We Baptists have some genuine strengths. We tend to love and (in theory, at least) be moored to the word of God. We have programs, curricula, and ministry resources that are unmatched in the denominational or parachurch world. Our Sunday Schools, VBS ministries, youth and discipleship ministries are used even by other denominations. In spite of our statistical woes, we still love the Gospel, the word, and we still preach Christ crucified. Of course, there is the Cooperative program and a sterling worldwide missions program.
But the Holy Spirit? Him, we struggle with. We don’t like to admit it, and our confessions clearly affirm our belief in the Third Person of the Trinity, but talking about him can cause angst amongst us. Have you ever noticed that many Baptists today talk about “the gospel” the way the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit? Instead of praying for and seeking the Spirit’s transformational power they speak of the gospel’s power. Of course, there is no conflict between the gospel and the Spirit, but the fact that we substitute “the gospel” when the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit says something about us. The whole Holy Spirit thing is just uncomfortable.
Our pneumatology has been reactive, formed in response to those who self-designate as “Spirit-filled” and have strayed into a bizarre world of charismatic excess. We react against the prosperity gospel, against so-called revivals with increasingly weird manifestations, prophetic utterances taken as authoritative revelation, huckster healers putting on arena shows to fleece the gullible, and a healthy dose of biblical ignorance and hermeneutical violence. Since this is all done under the banner of the Holy Spirit it is often hard not to be suspicious of those who talk about being spirit-filled. Having touched the stove of charismatic chaos we are reluctant to stand near the Spirit’s fire. During my lifetime, liberal has been the worst insult a Baptist preacher could receive. Charismatic is the second worst.
But the Bible is not reluctant to declare the importance of the Spirit. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” Jesus told the disciples in his farewell discourse that it would be better for them to have the Spirit indwelling them than it was to have him with them. Paul commanded us to be continually filled with the Spirit. We can accomplish nothing of value without the fullness and power of the Spirit working in us and through us. Ignorance of the Spirit is fatal to spiritual effectiveness.
An SBC revivalist in my youth indicted the SBC by saying, “We are so well programmed and organized that if God removed the Spirit from the SBC entirely it would be five years before we would notice the difference.” Was that true back in the 70s when he said that? I don’t know. I was a college and seminary student. Is it true today? I certainly hope not. But if there is any truth to it at all there can be no worse accusation. The Spirit of God is the oxygen of the Body of Christ and we can no more operate without his fullness than I can live without air in my lungs.
Charismatics and many evangelicals have created a false dichotomy between biblical and spiritual Christianity. Some are led by the Bible and others walk in the Spirit. This is unfortunate and destructive.
Yes, it is true that a division exists between the extremes on the two sides. There are charismatics and Pentecostals who ignore Scripture and operate by prophetic utterances, dreams, and their own feelings and impressions. And there are evangelicals who rule out just about any personal ministry of the spirit other than regeneration and the illumination of Scripture. My friend Joel Rainey tweeted something that amused me, but will likely anger a lot of folks on the poles of this debate. He said,
Some Charismatics replace the Bible with the Spirit. Some Cessationists replace the Spirit with the Bible.
He was poking fun, but he was also making make a point, and both charismatics and cessationists would deny the accusation, hopefully without offense. But there is some truth there. There are charismatics who operate “in the Spirit” and refuse any grounding in the word on God. And there are cessationists who limit the work of the Spirit severely, using withering ridicule against anyone who claims to have been led of the Spirit to do something, or who claims God spoke to him about anything. They reject any personal, subjective, inner work of the Spirit. We read the Bible and try to obey it. The Spirit helps us understand and obey. He is the silent inner power of God.
But there is no conflict biblically between the power of the Word and the work of the Spirit. He illumines the Scriptures and works within us to empower us to obey and to conform us to Christ. He guides us in the world in line with God’s word and communicates God’s truth to our souls. The motto of my ministry for years has been,
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to do the Work of God in the People of God.
The Spirit and the Word are cooperative not combative as we are conformed to Christ. My goal is to explore that cooperative in depth.
Baptist in the Spirit: Introductory Notes.’
This study began several years ago when I examined every mention of the Spirit in the Bible. I asked simple questions. Who is the Spirit? What does the Spirit do? It is tautological to say that I let my view be formed by Bible study. Everyone claims that. I admit that I am not a scholar, just a student of the Bible. Those of you with academic backgrounds will likely find flaws in my methods and conclusions. But I attempted to gather and categorize the biblical evident on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
I have some conclusions I have come to that I’ve not seen elsewhere, and I approach those with trepidation. I will present those as my conclusions, theories to be examined and discussed, not as dogma which I consider beyond debate. Of course, I believe what I present and will argue it as the best conclusion based on the biblical evidence, but I recognize that in the realm of “spiritual things” there is going to be room for godly men and women to disagree.
