Part one, part two, part three. The first three parts; the Gospels, Acts, and Paul's letters, can be found with the links above. This post, the final one in this series, will cover the general epistles including Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, Jude, and Revelation. There is no mention of the Holy Spirit in James, 2 John, or 3 John.
Hebrews
2:4
A big theme through the Gospels and Acts is that God is doing miracles as signs of the new covenant that he was making with the whole world through Jesus Christ. Here, the author of Hebrews explicitly says that that is what God was doing. He also mentions gifts of the HS. The gifts are distributed according to the will of the HS (who is God), so once again, these gifts are not available when we want to use them, but as the HS wills. Also, cessationism/continuationism can be addressed here. The continuationist will say that the Gospel is attested by signs, wonders, and gifts through the power of the HS. He did it then, he will do it now. I would agree with this position. The cessationist will point to verse 3a, "It was declared at first by the Lord...", to indicate that it was only done for the inauguration of the Church until the scriptures were solidified. As I have shown before, this is a stretched interpretation of 1 Cor. 13:10 that doesn't really seem to work. At the very least it doesn't convince me.
3:7
Another instance of the HS being given credit for the OT text.
6:4
As believers, we share in the HS. I am not going to get into the argument over whether this passage of Hebrews means we can or cannot lose our salvation once we have it. I haven't made my mind up over that issue, though I am inclined to think we could lose it, but only from unbelief.
9:8
This is yet another instance of the HS being credited with writing the OT text. This time however, the author is expositing an underlying inference about the tabernacle structure that he says the HS meant. That is that the first section of the tabernacle must be closed before we can have access to the second section. The first section had the menorah (candle that burned oil), bread of presence, etc. These were all things that pointed to Christ. When he came, they were done away with. That left only the Holy of Holies where God's presence actually dwelt at times in Israel's history. Christ's blood gave us entry into that place and that is why the veil was torn when he died (Mark 15:38).
9:14
Translators are unsure what to make of "the eternal Spirit" that appears in this verse. Some say Holy Spirit, other think it means something about Christ's divine nature. The jury is out, and so am I on what this means!
10:15
One more time. The HS wrote the OT!
10:29
Those who "go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth" (v. 26) outrage the HS.
1 Peter
1:2
The HS sanctifies.
1:11
The HS inspired the prophets of the OT.
1:12
The disciples preaching the Gospel do so by the power of the HS.
4:14
Persecution brings a blessing of the HS's presence.
2 Peter
1:21
The HS inspired the prophets of the OT.
1 John
3:24
We know that God abides in us by the HS's witness.
4:2
John tells us to test every spirit. This is something that the Church severely lacks. John says that things from the HS confess that Jesus is from God and came in the flesh. This is dealing with the spirit of antichrist, which is about teachings directly contrary to the Word of God. So, in this case, it is about the words, as opposed to 1 Cor. 12:3.
4:6
People from God listen to the apostles teaching, which for us is found in the scriptures. This is how we know it is from the HS and not error.
4:13
Just like 3:24, we know God abides in us by the HS's witness.
5:6-8
The HS testifies of Christ's work because he is truth.
Jude
v. 19-20
Scoffers of prophecy and worldly people are devoid of the HS. This may be people in the church as that is what was going on with the recipient's of Jude's letter. We should ignore them and pray in the HS. This praying in the HS could be one of two things that I covered in the note at Ephesians 6:17-18.
Revelation
1:10
John says he "was in the Spirit on the Lord's day..." This could mean he was worshipping the Lord on Sunday or it could mean he was having a vision on Sunday or it could mean that he was having a vision about the Day of the Lord. Take your pick, it is very difficult to make a convincing case for any of the options.
2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22
The HS is speaking to the churches. Notice that says churches, not church. These letters from Christ are to more believers than just in the cities on the heading.
4:2
Another instance of John being in the Spirit. This seems to help us figure out 1:10 in that clearly, this time he is having a vision, which would eliminate the first option above that John was just having a special moment of communion with God.
14:13
The voice John hears from heaven is the HS.
17:3
John gets carried away in the HS. Much like Ezekiel, scholars argue over whether this means in a vision or that physically John was transported away.
22:17
The HS and us (the Bride) are both saying, "Come", in regard to Jesus' second advent.
Most of the stuff from the general epistles could fall under the bullets from Paul's letters, so I won't rehash those. Thanks for reading. I sincerely hope that you have learned something from this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment