In our time an obsession with the Holy Spirit, and a faulty peception of the work of the Holy Spirit, rules in a large percentage of the professing Church. It’s reached such a level that many Christians will hardly talk about Jesus, or about the Father: it’s all about the Spirit. “The Spirit told me this”; “The Spirit did that”; “The Spirit is saying….”; “The Spirit sent shivers down my spine”. In some circles there is what we could call a “cult” of the Holy Spirit.
(Sometimes one of my images fails to show on WordPress. Forgive me if there are gaps in this post).
Is this a good thing? Is it really the work of God, or is there something else going on? To some people I am here questioning the Spirit, quenching the Spirit, doubting the Spirit, or even blaspheming the Spirit. Don’t question the movement of the Spirit, they say, or you’re doing the work of the devil. You’re judging our brothers and sisters, they say. But New Testament writers all said that we should test what we encounter. John said it this way:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
I’ve been accused of not even believing in the Holy Spirit, because I question what happens in a lot of churches and in individuals’ lives. This accusation is nonsense, designed to deflect godly and honest scrutiny. I say let’s have truth at any cost. Paul warned of “another spirit” masquerading as the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 11:4). Perhaps it would be wise of us to be cautious about what the work of the Spirit really is.
IT SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT JESUS
Literally millions of Christians have been taught to obsess over the Holy Spirit. But what did Jesus Christ say to his disciples about the ministry of the Spirit? He said:
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me” (John 15:26).
The work of the Spirit is to testify about Jesus Christ-not himself. He is not on a crusade to promote himself over the Lord, the Savior and the Creator of all things.
“He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears” (John 16:13).
The KJV words this verse this way:
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.
Yes the Holy Spirit is within the trinity of God. However, the cult of the Holy Spirit has placed Him above Jesus Christ-something that was never intended to happen. We are saved by the name of Jesus, and by his work on the cross. We live by the spirit of Christ, and we live to honor his name: that’s how it’s supposed to be.
THE ORIGINAL BALANCE
You can see this principle throughout the New Testament. As an example, look at the opening words of Paul’s letters to the churches. To the Ephesians he wrote:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-3).
Who does Paul speak of here? He speaks of the Father and the Son. There is no mention of the Spirit!
Look at the opening of his first letter to the Corinthians:
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are]sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:1-3).
Paul’s greetings are from the Father and the Son, not from the Spirit. They are, tacetly, carried by the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit is not the focus, because Jesus Christ is. It’s the name of Jesus that should be on our lips-not the Spirit, whose work it is to draw attention to Christ-not himself.
CHURCHES WITHOUT THE SPIRIT?
Some churches may be dry and dull, but to accuse them of being without the Spirit is an affront not only to the character of worshippers there and to the way they prefer to worship, but an affront also to the Spirit Himself. Here’s what Scripture says about this:
Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).
If, in that seemingly dry and dull gathering they are calling Jesus Christ “Lord” they are speaking by the Holy Spirit, says Paul. So who are you to say that the Spirit is not in that place? Who are you to diminish your brother’s and sister’s faith and ministry and experience?
In a seeming confirmation of what my topic should have been today, a Facebook friend of mine shared his thought that if you don’t see people speaking in tongues and doing miracles in your church, the Holy Spirit isn’t there and you need to go elsewhere. But what does Scripture say?
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).
To those of you who think that the presense of Christ is not enough, and that we need the Holy Spirit to “show up” as my friend put it, I want to ask how many spirits there are? According to my Bible there is only one:
There is one body and one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4).
If Jesus Christ is in the midst of a non-Charismatic gathering of believers, as he said he would be, can he be seen? No he cannot (except in the imagination of the super-spiritual) because he is there by his spirit. I’m not preaching a “oneness” gospel here: there is only one spirit, and the three persons of the godhead are One God. You cannot have the spirit of Christ present but not the Holy Spirit.
SALVATION AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Paul wrote this:
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Is the super-spiritual Christian trying to tell me I don’t have freedom because I don’t speak in tongues? He’s wrong.
Paul also wrote:
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9).
Can a person be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit? Not according to Paul. You can search the Bible for references to the gospel preached by the apostles and by Jesus, and you will find no command or even suggestion that the gospel includes searching for the presense of the Holy Spirit in order to gain salvation or freedom or the performance of gifts. Therefore if you have freedom in Christ by the gospel of his sacrifice and resurrection, and by your repentance, you also have the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to wait for the Spirit to “show up” because He’s already with you. If you can’t accept that, you aren’t living by faith. If you need signs to believe that the Lord is there by his Spirit, you aren’t living by faith, you are living by sight.
The question is not “Do you have the Holy Spirit?”, the quesion is “How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?” If you’re walking with God, He can work through you. There is no need to fall over-in fact, falling over has no purpose besides making some people “feel” that God is at work. It’s really a matter of submitting your heart to the Lord and His word and His ways. You can fall over all you like, but if your heart is not changed (as is often the case) and if you are not by faith walking in the ways of God daily, you are just polishing the floor.
WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON?
I think that a lot of what passes for the work of the Holy Spirit in our time comes instead from the superstitious invention of mankind; from faulty interpretation, from demonic deception, and sometimes from an idolatrous outlook. If we can’t see people falling over, the Holy Spirit of God is not present? Is this the extent of the power of Almighty God: making people fall over, sway to the music, and babble and giggle for hours? If that’s the extent of the power of God, we are all in very big trouble, and you can count me out of this weak, shallow form of religion.
Changed lives? I’ve encountered enough people with such philosophy to know that falling over and speaking in tongues, and claiming miracles, does not necessarily change anyone for the better. In fact, very often, it’s the most charismatic individuals that fall away from the faith. At best they’re misinformed: at worst they’re puffed up with a false spiritual pride, thinking that they are the super-spiritual ones, and the rest of us, who don’t fall over and babble, are only on the first rung of the spiritual ladder. According to them we non-tongues speakers have no clout with God. We don’t have the Holy Spirit, and our prayers have no power. Again, this is unscriptural nonsense.
COMPLETE IN CHRIST
Here’s what Paul had to say on the matter:
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:8-10 NKJV).
I am complete in Christ, lacking no potential or spritual blessing! Any attempt to take that fact from me is just another manifestation of human pride. I personally will never let any self-proclaimed super-Christian rob me of my confidence in Christ. I will say it right out: many of the teachings about the Spirit, and the over-obsession with Him, are lies from the pit of hell.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 