Continuing the conversation about the Holy Spirit
“But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. “ (Micah 3:8)
When the article on the Holy Spirit came up the first time (January 4th) I excerpted part of the confession of faith where it said, “prophets and writers of Scripture were inspired.” Mennonites believe that those who wrote the scripture were prompted to by the Spirit. That is not to say that all of them got it absolutely right, but that each one of them felt that the message they passed on came from God. And we honor that. Using the same Spirit we read scripture and interpret it for ourselves, and share that interpretation with others. We believe that God is always with us, through the Holy Spirit and that Spirit is God’s way of bridging the gap from where our Lord is in heaven and where we are on earth.
The author of Micah voices the same belief that we have, that “the Spirit of the Lord” can and does fill us and that we can declare to others what God says to us. This belief is also the basis for what happened after Jesus was taken into heaven. The confession of faith says, “At Pentecost, God began to pour out the Spirit on all flesh and to gather the church from among many nations. As a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the church praises and worships God and brings forth the fruit of the Spirit. By the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all Christians are called to carry out their particular ministries. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church comes to unity in doctrine and action. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the church preaches, teaches, testifies, heals, loves, and suffers, following the example of Jesus its Lord. “ The power of the Holy Spirit is much like the power of God, which I (and the confession of faith) spoke to on January 26th, just a few days ago.
It is no coincidence, gentle reader, that the Holy Spirit’s nature is much like God’s, because the Holy Spirit is from God, and is God. The Spirit helps our faith and our Christian journey evolve and move forward. Ever encouraging us, the Holy Spirit partners with us to grow closer to God – which the Holy Spirit is. This would be confusing if it were not for the fact that God is ever present in all things – which happens because of the Holy Spirit.
But perhaps I have confused you/said enough. May you gentle reader rest in the Holy Spirit this day, and journey with the Spirit all your days. Selah!
The Bible is God’s infallible word. The inspired writers had to have it all right, or it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. If they didn’t get it all right then what parts are wrong? The whole Bible becomes suspect and cannot be trusted.
n8
January 28, 2012 at 9:54 am
Actually, the Bible is a collection of writings that were picked out of a larger source of writings done, well, extending back maybe 1800 years before Christ. Gentle reader n8, I encourage you to do a search on “history of the Bible.” You may or may not believe what the searches/articles say. Mennonites believe that the writers were inspired by god, but it can not be proven absolutely that they got the inspiration correct and correctly and accurately put that to paper, and that what was passed down to us is the accurate recording of what they wrote. We are all inspired by God. And it is that inspiration we hold dear.
Carole
January 28, 2012 at 3:15 pm