Chapter 1: A “Theology” of the Spirit? The Spirit in Pauline Theology
The Holy Spirit is an essential person of the Godhead in the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The Old Covenant was discontinued and the Spirit, the presence of God, left the Temple. On the other hand, the New Covenant was continued and fulfilled through the Spirit. It is clear through the Old Testament accounts that God desired to dwell with humanity and through all Israel’s grievances and rebellions, God was paving a way for his dwelling place to be in his own creation. The burning bush, the presence of God leading Israel out of Egypt, the Mt. Sinai account, and the Temple all revealed both the desire of God to dwell with man and the impossibility of man’s ability to host the Presence. Through Christ this reality is able to be formed.
It is though the Church that God’s covenants are fulfilled. The identity of the Church, in Pauline theology, is a community of believers who are in covenant with God through the work of Christ and through the Spirit, awaiting the return of Christ. Paul upholds all of this New Testament theology through his understanding of the Holy Spirit who is essential in the fulfillment of the Gospel. There is a seamless understanding of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testament in his theology of the Holy Spirit. Namely, what makes up the people of God throughout redemptive history is the presence of the Holy Spirit, with the knowledge that this presence was indeed God, the one who created the heavens and the earth.
Chapter 2: God Revisits His People — The Spirit as the Renewed Presence of God
In the Exodus account, only Moses was allowed to approach God, but through the tabernacle God would allow his presence to dwell with man. God’s presence filled the tabernacle in Exodus 40:35, despite Israel’s apostasy. This tabernacle and the presence of God would lead and direct Israel. Therefore, the Spirit of God, the Presence of God, was the main focus of Israel and they understood their relationship with God was what distinguished them from the Gentiles. Israel understood that God could not be contained in human structures (Isa 66:1-2), though God allowed this temporary dwelling place through the tabernacle. The Tabernacle and then the Temple became central to their faith; it was where they would go to acknowledge that God was with them. This realization of how central the Holy Spirit was to Israel makes their fall from grace and rejection of the Messiah so devastating and saddening.
There was knowledge that the presence of God left the tabernacle when the ark was captured in 1 Samuel 4. Israel had such intimate knowledge of their calling and election in being a people of God in the hosting of the Presence of the Holy Spirit. This knowledge should have been rekindled when David took the Ark to Jerusalem and the glory of the Lord came in 2 Samuel 6 and later when the Temple (the First Temple) was built by Solomon and the Holy Spirit filled the tabernacle as recorded in 2 Chronicles 7. Finally, the departure of God’s glory, his Presence, the Holy Spirit, from the Temple in Ezekiel 10, and the following promises that God would be with his people, all point to God’s promise of his future abiding presence in his people. This was fulfilled by God’s bringing forth the Church. This eschatological dwelling place of God is seen as both Jews and Gentiles. (Is. 2:2-3, 63:9-14; Mic. 4:1-2; Zech. 14:16-19)
Chapter 3: The Holy Who? The Spirit as Person
There is difficulty in acknowledging the Spirit as a person because there is a lack of imagery as there is in the Father or the Son (though the Father is Spirit, and so was Jesus before the incarnation). The bigger picture, however makes the personhood of the Holy Spirit more and more clear. He is referred to over and over as the “Spirit of God” and then “the Spirit of Christ” interchangeably, according to what the context pertains to. What helps to see his personhood is the action the Holy Spirit does, such as intercession, making known God and knowing God, being grieved, etc. The Holy Spirit in not impersonal and words to describe his manifestations, such as, “fire, wind, oil, rain” should not deduce him to an “it”.
