CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
September 12, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders Peace
GIVEN TO PROVE
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. so it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
Whenever we study the Holy Spirit, we know there will be controversy. There is much confusion about the Spirit. Some of this is due to past events and those who claim to act in behalf of the Spirit. The reaction to this has been to say that the Spirit is no longer involved in the Christian life, which is a form of deism, and this is carried further by saying that God is no longer actively involved as well. There is confusion about what “indwelling” means, an older word that is found in older translations (1). Newer translations translated it as to live in. It doesn’t help that there is mystery in the Spirit, and for some that is bothersome. These are but a few ideas that brings controversies.
This brings us to interpretation. How should we see the Spirit’s activities and understand them. Some have twisted, danced, and spun around to in some way “logically” present the meaning of the text. While we attempt to systematically understand the Holy Spirit, I think that we might have missed something; God does what He wants in the ways He wants to do them (see Psalm 115:3). I see this in three events in the book of Acts.
It is in the Gospel of John that we read most about the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he must be born again of water and the Spirit and compares the activity of the Spirit to the wind (John 3:1-8) He spoke of “rivers of living water will flow from within them” and John explains that Jesus was speaking of the Spirit “whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:37-39). In John 14 through 16, Jesus speaks of the Spirit as another Comforter, a guide and teacher, the One who would point the disciples back to Jesus. This is important in any study of the Spirit. Does the teaching about the Spirit point us to Jesus? In John 20:22, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
In Acts 1, right before Jesus ascended, it is stated that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them, and then stated that the good news would be preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (vs. 8) (2). And the controversy begins. Was Jesus just speaking to the eleven at this moment or was He speaking to a group of followers? Attempts are made by some that the power that was received was only for the Apostles. However, in Acts 1:22, when they were selecting another Apostle to replace Judas, one requirement was that this person had to be present at the ascension (3).
Then we come to Acts 2. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” Who are the they? In context, it appears that it was about one hundred and twenty people (see 1:15). Suddenly a sound like a violent blowing wind came on them and “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (vs. 2). Some, coming with presuppositions to the text, attempt to narrow this to only the Apostles because only the Apostles and those they lay hands on could do miracles. That might be true to a point but not here. There is more involved.
What I see happening in Acts 2 and the sermon Peter would preach is to get the attention of the crowds of Jewish people from various parts of the Diaspora, to show in power that God’s Spirit was now a part of the disciples lives, and to prove the message that would be spoken about Jesus. Peter begins by quoting a prophecy from Joel 2:28-32 in which it says that the Spirit will be poured out on all people. Why would this cause a controversy? It wasn’t for Peter if one hundred and twenty people were involved in this particular event. Rather than trying to whittle it down to twelve, we should acknowledge that this is the way God wanted to do it at this moment in history. God would not necessarily do it the same way every time, and we know that is true because God works in different ways, as we shall see. Vision, dreams, and prophecy draw concerns whose approach attempts to narrow it down to just the twelve. Does the three imply some type of miraculous activity always? I don’t know about visions and dreams though these are found in several Old Testament stories. We need to realize that prophecy rarely means foretelling the future; but is often presenting the standards and concerns of God to His people.
When Peter finished, the people asked what they should do. Peter responded by saying, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). What then is the gift of the Spirit? Based on one’s presuppositions, several interpretations have been presented. In light of what Jesus said in John and what Paul writes, I see the gift as the Holy Spirit Himself. Does this imply miraculous activity? No. John the baptizer was a prophet, filled with the Spirit before birth (Luke 1:15), yet did no miraculous signs (John 10:40-42). What we need to do is realize that all Christians receive the Spirit (4), but it is God who chooses what the Spirit will do in the individual’s life. In the First Century church, some did miraculous things but others didn’t. Rather than narrowing it down to a few, let’s just let God make the decisions.
One other thing, in 2:39, Peter states that this was for the Jews and their children and for those who were far off. Peter probably understood that as those in the Diaspora. We will see just exactly what this means later.
In Acts 8, we find another example of God doing it His way. Philip, an evangelist and deacon (see Acts 6), goes to Samaria and preaches the good news, confirming it through miraculous activity. Now keep in mind that one reason for such activity was to confirm what was being spoken. Many Samaritans were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus but had not received the Spirit. Now how does this square with Acts 2:38? When Peter and John arrive, they lay their hands on the Samaritans and “they received the Holy Spirit” (vs. 17). This could be seen because Simon wanted that same power (vs. 18-19).
