Jesus is our Atonement

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For many years, I fasted on Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Day referred to as the Day of Atonement. I did so wrongly thinking that abstaining from food and drink on that day was reconciling me to God. Many of you recall that erroneous reasoning. But no matter how it was presented to us at the time, fasting on Yom Kippur for that purpose meant trying to maintain our Atonement (at-one-ment) with God through our own works. We were practicing a religious system of grace plus works—one that overlooked the reality that Jesus is our Atonement.

Perhaps you recall my letter from two weeks ago concerning Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration referred to as the Feast of Trumpets. I noted that Jesus has blown the trumpet once and for all, and that he is the head of the year—indeed, the head of all time. As the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Israel (the old covenant), Jesus, the creator of time, changed all time, forever. This is the new covenant perspective on Rosh Hashanah. And when we view Yom Kippur with new covenant eyes, we understand that Jesus is our Atonement. As is the case with all of Israel’s worship festivals, the Day of Atonement points to the person and work of Jesus for our salvation. He is the embodiment of ancient Israel’s worship system.

Though we now understand that the Hebrew calendar pointed forward to Jesus’ coming, and thus is now obsolete because Jesus has come and inaugurated the new covenant, we acknowledge that God used that calendar to help us see who Jesus truly is. Today, our focus is on the four major “Christ events”—the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Yom Kippur pointed forward to Jesus’ death. When we seek to understand what the New Testament teaches us concerning that death, we bear in mind the Old Testament patterns of understanding and worship provided within God’s covenant with Israel (the old covenant). We do this because Jesus said that it all testifies about him (John 5:39-40).

In other words, Jesus is the lens through which we properly interpret the entire Bible. We interpret the Old Testament (which includes the old covenant) through the lens of the New Testament (with its new covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ). If we do this interpreting in the reverse order, we end up with false ideas like thinking that the New Covenant does not begin until Jesus’ return. That was a fundamental error in Herbert Armstrong’s reasoning, and the reason that he focused so much on the worship calendar of Israel. He wrongly believed that we were in a time between the old and new covenants, and thus still obligated to observe the sacred Hebrew calendar.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus explained the temporary nature of Israel’s worship system. Even though God gave Israel a specific pattern of worship to follow, Jesus taught that it would change through himself. He emphasized this in the conversation he had with a woman at a well in Samaria (John 4:1-25). To paraphrase Jesus, he told her that the worship of the people of God would no longer have a physical, material center in Jerusalem or any other geographical location. In another place he promised that wherever two or three would gather in his name, he would be present in their midst (Matthew 18:20). Jesus told the Samaritan woman that there would no longer be such thing as a single “holy place” at the conclusion of his earthly ministry. Note his words to her:

“A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…. A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth…” (John 4:21-24).

With this statement, Jesus was eliminating the significance of Israel’s worship system—a system described in the Law of Moses (the old covenant). Jesus did so because he embodied, and thus fulfilled, that system since almost every aspect of it was, in one way or another, centered on the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus’ statement to the Samaritan woman indicates that a wide range of worship practices are no longer required in the same literal way. If Jesus’ true worshipers would not be worshiping at Jerusalem, they could not be taking their cues for worship as it was established in the Law of Moses, since that worship system was dependent on the existence and use of the physical building of the temple.

So, as we pass beyond the Old Testament language to Jesus himself, we move from the shadows into the reality. That means allowing the person of Jesus and his work as the one Mediator between God and humanity to shape our understanding of the Atonement. As the Son of God, Jesus came into the situation long prepared for him in Israel and acted critically and creatively to fulfill the entire old covenant, including the Day of Atonement. In the book Incarnation, the Person and Life of Christ, T.F. Torrance explains how Jesus accomplished our Atonement with God:

Jesus did not repudiate the preaching of John the Baptist, the proclamation of judgment: on the contrary he continued it, and as we have seen he searched the soul of man with the fire of divine judgment, but in Jesus that is subsidiary to—and only arises out of—the gospel of grace and vicarious suffering and atonement. In the incarnate life of Jesus, and above all in his death, God does not execute his judgment on evil simply by smiting it violently away by a stroke of his hand, but by entering into it from within, into the very heart of the blackest evil, and making its sorrow and guilt and suffering his own. And it is because it is God himself who enters in, in order to let the whole of human evil go over him, that his intervention in meekness has violent and explosive force. It is the very power of God. And so the cross with all its indelible meekness and patience and compassion is no deed of passive and beautiful heroism simply, but the most potent and aggressive deed that heaven and earth have ever known: the attack of God’s holy love upon the inhumanity of man and the tyranny of evil, upon all the piled up contradiction of sin (p. 150).