The Holy Spirit is referred to over and over as the “Spirit of God” and then “the Spirit of Christ” interchangeably. This relationship places the Holy Spirit within the Godhead. The Spirit is not marked by function but rather his distinction among the Trinity. Whereas Christ is at the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit is now indwelling those who are made holy by the blood of Christ. Therefore, the indwelling Holy Spirit is a fulfillment of God’s making his dwelling place with mankind. Ephesians shows that the Holy Spirit makes his Tabernacle with man through the community of believers, which is built by the Spirit. (Eph. 2:22) Paul is clearly making this point, even referencing scriptures about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the Church. (2 Cor. 6:16-17; Is. 54:14) Paul shows that not only is the body of believers a temple, but so is the individual believer. (1 Cor. 6:19-20) Through Christ and the indwelling Spirit man may behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. What makes these the people of God is the indwelling Spirit. (Rom. 8:9-11) He is the empowering presence in the believer, he is “Christ in you”, and he helps believers in their weakness and sanctification. (Eph. 3:16-17)
Chapter 4. God in Three Persons: The Spirit and the Trinity
Paul spoke of the Trinity throughout his letters so organically, though he was a monotheist. He never discussed the theology of the three persons of the Godhead he described; instead, he assumed this understanding as he made distinctions between the three persons. Instead of a theological study of the Trinity, Paul lays forth the Gospel and expresses the dynamics of the three persons of the Godhead without second glance. His theology was from the foundation both trinitarian and monotheistic. The heart of Paul’s gospel was that of salvation and his understanding of God naturally flowed from his new and deeply personal revelation of the death and resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Instead of coming out saying “Jesus is God” or “the Holy Spirit is God”, Paul instead uses triadic naming wherein the three persons of the Godhead are distinct yet unified in their activities. Paul laid forth the experience of God as a trinitarian reality though it wasn’t until later that the church defended trinitarian belief biblically and began to study the theology therein.
Here are some examples of Paul’s triadic naming in Scripture:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. 13:14)
“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” (2 Thess. 2:13)
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Gal 4:4-6)
See also: Romans 5:1-8, 8:3-4, 8:15-17; Ephesians 1:3-14, 17, 2:18, 20-22; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 3:16; Titus 3:4-7; First Corinthians 1:4-7, 2:4-5, 2:12, 6:11, 6:19-20 Second Corinthians 1:21-22, 3:2-6; Galatians 3:1-5.
Paul spoke of the Trinity especially in their unified work of salvation in the believer. This salvation was the experience of the activity of the triune God. In this way, the Spirit is regarded just as much God as the Father or Jesus, and no less. Attributed to the Spirit’s work was the action of unifying a diverse community of believers in Jesus. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one; likewise, the Spirit works to bring the believer’s into that same kind of trinitarian unity with God and with one another. The strength of unity as an act of God is therefore not found in likeness but in diversity.
The Spirit is described in First Corinthians 2:10-11 and Romans 8:26-27 as knowing all the mind of God and all the mind of the human and therefore makes perfect intercession and brings revelation to the believer of the “deep things of God.” Therefore, the believer’s experience in life and in prayer is triune for it is by the Spirit that one prays to God. The word “person” stems from Latin and implies self-consciousness. Therefore, the three persons of the Trinity should be seen as three distinct persons with three distinct consciences and three distinct wills, yet unified.
Chapter 5. The Beginning of the End: The Spirit as Evidence of the “Presence of the Future”
The resurrection of Jesus, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the indwelling Spirit marked believer’s from Jesus until now as an eschatological community. This is because the Jewish expectation of the Messiah was to bring in a new age; this is exactly what Jesus has done in an already but not yet reality. Through the outpouring of the Spirit and the resurrection of Christ, all was set in place for the end of the age and the fulfillment of all biblical prophecy. It is through this eschatological perspective that Paul writes all of his epistles. He reminded the Corinthians that it was to them that “the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor. 10:11) Earlier in the same letter he describes this already/not yet reality in the words, “For the form of this world is passing away.” (1 For. 7:31) A completely new viewpoint has arrived for the people of God; that of an expected victorious end. The believer is saved (Rom. 8:1-3), is being saved (1 Cor. 1:18), and will be saved (Rom. 5:9). Paul spoke from this necessary vantage point and showed that the believer is to live in expectancy for the Second Coming and the end of the age, whose citizenship is in heaven, as Philippians 3:20 states, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Within this framework, the indwelling Spirit and the outpouring of the Spirit stand as evidence as the already/not yet saving work of God that culminates at the Second Coming of Christ. As observed in Pauls Damascus Road experience, the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit are central to Paul’s theology, as these two events (the resurrection and outpouring of the Spirit) were known by Jews to unmistakably mark the end of the age. The Holy Spirit was central to Jewish eschatological understanding. This is why Peter exclaims Joel 2:28-30 as being fulfilled in Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit is poured out; this revealed to the people of God that the Messianic Age had arrived.
