Here’s another short video on my new book, The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit. You know, He’s much more than merely our COMFORTER!
Category Archives: The Holy Spirit
A Video on My Book “The Forgotten Third”
Here’s a short video on my new book, The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit. You do know that the Holy Spirit is NOT A GHOST, right?
The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit
Friends: I’ve been working on this manuscript for quite a while. And I now have a contract to get it finished! Here’s a sample of what I’m putting together for this book:
Jesus says the Holy Spirit would be “another paraclete” to His disciples. Would the term “comfort” be the first to come to mind when we think of how Jesus was to His disciples? He rebukes them for their unbelief, for their sleeping, for having no faith. He defends them when they are accused of violating sacred rules of ceremonial washing or ignoring Sabbath observance. He “comes alongside” them when their faith is too weak to exorcize a demon-possessed boy.
“Comfort” seems to imply bringing solace to one who is weeping. The disciples (during the earthly ministry of the Lord) did not know enough to weep. He does not “comfort” them – He challenges, chastises, corrects, and even cajoles them. “Comfort” is far too weak a term. And sometimes the last thing the believer needs is a sympathetic companion who wipes away his tears. We need One who is fully divine to come alongside of us and put His finger on our sins and remind our hearts, “You belong to Your Heavenly Father.” We require One who will motivate and empower us to take risks for the Kingdom of God, One who will not be satisfied with one-seventh of our week, with the leftovers of our hours and days. We need One who will be “called alongside of” us even when we ourselves don’t have enough wisdom to invite His intrusive presence.
In an age of comfort food, we need the Bread of Life broken to us by the Spirit who yearns for our sanctification. We desperately require a Defender in the face of undeserved, snarling rebukes by an unbelieving world – and in the face of deserved charges of our sins by the great Accuser, Satan himself. The Spirit is not a soothing Teddy Bear, but the Hound of Heaven who will not let us be.
Our primary need is not for Someone who will say, “There, there. It will all be okay. It really doesn’t matter.” We require Someone who will remind us that life matters greatly, that we might well die for the sake of the gospel – and we are no fools if such happens to us. We need Someone who will remind us of our sonship even when Satan, the world around us, other Christians, and even our own conduct seem to contradict the very idea that we could be loved and forgiven by God. We need to be rescued from our consumeristic culture and transformed into God-centered, other-focused ambassadors for the King. In our postmodern atmosphere where it seems no one knows who they are and have stopped asking such questions, the Spirit reminds us of our adoption into God’s family. In our subjective circles of pooled ignorance, often punctuated by “Here’s what the Lord says to me,” we need the determined Applyer of the truth of Scripture to do His mighty work in conjunction with the serious attention to the meaning of the Word. Surrounded by moral relativity and a resistance to anyone who defends the concepts of right and wrong, we desperately need the inner conviction of the Spirit who does not debate moral matters with us, but puts His divine finger on the shortcomings of our thoughts and actions. In brief, we need Someone like Jesus.
The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit (“You talk with Him?!”)
Friends: I’ve been working on this book for a while. And you get to follow me in action! My plan is to work my way slowly — in these posts — through the chapters in this manuscript. I welcome your input and hope to have this published in the next few months.
“You talk with Him?!”
If the Holy Spirit is personal, we can — and should — speak with Him. He speaks to us through the Word of God. We speak to Him through prayer — targeted prayer that connects us with His various ministries.
But some may say, “I thought my primary attention is to be given to the Lord Jesus?” You are certainly correct. In fact, it is the Spirit’s role to bring glory to the Son (as we will see later). However, to say that Jesus deserves our primary attention does not mean that the Spirit should get no attention at all.
There is a fascinating verse in 2 Corinthians 13 that is wonderfully trinitarian in its expression. Paul prays, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” There aren’t many clear Trinitarian references that we may inflict, I mean, share with those who aren’t convinced of that doctrine, but this one is so direct! We have the SON (“the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ”), the FATHER (“the love of God”), and the SPIRIT (“the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”). Have you ever asked, “How am I supposed to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit?” That question we will pursue more vigorously in our next post!
The Forgotten Third: Developing a Biblical Relationship with God the Holy Spirit (Introduction)
Friends: I’ve been working on this book for a while. And you get to follow me in action! My plan is to work my way slowly — in these posts — through the chapters in this manuscript. I welcome your input and hope to have this published in the next few months.
Introduction:
I’ve been interested in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit for a long time. My background isn’t charismatic or Pentecostal, but Brethren. And I don’t remember a lot of messages on God the Holy Spirit as I grew in my faith. I wrote my Ph.D dissertation of the Holy Spirit and also contributed a chapter on Him to a friend’s book on the Trinity.
I believe Christians often fall into one or two categories when it comes to the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. There are those who overlook Him and there are those who overemphasize Him. I want to strive for a biblical balance in my own life.
Would you say your background overlooked or overemphasized God the Holy Spirit? In our next post we’ll talk about why it is right to give appropriate attention to the Third Person of the Godhead.
Uploaded Video for My Kirkland Students — Pneumatology!
Friends: Due to the Coronavirus I am not allowed to meet face-to-face with my Kirkland cohort (many are lifers) for the next few weeks. I’m providing a couple of videos for them to watch. And you might like what I’ve done! This video is about 15 minutes long. Let me know what you think! Dr. D.
A Summary Statement about “The Other Comforter”
Friends: I’m working on a short book on God the Holy Spirit. The tentative title is The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit. Here’s a sample of what I’m working on. Comments welcome!
