Equip: Which Comes First: Gifts or Calling?

As Pastor Tommy recently reminded us, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29, KJV). But which comes first? Do we search for our gifts in order to find our ministry, or do we minister in order to find our gifts? The Bible gives no formal answer to that question. As far as living in the church is concerned, both gifts and calling are irrevocable. I would argue, however, that a functional priority within the Christian life guides the proper discovery and use of spiritual gifts in service to the community in which we are called. The following is the functional priority for discovering spiritual gifts: 1) repentance, baptism and reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38); 2) identification with the church; 3) growth in partnership with the church; 4) appointment to ministry; 5) discovery of spiritual giftedness; and 6) discernment of effectiveness by demonstration of fruits. A separation between person and gift is the principle involved in this informal pathway. The significance of this separation will become clear as we follow Paul on his path to the discovery of gifts.

Paul experienced his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus as a call to announce the good news that Gentiles were included along with Israel in the Kingdom of God. Conversion stories in the modern church tend to portray tortured souls suddenly liberated from lifelong hangups with alcohol, drugs or sex. In some cases, conversion is depicted as a change from atheism to theism, or from another religion to Christianity. None of these stereotypes apply to Paul. Paul was a devout Jew, zealous for the moral and ritual purification of Israel, when suddenly confronted by the appearance of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah who had fulfilled all the hopes and promises of final restoration between God and the world created by him.* Jesus called Paul to declare this good news to all people (Acts 9:15; Gal 1:15). After his encounter, the traumatized Paul spent three days in total darkness before Ananias healed his blindness, baptized him and Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul did not speak in tongues when he received the Holy Spirit. Instead, he went to the Jewish synagogue to proclaim the good news that Jesus was the Son of God (Acts 9:20). It didn’t go well. Synagogue leaders attempted to do to Paul what he had intended to do to Jesus followers, but Paul was smuggled out of Damascus. After three years, Paul connected with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. At first, they suspected Paul was an informant sent by the priestly hierarchy to penetrate the ranks of church leadership, but Barnabas reached out to bring Paul into their confidence (Acts 9:26-30). After this brief encounter, Paul disappeared for ten years. Presumably, Paul worked in the family tent making business in Tarsus, while developing the theological understanding that would carry him through his tumultuous career.

Tarsus is where we find Paul in the next stage on the way to discovering his gifts (Acts 11:19-30). The pivot point was a call to service from his old friend, Barnabas. A new church in Syrian Antioch roused the concerns of Jerusalem apostles because Gentiles were being converted. They sent Barnabas to check things out. Barnabas found church growth so rapid he needed reinforcements. Paul was just up the coast in Tarsus, where Barnabas recruited him to help in Antioch. They spent a year working together before a prophet named Agabus predicted a famine in Jerusalem., and the church in Antioch sent Barnabas and Paul to Jerusalem with an offering. This was the second journey to Jerusalem Paul described in Galatians 2:1-10. This time, the Apostles welcomed Paul with open arms. A lasting partnership came out of that meeting with an agreement to include Gentiles in the church without first becoming observant Jews. It looked like everything was settled, as long as Gentiles partnered with their Jewish brethren in poverty relief.

Back in Antioch, Barnabas and Paul set to work along with the other church leaders (Acts 13:1-12). Something unexpected happened during a prayer service. The Holy Spirit designated the pair for a new missionary journey in the eastern Mediterranean. The journey started out as the Barnabas and Paul team, with Paul as the “co-pilot” under Barnabas’ command. Early in that ministry, a fraudulent sorcerer, named Elymas, confronted Barnabas and Paul. In an ironic reverse healing, Paul blinded the sorcerer with a curse. This was Paul’s first recorded miracle. Luke inserted a small detail at this point with huge implications. “Saul, who was also called Paul,” wrote Luke. Up to this point, Luke used Paul’s Hebrew name Saul, but the name change to his Roman name, “Paul.” appeared in the rest of Acts. Saul became Paul with the manifestation of a miraculous gift. Furthermore, the spotlight shifted from Barnabas and Paul to Paul and Barnabas.