The gift of the indwelling Spirit is the chief proof of God’s fulfillment of his eschatological redemption; yet, none of this would make sense without the already/not yet reality. This idea is seen throughout the Old Testament prophets who frequently prophesied one after another of soon coming judgment and soon coming redemption, which often referring to a future or even eschatological judgment and redemption. This same pattern is seen in New Testament theology wherein God opens a wide window of grace for as many as possible to come into the Kingdom.
Paul referred to the indwelling Spirit as the “downpayment”, the “firstfruits”, and the “seal”. (Eph. 1:14-16; Rm. 8:23; 2 Cor. 1:21-22) These reveal the Spirit as an evidence and assurance of the believer’s victory in resurrection and all of the end-time expectations (resurrection of the body, glory of God covering the earth, wickedness being fully eradicated from the earth, etc.). “Downpayment” means exactly that, a first payment of a total amount. “Firstfruit” speaks of the gathering of the first of a great harvest. The “seal” speaks of a king authenticating his letter; just as the Father shows the Gospel as authentic and proves it’s authority through the evidence of the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13, 4:30)
Ephesians 4:30 is markedly against any gnosticism, which was a prevalent belief that spiritual things were good (the spirit) and material things were evil (the body) that tried to pin the spirit against the body. Here Paul showed that even the body is marked for redemption along with the spirit.
Essential to the end of the age is the Nations coming to salvation, as seen in the Abrahamic Covenant. The Holy Spirit, by means of the redemptive work of Jesus, brings Jews and Gentiles together into one new body, the eschatological community that is the Church. This salvation plan is seen throughout the Old Testament and New, even from the formation of the nations at the Tower of Babel unto the last Old Testament prophet, that the Gentiles would be brought to salvation from God’s work in Israel. (Gen. 22:18; Ps. 102:15; Is. 56; Mic. 4; Rm. 11:11) This promise, along with the other two, that Abraham would have a great nation and a land inheritance, even an eternal kingdom, all work together in God’s redemptive story plan to bring all three promises to fullness. In Ephesians, the bringing together of Jew and Gentile is seen clearly and testifies of the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plans. The unity therein is only by means of the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ. As Gordon writes of Ephesians, “Thus, with a subtle shift of pronouns Paul moves from “our” (= Jews) having obtained the inheritance, to “your” (= Gentiles) having been sealed by the “promised Holy Spirit,” to the Spirit as God’s down payment on “our” (= Jew and Gentile together) final inheritance. This is eschatological language.”
Chapter 6. A People for His Name: The Spirit and the People of God
Though Israel’s election and national calling still stands, the people of God (or those who are “saved”) are now marked by those who have the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul referred to the church as “the saints”; this is Old Testament language referring to people of faith (Dan. 7:18, Gal 6:16) This word comes from the Septuagint word “ekklesia” used to translate the Hebrew equivalent of “congregation of Israel”. One can then conclude that Paul saw the Church as a continuation of the people of God, now with the Gentiles being grafted in.
Throughout Paul’s writings the Church is depicted as one in which each member is necessary for the building up of one another, for the growth in love, for edification, etc. The Church is not merely a group of saved individuals waiting for heaven, but rather a family in which God may dwell and in which they may individually and corporately mature in the love of Christ. Again, the work of the Holy Spirit is central to this becoming a reality in the Church. Believers are no longer under the law but under grace, living from an inward experience of unity with the Holy Spirit, who is God, and exercising that reality outward towards one another. In the same book of 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to the corporate Church and then to the individual as the very temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor.3:17, 6:19) Believers are the Church of God, inhabited by God, sharing in his life, and operating in his Spirit. Gordon writes, “This specific language does not occur in the Old Testament as such. It is a modification of the common expression for the temple, “a dwelling for his name,” based on the recurring motif that Israel are a people identified with, or called by, the name of Yahweh their God. See, e.g., Num 6:27; Deut 28:10; 2 Sam 7:23; 2 Chron 7:14; lsa 43:7; Jer 14:9; Dan 9:19. 3.” Cf. D. Ewert, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament (Harrisburg: Herald, 1983) 168.
Chapter 7: Conversion: Getting In (Part 1) — The Spirit and the Hearing of the Gospel
Being converted into Christianity is not a mental ascent, but an initial and continual work of the Holy Spirit that humans cooperate with and receive in their lives. Through the work of Christ, believers come to salvation individually, or, one at a time, as it were. Conversion is not a one time event but a lifelong relationship with the Spirit in which one is conformed into the image of Jesus and eventually resurrected. The preaching of the Word as preceding faith is central to Pauline theology, yet this preaching of the Word is inextricably connected to the work of the Holy Spirit who illuminates and testifies of the Word with power. (Rom. 10:14; 1 Thess 2:13; Eph. 1:13) This work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word enables the appropriate response in man.
