Saturday, April 11, 2020

P.28 THE SPIRIT AND THE GODHEAD.

In Pauls letters there are 140 occurrences of [pneuma] i.e.wind , breathe or spirit.
He uses Holy Spirit 17 times then designates Him as"the Spirit of God"/ or His Spirit 1times; the Spirit of Christ 3 times

1. The Holy Spirit
2Co 13:14  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
This was His full name for NT Christians.From this text 13:14 distinct from but one with the Father and the Son.
2. The Spirit of God.
Paul sees the Spirit as primarily linked to God(the Father.He uses the name,Spirit of God,much more than Spirit of Christ.
Gal 4:6  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
1Th 4:8  Therefore he who despises does not despise man, but God, who also has given us His Holy Spirit.
2Co 5:5  And He who has worked in us for this same thing is God, who also is giving to us the earnest of the Spirit.
Gal 3:5  He who gives you His Spirit and works miracles among you--does He do so on the ground of your obedience to the Law, or is it the result of your having heard and believed:
In the OT God fills with the Spirit.   Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
Exo 31:3  And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all workmanship,   God pours out the Spirit.. Joel 2:28  And it shall be afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions.
Joel 2:29  And also I will pour out My Spirit on the slaves and on the slave women in those days.  The Spirit also causes Charismatic activities.
Balaam : Num 24:2  And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,
Num 24:3  and he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
Othniel :Jdg 3:9  But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
Jdg 3:10  The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.

In 1Co 2:10  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1Co 2:11  For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
Here only the human spirit knows the thoughts of a man. i.e the human interior consciousness.

But similarly only the Spirit of God knows the mind of God.
1 Cor 2:10  The Spirit  searches everything , even the depths of God.For the Spirit - The Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God; see 1Co_2:11.
Searches - This word does not fully express the force of the original ἐρευνᾷ  ereuna. It means to search accurately, diligently, so as fully to understand; such profound research as to have thorough knowledge. So David uses the Hebrew word חקר  chaaqar in Psa_139:1. So the word is used to denote a careful and accurate investigation of secret and obscure things, in 1Pe_1:11. Compare Joh_7:52; Rom_8:27; Rev_2:23, where it is used to denote that profound and accurate search by which the desires and feelings of the heart are known - implying the most profound knowledge of which we can have any conception; see Pro_20:27. Here it means, that the Holy Spirit has an intimate knowledge of all things. It is not to be supposed that he searches, or inquires as people do who are ignorant; but that he has an intimate and profound knowledge, such as is usually the result of a close and accurate search. The result is what the apostle means to state - the accurate, profound, and thorough knowledge, such as usually attends research. Barnes Notes on the NT.

He knows and understands Gods hidden wisdom.1Co 2:7  But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

In Romans  8  :26  -27 God knows the Mind of the Spirit : who intercedes for us. The Spirit is distinct from God the Father, but He is also the interior expression of the Unseen God's personality and the Visible manifestation of Gods activity in the world.


The Spirit of God/or of Christ

Calling the Spirit "the Spirit of Christ" is evidence that Paul knew that Christ was fully God. From the OT he knew that the name Spirit of God, now he recognises the name 'Spirit of Christ as well. He uses either to indicate the activity of one or the other to be communicated to the believer.
Eg, the Church is Gods temple because He the Spirit of God dwells in its midst.
1Co 3:16  Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
He also gives His Holy Spirit to us who He calls to be holy.
1Th 4:7  For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
1Th 4:8  Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
In the texts with "the Spirit of Christ" he emphases the work of Christ. Gal 4:6  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
Rom 8:9  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 
Php 1:19  for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,





















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