Many instances of miraculous healings are recorded at the hands of Paul in Acts, but they have different effects. The first miracle resulted in the proconsul’s acceptance of Paul’s teaching. Paul’s second recorded miraculous healing of a lame man (Acts 14:8-20) was interpreted by the residents of Lystra as the work of their pagan gods in human form. When Paul tried to convince them to give up idol worship, they stoned him. Miraculous signs in Paul’s ministry pointed beyond themselves to the growth of the Kingdom of God. Paul was no more in control of the effect than he was in control of the gift. The effect of signs and wonders among non Jews became evidence of God’s work at Paul’s third visit to Jerusalem for the council in Acts 15.

In our Ekklesia Ministry College, we learned that Luke described basic patterns in the early church to teach normative principles, and similar patterns appeared in Paul’s letters. The pattern of Paul’s discovery of his giftedness can be summarized as follows: 1) repentance, baptism and reception of the Holy Spirit in Damascus; 2) identification with the church in Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem; 3) growth in partnership with the church through recruitment into the ministry in Antioch and second trip to Jerusalem; 4) appointment to the ministry by the Holy Spirit in Antioch as leaders prayed, fasted and laid hands on Barnabas and Paul ; 5) discovery of spiritual giftedness on the first missionary journey to Crete; and 6) discernment of effects of miraculous gifts at the Jerusalem council.

The principle underlying this pattern is the separation between person and gift. Separation between a person and his gift is evident in the chronology of Paul’s discovery of his own giftedness. Not until he was on the first missionary journey around thirteen years after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus did Paul manifest miraculous gifts. A similar pattern appears in Paul’s letters. He encourages Corinthian Christians to “eagerly desire” spiritual gifts, an indication that giftedness was not normally apparent at baptism. In fact, Paul reminded Timothy not to neglect the gift “which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you” (1 Timothy 4:14) at some point when Timothy was already in ministry. Gifts are normally discovered in the course of personal spiritual growth and service as a believer identifies with the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.

The significance of separation between person and gift is twofold. First, the Lord gets credit for a miraculous work. Miracles are not ends in themselves; they point beyond themselves to the real miracle of a changed life through faith in Jesus. A model miracle is Jesus’ healing of a lame man at Capernaum as a sign that his sins were forgiven (Mark 2:8-11). Second, gifts can be misused or abused. To keep Paul from misusing his miraculous visions, he received a “thorn in his flesh” to remind him God’s strength is manifest in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Of course, it would be misuse if Paul did not rely on his gifts. Spiritual gifts are abused when they are used for profit or sensationalism. Simon the Sorcerer has been tied to the abuse of spiritual powers for gain (see Acts 8:9-25).

We have seen that Paul’s call preceded Paul’s gifts. As Paul grew in ministry, the Lord added spiritual gifts necessary for ministry. The greater his ministry, the more gifted he became; the more gifted he became, the less he relied on his gifts. Sooner or later, Paul found what we also must discover—that we are all cessationists in one sense (who believe miraculous gifts cease). Paul at the end of life was more concerned about Timothy’s use of his gifts (2 Timothy 1:6). At some point in life, “prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled and knowledge will pass away.…Faith, hope and love are all that remain, and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:8, 13).

*A lucid and easy-to-read biography of Paul came out this year by N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (HarperOne. 2018).

Equip: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: In Step with the Spirit

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: In Step with the Spirit

Last year as the Italy mission trip approached, I tried picking up enough Italian to get by. I downloaded an app and absorbed as much as I could. I aced level after level on the app and soon was ranked as 25% or so fluent in Italian. I thought I had it in the bag, and was ready for the trip.

Then I arrived, and tried to order my first coffee at a cafe.

The expression on the waiter’s face was one of polite confusion. It seemingly didn’t even register with him as Italian, and that it must have been some other foreign language. Embarrased, I switched to English and made my order. While I knew the mechanics and vocabulary of Italian, my lack of experience and immersion led to my ultimate failure when it came to living it out.

