Lord! Father, soul, son,
Mysterious! Trinity killer.
This is the trinity of God-Jehovah worshipped by Christians. The center of Christians' belief in God is the mystery revealed by the Trinity. English Trinity Trinity comes from Latin Trinitas, which means "three". Christianity is a doctrine based on the trinity and three sides of God.
It is often thought that since the doctrine of the Trinity is so mysterious, it can be said to be a big and useless piece of wood in theology. Why not abandon it quickly? What we do seems to reflect this mentality. The prayer book of the Anglican Church specifies that the church recites the classic "Athanasian Creed"13 times a year in public worship, but it is rarely recited once today. Ordinary Anglican priests, except perhaps TrinitySunday, never preach the message of the Trinity. Non-traditional priests who generally don't observe "Trinity Sunday" never talk about this aspect. What would johanna say if he wanted to comment on our behavior? This is really intriguing! For him, the trinity theory is an important part of the Christian gospel.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, John introduced the mystery of two completely different gods in the opening remarks of his gospels. There is no denying that this is a deep pit in theology, and John has thrown us into it. "In the beginning, there was a Tao, and the Tao was with God, and the Tao was God." Tao is the intersection with God, and Tao has its own eternal divinity. John went on to say that he was his father's only son. At the beginning of the Gospels, John states the mystery that God has two people, because he knows that if readers don't understand that Jesus is indeed the son of God, they will be completely confused by his words and deeds.
But John wants us to know the diversity of divinity, and his purpose is more than that. Because in the length of recording the last conversation between the Lord and his disciples, he described how the Savior explained that he would go to his father's house to prepare a place for his disciples, and then promised them "another comforter" (about 14: 16). Please pay attention to this; It's interesting. It refers to a case, and it is a very special case. A comforter-its rich meaning can be seen in different translations: the revised English Standard Bible (RSV) is translated as a "consultant"; Moffat translated as "helper"; Weymouth translated as "advocate"; Knox translates as "onetobefriendyou". This word has many meanings: encouraging, supporting, helping, caring, being responsible for the happiness of others and so on. Another counselor-yes, because Jesus is their counselor, this new counselor wants to continue his work in this field. Therefore, when we look back on how the Lord himself personally cared, loved and patiently taught during these three years, and provided his disciples with everything they needed, we can appreciate the meaning of "another comforter." Christ means that he will take care of you as I take care of you. What a special character!
The Lord then called the new comforter. It is called "spirit" and "holy spirit" (about14:17,26). Name means divinity. In the Old Testament, the word of God and the spirit of God were parallel and equal roles. God's word is its most powerful word; The spirit of God is his all-powerful breath. Both words mean that the power of God is at work. In the record of creation, God's words and breath appear at the same time. "The spirit of god (breathing) runs on the water. God said ... and ... "(Gen 1: 2)" The heavens were made according to the command of the Lord, and everything was made by the breath (spirit) in his mouth. " John said in the introduction that there is an example of Tao mentioned in the introduction. The Lord Jesus now has the same lesson: the holy spirit has personality. Just as he later called his father the Holy Father (17: 1 1), now it calls this man's spirit the Holy Spirit, thus confirming his proof of the divinity of the spirit.
Notice how Christ relates the mission of the Holy Spirit to the will and purpose of the father and son. The Bible says that the Father will send the Holy Spirit, just as the Father will send the Son (see verse 23, etc. ). The Lord also said that the Father would send the Holy Spirit "in my name"-that is, he would be the agent of Christ, fulfill his will, and take his authority as his representative (14: 26). Just as Jesus came in the name of the Father (5: 43), he acted as the father's agent and said what the father wanted to say (12: 49, etc.). ) and did the work of the father (10: 25; Reference 17: 12), from beginning to end, he is the messenger of the father, testifying for the father, and the Holy Spirit testifies in the name of Jesus and represents him in the world. The Holy Spirit "comes from the Father" (15: 26), and Ciaparra's former son "comes from the Father" (16: 27). The father sent an eternal son into the world, and now he has been recalled to glory and sent the Holy Spirit instead of his son.
This is only one aspect. Another Bible says that the Son sent the Holy Spirit "from the Father" (15: 26). Just as the Father sent the Son into the world, the Son also sent the Holy Spirit into the world (16: 7). The Holy Spirit was sent by the Son and the Father. Therefore, there are arrangements for the following relationships:
-the son is the father's life, and the factor is the father's name.
