BIBLE STUDY-17

 

Peace Methodist Church 2021. 8. 15.

 

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (1)

 

◎ In the Old Testament the word for spirit is ruach, or breath. It is the life-giving breath of God. It is the primal power of God in all things. Without the life-giving spirit of God human is but dust of the earth.

 

◎ “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

 

◎ In the New Testament the word for spirit is pneuma, this means wind, breath, life or power. It is the Spirit which comes to human and delivers them from sin, death, and the law and opens the way to freedom and all of the Spirit – faith, righteousness, joy, peace. The works of Christ makes possible the renewal of the spirit within us.

 

◎ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18)

 

◎ “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

 

◎ The Inspiration of the Holy Spirit

¶ [John Wesley] speaks of the inspiration as the “inward assistance of the Holy Spirit which helps our infirmities, enlightens our understanding, rectifies our will, comforts, purifies and sanctifies us.” Such an inbreathing of the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity for the Christian life without exception.

 

¶ The inward perception or feeling of the Spirit’s work is the “most infallible of all proofs,” according to Wesley, “the strongest evidence of the truth of Christianity,”

 

[Reference]

※ Stanley Romaine Hopper, “Holy Spirit” in Marvin Halverson and Arthur Cohen, (eds.) A Handbook of Christian Theology, (Fontana Books, 1960), p.174-175.

※ Lycurgus M. Starkey, Jr., The Work of the Holy Spirit: A Study in Wesleyan Theology, (Abingdon Press, 1962), p.17-18.