Thought for Today
Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Isaiah 63:11 Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit,
Matthew 12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
“The Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually unites us to himself. . . . Faith is the principal work of the Holy Spirit . . . . Faith itself has no other source than the Spirit.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.1.1,4)
I am a minister ordained in the Protestant Reformed tradition. Like most Christians, my tradition is triune. That means we understand God as being three in one. “triune God – Christian view of God existing as the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; one God in three Persons.” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 288)
Truthfully, however, the Reformed tradition in general practice focuses more intently on God the Father and Jesus the Son. We do acknowledge all three Persons during our worship. Our own congregation incorporates the Gloria Patri, singing together “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost . . .” We also sing a doxology which concludes with “Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” For anyone who has not heard it in a sermon or in a lesson on koine Greek, the word τὸ πνεῦμα is variously translated as blowing, wind, breathing, breath, soul, spirit or ghost. Many of us who are ‘of an age’ remember Holy Ghost from our youth. Most of us today speak about Holy Spirit. In Greek, it is the same phrase, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον.
I believe many of us neglect in thought, worship and practice the action of the Holy Spirit in our world and in our lives. This morning, as I read Coffee with Calvin, I read about the Holy Spirit. I read those words above from Calvin’s Institutes and the comments of Donald K. McKim, including, “We may not often recognize it, but our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. We come to faith by God’s gracious work in granting the Spirit to enable us to believe.” (Coffee with Calvin, pg. 10)
I do often reference in my Thoughts and in my sermons Paul’s words to the Ephesians, “2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—” I’m not sure that I have ever previously thought about all of this as the specific action of the Holy Spirit within me. My faith, my belief in Jesus as the Christ and as my personal Lord and Savior has been an integral part of my very being as long as I can remember. I was raised ‘in the church,’ in a devout Christian family. I cannot imagine my family in any other way except as Christians.
But, the faith and belief of my childhood was different from that of my youth; and the faith and belief of my youth was different from the faith and belief with which I anchor my life today. The difference is one of degree more than of essence. I have always believed in our Triune Creator God. I have always understood God as Three in One.
I learned the Bible stories in my childhood Sunday School. I was fascinated by the stories of both Testaments. Now I understand them not as merely heroic stories of faith and courage, but as evidence and examples of our God’s covenant faithfulness. Now I recognize that it is the Holy Spirit active in my life which allows me to see and understand. The same Holy Spirit opened my mind to hear God call to me as Jesus called to Peter, "’John 21:17 Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
Listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, be open to God’s call, trust God,
Pastor Ray