Second, the Holy Spirit is commanded by the Father, because the Holy Spirit is the Father and the name of the Son is separation.
3. The Holy Spirit is commanded by the Son and the Father, because the Holy Spirit was sent by the quilt and the Father (see 20: 22 "Just breathe into the quilt and say, you have received the Holy Spirit").
In this way, John recorded the mystery of the trinity revealed by the Lord: three people, one God, the Son doing the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit doing the will of the Father and the Son. The point is: the Holy Spirit will always be with the disciples of Christ (14: 16), replacing Christ in the ministry of the comforter. Therefore, if the Ministry of Christ's comforter is important, the Ministry of Holy Spirit's comforter is not secondary at all. If the work of Christ is related to the church, then the work of the Holy Spirit is also related to the church.
Two.
However, if we study the history of the church or look at the church today, we can't get such an impression.
Today, how shocking it is that the second and third biblical lessons of the Trinity God are treated differently! Since ancient times, the position and work of Christ has been the subject of constant debate in the church; But the position and work of the Holy Spirit are ignored. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has always been the "Cinderella" in Christian doctrine, and it seems that few people are interested in it. There are many good books about the position and work of Christ; But there are few books worth reading about the position and work of the Holy Spirit! Christians have no doubt about Christ's work. They all know that he saved bribes by redeeming the dead (although some people have different views on this matter). But the work of ordinary Christians in the Holy Spirit is like falling into a fog. Some people talk about the spirit of Christ, just like the spirit of Christmas-just like it is a difficult and difficult cultural and religious expression. Some people think that it inspires non-Christians, such as the moral belief of Indian hero Gandhi, or gods like Rudolf Steiner's theosophy. Perhaps, most people simply ignore the Holy Spirit and know nothing about what he has done. They are actually like the disciples Paul met at Ephesus: "I have never heard of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 19: 2).
Isn't it strange that people who pretend to attach great importance to Christ are so ignorant and indifferent to the Holy Spirit? Christians know what will happen if there is no incarnation or atonement. They know that without a savior, they will perish. But many Christians don't know what will happen if there is no holy spirit in the world. They don't know what will happen to themselves or the church. There is no denying that some things have been reversed. How can we justify ignoring the work of the agent appointed by Christ? We say we respect Christ, but we ignore the Holy Spirit sent by Christ to take his place and take care of us on his behalf. Is it a big self-deception? Shouldn't we pay more attention to the holy spirit?
Three.
Is the work of the Holy Spirit really important?
Very important! Without the work of the Holy Spirit, there would be no gospel, no faith, no church, and no Christianity at all.
First of all, without the Holy Spirit, there would be no Gospel and no New Testament.
When Christ died, he entrusted his mission to his disciples. He made his disciples responsible for making all countries his disciples. He said to them in the small building, "You should also be witnesses." (about 15: 27) Before he ascended to heaven, his parting words to them at Mount Olive were: "... you ... will be my witnesses until the ends of the earth." (Acts 1: 8) This is their assigned job. But what kind of testimony can they make? They are never good students; When Christ was on earth, his disciples didn't understand his teachings from beginning to end and couldn't grasp the key points. Now that Christ is gone, how can we expect them to behave better? In all fairness, even if they have the best will in the world, it is inevitable that they will confuse the truth of the gospel with this kind misunderstanding. Their testimony soon became so distorted and confused that there was no hope.
The answer to this question is "no"; Because Christ sent the Holy Spirit among them to teach them all the truth, prevent them from making all the mistakes, remind them that the Lord will teach them and inspire them, and Christ wants them to learn the rest. "Counselor ... I will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have said to you." (Jn. 14: 26) "I have many things to tell you, but you can't take it now. Just wait for the arrival of the holy spirit of truth, and he will guide you to understand all the truth. Because he didn't say it himself, but said everything he heard. " (In other words, he will explain to his disciples what Christ told him to do, just as Christ told his disciples what his father told him to do [see Jn 12: 49, etc. ; 17 8, 14].) "I'll tell you about the future. He will glorify me because he will tell you what he has received from me. " (Jn. 16: 12- 14) In this way, "He will testify for me (for you-he sent him for these disciples), and you (because of his testimony, you have sufficient power) will also testify ..." (Jn. 15: 26, etc. The promise is that these disciples should be able to become the mouthpiece of Christ after being taught by the Holy Spirit, just as the prophets in the Old Testament can use "This is what the Lord said" to elicit their message, and the apostles in the New Testament can also use the same truth to say that their oral or written lessons are "what the Lord Jesus Christ said".
