{"id":34172,"date":"2018-05-21T06:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=34172"},"modified":"2018-05-20T18:22:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-20T22:22:32","slug":"the-lord-and-giver-of-life-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2018\/05\/the-lord-and-giver-of-life-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord and Giver of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday was another major holy-day:\u00a0 Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Christ and ten days after His ascension, at which time the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church.<\/p>\n

There are many misconceptions about this particular person in the Holy Trinity.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is not just a force or power, not just the aspect of God who dwells within, not just a subjective phenomenon.\u00a0 Here is what the Nicene Creed<\/a> says about Him:<\/p>\n

And I believe in the Holy Ghost,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m using the classic three-language edition of the Book of Concord here, which uses the old word \u201cghost\u201d instead of \u201cspirit.\u201d\u00a0 In early English, \u201cghost\u201d and \u201cspirit\u201d meant the same thing\u2013as in \u201cgive up the ghost\u201d\u2013so there are no associations of Caspar or haunted houses in the creed.\u00a0 Still, I kind of like \u201cHoly Ghost,\u201d not just because it is more evocative of mystery, but because \u201cspirit\u201d has become more tame, something that all of us have, including the \u201cspiritual but not religious,\u201d so that the Holy Spirit can be confused with our<\/em> spirit, which can become holy.\u00a0 But our spirits can only become holy by the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

\n

the Lord and Giver of life,<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit (I\u2019ll keep using that translation) is \u201cthe Lord,\u201d as is the Father and the Son.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is the giver of life.\u00a0 This recalls how God breathed into the dust that He formed and made it alive (Genesis 2:7).\u00a0 (The Hebrew word for \u201cspirit\u201d is related to the word for \u201cbreath.\u201d)\u00a0 But the Holy Spirit is also the giver of our new life in Christ.\u00a0 He convicts us of sin (John 16:8), and He creates faith in Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:3).<\/p>\n

who proceedeth from the Father and the Son;<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article speaks of the relationship between the Persons of the Trinity.\u00a0 In the distinction made by the Athanasian Creed,<\/a> the Son is \u201cbegotten\u201d; the Spirit \u201cproceeds.\u201d\u00a0 But it also means that the life-giving Holy Spirit is sent to us by the Father and the Son.\u00a0 The original reading of the Nicene Creed, still insisted upon by the Eastern Orthodox, says that the Holy Spirit proceeds \u201cfrom the Father.\u201d\u00a0 The Western church added \u201cand the Son.\u201d\u00a0 Though there was arguably no ecclesiastical authority for adding that phrase, it is surely Biblical.\u00a0 As Jesus said, \u201cNevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for\u00a0if I do not go away,\u00a0the Helper will not come to you. But\u00a0if\u00a0I go,\u00a0I will send him to you\u201d (John 16:7).<\/p>\n

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified;<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit is a Person of the Trinity.\u00a0 When we worship and glorify God, we are worshipping and glorifying the Holy Spirit, along with the Father and the Son.<\/p>\n

who spake by the Prophets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit speaks to us by means of the authors of Holy Scripture.\u00a0 If we want to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us, we should not just listen for some interior voice.\u00a0 Rather, all we have to do is open the Bible!\u00a0 Thus, the Holy Spirit is always accessible to us by means of His living and active Word.<\/p>\n

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit creates, sustains, and sanctifies the church.\u00a0 \u201cCatholic\u201d is not to be thought of as the \u201cRoman Catholic Church.\u201d\u00a0 The usual Lutheran rendition is \u201cChristian church,\u201d though this older rendition keeps the textually correct wording \u201cCatholic.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s worth retaining.\u00a0 It means<\/a> not just \u201cuniversal\u201d but \u201caccording to the whole.\u201d\u00a0 That is, the church is a \u201cwhole.\u201d\u00a0 We Christians are part of something far larger than ourselves, an organism that extends throughout the world and extends back through time.<\/p>\n

\u201cApostolic\u201d does not mean a succession of bishops, as some say, but a church that follows the teachings of Christ\u2019s apostles.\u00a0 That is, it is in accord with the New Testament.<\/p>\n

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins;<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit comes to us by means of the Word, as was said, and also by the Sacraments.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit makes baptism effectual by creating faith in the Gospel of Christ, and thus accomplishing the remission of sins.<\/p>\n

Thus, \u201cGod our savior. . .saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the\u00a0Holy\u00a0Spirit\u201d (Titus 3:4-5).<\/p>\n

and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit, the giver of life, will give all of us life again at the last day. \u201cAnd\u00a0you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.\u00a0 And\u00a0I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live\u201d (Ezekiel 37:13-4).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Pentecost\u00a0[Detail] by Luis Trist\u00e1n (1585-1624).\u00a0 Public domain.\u00a0 http:\/\/pintura.aut.org\/BU04?Autnum=11.617&EmpNum=15069, Dom\u00ednio p\u00fablico, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=3037197<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was another major holy-day:\u00a0 Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Christ and ten days after His ascension, at which time the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. There are many misconceptions about this particular person in the Holy Trinity.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is not just a force or power, not just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":34181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,21,47],"tags":[1034,1582,1696],"class_list":["post-34172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-holidays","category-theology","tag-holy-spirit","tag-nicene-creed","tag-pentecost"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Lord and Giver of Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit, one of the more misunderstood Persons of the Trinity. 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