Viewing the Atonement solely as a legal transaction related to “getting right with God” leads to a flawed understanding that, sadly, many Christians hold to in our time. Such a view misses the depth of what Jesus has already accomplished on our behalf. As sinners, we are in need of more than mere freedom from the penalty of sin. We need sin itself to be dealt a deathblow and thus eradicated from our nature.

That is exactly what Jesus did. Rather than just dealing with the symptoms of our sin, he went to the cause of it in a way very much like the title of one of Baxter Kruger’s booklets indicates: The Undoing of Adam. This title speaks of what Jesus actually accomplished in reconciling us to the Father. Yes, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. But he did far more—he performed “cosmic surgery.” He gave our fallen, sin-sick humanity a heart transplant! That new heart is a heart of reconciliation. It is the heart of Jesus—the one who as both God and man is the one Mediator and High Priest, our Savior and elder brother. Through the Holy Spirit, just as God promised through the prophets Ezekiel and Joel, Jesus creates new life in our dry bones, giving us new hearts. In him, we are a new creation!

Living in the new creation with you,
Joseph Tkach

Genevieve Brown celebrates 100 years

The family of GCI member Annetta “Genevieve” Brown is delighted to report that Genevieve will celebrate her 100th birthday on October 23. In tribute to Genevieve, they have shared this article.

Genevieve attributes her longevity to following God’s teachings, practicing a healthy lifestyle with nutritious eating and regular exercise. She believes that her body is a temple of the Holy Spirit as stated in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. She also has drawn strength from the promises in Romans 8:28 and Psalm 23 that God will see her through life’s trials, with Jesus, her shepherd, leading and guiding.

Born in Howard County, Maryland, Genevieve married her first husband, William Steward. They were married for 25 years and had three sons together. After his death she married James “Toby” Brown. They were married for 47 years until his death. She was a domestic worker for many years and sold Avon cosmetics for 40 years, winning numerous awards for her sales achievements.

Genevieve became involved with WCG in the early 60s after hearing The World Tomorrow radio program. She contacted Pastor Guy Engelbart in Baltimore and was baptized shortly after that. She has been a faithful member ever since, volunteering in many capacities and always sharing her wisdom with others. She loves attending church picnics, dances and other social activities. In 1965 she started travelling to church festivals in far-flung places like China and Trinidad.

Genevieve was instrumental in starting church services and Bible studies at Village Oaks Apartments where she now lives. Before moving there, she loved canning her own vegetables from her garden and sharing them with others. She still cooks her own meals and bakes delicious cookies and bread. She also is a member of a walking club and now walks the hallways where she lives for exercise.

Genevieve has many wonderful memories of the love she has received from her church family and relatives and is very much aware of God’s love for her. She is the oldest member of New Life Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Baltimore where Timothy Brassell serves as senior pastor.

Please join us in wishing Genevieve a very happy birthday! Cards may be sent to:

New Life Fellowship

P.O. Box 1417

Owings Mills, MD 21117

South Pacific update

This update is from GCI mission developer Rod Matthews who works in Southern Asia and the South Pacific region.

Papua New Guinea: historic ordinations in the land of the unexpected

Mark Latham, pastoral coordinator for Papua New Guinea (PNG), recently returned from his 22nd visit to the country. He was accompanied by Rod Dean, GCI pastor in Sydney. Over the years, the congregations in Rod’s pastorate have faithfully supported our work in PNG and Rod has mentored Mark in his challenging responsibility. This was Rod’s first trip to PNG, travelling up to our main PNG church on Mt. Wilhelm, more than 6000 ft. up PNG’s highest mountain, which reaches over 14,000 ft. Mark and Rod were warmly received (the welcome group is pictured at right).