That's what happened. The Holy Spirit came to the disciples to witness Christ and his salvation. Speaking of the glory of salvation ("God has prepared for those who love him"), Paul said: "Only God reveals to us through the Holy Spirit, and what we receive is the Holy Spirit from God, so that we can know that God's grace has given us. And we say (he can add the word "record") that these things are not taught by human wisdom, but by the Holy Spirit. " (before forest 1. 2: 10- 13) The way the Holy Spirit testifies to the apostles is to inspire them to know all the truth and imply that they convey the truth honestly. Therefore, there is the gospel; Then the New Testament. Without the Holy Spirit, the world can get neither.
And ... Secondly, without the Holy Spirit, there would be no faith and no new life-in short, there would be no Christians.
The true light of the gospel is on; But "such unbelievers are blinded by the God of this world" (2 Cor. 4: 4), while the blind do not respond to light stimulation. Just as Christ said to Nicodemus, "If people are not reborn, they can't see the kingdom of God ... and can't enter the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3, 3, 5), and then Christ further explained to Nicodemus and all the religious figures he represented who were not reborn, they will inevitably still have an influence, that is, they will not believe-"You don't accept our testimony" (. They were trapped by unbelief.
So what should we do? Can we draw the conclusion that evangelizing is a waste of time, a desperate cause and doomed to failure? No; Because the Holy Spirit lives in the church and bears witness to Christ. As mentioned earlier, it testified to the apostles through inspiration and encouragement. Throughout the ages, he has witnessed others by enlightenment: blindly enlightening and restoring spiritual vision, so that sinners can see that the gospel is indeed the truth of God, the Bible is indeed the word of God, and Christ is indeed the son of God. Our Lord promised: "Since he (the Holy Spirit) has come, he will make the world blame itself for sin, righteousness and judgment." (about 16: 8) We can't imagine that the truth of Christianity can be proved through debate; No one can prove the truth of Christianity except the Holy Spirit, who has renewed blind thoughts through his powerful work. Only the spirit of Christ has the supreme authority to convince people's conscience of the truth of the gospel of Christ; Christ's witnesses on earth must learn to base their hopes for success on the powerful proof of the truth by the Holy Spirit, not on the clever expression of the truth by people. Pointing to the road here, Paul said, "Brothers, when I came to you, I didn't preach the mystery of God to you with lofty words and great wisdom ... What I said was not a euphemism of wisdom, but a proof of the Holy Spirit and power, so that your faith depended not on human wisdom but on the power of God. "(Lin Qian 1. 2: 1-5) It is precisely because of the Holy Spirit's testimony that the gospel was spread and people believed. But without the Holy Spirit, there would not even be Christians in the world.
Four.
Do we honor the Holy Spirit by acknowledging and relying on its work? Or did you neglect his work and neglect him, humiliating not only the Holy Spirit, but also the Lord who sent him? In our mind: Do we recognize the biblical authority it implies-the Prophet's Old Testament and the Apostle's New Testament? Should we read and listen to God's Word with awe and instruction? If not, it is humiliating the holy spirit. In life: do we use the authority of the Bible to live by it (no matter how people object) and realize that God's words must be true, and God is consistent and will not break his word. If not, it will humiliate the Holy Spirit of the Bible. In the testimony: Do we remember that only the testimony of the Holy Spirit can prove that our testimony is true, so we should look to the Holy Spirit, trust him, and avoid using wisdom skills like Paul, so as to show that we really trust him? If not, it is humiliating the holy spirit. Can we doubt that the desolation of church life today is God's judgment on humiliating the Holy Spirit? If so, how can we hope that God will remove this judgment except that we learn to respect the Holy Spirit in our thoughts, prayers and actions? "He will testify ..."
"He who has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches."
Question discussion:
1. What does the Gospel of John teach us about the Trinity?
2. What other translations are there for the word counselor? What does this word mean?
3. What is the relationship between the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of Christ?
4. How does the Old Testament talk about God's Word and God's Spirit?
The author says that the church always ignores the work of the Holy Spirit. Do you agree? In your personal life, has your understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit changed?
6. Why is there no Gospel and no New Testament without the Holy Spirit?
7. Why can't there be Christians without the Holy Spirit?
8. According to the fourth paragraph, how can we respect the Holy Spirit in our faith, life and testimony?
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