Jesus says the Holy Spirit would be “another paraclete” to His disciples. Would the term “comfort” be the first to come to mind when we think of how Jesus was to His disciples? He rebukes them for their unbelief, for their sleeping, for having no faith. He defends them when they are accused of violating sacred rules of ceremonial washing or ignoring Sabbath observance. He “comes alongside” them when their faith is too weak to exorcize a demon-possessed boy.
“Comfort” seems to imply bringing solace to one who is weeping. The disciples (during the earthly ministry of the Lord) did not know enough to weep. He does not “comfort” them – He challenges, chastises, corrects, and even cajoles them. “Comfort” is far too weak a term. And sometimes the last thing the believer needs is a sympathetic companion who wipes away his tears. We need One who is fully divine to come alongside of us and put His finger on our sins and remind our hearts, “You belong to Your Heavenly Father.” We require One who will motivate and empower us to take risks for the Kingdom of God, One who will not be satisfied with one-seventh of our week, with the leftovers of our hours and days. We need One who will be “called alongside of” us even when we ourselves don’t have enough wisdom to invite His intrusive presence.
In an age of comfort food, we need the Bread of Life broken to us by the Spirit who yearns for our sanctification. We desperately require a Defender in the face of undeserved, snarling rebukes by an unbelieving world – and in the face of deserved charges of our sins by the great Accuser, Satan himself. The Spirit is not a soothing Teddy Bear, but the Hound of Heaven who will not let us be.
Our primary need is not for Someone who will say, “There, there. It will all be okay. It really doesn’t matter.” We require Someone who will remind us that life matters greatly, that we might well die for the sake of the gospel – and we are no fools if such happens to us. We need Someone who will remind us of our sonship even when Satan, the world around us, other Christians, and even our own conduct seem to contradict the very idea that we could be loved and forgiven by God. We need to be rescued from our consumeristic culture and transformed into God-centered, other-focused ambassadors for the King. In our postmodern atmosphere where it seems no one knows who they are and have stopped asking such questions, the Spirit reminds us of our adoption into God’s family. In our subjective circles of pooled ignorance, often punctuated by “Here’s what the Lord says to me,” we need the determined Applyer of the truth of Scripture to do His mighty work in conjunction with the serious attention to the meaning of the Word. Surrounded by moral relativity and a resistance to anyone who defends the concepts of right and wrong, we desperately need the inner conviction of the Spirit who does not debate moral matters with us, but puts His divine finger on the shortcomings of our thoughts and actions. In brief, we need Someone like Jesus.
The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit — What Do We Learn from the Gospel of MATTHEW about the Holy Spirit?
There are two ways of approaching the doctrines of the Scriptures. One way is to collect all the data throughout the Bible into logical categories (called “systematic theology”). The other way is to work through individual books of the Bible, collecting the data on a particular subject (this is called “biblical theology,” although the term is used in other ways in less than conservative circles). When we ask, what do we learn from the Gospel of Matthew about God the Holy Spirit, we are taking a kind of biblical 
theology approach. Our conviction in these posts is that, while some believers overemphasize the Spirit, others overlook Him. We want to do neither, but long to have a balanced view of the Third Member of the Trinity.
What do we find when we unit-read (read straight through at one sitting) the Gospel of Matthew?
Ch. 1 – 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. “Found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Without the assistance of Joseph, Mary, a virgin, becomes pregnant. The God who created the biological process circumvents it for His purposes [perhaps to illustrate the completely divine nature of salvation]. And the member of the Godhead responsible for Mary’s pregnancy is none other than the Spirit of God.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Joseph needs an explanation for Mary’s pregnancy, and an angel of the Lord gives one to him. “What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Further explanation was not required.
Ch. 3 – 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” John the Baptist knows his place — He announces that the One coming after him is more powerful than he and will baptize those who repented at John’s preaching with the Holy Spirit and fire.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The Spirit of God becomes visible for this occasion, taking the form of a dove. This is an excellent Trinitarian reference, don’t you think?
Ch. 4 – Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. How does this reference harmonize with James’ statement that God can’t be tempted with evil nor does He tempt anyone? Your thoughts?
Ch. 10 – 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. This seems to be a reference to the Spirit of God, doesn’t it? The Holy Spirit will give wisdom in those situations of persecution — so the Jesus-follower doesn’t need to worry!
Ch. 11 – 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Here is another of what I call the “binitarian” passages regarding the Spirit. That is, we have two of the members of the Trinity mentioned. The Spirit is specifically left out!
Ch. 12 –15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
21 In his name the nations will put their hope.” Here we have an amazing reference to the Spirit of God and His relationship to the Son! The Son — the One whom the Father chose, the One whom the Father loved, the One in whom the Father delighted — is filled with the Spirit in His earthly ministry. And one aspect of that filling or indwelling of the Spirit in the Son is the Son’s . . . gentleness!
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Here the Lord Jesus testifies of His relationship with the Spirit. It is “by the Spirit” that He drives out demons.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Wow! This is the famous unpardonable sin passage. There are many opinions about this sin, but I would suggest the context is the rejection of the Spirit’s testim
ony as to the identity of the Son. The only sin from which one cannot be saved is refusing to believe in the Son.
Ch. 28 – 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The famous “Great Commission” passage here is another clear Trinitarian reference. We are to baptize disciples (note: not “converts.” We are to make “disciples”!) in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is so much in the Gospel of Matthew about God the Holy Spirit! The One who caused the virgin to conceive, the One who constitutes the baptizing work of the Lord Jesus, the One who publicly affirms the identity of the Son and empowers Him in His miracles — This is the One whom we can know and honor by fulfilling the Great Commission! Give thanks today for God the Holy Spirit!
Dr. Larry Dixon
larrydixon.wordpress.com 