After returning to Australia on August 17, Rod wrote a report entitled “The Light on the Hill at Mt. Wilhelm.” Here is an excerpt:

The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate with the church and wider community the ordination of Ben Galwa and Richard Kindi [pictured at right, Ben is on the left]. This was the most anticipated event in the history of our PNG church—the Mt. Wilhelm congregation had been preparing for weeks. A grand mumu [feast] fed the visitors who represented more than seven denominations. Chairman of the village court, doctors, health clinic administrators, councilors and local women’s group representatives. The local MP [Member of Parliament] sent his apologies. Our church is well respected by all.

With the theme of their visit being “Strengthening the Foundations,” Rod and Mark shared their pastoral experiences and reinforced the local pastoral team’s focus on Jesus Christ as center of all aspects of our lives. Special attention was given to the large contingent of youth in the church (about 50 of them, included in the picture of the congregation’s membership, below). The women’s ministry is a pillar in the life, strength and maturity of the congregation, and their work was acknowledged and praised.

At the end of the visit, the congregation’s pastoral team gave Rod and Mark a letter of appreciation to be carried back to Australia, thanking the many people who have contributed so much to the spiritual and physical development of GCI-PNG.

Fiji: celebrating God’s grace and the ordination of an elder

The Christian Camp at Pacific Harbour was once again the site for the annual celebration of our Fijian family’s life together in Christ. The theme, “Celebrating God’s Amazing Grace” permeated the event’s messages and activities. Most of GCI’s members in Fiji (who live all over the islands) were able to stay on site (the group is pictured below).

Meals were provided by rotating crews of members so that the members could eat together (see picture at right). Lovely “home cooked” meals were provided, including “lovo”—a traditional meal of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in an underground pit.

A highlight of this year’s gathering was the ordination to elder of long-time Suva member, Jope Nalequa Uqeuqe (pictured at left). His ordination reflected his long and faithful service to the church in Fiji and a need for an elder to assist Pastor Isei Colati.

Other highlights were the baptism of Jason Raki; the blessing of a little child, Azariah Jesse James; special presentations for the youth, men and women; an afternoon tea; an “Indian night”; a grand finale event entitled “Island Night”; and one day in which the services were presented entirely in the Fijian language.

At most of the worship services music was provided by the youth. On the last day the choir sang the Hallelujah Chorus a cappella with magnificent harmony. As usual, flower arrangements were supreme works of art, refreshed daily and highlighting the extravaganza of tropical creations with which God has blessed Fiji.

Dan Rogers visits Alaska churches

Dan Rogers, director of U.S. Church Administration and Development recently visited Alaska to encourage and teach our members there. He was accompanied on the visit by his son Steven. This was Dan’s final annual visit to Alaska in his official capacity (he retires at the end of this year).

On Saturday, 20 people from the GCI congregations in Anchorage and Kenai gathered for fellowship, a meal and a seminar from Dan on the history of the early church based on the book of Acts. Following the meal, Dan was presented with a hand-made quilt as a retirement gift, thanking him for the love and friendship he has extended toward the Alaska congregations over the years. A few mementos were given to Steven Rogers, who has traveled with his dad for many years on his annual visit to GCI’s congregations in Alaska.

During the visit, Dan and Steven, accompanied by Anchorage pastor Don Marson and his wife, visited the Alaska Zoo and Chugach State Park with its stunning views of Mt. McKinley, Mt. Foraker, Mt. Spurl, the Alaska Range, and the Readout and Illiamna volcanoes. On Sunday, Dan gave the sermon at the Anchorage church worship service, covering the story of David and Goliath.

Hands for Christ 2nd anniversary

Hands for Christ, a newly planted GCI church in Staten Island, New York, celebrated its second anniversary on September 14, 2014. Sixty-seven adults and eight children attended. According to pastor Mary Bacheller (shown preaching at right):

It was a day where our deaf members did most of the service and the testimonies were great. We are growing and excited about the ministry that we are doing. The live-streaming of our services is going out to two GCI church plants in the making. The hands of the people are truly moving hearts!

