The Great Eight - Pt 14

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV).

Christianity is the only religion in the world that affirms that there is one, and only one, true God, and that there are three divine persons in the one God: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. This is called the doctrine of the Trinity. The church did not come to embrace the doctrine of the Trinity because there is a sentence in the Bible that says: "there is one God existing as three persons equal in divine essence, but distinct in personhood." There is no sentence like that in the Bible. Rather the reason the church has embraced this doctrine is because the Bible unwaveringly speaks of one true God, not three Gods, and yet reveals the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as God, and as distinct persons. If this perplexes you, keep in mind that we are in no position as creatures to dictate to our Creator what he may or should be like. God is absolute reality. He was there before anything else was, and he did not come into being, but always was. Therefore nobody made him the way he is, and there is no reason he is the way he is. He simply is. That is his name: "I Am Who I Am" (cf. Exodus 3:14). Our role is not to say what can and can't be in God, but to learn who he is and who we are, and to shape our lives according to his reality which is his will. We submit to the way he is. He doesn't submit to the way we are or the way we think he should be. And that bring us to the next great truth in our journey. One of the places where the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is revealed most fully is in this chapter. Today we begin to focus on verses 26-27, but it would be good for us to see what has been revealed so far about the work of the person of the Holy Spirit. What emerges in this chapter is that the Spirit is not just some force or power of God the Father, but a person who works along with the Father and in relation to the Father. In summary we can say that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets you free from the law of sin and death (v. 2); the Spirit helps you fulfill the just requirement of the law (v. 4); the Spirit gives life and peace (v. 6); God will raise you from the dead by the Spirit who dwells in you (v. 11); the Spirit helps you put to death the deeds of the body(v 13); we are led by the Spirit (v. 14); the Spirit bears witness in us that we are the children of God and so gives us assurance of our salvation (v. 15); and, the Holy Spirit is the foretaste and guarantee of our final redemption (v. 23). Therefore, you should love the Spirit as a person. Not as a force or power, but as a person who thinks about you and has emotions for you and works and prays for you. We are not left alone in this life!