Paul referred to his ministry of the Gospel, of the new covenant of grace, as completely unified with the Holy Spirit, referring to it as “the ministry of the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:1-8) The glory of this covenant, he shows is far greater than the glory of the old, which caused Moses’ face to shine, for through the impartation of the indwelling Spirit, the new covenant is a complete removal of the veil that shrouded the glory of God and a transformation into the very image of Christ from the inside out. (Ex. 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3:7-18)
Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel was validated and confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the power and works of the Holy Spirit are necessary for the understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel as well as conversion, which are impossible for man. (1 Cor. 2:10-16; Eph. 3:5-7) This experience of the Holy Spirit is necessary for true and even ongoing conversion into the cross and resurrection of Christ.
The giving of the Holy Spirit is essential in understanding the Gentiles being grafted into the salvation promises of Israel, especially in understanding that they are not held accountable to the following of the Jewish law. Furthermore, the Spirit is essential, as seen in Ephesians 2, for the unity of these two being formed into one body and a breaking, indeed, of all racial divides. The people of God are defined by those in Christ through faith, and not by race.
Chapter 8: Conversion: Getting In (Part 2) — The Spirit at the Entry Point
In conversion, the Holy Spirit is both the initiator of faith and the gift in response to that faith. Beyond emotion or feeling, the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit is the inevitable and assured component of true conversion in Christ. The initiation of the Father, the ministry of Christ, and the giving of the Spirit are inseparable in conversion and without one person of the Godhead, the whole mission would have failed; the Holy Spirit does not play a secondary role, but a primary role. ”Without the mission of the Spirit the mission of the Son would have been fruitless; without the mission of the Son the Spirit could not have been sent.” (The Holy Spirit in the New Testament: A Study of Primitive Christian Teaching, H.B. Swete) In conversion, the Spirit is both given to those who have faith in Christ, and also the initiator of that faith (Gal. 3:2-5; 1 Cor. 12:8, 13:2; 2 Cor. 4:13)
Paul’s letter to the Galatians presupposes the experiential conversion by the Holy Spirit of each individual. (Gal. 3:2-3) He reminds them to remember that the Spirit was the beginning of their faith and essential to their walking in the faith. (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:5-7) The very
root system of the Christian life all depends on the Holy Spirit’s works. Paul understands conversion as something that happens to the believer; it is an experience of the Holy Spirit that is paramount to becoming a follower of Christ. This activity of the Spirit anoints, pours out upon, seals, saves through sanctification, circumcises the hearts of, unifies to Christ, washes, causes confession of Christ, and even justifies the believer. (Rm. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:21; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Cor. 11:4; Rm. 15:16; Rm. 2:29; 1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Cor. 6:11)
Chapter 9: Conversion: Staying In (Part 1) — The Fruit of the Spirit
Gordon writes, “Salvation has to do with both getting in and staying in. To get saved means to be joined to the people of God by the Spirit; and to be saved means to live the life of a saved person.” Christians are first initiated to life by the Holy Spirit and must continue in life being led by the Holy Spirit. Because faith is a fruit of the Spirit in the believer, walking in the Spirit is not optional to Christian life. Here lies the difference between walking with the Spirit in relationship and an ethical code of behavior. The latter has nothing to do with the natural obedience that comes from the heart, empowered by God himself. Being filled with the Spirit and continuing to walk in the Spirit is emphasized throughout Paul’s epistles. Paul did not see a difference between getting saved and continuing in salvation.
