Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 3014 When Jesus came to John at the Jordan to be baptised, even John was puzzled. “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). But Jesus was sinless. He had no sins to…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 4010 Having looked at the nine qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit, a practical question arises: Should every Christian display all nine? What if someone seems strong in love and kindness but struggles with self-control? Are some of these qualities optional for certain personality types? Fruit, Not Fruits As we noted…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4008 The question of how the Spirit guides believers is one of the most practically significant in all of pneumatology. It touches directly on decision-making, on the discernment of God’s will, and on the texture of Christian life at a day-to-day level. Romans 8:14 states that “all who are led by the Spirit of…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 4007 Few phrases have been borrowed more freely from their original context than “the still small voice.” It has become a standard way of describing the Holy Spirit’s gentle inner promptings, invoked in worship songs, devotional talks, and spiritual direction conversations. The phrase comes from 1 Kings 19:12 in the King James Version. The…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4006 Christians sometimes describe hearing from the Spirit in ways that raise an obvious question: does the Holy Spirit actually speak in an audible voice? This is not a sceptic’s challenge to spiritual experience. It is a fair biblical inquiry into how the Spirit communicates, and the answer has practical implications for how believers…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4005 Few passages have caused more spiritual distress to sincere believers than Jesus’ words about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says: “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4004 Ephesians 4:30 contains a command that is both sobering and, on reflection, remarkable: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” That the Spirit of God can be grieved is not a peripheral observation. It tells us something important about who the Spirit…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4003 Christians sometimes speak of being filled with the Spirit as though it were an elusive spiritual state achieved only by the most devoted believers, or conversely, as though it is synonymous with emotional intensity in worship. Neither captures what the New Testament is actually talking about. The idea of Spirit-filling is important, biblical,…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 4002 Few questions in pneumatology have generated more disagreement than this one. Some traditions teach that the Spirit is received at water baptism. Others insist on a distinct post-conversion experience, sometimes evidenced by speaking in tongues. Still others locate the Spirit’s reception at the moment of saving faith. The question matters not as a…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 4009 In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul lists what he calls “the fruit of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is one of the most quoted passages in Christian devotional literature. But familiarity can blunt the sharpness of what Paul is actually saying. Understanding what the fruit of the…