Category Archives: Holy Spirit

A framework for understanding New Testament miracles: Old Testament times

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337522537_ebc4a82409In the Old Testament, one of the most common things that we see regarding the Spirit is that the Spirit “comes upon” a person, causing him to say or do what the Spirit wills. Sometimes this is a good person, sometimes it is an evil person. But when the Spirit comes upon them, they are under the control of the Spirit.

You can look at some of these passages: Num 24:2; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1Sam 10:6, 10; 11:6; 16:13; 19:20, 23; 2Chr 15:1; 20:14; 24:20; Ezek 11:5

Miraculous activity under the power and control of the Spirit was neither a sign of godliness nor of God’s approval. And, based on what we saw last post, it had nothing to do with God’s indwelling Spirit, which was not given until after the cross. God’s Spirit has existed since the beginning, has worked among men since Old Testament days, but has not lived in the hearts of men until after Jesus’ death on the cross.

We’ll continue this study tomorrow (Lord willing).

A framework for understanding New Testament miracles: Before and after

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337522537_ebc4a82409As is my custom, I plan to move through this topic piece by piece, step by step. As I do so, I’m sure I’ll write some things that will make you say “What’s that got to do with anything?” Hopefully, it will all make sense in the end.

As we look at the work of God’s Spirit in the Bible, an important passage to keep in mind is the following: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39) John points to a change, a dividing line, a point where the Spirit’s activity is clearly different from previous times. In the gospel of John, Jesus being glorified refers to Jesus dying and coming back to life. John says that the Spirit was not “given” until after that time. [Interestingly enough, the word “given” is not in the original; the Greek says “the Spirit was not”]

This is important because we will see that the Spirit was active in the Old Testament and during the time of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit acted through people, “fell upon” people, and “came over” people. Men were filled with the Spirit, like John the Baptist. None of these things, however, correspond to the “giving” of the Holy Spirit which occurred after Jesus’ resurrection. We live in the “last days,” after the outpouring of God’s Spirit. We are in the “after” period, set apart from the “before” by what happened in Acts 2.

As we continue to work toward our framework for understanding, let’s keep this crucial passage in mind.

A framework for understanding New Testament miracles: Miraculous timeline

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337522537_ebc4a82409As we look at miracles in the Bible, it helps to look at, well, miracles in the Bible. There were basically three periods of time in the Bible when men regularly performed miracles. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that miracles were not the norm during Bible times; great men of God like Noah, Abraham, David, etc. were not known for performing miracles. Did God perform miracles outside of these three periods of time? Of course. But these were the only times that miracles were common:

  1. The time of Moses: when God revealed the Law through Moses, he accompanied that new revelation with miraculous activity.

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  2. The time of Elijah and Elisha: Elijah came to represent the prophets, so much so that he appeared to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, along with Moses. Elisha received a “double portion” of the spirit that Elijah had. They were symbolic of the prophetic word, the revealing of God’s Word through the voice of his servants.

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  3. The time of Jesus and the apostles (which we’ll be studying more in depth)

Some have affirmed that, since God is unchanging, the miraculous activity that was present in the church in the first century must be present today as well. But that goes against what we see in the Bible of the unchanging God. He used miraculous activity at certain times, the times when he was revealing himself in a new or special way. God confirmed the new type of revelation by way of miracles, then ceased to use the miracles when the new type of revelation was established.

Should we surprised if God chose to use a similar pattern in New Testament times?

A framework for understanding New Testament miracles: Introduction

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337522537_ebc4a82409I want to spend a few days discussing the Holy Spirit, specifically regarding the Holy Spirit and his relationship to the miracles we see in the New Testament. Some of the framework that I use for understanding what I read there was partially shaped by some materials I read from Douglas Jacoby; the book that I read however, is no longer available. Brother Jacoby has a newer book on the Holy Spirit and prefers that people read that one. You can also search for “Holy Spirit” on DouglasJacoby.com and come up with a number of articles on the subject. All that to say that I want to give credit where credit is due, but please don’t hold brother Jacoby responsible for anything that I say. Almost 20 years ago, I read a book that he no longer sells, and my ideas have evolved since then.

Anyway, I want to present some of this. I’ve found it helpful. If it’s useful to somebody else, great. If not, great. If you can correct me based on Scripture, as always, I’m more than open to that. I need that. Matter of fact, that’s what we’re here for. So spend some time reviewing any relevant passages and we’ll jump right in tomorrow. Have a great Monday!

Wrestling with our human nature

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Dovetailing with my last post, this seems like a good opportunity to share some thoughts on the end of chapter 7 of Romans. I was recently reading an article by one of our brotherhood scholars who mentioned having changed his views on this section. It got me to looking at why I see things as I do as regards Romans 7:14-25. If you don’t remember, this is the section where Paul talks about a struggle between what he knows is right and what he finds himself doing. I know of three basic interpretations to this passage:

(1) Paul is talking about his own struggle before becoming a Christian.
(2) Paul is talking about the struggle of non-Christians.
(3) Paul is talking about his own struggle as a Christian.

There may be other interpretations, but these seem to be the big three. From what I can see, the third interpretation is “the plain meaning of the text,” so you have to come up with a good reason for rejecting that interpretation before you can accept the other two. We can look to the Burton Coffman commentary for a good argument as to why this is done: “Paul’s experience as a Christian is the last thing that could be considered as the topic here. “I am carnal, sold under sin …” Are such words as these any fit comment of any child of God who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ? To use Paul’s words, God forbid! To refer these words to Paul’s status as a Christian, or to the status of any other Christian, is to torture the word of God. Such a construction upon these words approaches blasphemy Paul had just finished saying that Christians are “dead to sin” and “alive unto God” in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11); and to apply these words to Christians is to contradict what had just been stated.” Coffman favors a combination of the first two interpretations above.

So why do I think Paul is talking about himself as a Christian? First off, the word “carnal” here is a Greek word that is only used four times in the New Testament: Romans 7:14, 1 Corinthians 3:1, 2 Corinthians 3:3 and Hebrews 7:16. It doesn’t refer to “carnality” as we think of it, but to humanness. Paul says, “The law is spiritual; I am human.” Note that there is no mention of the Spirit in these verses; Paul is talking about the Christian as a human, trying to fulfill God’s demands by his own power. Our flesh is not capable of that.

Chapters 5-8 of Romans describe the Christian life. The first part of chapter 7, there is some discussion of Paul’s former life, and it is all in the past tense. Would Paul now use the present tense to discuss his former life? That makes no sense. And the idea that Paul could be speaking of his former life contradicts what he says about his former life in Philippians 3 — “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” (Philippians 3:4-6). Paul kept the Law very well before becoming a Christian. There is nothing in Paul’s writings to suggest that he felt that he could now keep the Law’s commands better than before. In fact, he says in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Paul continued to struggle with sin, a struggle that he describes in Romans 7.

Paul, in Romans 7:14-25 is saying the same thing he says in Galatians 5:16-18: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Our natural self wants to do what is wrong; we have to follow the Spirit to be able to do what is right. Without God’s help, our human nature will not allow us to do what we know to be right.

There’s no reason to reject the plain reading of this passage. Over the years, every Christian with whom I’ve read this passage could identify with Paul’s struggle. Our only hope for doing what is right is to deny the flesh and follow the Spirit. Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord—that He has delivered us from our own selves.