Driscoll vs. Calvin, Doctrine vs. the Spirit
“He proposes that ‘cessationism…[is] a clever way of saying, we don’t need him [the Holy Spirit] like we used to.’ One of the repercussions of cessationism, he says, is that ‘Christianity goes from a relationship we enjoy to a belief system we adhere to.’”
CHAPTER IV. THE PERSONALITY AND DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
BY REV. R. A. TORREY, D. D.
IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE.
One of the most characteristic and distinctive doctrines of the Christian faith is that of the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship. If the Holy Spirit is a divine person, worthy to receive our adoration, our faith and our love, and we do not know and recognize Him as such, then we are robbing a divine Being of the adoration and love and confidence which are His due.
The doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is also of the highest importance from the practical standpoint. If we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal power or influence, then our thought will constantly be, how can I get hold of and use the Holy Spirit; but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a divine Person, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely tender, then our thought will constantly be, “How can the Holy Spirit get hold of and use me?” Is there no difference between the thought of the worm using God to thrash the mountain, or God using the worm to thrash the mountain? The former conception is low and heathenish, not differing essentially from the thought of the African fetich worshipper who uses his god to do his will. The latter conception is lofty and Christian. If we think of the Holy Spirit merely as a power or influence, our thought will be, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?”; but if we think of Him as a divine Person, our thought will be, “How can the Holy Spirit get more of me?” The former conception leads to self-exalta-
The God of the Bible is presented without apology as a law-issuing God who expects us to be law-keeping people. God does not ask permission to assert Himself as the arbiter of human ethics (Gen. 2:15-17). He determines for His creatures the standard of right and wrong and we are duty-bound to know His commandments and honor them.
Such notions are naturally unsettling, particularly when one begins to comprehend precisely what God requires of us. I am reminded of a conversation I had with a stranger seated next to me on a commercial flight home from the east coast some years ago. I came to find out later that he had grown up in a strict Jewish family in which God’s Law to Israel was studied and honored. He was heading to Minneapolis on business and initially asked my advice on the hottest downtown night clubs. We were obviously strangers. He may as well have asked my advice on nuclear physics.
Perhaps it was my bald ignorance of the Minneapolis night club scene that piqued his curiosity, but in any event he began to probe to discover who I was. When he learned the orientation of my life as a minister of the gospel, he proceeded to poke fun at the religion he had long ago left in the dust. Along the way, he explained, he had decoded the vision of God presented in the Hebrew Scriptures. “What is the tastiest meat?” he pressed me. I hesitated. “Obviously, it’s pork,” he asserted with an air of confidence. “So what does God say? ‘No pork.’”read more
“Realize that you are indeed dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:11). The Holy Spirit does not exalt Himself. He honors the Father and the Son. Jesus emphasized the importance of the coming of the Holy Spirit in explaining: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7). “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you” (John 16:13-14).
It is thus not surprising that through the book of Acts, as some of His greatest works are taking place, the special work of the Holy Spirit is assumed, but is not the center of attention. He would come and immerse believers in a special way at Pentecost. Historically it happened. Later references in the epistles explain this special Spirit immersion. What is recorded in Acts 2, however, is not the invisible uniting of believers in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the filling of the Spirit (which was not radically different from His work of filling in the Old Testament) and the resulting clear evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit among believers. read more
Note: This article is reprinted with permission from As I See It, a monthly electronic magazine compiled and edited by Doug Kutilek. AISI is sent free to all who request it by writing to the editor at dkutilek@juno.com.
That Jesus did perform a multitude of bona fide, undeniable, nature-superceding miracles is the clear and consistent testimony of the New Testament, most commonly noted in the Gospels and Acts. (For a convenient but not quite complete list of Gospel references to Jesus’ miracles, see A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels, p. 294.) One question requiring attention is, “How did Jesus perform these miracles? In His own divine power, or by some other means?”
One crucial theological aspect of Christ’s incarnation was His “self-emptying” as described by Paul in Philippians 2:6-7.read more
The Holy Spirit does not exalt Himself. He honors the Father and the Son. Jesus emphasized the importance of the coming of the Holy Spirit in explaining: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7). “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you” (John 16:13-14).