If I am honest with myself, I have made the same mistake in regards to the Holy Spirit, and the lesson is simple: intellectual knowledge is no substitute for experience.

As Phil mentioned in his blog a few weeks ago, the role of the Spirit is to guide, control, lead, guide, advocate, convict, teach, comfort, encourage, counsel, give peace and help to pray. But simply knowing these roles on an intellectual level will leave our experience of God lacking.

In the New Testament, both the narrative surrounding experiences with the Holy Spirit and the prescriptive passages about the Holy Spirit use language that is very relational in nature. One passage that highlights this is Galatians 5. In verse 16 we are told, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” followed later by verse 25 which says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Unfortunately, this passage is one that is glossed over by us as Christians, and we mistakenly view it as simply flowery description of a theological concept. In fact, most of us skip over this language and latch on to the list of don’ts (verse 19-21) and do’s (verse 22).

This is where our experience of Christianity must move beyond merely an intellectual exercise. Only through daily walking with God, allowing Him to move and speak to us in all the ways outlined in Scripture, will we truly experience the freedom that is inherent in the Gospel. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But here’s the scary thing: we can accomplish much that has the appearance Christianity in our own ability.

That is why our doctrine of the Holy Spirit cannot exclude the need for the real experience of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I suggest that the most important piece of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is that He is to be experienced and not merely understood. We are called to walk in the Spirit.

So what does this look like? How can we walk with God?

Again, I think our modern Christian expression can become pragmatic too quickly. We tell each other to “spend time in the Word”, “pray at all times”, “attend x, y, or z church event” and many other straightforward action steps. While these are valuable disciplines and steps to take, we will never be able to capture the Holy Spirit through our own effort or ritual. He moves and speaks as He wishes.

And that is the first step to walking with the Spirit. Are we truly willing to walk where He guides and leads, or are we trying to craft our faith in our own image? Are we willing to dive into our own hearts, pains, and hang-ups and let Him speak into them? Are we willing to let him nudge us out of our comfort zone and into the lives of others? Are we willing to let Him guide us beyond our own expectations into the depth and life He has for us? Will we truly walk with Him?

It sounds like a simple question, but a brief survey of the book of Acts tells us that when the church walks with the Spirit, we are not only released into the fullness of a Gospel community, but also exposed to persecution, pain and suffering. When the Spirit leads, it is not to a place of complacency or comfort, but one to where we see God redeem and restore the hurting and lost around us.

But this collective experience must start at the individual level. We must resist the urge to live life in our own effort, of our own design, and be willing to stop and repeatedly check whether we are walking with, speaking with, communing with the Spirit. I encourage you each to pause in the next week and lay that question before the Spirit: “Am I walking with you, or am I walking at a pace of my own design?”

Equip: The Anatomy of Groaning

Do you find yourself groaning as a Christian?  You don’t groan alone.  The Holy Spirit groans with you, according to Romans 8:26: .  

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

What makes the Holy Spirit groan? Is he disappointed with us? Are inarticulate groans sighs of self-pity and despair? Do inarticulate groans refer to the experience of speaking in tongues?  

In our exploration of the anatomy of groaning in Romans 8, we want show that the Holy Spirit groans as he gives birth within us to a new identity in Christ that wills to do what God wants.

Who is the Spirit?

Romans 8 contains more references to the Spirit than any other chapter in the Bible, yet not once is the name “Holy Spirit” used.  Instead of a proper name, we have descriptions: Spirit of life (v 2), Spirit of God (v 9), Spirit of Christ (v 9), Spirit of Him who raised Jesus (v 11), Spirit of Sonship (v 15) or simply “the Spirit.” God the Son has a proper name. He is Christ Jesus (v 1).  God the Father is “Abba, Father” (v 15).  But nowhere do we hear of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8.