The anniversary worship service included a performance from the deaf choir (pictured at right) and testimonies from deaf members who offered heart-felt thoughts concerning their new church home. Here are excerpts from the testimonies given by three of them:

I came to this church two years ago and it has made a big difference in my life for me and my two daughters. I thank Hands for Christ that I can come to a safe place to worship and learn about God. [Debbie Strang, pictured below, left]

I have gone to other churches because I want to learn about God, but just would sit there and not understand very much. But when I heard about Hands for Christ church, a church for the deaf and by the deaf (Pastor Mary is like deaf!) I was so excited. I feel safe here. [Linda Mancini, pictured above, center]

I am very thankful to be here in this church, I have learned so much here about Jesus and how to have a relationship with him. I feel at home here…this is my home church. A church for the deaf. [Diana O’Shea, pictured above, right]

Following the service, the congregation enjoyed a time of fellowship (see picture below).

Series on the Holy Spirit, part 3

In an essay entitled “Guidelines to an Understanding of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Gary Deddo offers an incarnational, Trinitarian perspective on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. We are publishing his essay serially in seven parts. Here is part three (to read other parts, click on a number: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7).

The Triune God: one in being, three distinct Divine Persons

Last time we saw that God is one in being and yet exists eternally as three distinct Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In seeking to communicate this truth about God, some use the catch-phrase, one-in-three and three-in-one. Though it’s not wrong, it can be misleading if people understand it to mean that God is both three and one of the exact same thing. But God is not one and three beings; nor is he one and three Persons. The “oneness” and the “threeness” of God refer to two aspects of who God is. “One” refers to God’s one being while “three” refers to the three Divine Persons. To more accurately convey this truth, I recommend this statement: God is one in being and three in Divine Persons. Now, let’s unpack that statement and begin to focus on the main topic of this essay: the Divine Person known as the Holy Spirit.

Three Divine Persons

When we say “three Divine Persons,” we don’t mean “persons” exactly like you and me. We humans are created in the image of God, but God is not an image of us. Divine Persons are not exactly the same as human persons. If God was three persons exactly like we are, then God would be three beings, since human persons are separate beings. When speaking about God, we’re not using the word “person” in exactly the same way we do about ourselves.

Recall that the discipline of theology is to make sure we don’t talk about God as if God was a creature. We have to avoid projecting human ideas on God. This discipline of theology takes a while for people to catch on to but that is why in the church, we’re actually teaching people to think about God according to God’s nature, not to think about God, for example, as a big human being in the sky!

In speaking of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Divine (not human) Persons, we are affirming that these personal names and personal relationships between them reveal to us the reality of God. God knows himself as Father, Son and Spirit. There are real and eternal relationships in God. Elsewhere in Scripture these relationships are also characterized as a mutual knowing, loving, glorifying and oneness. What we think about human persons in living, loving and holy relationship with each other does, to a certain degree, reflect the truth about God. God is more like a community of three human persons than like any other created thing. Or, it would be better to switch this around and say that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the original and real Persons, and since we are somewhat like them, we can borrow the term “person” to speak of ourselves as individual human creatures! But God is not more like a single, lonely, isolated individual. He is not, as the philosopher Leibnitz declared, a Monad!

Perichoresis and triunity

Reflecting on the unity and distinction of the Divine Persons, some down through the ages have thought of the church as imaging the Trinity: one in Christ, yet many members. But the church does not and cannot have the same kind of unity as do the three Divine Persons. Their unity is their oneness of being. Our unity cannot match that. The kind of unity that God has is revealed to us in Jesus Christ. It is a unity so unique that early church teachers eventually coined a word to represent that one-of-a-kind divine unity. That word is perichoresis. It is Greek and often is not translated because it has a unique meaning that can’t be translated easily. It means, most literally, to envelope one another or to make space for one another. It has also been translated as mutually indwelling each other, or having a coinherence in each other, or in-existing in one another.

The language of perichoresis represents Jesus’ teaching that he is “in the Father and the Father is in [him]” (John 14:11). It is also just what we see lived out in the Gospels as we watch and hear Jesus in his dynamic relationship with the Father and the Spirit. This unique unity has been also explained by saying that the whole of God, all three Persons, are present in each of the Persons. Each, though fully God in being, is distinct in Person so that there is a real relationship and exchange going on from all eternity between the three Divine Persons. As one fairly early creed (The Athanasian Creed) summed it up: the unity of God is a Trinity and the Trinity of God is a Unity. We can try to put this truth into a single word: triunity.