We could say that baptism has nothing to do with the Spirit any more because we do not receive miraculous power. Some suggest this. Or we could say that the miraculous power was given by the laying on of hands of the Apostles Peter and John. In so doing, this could prove several things. One, that this involved the conversion of the Samaritans as part of God’s plan. Remember that the Samaritans were considered “half-breeds” by the Jews and not at all welcomed in Jerusalem. Yet they had become a part of God’s people under the Messiah Jesus. I think that while not stated, the Samaritans had the Spirit as we do, but that “proof” was needed more for the Jews to see that they were now part of God’s people (5).
The last text is Acts 10. A Roman soldier named Cornelius was a devout God fearer who gave generously to those in need and prayed daily to God. He had a vision and was told to send for a man name Peter and did so. Peter had a vision of a blanket coming down with all types of clean and unclean food in it and God saying to Peter to take and eat. Peter argued that he had never eaten anything unclean but God said to not call anything unclean that God had made clean. Peter wondered what that was about when Cornelius’ servants arrived. He went with some other Jews to this Gentile’s house.
It was there that Peter confronted a prejudice. For Jews, he said, entering a Gentile’s house was forbidden yet there he was. He understood now that God does not show favoritism (6). How would the Jews respond to this? Was Peter crazy? There certainly was controversy to this as seen in Acts 11. Then something unexpected happened. God sent His Spirit on Cornelius and all in his house. Peter compared it to his experience in Acts 2. After this Cornelius and others were baptized. This is not the “normal” order that we see. The disciples in Acts 2 and the Samaritans in Acts 8 were baptized believers (7). Cornelius was an unbaptized believer and he received the Spirit. Why? It was to prove that what Jesus said and what Peter preached in Acts 2:39, to those who were far off, included the Gentiles. We do not need to harmonize this with some type of perceived order. Rather, let’s just accept it as written.
There are several ideas involved in this. One, God does things His way, not our way. We need to accept that. God determines what miraculous gifts would be given to which believer (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12). This doesn’t mean that every believer will receive a miraculous gift. We all can contribute to the body of Christ with the abilities we have that have been given to us by God, however that works. Those who look for particular gifts must be asked, is this to glorify and present Jesus or is it to say that you are more “spiritual” than others?
Two, the Holy Spirit has been given to us for several reasons as Paul explains. We do need to keep in mind that Jesus said that the Spirit will point to Jesus, not to Himself. The Spirit gives us His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), is a guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14), and makes both the church and the Christian His Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16f; 6:19f). These are just a few ideas.
Three, presuppositions affect our views of various texts. We have chosen to believe certain things and as such, we read scripture through that understanding. When contradicted or not harmonized, we attempt to deal with that through our presuppositions. This can, and has, lead to problems in our understanding. One is that many have become deists. A deist is one who believes that God started it all and then left it alone to run by itself. God has given us the scripture through His Holy Spirit, but now all we need is the scripture. This ignores the fact that God has always dwelt in some way with His people. He did in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), with Israel in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and in the Temple in Jerusalem, and now through His Spirit in our lives. We are not alone in this life, and thankfully, that is good news considering how we mess things up.
Finally, rather than fear the Spirit, we should embrace Him for who He is, a Teacher and Guide to the Lord Jesus Christ. How much better would we be if we let God work through us, however He chooses to do so, so as to spread the good news of His Son!
George B. Mearns
(1) I think that one reason some support only the older translations is precisely because of this word “indwelling,” because the translation to live in contradicts their position and belief.
(2) See also Luke 24:36-49.
(3) The same could be found in Luke 24:36-49; they were together in the house.
(4) Some deny that they have the Spirit other than through the word, that is, scripture, and this has serious implications for them I think (see Ephesians 4:30; 2 Timothy 3:5; and Hebrews 10:26-29).
(5) When Paul was converted, he received the Holy Spirit according to Ananias but at the moment there was no indication that he would do miracles, though later he did (see Acts 9, 22, 26). An argument is made that when Paul met with the Apostles in Jerusalem, that is when they laid their hands on him and he received the ability to do miracles. This is an argument from silence based on presuppositions.
(6) Older translations say that God was no respecter of persons.
(7) While not explicated stated, since the disciples of Jesus were baptizing people (see John 4), we can assume that they also were baptized. This is an argument from silence based on presuppositions.