Good theological reasons stand behind this ambiguity. The Spirit’s groaning is not inarticulate. “He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with the will of God” (v 27).  Paul tells us two things.  First, the Holy Spirit is a person with a mind whose groans are intelligible to the Father.  Secondly, the Holy Spirit’s groaning is intelligible because it is congruent with God’s will.  The Holy Spirit accords with the will of God because the Holy Spirit is the will of God. The Holy Spirit is the going forth of God in the power of his love.  Going forth in power assumes a source and a goal.  God the Father is the source, and Jesus Christ is the goal.  The Holy Spirit is neither source nor goal but that which unites both. As the will uniting Father and Son as well as the power of God in us, the Holy Spirit acquires many names depending on the function He plays: counselor, comforter, enlightener, etc. These functions and more are summarized by the name “Holy Spirit” as defined in the Apostle’s Creed: We believe in the Holy Spirit.

God’s Spirit and Our spirits

If the Holy Spirit is God’s will going forth in the power of his love, how does God’s Holy Spirit relate to our spirit? “The Spirit,” Paul tells us, “bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children” (v 16). How do we know through our experience we are God’s children?

We know we are God’s children, Paul tells us, whenever we put to death the lingering enmity towards God that constitutes our old way of life.  The transition from verse 13 to verse 14 captures the relationship between our spirit and the Holy Spirit.  Paul starts this section reminding us we have an obligation (v 12).  The obligation we have grows out of the previous section in which we are told our old self is dead because of sin, and our spirits are alive because of righteousness.  We have a new self.  It is Christ in us (v 10).  Christ in us complements verse 1 where we are in Christ.  Christ in us is a new identity based on his perfect sacrifice for our sins and his perfect obedience imputed to us (v 4).  Verse thirteen contrasts those who live according to their old identity to those who “by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body.” The spirit in verse thirteen refers to our spirits as the means of mortification.  This is shown by the causal link to verse 14:  “Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  The Holy Spirit cannot be both cause and agent of resistance to sin.  We have an obligation to mortify sin as the Spirit of the Lord empowers us to do so.  Our active resistance to sin is the sign we experience as the work of the Holy Spirt in us showing us that we are God’s children.  

How do we mortify sin?  John Owen (1616-1683) wrote a book that is vital for us today entitled, Mortification of Sin in Believers.  In short, Owen advises us to name it, repent of it, starve it and oppose it by trusting in Christ’s perfect obedience in us.  Oppose lust with Christ’s joy, resist anger with Christ’s peace, and defeat pride with Christ’s humility.  Christ’s perfections are preferred over our old hatred of God by the power of God’s love manifested in us through the Holy Spirit.  

The Groaning of the Holy Spirit

The work of the Holy Spirit in us is called vivification.  To vivify means to animate or give life.  Paul compares the groaning of the whole creation to childbirth in verse 22.  Think of a newborn. After the trauma of childbirth, a newborn is held aloft and spanked on the buttocks to cause it to scream.  A scream inflates the lungs, filling them for the first time with the breath of life.  To the newborn a scream is shocking, but to everyone else it is a welcome sign of life.  To us, the Holy Spirit’s cry is a wordless shock at the overwhelming power of God’s love over our unloving, faithless hearts (which can be expressed by the gift of tongues, the outpouring of our hearts to God).  To God, it is the welcome sign of his love at work in us to want what God wills.  Vivification is the other side of mortification.  As we put to death our old self, the Holy Spirit brings to life our new self hidden in Christ. 

Equip: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit - Temples

We are spirit beings, and as spirit beings the only thing that can contain our spirit is our bodies (our flesh), without our living bodies we cannot physically exist in this world. Just like an astronaut cannot live in space without their space suit which provides them with air to breathe etc.., we cannot live here without our own suit, our bodies. But let's go deeper, what if I say that our body is more than a suit, it is also temple?

Let’s look at the dictionary definition of the the word temple.

Temple:
A building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place, of a god or gods or other objects of religious reverence.

You see, as believers and followers of Christ; the Bible tells us (see verse below) that our body is the temple for the gift that God has given us, The Holy Spirit.

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 -  (NLT)

So, if the Holy Spirit does not reside in your temple, or as I would phrase it, “Is not sitting on the throne of your heart and mind”, then who is? Know this, the temple is never vacant. There is always someone sitting on the throne of your heart and mind!  It’s either you or the Holy Spirit dwelling in the temple!