Everything we can say about the Father we can say about the Son and we can say about the Spirit except that they are not each other. Why? Because they mutually indwell one another and so equally are God, sharing all the divine attributes together as one God. They have an absolutely unique kind of unity so that they are distinct in Divine Person but united in being. Unlike creatures, the unity of being doesn’t undo the difference of Person, and the distinction of Person doesn’t undo the unity of being. Remembering this will help us get our language squared away so that we don’t grossly misrepresent God.

What kind of God?

The meaning of what we’re saying here about God is, of course, deep and profound. It’s beyond our most descriptive words, for words are incapable of fully explaining the nature of God. The early church understood that the purpose of words (as in our doctrinal formulations) was to protect the mystery of God’s nature, not explain it away. Nevertheless our words about God are important, as far as they go, in faithfully identifying who God is. When carefully stated in the context of all of Scripture, they show us something significant about the kind of God this God is. They point to the fact that God has his being by being a fellowship, a communion of Divine Persons. Along with the biblical writers, we can sum up the quality of those relationships as all being forms of love. Begetting, being begotten and proceeding are all relationships of loving exchange.

This is why we can say with John, “God is love.” And we can see what Jesus means and why he says he loves the Father and the Father has loved him from all eternity. It makes sense then that Jesus tells us that as the Father has loved him, so he loves us. And further, that as he has loved us, so we ought to love one another. No wonder then that the ways of the people of God can be comprehensively summed up in the two commands to love God and love neighbor.

Those relationships, internal and eternal to God, are filled with holy loving. God is a fellowship kind of God—a communion kind of God. God is not just a lonely being floating out there from all eternity “looking for someone to love.” God is the fullness of holy love, the fullness of fellowship and communion. Bringing it all together, we can say the Father and Son have their fellowship and communion in the Spirit.

This God of love, fellowship and communion is very different than an isolated individual God who can’t love until there’s something else outside of God to love. The Triune God is very different from a god who exists with no internal and eternal relationships, one in whom there is no exchange, no giving and receiving, in whom there is no reciprocity of knowing, loving and glorifying of one another. Such a god would be very different from the God we come to know through Jesus Christ, according to Scripture.

To summarize: the Christian God is a fellowship, a communion. God the Trinity has his being by being in relationships of holy loving. Those relationships are, in particular, eternally begetting, being begotten and proceeding—each a unique form of holy, loving exchange. Those are the key words that we have to point to this amazing reality of who God is.

Those are the essentials to remember if we’re going to go on and talk about the Holy Spirit. We have to remember who the Spirit is. And if the Spirit first exists in relationship with the Father and the Son, then that’s the first thing, not the Spirit’s relationship to us or our relationship to the Spirit. Those come afterwards. There was a time when nothing other than God existed and the Holy Spirit was perfectly happy being the Spirit of the Father and the Son. The Spirit doesn’t need us to be the Spirit. There was a time when there was no creation. At that time God was the fullness of fellowship in Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

While we want to talk about the Spirit’s relationship to us we should remember that that’s a secondary matter. The being of the Spirit is being one with the Father and the Son. Having completed an introduction to Trinitarian doctrine, what can we go on to say about the Holy Spirit?

Who is the Holy Spirit?

In answer to the question, who is the Spirit? the simplest answer is that the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. That means that whenever we speak of the Father and Son, or hear about them in the Scripture, since God is one in being, the Spirit is also involved in some way, whether we know it or not or explicitly say so. The Spirit always has something to do with the Father and Son. It’s true that we don’t always remember this connection. And we probably should make it more explicit more often. So, when speaking of the Father or the Son we do not exclude the Spirit, because the Spirit’s the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Reference to the Son involves the Spirit and the other way around. We can’t talk about the Holy Spirit apart from the Son because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son.

If we assume we can think of one without the other, we’re misrepresenting who the Spirit is because the Spirit has his being, is the Person he is, by being in an essential relationship to the Father and Son. We don’t always spell this all out, but nevertheless we should remember to make all the connections. So certainly a full understanding will always seek to grasp each of the divine Persons in their relationships with each other.

