You know, I can totally understand why unbelievers and those who stand in the secular camp get a headache sometimes with all of us in the Christian faith.

Just how many denominations do we have to create to satisfy our self-made religions under the banner of Christianity?

Just today, we spent hours looking at “Reformed Theology,” a new term that came our way. Although we were familiar with the Reformation, we didn’t know anything about the theology.

Basically, we learned a whole lot about religion–the various concepts and paradigms founded by man since Luther and Calvin. But, what I didn’t hear a whole lot about was what Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or God had to say about following Christ.

What if instead of talking about what Baptists believe, what Pentecostals believe, what Charismatics believe, and what Orthodox Christians believe, we all just started talking about what the Bible says and what we believe about JESUS???

My husband and I are simply Christ-followers. We believe in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, and that the Bible truly gives us Truth that sets us free. We believe that the Bible makes it very clear that the Holy Spirit has been given to us, the Church, so that we can be saved by His grace, and serve God and others with the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, and we are free to do so, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!!!

The Holy Spirit that Jesus gave us did not end when the apostles died.

But, reformed theology believes that the Holy Spirit ceased when the apostles died. Really?!?! How is this historic Biblical Christianity that passes on what Jesus taught in the Gospels? Why do we ever add anything more to Jesus’ words and commands?

I think Paul would be really sad after his death if he heard that Timothy stopped operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that he commanded him to fan into flames. That gift wasn’t just for when Paul was still alive! It was for Timothy to continue the call of sharing the Gospel! Paul knew that timid Timothy couldn’t do it without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit!

Why wouldn’t we find it ridiculous to consider Priscilla and Aquilla or even Apollos, their mentee, no longer operating in the power of Holy Spirit when Paul died?

Or, what about all the other people in the book of Acts, including the whole house of Cornelius who were Gentiles who came to Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit when they were filled because of Peter’s words? After all, Peter himself said, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.” (Acts 11:15). He indicates very clearly that the Gentiles received the same Holy Spirit as He had. So, does it make sense that the anointing and call on their lives suddenly would halt when Peter passed away?

What would have happened to the Church then?

If those who came to Christ and were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit shared the Gospel and the church grew, are we saying that those like 22 year old Vibia Perpetua, who was martyred in Carthage, Rome by wild animals and a gladiator was able to stand as a witness by her own power and might? Of course not.

The Holy Spirit, present to strengthen and empower her to do the miracle of standing up for her faith, was the same Holy Spirit that filled Paul and Peter, still operating in empowering Christians even in 203 AC, after the death of the original apostles.

Let’s bring it to today…what about Christians in our 21st century, are they so strong, so approved that they no longer need the help, counsel, gifts, and comfort of the Holy Spirit to become transformed and equipped to be all God meant for us to be?

I propose that the Holy Spirit and His gifts did NOT cease just because the last apostle died.

It wasn’t right for Luther or Calvin to counter the Catholic church claim on the spectacular by saying that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased just because they didn’t have any proof of miracles in their own current day at that time. They missed it if they couldn’t see that EVERY SALVATION is a miracle!!!

Therefore, we can see that even the Reformation, was in part, a manmade religion, as it left out the Spirit of God which is a vital part of the whole Gospel found in the Bible that Luther was advocating for every person to read!!!

The Holy Spirit is not only the Comforter, Counselor, and Helper for the apostles. The Holy Spirit is still with us today, and HE is the One who brings us closer to Jesus every day.

Jesus said that when He went to heaven, He would give us the Holy Spirit. He prayed in John 17, not only for the disciples of his time, but for us, that we would all be One. How else can we be One apart from the Spirit’s work within us to make us One?

So, yeah, I’m thankful for the Reformation, but I’m not thankful for the amount of religion that came out of it. It would have been better to just stay seeking Jesus by reading the Word with the Holy Spirit.

How in the world do Christians think we become born again? Yes, it is by grace through faith, but the seal and deposit of Christ in us IS THE HOLY SPIRIT, and to be a new creation IS a miracle.

So, the Holy Spirit is still for today. He still operates today. He is like the wind, coming and going as He pleases. It’s not up to man to say whether or not He is Present. He is the third Person of our Triune God, and just as Jesus is alive today, so is His Holy Spirit!!!

So, since the Holy Spirit inhabits a believer, doesn’t it make sense that both the fruit and the gifts would be in us to EMPOWER us to fulfill God’s will?

I can’t imagine a Christian trying to do anything for God apart from being led by God by His Spirit to do so. That to me is self-presumption. God doesn’t need our ideas. He only needs our surrender, our willingness to be led by Him, by His Spirit. That is how Jesus lived on earth, and that is the same Holy Spirit He gave us when He went up to Heaven.

If we think we are the ones transforming ourselves by reading our Word and doing good works, we are deceiving ourselves.

Those are great activities to draw us closer to God and to help us open our hearts to God, but it’s Christ in us, IN US by the Holy Spirit, that changes us and helps us to go from glory to glory in a transformed life with Him. HE does the work in us. How? By the Holy Spirit who is still at work today! So, let’s not leave Him out of the picture anymore!

We have to really read the Bible to know what we believe about Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit these days. People will try to convert people to random theologies.

Anyone can play religion, but religion does not transform anyone’s life. A lot of times religion puts people in boxes and condemns them for trying to discover who Christ really made them to be as they try to get out of the box.

Bringing This Home

Let’s encourage one another, instead, to read the Bible and to learn what God has to say, and to read it along with His Spirit who teaches us all things! We can’t even honestly read the Bible without His Spirit teaching us!!!

I’m really thankful that although my husband is studying seminary classes that we are constantly checking out what we believe with God’s Word, prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I like the concepts of Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Soli Deo Gloria very much.

These words not only sound beautiful, but they have amazing meaning and are profound to our Christian faith.

But, when these concepts are also attached to a theology that proclaims that the Holy Spirit’s gifts and movements are not for today, I have to say, as they say in good ol’ Illinois country: “Who came up with that hogwash?” Because I know someone Greater who has said otherwise in His Word!

Greater than Calvin, Luther, or anyone else in our history, we have Jesus, and He is the Word of God.

So, as far as we are concerned, our relationship and our faith goes back to Jesus Christ and what He said and what HE died on the cross for us and what He gave us, His Holy Spirit, to continue abiding with Him to fulfill our call and purpose on this earth for God.

Id Solum

I hope that this post challenges all of us and causes us to think about what we really believe regarding our faith. The patriarchs of the past had their time to examine their faith in Jesus Christ and to find His Truth. Today, we are alive, and we have that same responsibility for ourselves. May we seek His face! The Holy Spirit will help us!

Blessings,

Christine 🌼