INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Three remarkable events:  one in the beginning of Genesis, one in the beginning of two Gospels, and one in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.  The Holy Spirit features in vital “conceptions” and “births” across the revelation of the Bible (which the Spirit also conceived through “inspiration”, giving birth to the Word of God).  Each event occurs in an age in which a different member of the Trinity predominates:

·        In Genesis, the age dominated by God the Father opens with the Spirit giving “conception” and “birth” to the new Creation—the cosmos. 

·        Then, when God the Son takes center stage in the next age of Divine history, at the beginning of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Holy Spirit works the “conception” and “birth” of Jesus in the womb of Mary. 

·        When, finally, the Spirit is given His own age as the “front-man” of the Godhead, in the opening chapters of Acts, the passing is marked by an event so sublimely spectacular:  the Pentecostal outpouring, called “the baptism in/with/by the Holy Spirit.”  When the Spirit descends—sent by Father and by Son—He gives “conception” and “birth” to the church of Christ. 

In each case, Supernatural begets something in the natural realm—cosmos, then Christ, then church.

Cosmos, Christ, Church—no small achievements for the Third Member of the Trinity!  May our hearts be swept into wondrous worship!  After this it is small wonder indeed, that the creation of each individual Christian involves a supernatural “conception” and “birth.”  Our baptism, parallel to the baptism of Jesus, is a birth “of water and of Spirit”, a “new birth” into a living hope.

However, more astonishing than all of this, is that some in churches of Christ are denying the Holy Spirit an indwelling, sanctifying, empowering presence in the heart of Christians!  This indwelling Presence is denied outright by some, but others deny the Spirit a place in the heart by claiming that He dwells there “only through the Word.”  This is a painful and embarrassing admission.

For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is like our appendix (the mysterious organ appended to our large intestine).  We believe we have one, but we don’t have a clue what it does in there!  This book speaks where the Bible speaks on such matters.  Yet it must be admitted that such doctrinal knowledge is only the starting point for exploring the work of the Spirit.  While writing the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul found himself struggling with the limitations of language and speech when trying to set forth the full scope of the activity of the Spirit.  The most far-reaching superlatives just don’t go far enough!  We therefore cannot claim that this book reaches boundaries for the Spirit’s working, beyond which He cannot pass!  Indeed, we strongly suspect that He might fill our personal experiences in Christ Jesus in ways that transcend Biblical description.  God can be depended upon to act in concert with—so as to never violate—His written Word, but the possibilities opened by the Scriptures are tantalizingly broad and suggestive.

Recognition of the Holy Spirit’s role and function secures Christianity as a truly supernatural experience.  We live in a sadly secular age that denies the supernatural at every turn.  Strange enough, but how can we explain the patently "anti-supernatural" spirituality that is found in (some) modern churches?  Contrary to this Zeitgeist, Biblical revelation insists there exists another, invisible realm—somehow ”beyond” and “above” the one we inhabit.  Moreover, the Bible insists this realm is the domain of spiritual beings—the Triune-God (Father, Son, and Spirit), Satan, angels, and demons.  It insists these metaphysical inhabitants of this spiritual realm, both good and evil, reach into our own physical realm and tug at us, sometimes with terrifying power, to pull us to one side or the other of the cosmic battle between God and His enemies.  The Holy Spirit is active in the spiritual warfare, and we dare not deny Him!  Before we deny the supernatural, we should remember the words of William R. Inge, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age [i.e. Zeitgeist] will find himself a widower in the next.”

This book started with conflict.  It ends with hope.  The doctrine expressed in this book was not produced merely from a backlash in the bitterness of conflict.  It had been woven into my beliefs long before trouble started.  My hope is that we will positively embrace the Holy Spirit, reaching heights of experience with God that go beyond what we have known before—individually, congregationally, and as universal church of Christ.

I also found hope, under stress and persecution, from God’s words of comfort :     

Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you

(Matt. 5:11-12, ASV).

When trouble came, we who believe in the Spirit were outnumbered in the church.  It would have been easier to avoid the conflict.  But the indwelling Spirit did not give His sword—the Bible—only for us to let it rust in its sheath.  We knew we had to act.  True Christians would do what we did.  Several of us in that church suffered.  We had nothing to gain.  Then afterward, we found comfort from God.

We began with hope revealed in Scripture, and see signs of hope also in the events unfolding in our day, in our place in history.  The author is a committed Restorationist, lifelong.  Uniting Christians, from all denominations, into a single, undivided fellowship in Christ (and in His Spirit) under God has been my heartbeat since the baptismal waters flooded over my head.  Progress has been stalled for long decades of history, but there are signs that God finds this present day to be His time to act and move.  Let’s consider some reasons for optimism here.

First, there is a trend in Bible studies called “the new perspective on Paul” (see my article “An Offstage Perspective on the NPP” at http://conservativerestorationist.blogspot.com/2011/10/offstage-perspective-on-npp-by-john-g.html, or ask me for the 2011 DVD presentation produced by James Wong and myself, “A New Perspective on the Restoration Movement”).  In short, a new discovery in the teachings of the apostle Paul is now removing the largest barrier to acceptance of the saving role of baptism by our denominational friends.  Many in denominational circles are reclaiming the truth about baptism (even while some of my own brethren in churches of Christ are going wobbly on the issue).  Historically, this has been our biggest sticking point and God is now resolving it.

Second, it looks like the Holy Spirit is capturing the minds and hearts of believers in our day and in a new way.  I offer Francis Chan as evidence.  Chan preaches Acts 2:38 like a Restorationist.  But he is not one of us, at least by affiliation.  He is one of us, however, through the kinship of shared beliefs.  The preacher in the church we just left would quote only half of Acts 2:38—leaving off the concluding part about the Holy Spirit as a gift to baptized believers!  Chan believes the whole verse—just as churches of Christ have done historically, and still do in the majority.  He believes in the indwelling Spirit.  But, Chan is careful to reject those aspects of Pentecostalism that put some of our people in a backlash mode so fierce, that they rejected—not just Pentecostalism—but the Holy Spirit himself!  But Chan does believe in a Spirit that both indwells us and projects power.  He and I may come by different paths of affiliation—but we have come to the same place in Bible belief.  It is sufficient for me to gladly extend to him the right hand of fellowship.

Francis Chan is my brother in Christ.  We share the same Spirit, the same Lord.  Worship the same God.  This book is a call-back to those who have rejected the Spirit, to unite on the truth of Bible revelation with any and all who will join us here.

And Chan is not alone; he stands representatively for the multitudes of believers, of different stripes, who have been separated from us (in churches of Christ) by the confusion of competing denominations.  In the past, Protestant denominations resisted baptism, as a necessity in salvation, with all their strength.  The “new perspective” is changing this and making opportunity for the fellowship we should share in Christ.  It is this most curious convergence of interest in the Holy Spirit—inside and outside of churches of Christ—with a renewed respect for baptism—inside and outside of our churches—that seems to carry the promise of a big harvest among those of us driven nobly in God’s service to a “Restoration of the Ancient Order.”  This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes!

As I put the final touches on this book, I am buoyant upon this hope.  And, in hope, I set it before my readers.