Furthermore, the law of God is only able to be accomplished through the indwelling Spirit. When Paul addressed that salvation was not by the works of the law but through justification by grace, he made conclusion that through this grace and filling of the Holy Spirit, the law is fulfilled, for it is then written on the hearts of the believers. This is something the old covenant failed to do. Christianity is not a set of rules, but rather a supernatural transformation of the human will into God’s own will. This new covenant was prophesied of in the Old Testament and fulfilled by the gift of the Holy Spirit, even through the fulfillment of the Torah’s requirements and laws. (Rm. 7:14; 2 Cor. 3:7; Rm. 2:29; 2 Cor. 3:4-18; Rm. 2:29; Jer. 31:31-34; Ez. 36:26-37:14) As Paul says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal. 5:18) The law died in it’s fulfillment. (Rom. 7:2-3)
Ethics boil down to believers living in unity. After admonishing the church in Rome not to condemn one another about differences in frivolous spiritual convictions, he concludes, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17) In other words, the Kingdom of God has nothing to do with ethics, but union with the Holy Spirit, who does empower ethical living in the already/not yet reality the believer walks in.
Chapter 10: Conversion: Staying In (Part 2) — The Fruit of the Spirit
Living in the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is essentially the notable characteristics of Christ in the believer’s life. The Holy Spirit’s aim is to produce in the faithful, the likeness of Christ. In order to grow into Christ’s image, cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s work is imperative. This is done by walking in the Spirit as opposed to walking in the flesh. Contrary to a code of ethics, the believer is free from the law and alive to the sensitivities of the Spirit to produce “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As this verse concludes, “Against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23) Love is foremost, for it is the motivation of the rest which work to produce love in the entire community. This list comes after the list of those works of the flesh which stand as the causes of disunity. They are, “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.” (Gal. 5:19-21)
All the fruit of the Spirit stem from the character of God, except for “self-control” which has no biblical reference to the person of God. Furthermore, whereas all the fruit of the Spirit have corporate manifestations in the Church and mark the people of God corporately, self-control has in many ways a very individual expression. It is in reference to various kinds of self-control, and is also seen in the example of the discipline of the athlete, given in 1 Corinthians. On the other hand, Paul is clear with the church that abstinence is not part of Christian ethics or corporate behavior, saying, “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Col. 2:20-22) In 1 Timothy 4:2 Paul alludes to this practice as the doctrine of demons. It is typical among corporate fasts, for example, that the members are invited but never coerced or forced to participate. Nonetheless, the fruit of the Spirit is the freedom to abstain for other’s consciences and to practice self control.
Chapter 11: The Ongoing Warfare — The Spirit Against the Flesh
The believer is not to delve into introspection of the works of the flesh, which gaze ultimately blocks the receptivity of the Spirit. On the other hand, it is by the Spirit that the fruit is produced and the believer is to cooperate with his leadership. Paul contrasts life in the Spirit with the life in the flesh. Important to note that there are different meanings of “flesh” and these are to be determined by the context of each passage. It is either meaning humanity, weakenss, or sinfulness. For example, Paul speaks of Jesus having been “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” (Rm. 1:3). This of course points to Jesus’ humanity, not, on the other hand, Jesus’ having been born of any kind of work of the flesh.
The term “flesh” also at times points to human weaknesses, frailty, and fallenness though it doesn’t refer to sinful desires. For example, in Galatians 2:20 Paul describes the life he lives in the flesh, referring to his body, in which he practices his faith in Christ. There is a clear sense of Paul’s already/not yet walk in Christianity. This is very clear in Philippians 3:12 where he says of the resurrection, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”
Finally, “flesh” is used as a term to describe the seat of human sin and rebellion towards God. To walk in these carnal desires is to “walk in the flesh”, which strives against the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to put to death the works of the flesh. This is not to be confused as the weakness Paul speaks of, in which the power of Christ is made more evident. Clearly, that weakness deals with trials and persecutions of various kinds, but never sinful flesh. Another example of this is how Paul describes spiritual warfare as a spiritual matter, in which, the believer is not to fight according to the flesh. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
Chapter 12: Power in Weakness — The Spirit, Present Weakness, and Prayer
Whereas some believe the promises of God should be an immediate reality, this is not a biblical view. Pauline theology and the Bible clearly show that the believer is saved, is being saved, and will be saved. Paul so graciously walked in this paradox of realities. Though it is clear that suffering is not from God, but from evil, it is evil that suffering is a present reality, an evil that has not yet been fully conquered by Christ. For, “He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.” (1 Cor. 15:25)
Nonetheless, the resurrection of Christ and the hope of our calling is evident by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The expression of this indeed includes healings, signs, and wonders; however, these include the power of the Gospel to convert, and when Paul spoke of these realities, he spoke them as a weak man who would one day die and not be resurrected in his lifetime. However mysterious this paradox may be, it is clear that the Holy Spirit is the helper through it all. The Holy Spirit helps the believer be sanctified from sin, helps the believer embrace the cross of Christ daily, helps the believer to endure in affliction and weakness, and even helps the believer pray.
