Since the semester is keeping me extremely busy at the moment, I have decided to post a discussion which first debuted on Facebook. I will use these from time to time, when I do not have a good chance to produce any original content.
Original post date: 22 Nov. 2010
This note is not at all deep or strikingly original (I would be remiss to ever claim either of those attributes), and yet I believe it still merits consideration. This is a topic I often struggle with myself, so much of what I put down here is from personal experience and observation. The thesis I wish to discuss can be summarized as follows: the New Testament is not over.
Bam. There you have it, all nice and concise. But there is much more to this discussion than one might think at first. How much more? Perhaps we will find out....
Hebrews 4:12 reads "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." It is clear from this passage that the author believes in the dynamic and powerful nature of the Bible (and God Himself) to shape and affect the character of people. There is no reason to think that this ability should have ever ceased existing.
Yet the majority of Christians today seem to behave as though the Holy Spirit has somehow been diminished to an ephemeral specter which simply exists to give people suggestions that are little more than mere emotion or whim. This view reduces the Holy Spirit down to a glorified conscience, and while I grant that the Spirit does at times act like or through a person's conscience, I believe that this is an extremely shallow and underdeveloped paradigm.
Why do people today think like this? There are several possible explanations. The first is simple ignorance. Christians who rely solely on church services for their theology likely have a naïve idea about what the Bible says about the Spirit. Everyone knows that Jesus fed 5,000 people and walked on water (Mark 6:30-56), that the Apostles spoke in tongues on Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and that Paul raised a guy from the dead (Acts 20:7-12). But to us, these men seem "special." I mean, they had some kind of special access to the Holy Spirit, right? Well, maybe. The Disciples were certainly able to experience Jesus' ministry in a different (i.e. physical) sense then what we see today. Yet the Bible seems to indicate that these men were not the end of awesome spiritual gifts. According to Joel 2:28-29, the Spirit of God can be made available to just about anyone: "Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days."(NIV) There are several passages in the Old Testament which talk about God pouring out the Spirit on His people (see Ezekiel 39:29, Isaiah 44:3, etc.). Paul tells Titus that God "saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." (Titus 3:5-6, NIV) It would appear that this Holy Spirit is available to more people than just the Apostles.
Another possible contributor to this paradigm is the fact that people today do not think they see the Spirit at work around them. This line of thought annoys me to no end. The more time I spend getting to know God and reading His Word, the more I see how He is acting all around us in both subtle and dramatic ways. In one of his works, C.S. Lewis describes the miracles listed in the Bible as being just dramatic examples of the everyday "small" miracles He performs. Sure, Jesus fed five thousand people with a small amount of food, but there are millions of people every day that would starve without the small amount of food they receive. Christ healed people with all kinds of diseases, but He also provided us with bodies that can fix themselves from lots of different pains and illnesses. What if we took a step back from our dimly-lit corner of the world and truly appreciated the miraculous gifts with which God has inundated our lives? I can guarantee one thing: we would never again claim that the Spirit does not work actively in the world today. If you'd like a better appreciation for this, pray through some of the Psalms some time (for starters, maybe 19, 66, 67, 85, 104, 111, 128, and 147).
Now that we have established that the Holy Spirit is still working in the world today and that we have access to its power, what keeps us from utilizing this great gift? Perhaps it is fear of the unknown. Jesus tells us that "[t]he wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8, NIV) The life directed by the Spirit can be very unpredictable and at times even dangerous. Just look at all the stuff Paul went through in 2 Corinthians 11; that guy had it rough. Once again, however, we are forgetting the bigger picture. Jesus tells us to rejoice when we suffer (Matt. 5:10-12), and the disciples take his advice (Acts 5:41). You see, if we suffer now because of the Spirit, we only have greater things in store for us down the road. "That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next." (Romans 8:18-19, MSG)
So if you've made it this far, by now you're surely wondering, "where could he possibly be going with this loquacious and didactic exposition?" Well, here it is: there is absolutely no reason for people like you and me to keep on reading the Bible like it's some dusty old history book. It is still very pertinent today. In fact, I would claim that the Bible taken on a very personal level is actually the story of my life, and your life, and all our lives. That's pretty cool! And what's more, it means that we can quit seeing our lives as somehow less important or influential than the people we read about in God's Word. We have access to the selfsame earthshaking Spirit, so let's use it.
Because the New Testament is not over.
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