If it is you and your sinful nature occupying your temple, then you will fail at being a follower of Christ.  The human heart is the most deceitful of all things (Jer 17:9), we may think our way of doings things seem right but if you are dwelling as the god of your temple in place of the Holy Spirit, our lives will lead to death and destruction (Prov 14:12).  Yet, many christians say “I’m good Holy Spirit, I will be sitting on the throne of my temple, I’ll call you when I really need you!”

But Christ knew better, he knew that while his followers were still on earth, that they would not be able to willingly serve and obey God, let alone do the will of our heavenly father by our own mere willpower. He knew that his people needed supernatural help. He also knew that being holy wasn’t just a matter of following rules, for his priority was based on a intimate relationship with our heavenly father through his son Jesus Christ.  

As a result, God made it possible for us to follow and obey God by making sure that the Holy Spirit rightfully resides in the throne of our temple as he leads us to Christ, and unlike our sinful nature, when the Holy Spirit is leading us he never goes against Scripture! The Holy Spirit entered our temple when we decided to give our life to Christ.

We need to continually ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, and to help us do the things God wants us to do, and when we continue spiritually growing as Christians, our desire should be to allow the Spirit to take control over more and more areas of our lives. Why on earth would anyone want to try to be a believer and follower of Jesus Christ without having the Holy Spirit on the throne of their temple? Quite simple, because we still want to be the God of our own temple (our body and life) and rule from the throne of our own hearts.

Below are some action words from scripture that describe what the Holy Spirit desires to do when you give him the throne of your temple.

Controls:
"But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you." Romans 8:9

Guides:
"O I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves." Galatians 5:16

Leads:
"He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth." John 14:17

Directs:
"But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses." Galatians 5:18

Advocates:
"But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you." John 14:26

Convicts:
"And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment." John 16:8

Teaches:
“He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you." John 14:26b

Helps:
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness." Romans 8:26a

Comforts, Encourages and Counsels:
"But when the Father sends the Advocate (Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor) as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit." John 14:26a

Gives you peace:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart." John 14:27 -

Helps you pray:
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." Romans 8:26

If your temple and the throne of your heart isn’t for the Holy Spirit to dwell in, then you are your own God (yes, I just said that), and it’s no wonder that you might be struggling as a Christian. Our God was caring and loving enough to provide us with the Holy Spirit, why wouldn’t you want to him to dwell in you?

Gift of God's Guidance

For me, the most fascinating element of David's story that we looked at this last Sunday in 1 Samuel 30 was his immediate inclination to seek God's guidance in his desperate situation. With his home burned to the ground and his family carted off by the Amalakites he didnt simply turn to his sword and his army to avenge his loss. He turned to the revelation of God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”.  (1 Samuel 30:7-8)

As I explained this last week, the ephod mentioned in this passage references the breastplate of the high priest upon which precious stones were affixed. Two of the stones, attached above the high priest's heart, were known as the Urim and the Thummim and they were used to determine God's direction. There is great mystery surrounding how these worked but with Urim and Thummim meaning "light" and "perfection" the implication was clear; God was perfectly illuminating the path of His people. The paths of His people who turn to Him for guidance. 

In the age of the New Covenant, in our time following the redemptive work of Christ, God has continued His commitment to providing direction to His people. He has graciously given the Church the gift of guidance by His Word and His Spirit and these two work in conjunction one with another. God's Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals God's way for His people, a way that is revealed to our hearts by His Spirit at work in us. In addition Christ sent the Holy Spirit after His departure from this world to serve as comforter and counselor, "guiding us into all truth". This is the interactive role of God's Spirit giving personal direction to the believer always in concert with His Word. Seek after the wisdom of God's Word and inspiration of God's Spirit and you will be amazed at where they will lead you.

As mysterious as the Urim and Thummim, God's inspired Word and His powerful Holy Spirit hold God's direction for the believers life. May we be as committed to seeking God's guidance in the midst of turmoil as David.