Prayer can be seen as one of the greatest works that the Spirit empowers in the believer. Paul was prompted to pray by the Spirit, sometimes void of his own understanding of the matters in which the Spirit involved him. Furthermore, prayer is a manifestation of the Spirit’s work in our “not yet” realities, pointing us to our future hope. Spirit led prayer is an evidence that the Church is an eschatological body of believers who are continuing in dependence on God for all his promises to be fulfilled.
Chapter 13: To the Praise of His Glory — The Spirit and Worship
Paul deeply connected ethics with worship that was both individual and corporate. In this, he did not recognize a distinction between the fruit and the gifts of the spirit, as would later develop in Church history. In Pauline theology, the Spirit was the initiator of worship, and so the celebration of the Eucharist itself would be rightly seen as coming before a holy act of worship in which the Spirit was present.
Women are encouraged to be active in the spiritual operations of the Church, though they should not be domineering to men nor do so in making themselves appear as a man. This exhortation must have been so important in Corinth, which city was devoted to goddesses of different sorts.
Furthermore, worship is seen as both vertical and horizontal, that is, directed to God and also at times directed towards one another. Ephesians shows this in it’s exhortation to teach and admonish one another in spiritual songs, as well as to sing to God from the heart. Central to the act of worship are a variety of songs. Many songs are found in Scripture that model just this. The Bible gives us eternal spiritual songs which shows that the Holy Spirit can breathe on even old and ancient hymns and prayers. Nonetheless, there are the new songs of Revelation. These biblical songs and prayers are deeply theological; in this way believers may teach and admonish one another through song, as Ephesians describes. This is furthermore seen as the way one is filled and continues to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 14: Those Controversial Gifts? The Spirit and the Charismata
Spiritual gifts were very normal in Pauline theology and central to the Church’s growth and sustenance in their eschatological reality that awaited the fullness. Paul revealed the spiritual life as manifesting in three ways called “charismata”, or gifting, and “pneumatika”, or things/ manifestations of the Spirit. Spiritual manifestations are the various ways that the Spirit moves in community, and spiritual gifts are the various ways the Spirit uses individuals. All these, says Gee, can be categorized under “service, miracles, and inspired utterance”.
The gift of tongues is highlighted in it’s individual and corporate expression. Where the Church of Corinth had swung to an extreme in speaking in tongues to the church with no interpretation, neither the speaker nor the hearer were edified. This improper exercise even led to the church believing the delusion that they had arrived, that there was no “not yet” reality, which led them to deny the bodily resurrection. On the other hand, it is the orderly exercise of spiritual gifts that indeed builds up the Church to live in a future/not yet reality and grow into the full stature of Christ.
Paul never negated spiritual gifts and so cessation theology is not to be found, biblically. On the other hand, Paul saw prophecy and spiritual gifts as the evidence that the Church was awaiting the Second Coming of Christ, and necessary for the life of the Church. Furthermore, he urged the church to follow his example, which was Spirit-empowered and fluent in the gifts of the Spirit.
Chapter 15: Where to from Here? The Spirit for Today and Tomorrow
Though Christ is central, it is only by the Spirit that the believer may enter into the life of God provided through the cross and resurrection of Christ. The experience of salvation in Christ must be Trinitarian in nature to be truly Christian. When Paul urged the church to earnestly desire spiritual gifts, he gave no room for exclusion of them. The Church must pursue these gifts with intention. Paul refers to the spiritual conversion of the believer to their standing in Christ as adopted into the family of God.
The gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit are ultimately unto forming the likeness of Christ in the believers and sustaining the growth of the Church as the very body of God on earth. Paul even says prophesy plays a part in unbelievers coming to Christ and converting. Furthermore, the Spirit is essential to productive prayer and right understanding. It is unfathomable to think of a Church succeeding in it’s eternal goals without the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit, who is God.
The way the Church may grow in these spiritual gifts and in correct theology altogether is by wading into these passages discussed and begin to make room for the Spirit to move. Teachings on such things should be given in order to fully equip the Church. Ideally, this should flow from the leadership of the Church and flow down. Openness and surrender are central in allowing and receiving the Holy Spirit.
...and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 