Spirit when it is described as distressed when we sin (Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit, no less than the Father and the Son, enters into a vibrant and intimate relationship with all those in whom he lives (2Co 13. 14) The Spirit speaks (M. 13,11; Apoc 2. 7 testifies (Jn 15. 26; 16. 13), encourages (Acts 9. 31), strengthens (Ep 3. 16), and teaches us, especially in times of spiritual emergency (Lr 12:12); that the Spirit is personal is because he can be lied to (Acts 5. 3), insulted (He 10. 29), and even blasphemed (Mt 12:31-32).
Above all, is the Holy Spirit there? Spirit of Christ?(Rom 8. 9) . His primary role in us, the temple of God in which he lives (Ephesians 2:21-22), is directed towards the other, oriented towards the other, as he acts by directing our attention to the person of Christ, to awaken in us heart and devotion. Savior (Jn 14:26; 16,12?15). The Holy Spirit rejoices above all in serving as a center of attention, standing behind us (although he certainly remains in us), to focus our reflection and meditation on the beauty of Christ and all that God is to us in him and through his.
As we prayerfully ponder the person and work of the Spirit, and appreciate his powerful presence in our lives, we do well to consider the words of Thomas Torrance, who reminds us that: The Spirit is not just a divine thing or god. -as it emanates from it, it is not a kind of distant action or a kind of gift that can differ from itself. , because in the Holy Spirit God Himself acts directly upon us and, by giving us his Holy Spirit, God gives us nothing less than yourself.
God our help, we thank you for sending your Spirit to live in us. We appreciate you punishing us and disciplined, strengthening and comforting us. May we live a life of faith in his power, not ours. May we walk the path of obedience, full of your joy!Amen.