While the restraining hand of the Holy Spirit is little realized by the church at large, His protection and power shield the Christian from the impossible task of living in a world in which sin is unrestrained. While it is not in the purpose of God to deal finally with the world while the Church is in the world, the sovereignty of God overrules the wickedness of men and the power of Satan to make possible the accomplishment of His purpose to call out a people to His name. The view of the mystics, of course, is quite the opposite of the rationalist. In fact, such things cant be understood without the Spirits help. Less extreme than the deists is the Pelagian viewpoint, holding that man is inherently able to understand the truth and make his own decisions in relation to it. The work of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin is seen, therefore, to be an important work of God, essential to divine providence, and a part of the work of God for His own. As the Word is preached, the Holy Spirit attends with power to make it known to those who naturally are blind to the truth and unable to comprehend it. It is antecedent to the effectual call of God to the elect. God has called you to peace. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? He asks, " First Corinthians 12:3 says that 'no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.'. The Bible says that the human spirit is the very breath of Almighty God and was breathed into man at the beginning of God's creation: "Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" ( Genesis 2:7 ). And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. Matthew's account adds that even blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit ( Mt 12:31-32 ). The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. Serving Wholeheartedly. The Christian desiring to win souls for Christ should study this subject carefully, for in it lie the principles which God has revealed concerning His methods of dealing with the lost. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Further confirmation of His ministry is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way (American Standard Version). Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: the Unforgivable Sin. Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. Some were saying, What would this idle babbler wish to say? Others, He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. get to know the Bible better! The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the unsaved is peculiarly a ministry of enablement to understand the way of salvation. There is one body and one Spiritjust as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord, one faith, one baptism, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD , and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. comprehend very imperfectly the nature of this imputed righteousness. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Christ said the Holy Spirit would convict the world "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:11). The chaos of the primeval earth as described in Genesis 1:2 was not without His presence. I encourage us all to stay focused and sober in our assessment of current events, prophecy, and the realities of the present time and to pray without ceasing as we serve the Lord and hold the line. Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. 5. The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Unsaved World - Bible So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of Gods Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. The phrase "the old man" (found also in Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:9) is here illustrated by the description following: which is being marred in virtue of the lusts of deceit. No one comes to the Father except through me. But while human governments may be agencies in the restraining work of the Spirit, we believe that they in turn are influenced by the Church. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Ministering To The Unsaved. When we are regenerated, we are made alive together with Christ ( Ephesians 2:5) and renewed by the Holy Spirit ( Titus 3:5 ). And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. There is no law against such things ( Galatians 5:22 ). While these elements may not be always seen clearly, they form the principles which combine to bring the unsaved into the knowledge necessary to place saving faith in Christ. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. But people who arent spiritual cant receive these truths from Gods Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin in the world is most important, however, though few direct references are found in Scripture. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. Paul was speaking about Simon who wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. An unspiritual person refuses to accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him such things are foolish. It all sounds foolish to them and they cant understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. The presence of the individual Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, constitutes a force to hinder the world in its sin. Section 2. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Publication date: Mar 2, 2023. Ecclesiastes 12:7 speaks of the time of death as the time when the "spirit shall return unto God who gave it." God gave the spirit and the spirit will return to God. Genuine salvation is never found except among those who have heard the Word of God. The Holy Spirit presses upon the heart of the unsaved the fact of God's judgment. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. It is essential to intelligent faith, however, that the unsaved understand that through Christ it is possible for God to deal with them as those who are righteous. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. The judgments which followed rejection of His striving against sin (Isa 63:10-11) had their effect. Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. The trophies of the grace of God which some day will stand complete before God in glory will bear witness to the power of the Spirit in ettectively accomplishing the task given to Him by Christ. He is unable to understand them because they can be discerned only in a spiritual way. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. While the Lutheran church has fully supported the immanence and power of the Holy Spirit, they regard His work as being limited in some sense to the Word itself. The Spirit of Man | Learn The Bible | LearnTheBible.org been overemphasized by the church, these sacraments do reveal in symbol the Gospel message, and the Lords Supper in particular is to be observed because it shows the Lords death till he come (1 Cor 11:26). But should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. The Scriptures represent him as being cast into the earth and venting his fury during those tragic days (Rev 12:9). According to the passage, the man of sin will not be revealed until the one who restrains is removed. Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Some were saying, What would this idle babbler wish to say? Others, He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.read more.And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit by virtue of His holy character was conducive to restraint of sin. Mary & Martha: We Need Both. Water! Related Readings 24 more readings on Spirit 34 more readings on Man The doctrines of providence and of the sovereignty of God demand that the power of God be effective not only in the saved but also in the unsaved world. In view of the power of Satan and his evident hatred of Christians and the truth, the work of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin is required to explain the relative freedom allowed the Christian in the world and the preservation of those conditions which make possible the preaching of the Gospel and the maintenance of some order in the sinful world. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For the natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 serves as a wonderful summary of this dynamic, stating, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. The work of the Holy Spirit in restraining the world from sin is found in every age, except during the period of unprecedented sinfulness during the great tribulation, when it is Gods purpose to demonstrate for the first time what unrestrained sin is. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org, How will they preach unless they are sent? You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Because death is departure not cessation, not annihilation. Now to the crux of this commentary. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. Are You Ready For Your Departure? - KJV BIBLE TRUTH The present age enjoys the ministry of this restrainer whose presence and ministry make impossible the manifestation of the man of sin. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? Can An Unbeliever Understand the Bible? - TeachingTheWord The deists, of course, assume that God is not immanent in the world, and trace all spiritual experience to a normal process of human mind. The natural man is an unsaved man, who views excess indulgence in the desires of the flesh to be a good thing. Verse 14. 11. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Robert Hart Obituary, Articles T
Robert Hart Obituary, Articles T