Decision #1

Decision #1

Rebirth by the Holy Spirit

FOCUS

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

Scriptures:  John 16:13; Acts 2:8

John Wesley

Every good gift is from God and it is given to man by the Holy Ghost. By nature there is in us no good thing, and there can be none, but so far as it is wrought in us by the good Spirit. 

It was the power of the Holy Spirit that generated the Methodist movement.  [126]

Here the authors describe the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in and throughout the lifetime of the believer.   They write: “But the end aim of a Spirit-centered life is the power to live ethically, inspired by insights and energy that well up in us spontaneously. Life in the Spirit is not fueled by fear or even by reward; its energies are love, joy, and peace.   The life in the Spirit means to let the Spirit rule our lives.”  [127]

The authors site evidence from our recent history supporting their contention that “In a major sense, the nature and all of the Holy Spirit has been weakened.”  [See pages 128-129]

Wesley taught that we could no nothing by ourselves.

 MEM: This belief is fundamental to all Christian concepts of conversion and our life in Christ.  The weakening of the witness of the Holy Spirit is a natural consequence of our increasing confidence in science and technology to solve our every problem.  This is the Enlightenment's gift and curse.  In this “Post-Enlightenment” time folks are discovering that science and technology have not solved our problems and in fact, might have created the greatest monsters that stalk us today.  Today's people are looking for “something more” . . . something beyond the reductionism of science and the false Messiahs of technology.  Science and technology have done many marvelous things but they cannot save us from ourselves. I pray we open our hearts individually and as a denomination to the amazing saving power of the Holy Spirit.

The most important verse for us today from the Galatians passage discussed above is verse 3. This is now it reads from the Living Translation: After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit,
why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? (Galatians 5:3/LT)

This is a convincing statement and the root cause of our problems. Can an old denomination be born again?  How? Repentance. Faith. Holiness -  it may be so simple as these three words.  Restoration is the answer, and that is the subject of our next chapter.  [132]

Decision #1

To teach people the biblical and theological understanding  of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in personal lives, and to provide a context wherein people can experience the love and power of the Holy Spirit, Him living in them and them in Him, as Jesus describes in John 14

MEM COMMENTS

The comments by the authors here are well taken.  Restoration, renewal, and salvation cannot be accomplished by human effort alone.  Actually, it is exactly the opposite.  It is a matter of opening one's heart to this “indwelling of the Spirit.”  There is “effort” in following Jesus and in the “doing” what we are called to do.  Even this “doing” is a gift of the Spirit.  There is no life without God's Spirit in whom we live and move and have our being.  The hope within us is God's “Breath.”  Without that “breath” we would not be able to recognize the Spirit nor be empowered to even respond to the Spirit.  Jesus came to witness to the power of God's Spirit even over death itself. 

In the words of the hymn I ask:  Are we yet alive?  Much has died in us that was of God.  The Resurrection of Jesus is witness to the power of God to give us life even, if in fact, we are already dead. Therefore, let us look for new life  . . . for Resurrection . . . for the Witness and Work of the Holy Spirit in us, through us, and around us.