I ask first of all for a fair and honest hearing. You do not owe me that – you are perfectly free to ignore my writings and move on. But if you are going to engage in this discussion, I would ask for this honor. Please read what I write and interact with it.
Obviously, I would love it if everyone, even those with differing positions, joined together to agree with me, starting with a slow clap, crescendoing into massive applause, acknowledging that I have solved every question relating to spiritual things and given the definitive interpretations of all these matters. Sorry, I drifted off for a minute there.
Abandoning the pipe dream, I would ratchet down my expectations a little. As a continuationist, one who believes that the manifestations of the Spirit continue today, I have been exposed to some harsh and judgmental words by some of the more ardent cessationists. And yes, I realize that some of us have said some unkind things about cessationists as well. I hope our discussions can avoid that kind of vituperation and derogation. But my goal would be to show cessationists that continuationism is not a position based on a disrespect for Scripture, but a sincere difference in interpretation by those who take the Bible seriously and love it passionately. If I can at least give cessationists a measure of respect for the continuationist position so that we are not longer dismissed as those who deny the sufficiency of Scripture, who embrace charismatic excess, who value emotion over exposition, and who are prone to listening to some inner voice over the sure and certain word of God, I will consider this exercise a success.
We will study the unfolding revelation of the person and work of the Spirit from the Old Testament to the Gospels to Acts to the Epistles. Many doctrines are progressively revealed, but the newer revelation expands on the old, it never negates it. What the New Testament teaches does not nullify the Old Testament, it only reveals it fully, in all its glory. Truth in Genesis is still true when Revelation comes to an end. What the Old Testament revealed about the Spirit’s person and work is still true, but our understanding becomes more clear as the canon is completed.
What is clear from the beginning, when the Spirit is hovering over creation, is that the Spirit is real and powerful, and that we cannot be what God wants us to be or do what God calls us to do unless we walk daily in the power of the Spirit. We must let nothing deter us from seeking the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Posting Plan
Currently, I intend to have 12 posts, or post sections. This is the second. The first already posted. Some of these will become multiple posts – for some reason, people ridicule me when my posts reach 3000 words or more. Go figure.
1. One Thing Changed – posted 8/28
2. Introduction and Overview – This post
3. The Spirit of God in the Old Testament
Coming next, likely 3 posts. We will examine the 4 major roles of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
4. The Spirit of God in the Gospels.
We will see how the Old Testament roles of the Spirit continued and were altered in the life of Jesus, examine how Jesus walked in the fullness of the Spirit and what Jesus said about the coming of the Spirit on the church.
5. The Spirit of God in Acts.
We will examine the crucial role the Spirit played in the establishment of the church, the baptism of the Spirit in Acts 2 and the follow-up passages in Acts 8, Acts 10, and Acts 19. We will also look at several individual episodes of the Spirit’s role in communicating details to the church.
6. The Spirit of God in the Epistles.
We will summarize the teachings of the Spirit, especially focusing on the New Testament fulfillments of the Old Testament roles of the Spirit.
7. Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14
A summary of my exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14, especially chapter 12, forms the basis of one of my theories that I will broach later.
8. Exposition of other key passages
Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 5 – other passages relating to spiritual gifts and spiritual things will be examined in detail.
9. The Baptism of the Spirit: Who, What, When, and Why?
Going back to Acts and 1 Corinthians 12, the doctrine of the Baptism of the Spirit will be examined, and the first of my theories on this will be put forward.
10. The Gifts and Manifestations of the Spirit
Looking at the passages we have already examined in more depth, I will put forward my theory on the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
11. Tongues: Much Ado about Nothing (or How to Make Mountains out of Molehills)
We will talk about (but not likely in) tongues.
12. The Word of God and the Voice of the Spirit
The key point in all of this for me – Does the Spirit speak to the human heart today?