The who, not how of the Spirit

Seeking further understanding, we often look for answers to “how” questions. This is particularly the case when the topic is the Holy Spirit. We ask “how” questions like, How does God operate his providence over all of history and nature and everything else? Or, How did Jesus become united to a human nature? Or, How did God save us? Or, How does God perfect us? Or, How does God communicate his word and will to us? Or How do we receive the gifts and fruit of the Spirit or the help of the Spirit in prayer?

Many of the “how” questions about God actually are answered by a “who” answer, which points directly to the Spirit. The answer to “how” God does something often is, simply, “by the Spirit.” Such a “who” answer, although specifically naming one of the Triune Persons, often is regarded as insufficient. The follow-up questions reveal why. We want to know the mechanisms, the machinery. We want to know the chain of cause and effect. Somehow we have come to believe that simply identifying the agent responsible for what takes place does not constitute an intelligible answer. So we press on to the “how” question. But often in Scripture, the only answer given to a “how” question, is simply the identification of the agency of the Holy Spirit. We are simply told who does something and that, in many cases, is the full extent of the explanation. Question: How? Answer: By the Holy Spirit! The truth is, we can know the “who,” without knowing the “how”!

Did Jesus tell Nicodemus the mechanism of how one becomes born from above? Did he offer him a technique? Did he list a bunch of rules that if we do this and that and the other, then bingo, it happens? No. He explained that, because the Spirit works more like the wind, there can be no such kind of explanation given. The working of the Spirit can’t be controlled or predicted by us. That’s the nature of the Spirit–both who he is and how he works!

Many of our questions, especially those regarding the Christian life, are answered simply by identifying the agency of the Holy Spirit. And that’s it. But we always seem to want more that involves some mechanism, technique or steps. We feel that there needs to be some combination of conditions filled in order to get the Spirit to work. There is quite a bit of teaching in Christian circles these days that speculates and even invents techniques and methods to fill in the gap between what biblical revelation teaches and what we, like Nicodemus, often want—answers to our “how” questions that specify exactly what conditions we need to fill to get the Spirit to work, or work more effectively. However, shouldn’t we stop where Scripture stops rather than carry on with mere speculations?

In fact, many of the current controversies or differences of emphasis between various teachings and ministries actually have to do with their lining up behind a favorite technique or mechanism or a particular list of conditions needed to get what we’re looking for from the Spirit. The arguments and controversies are most often over which teaching offers the best “how to.” But if we go down that road, we’ve already forgotten most of who the Spirit is. On that path we can easily be tempted to start asking all kinds of questions. Some can mistakenly assume God can be divided up. So the question arises, “Can you have the Spirit without having the Son?” Or, “Can you have the Son without having the Spirit?” Others assume that the presence and blessing of the Spirit comes not by grace but by technique or by fulfilling certain conditions and so they ask “What steps do we need to take before we can effectively have and use the gifts of the Spirit?” But such an approach makes the grace of the Holy Spirit dependent upon our works, our efforts! The result is that we then approach the Spirit by works rather than by faith in God’s grace! We replay the exact same error that Paul wrote the church in Galatia about.

“By the Spirit of the Father and Son” answers these “how” questions. Of course, we can try to use all kinds of Bible verses to work out answers to these questions and controversies. But the problem with that approach is that the nature and character of the Holy Spirit is forgotten, even lost. For example, if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one in being, can you then have one without the other? No you can’t, not in an exclusive way. You can’t have one completely without the other. The unity of the Persons in action is indicated in biblical revelation where we are told that no one truly proclaims Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). We are told that when the Spirit of sonship comes upon us, we cry out “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). God doesn’t split up, with the Son heading off saying, “Goodbye, Spirit. I hope you catch up later.” God is one in being but also God is one in action. They act and work together.

Many if not most current controversies have forgotten some of the most fundamental things about who God the Holy Spirit is. Our thoughts can then head in all sorts of wrong directions and we end up speculating in order to answer misguided questions. We can just grab random Bible verses and try to throw them together to come up with an answer. As a result, different groups ended up gravitating toward certain verses to prove their points. But in doing so, they left behind the more fundamental teaching that points to the reality of who the Spirit is. The fundamental thing, the answer to the “who” question regarding the Spirit, is often forgotten and so the answers promoted are inconsistent with the deeper, more central truth of the Spirit who is one in being and one in working with the Father and the Son and who ministers by grace.

