'Holy Spirit' Tagged Posts
Concerning the Conscience
Despite the efforts of many to ignore bad behaviour by suppressing or explaining away guilt, it is important for us to be asking questions like, “why am I feeling guilty” or “why am I filled with shame?” By asking such questions we are attempting to get to the source of problems rather than simply shifting the blame and thus ignoring the problem.
Resources for Spiritual Growth – Part 2
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Some make this refer to an experience limited to a select few whereas others ignore its importance completely. What does it mean? The idea is that the believer’s life is to be under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. This control leads to conduct that is in conformity to the word of God. To be filled with the…
Who are You? Sealed with the Spirit
In this post I will considering the final blessing the Christian needs to know about their identity. Of course, there are many more blessings we could consider, but this is the final one in the passage of our consideration (Eph. 1:3-14). What is this blessing? The Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 1:22, Eph. 1:13-14 and 4:30). The basic meaning of the…
How to be Filled with the Spirit
In my previous post I discussed the meaning of being filled with the Spirit. The next question that I want to address is, how does the believer receive this filling? It is important to point out that the means in which one is “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) has nothing to do with self-achievement, speaking in tongues, or being a part of some super-spiritual…
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
Many people talk about the need to be filled with the Spirit. This is understandable because it is a biblical concept. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Some make this refer to an experience limited to a select few whereas others ignore its importance completely. What does it mean? In…
Calvinistic and Charismatic – Do they Mix?
The Calvinist has a high view of Scripture that provides the sufficiency for Christian living and he recognises that this is what God has ordained. Further, the Calvinist understands the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit and desire to honour the Lord through the Spirt’s enabling.
Attitudes and hostility to Christian faith
What makes this good news, indeed – terrific news, is that God loves us in spite of our sinful ways. God’s love is totally unmerited and is extended towards us whilst we are His enemies. Now that’s tremendous news – that’s great news -that’s the gospel.
The Sinfulness of Sin
Nothing, I am convinced, will astonish us so much, when we awake in the resurrection day, as the view we shall have of sin and the retrospect we shall take of our own countless shortcomings and defects. Never till the hour when Christ comes the second time shall we fully realize the ‘sinfulness of sin’.
Does the Bible call Jesus God?
Photo Credit: © genotar1 – Fotolia.com One day, not long after I’d become a Christian, a Jewish friend of mine (not a believer), challenged me as follows. He argued that Jesus never called himself God and that the church had much later made Jesus into a god. He said that the Bible nowhere called Jesus God. Is that true? All good lies need an element of truth to…
Sin in the Life of a Christian: Part III – Reading the Bible
The doctrine of sin has implications for how I read the Bible as a Christian. When I read the Bible I may come to it with a prior understanding of what it says, and what is right and wrong, but my thinking is affected by my sin. I will need to pray first of all that God would work by his Spirit…