I look forward to this study and the discussions. It seems you have really thought this out and have spent probably years in study. I am fairly new to this sight and honestly, a lot of the discussions get so hateful I don’t understand. I agree with some of your positions and some I don’t. The same with some of the other writers on this blog. I consider myself a cessationist but have never thought it is one of those issues that we can’t agree to disagree on without tearing each other apart. I also am willing to listen to… Read more »
Dave, I agree completely. Our fear of charismatic excesses has frightened us to the point that we hesitate to mention the Holy Spirit. One wonders what role the Holy Spirit plays in Cessationist practice. They seem to have removed the Spirit from the personal Christian life and church life. Of course, the Holy Spirit is mentioned in discussions of the doctrine of the Trinity, but in personal and congregational practice the Holy Spirit is mostly absent. In teaching I emphasize two key verses in regard to the Holy Spirit: Acts 4:31 and Titus 3:5. Acts 4:31 reads: “And when they… Read more »
Knowing the place of the Spirit in the work of God will help believers to cooperate with what the work of God is in our lives personally and that work in creation. This is a big point of confusion in the Church, to know what that work of God is. The work started ‘In the beginning…’ Gen. 1:1. But that beginning ended so fast with Adam. The last ‘In the beginning…” John 1:1 was needed. That beginning has no end. It started with Jesus and continues with the coming of the Spirit through Jesus’ authority. I hope all who are… Read more »
Dave, I do believe no truer words have been spoken: “Some Charismatics replace the Bible with the Spirit. Some Cessationists replace the Spirit with the Bible.” I would love to add my saying here: All Charismatics aren’t all emotion. All Cessationists aren’t all dry. When the Holy Spirit speaks through someone it will “not” go against scripture. The Holy Spirit takes the written word and transforms it into the living word. The Holy Spirit gives life to the word in power and purity. There is no denying it when the Holy Spirit speaks through someone. Of course I know there… Read more »
: All Charismatics aren’t all emotion. All Cessationists aren’t all
dry.
Very true
All Yankee fans aren’t the epitome of evil. Wait…
Dave,
Just to add a line to what I’ve said earlier, speaking in the Spirit isn’t something that can be taught how to do. It comes directly from God through his Holy Spirit.
Sounds to me like a book is in the offing.
Edward, Not to defend or to not defend what Dave wrote but to simply question you on what you wrote do I make the following points and ask some questions. Spiritual gifts are given at the discretion of the Spirit. If the Spirit wants to wait 2000 years to give to give the gift of speaking in tongues or healing, it is up to Him. Can he do it that way? If the Spirit only gives the ‘sign’ gifts occasionally and for limited use, can He do that? Is there anything in the Word that says He must do differently… Read more »
Edward,
I don’t think Dave is saying all the things you are accusing him of saying. I may be wrong, but I don’t think so.
Dave, The only continuationist that I have been exposed to have been spiritual hacks. So in the interest of having an open mind to you, a professed continuationist, and to what you have to say, i ask some of the following and to me, basic questions: What do you mean by spiritual manifestations? Where are we told to pray for the Spirit’s transformational power? You said this: “Have you ever noticed that many Baptists today talk about “the gospel” the way the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit? Instead of praying for and seeking the Spirit’s transformational power they speak… Read more »
Mike, I’m sure you know this but continualist does not equal charismatic. I say this because although I am highly skeptical of what passes for “the spirit” in much of charimaticism, I am a continualist because I believe the biblical argument for cessationism to be non-existent. I’m not saying you are doing this, but we cannot base our doctrine on what we see or don’t see in regards to spiritual manifestations. It simply doesn’t work that way. Even if we could prove every charismatic in the world to be a fraud, that would not prove cessationism. Again, I’m not arguing… Read more »
Bill mac,
What you said there echoes my comments to Edward.
The Spirit may be giving sign gifts for use here and there in this time period or that, and one day they may begin to the church at large.
So in that vein, I agree, there is no Biblical basis for cession.
The only argument I see for it is in the nature of the sign gifts throughout the history of God”s people. But even then, that only speaks to partial ceasing until the next period of ‘need’.
Bill Mac,
In that light [if it is the truth] the need for the sign gifts isn’t now, nor has it been ‘needed’ at all since Asuzu Street in the early 1900’s. The ‘need’ arises to validate a new working of God. The main examples are Moses and Jesus.
Mike,
I don’t ever really think of the sign gifts as needed or not needed, because I hesitate to try to guess the reason God does some things. That’s the problem I see with cessationism. In the absence of biblical support, they resort to what they consider to be logic. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong necessarily, but it’s not the bible.
FYI y’all…I think Dave is in Senegal on a mission trip….
Tarheel Dave,
Thanks.
Besides praying for him in his mission trip, we will also have to wait on his return.
Good article. I come from the Keith Green/Larry Norman era where both views seem to intertwine with what I consider to this day, a perfect Biblical balance. I have seen comments directed toward the Charismatic movement, which I would agree with as it pertains to that particular movement. I don’t see in scripture where the work of the Holy Spirit was a showy display, but a quiet yet powerful manifestation of God’s power when needed. It’s not something that can be brought down like spells in a movie, but at God’s discretion and timing, not ours. Although I do think… Read more »
I’m skeptical that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers today is always synonymous with the manifestation of the “sign gifts” and “wonders”.
I’m also not sure anyone here is suggesting it is – but just thought I’d add my .00000000001 cent.
I am in Ziguinchor, Senegal right now, and will head home tomorrow.
Hope to continue this series. I had intended to work on it whilst in Africa, but…no. i spent a week in 286 degree heat with no electricity.
Had a great time. But not much writing.