Biblical revelation about the ministry of the Spirit is often presented in connection with the mention of at least one other Divine Person. Scripture tells us that only the Holy Spirit can break into a person’s pride and enable them to recognize that Jesus really is their Lord and Savior, come in the flesh as one of us (1 John 4:2). It tells us that we only have the Spirit because he is sent by the Son, from the Father (John 15:26). It also says that if anyone is convicted by the message of the gospel, it is because the Spirit is at work (1 Thessalonians 1:3-5). As Scripture declares that Jesus sends the Spirit to bring persons to an acknowledgment of sin and the need for judgment and righteousness (John 16:8).

When the “Spirit of sonship” comes upon us, we cry out “Abba Father,” Paul tells us (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Why do we cry out “Abba Father”? If we know who the Spirit is, the answer is obvious—because God is one in being and one in action. Isn’t that amazing? The whole Trinity is involved in that one simple and profound cry of our hearts. When the Spirit acts, he doesn’t act apart from the Father but with the Son, too, brings our worship all together.

So, when Jesus says “Go out and baptize them in the name” (singular) and then gives them the one name: “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” we should not be surprised. The name we’re given matches the reality: Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the one name of God. A simple way to say this is that God is the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God, as if it’s one name instead of three names because it really isn’t three separate names, but a threefold-name. We’re baptized into the one Name of the three Divine Persons. Jesus’ instruction makes sense if that’s who God is, and so how God acts and has his being as the Triune God—one in being and three in Divine Persons.

All our thinking about the Holy Spirit needs to be contained within these Trinitarian boundaries. That will help us interpret Scripture properly and also see more deeply into Scripture so that we come to know the reality of who the Spirit is ever more profoundly. Good theology doesn’t take us away from Scripture—it helps us see how it comes together even more coherently. Good theology doesn’t answer every question we might have, but it does answer the questions God most wants us to grasp and proclaim. So, we want to help others read Scripture, interpret Scripture and bring all the pieces of Scripture together.

Next time we’ll look further at the importance of the Holy Spirit.

Death of Siedschlag’s son

The GCI pastor in Fargo, North Dakota, Richard Siedschlag and his wife Erma, arrived home Sunday night after several days at the GCI worship celebration in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, to find that their 52 year old son, Danny, had passed away in their home. They found him in his bed and at present the cause and time of death are uncertain. Foul play is not suspected, but an autopsy is being performed to determine the cause. Prayers for the family would be greatly appreciated. Cards may be sent to:

Richard & Erma Siedschlag

3487 110 Ave N

Moorhead, MN, 56560

Lorraine Wilson

Thanks for praying for Lorraine Wilson, wife of GCI pastor Warren Wilson. She had been battling thyroid cancer (click here to read the earlier prayer request). Results from a recent full-body scan indicate that she is now cancer free!

James Newby

GCI pastor James Newby requests prayer for himself. In being treated for an infection, it was discovered that he has a mass on his left kidney. A CT scan was conducted recently and the results are pending. To add to the stress on the family, James’ daughters have chickenpox and the family is facing a substantial drop in income (with implications for health insurance coverage). Please pray for James, for his wife Karen and their children at this difficult time. Cards may be sent to:

James Newby

920 Prairie Path Ln

Joliet, IL 60436

Recent ordinations

We are pleased to announce that the following individuals recently were ordained as elders. We thank God for raising up these leaders and offer congratulations to all.

Emmanuel Andrews, Atlanta, GA
Chad Pendergraft, Springfield, MO
Jan Taylor, Nashville & Murfreesboro, TN
Hilary Buck, Brighton, UK
Anthony Garside, San Jose, CA
Frederick Dwamena, Kumasi GHANA
Richard Kindi, Mt. Wilhelm PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Ben Galwa, Mt. Wilhelm PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Mark Kuberski, Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
Wendy Holladay Moore, Abbotsford, Alberta CANADA
Jope Uqeuqe, Suva FIJI
Carmen Acosta, Barranquilla COLOMBIA
Fe Martinez, Kalibo, Aklan PHILIPPINES