Tag Archive: Holy Spirit

The Fruit of Righteousness and the Fruit of the Spirit

When Jesus says that he has chosen us to bear fruit that will last, the fruit he has in mind is the fruit of the Spirit–that is, the work the Holy Spirit does within us as we yield to him to make us like Christ. It is not our work, our “fruits,” at all–it is all his work.

What I Believe–stated simply

In this post, I give a short, one web page, summary of what I believe, in language as simple as I can manage. It gives only a quick, “big picture” of my understanding of God, my relationship to him, and my role on Earth. Comments are invited.

The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

Jesus came as a man–fully human–and lived under the control (“filling”) and power of the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same way we can, if we will permit him to do it. In this respect, the only difference between Jesus, as a human, and us, is that Jesus was never anything but fully under the Spirit’s control. Jesus invites us to live as He did, obeying the Spirit’s direction and living by the Spirit’s power.

The Ephesian believers in Acts 19 and John’s baptism to repentance

When Paul spoke to some disciples of John the Baptist in Acts 19, he pointed out to them that John’s baptism was a baptism to repentance–a changed way of life–not as an end in itself, but leading to Jesus and a life transformed by the Holy Spirit.

God gave the Gentiles repentance, Acts 11:18

When God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, what this showed the Jewish believers was that God had given them repentance leading to life.

Jesus came to give Israel repentance and remission, Acts 5:31

In his second trial before the Sanhedrin, Peter declared that Jesus had come to give repentance and remission of sins to Israel and to give the Holy Spirit to those who obeyed. Repentance, forgiveness and obedience to the Spirit are tied together.

Simon Magus told to Repent of His Attempt to Buy the Power of God: Acts 8:9-22

Simon Magus was told to repent of his attempt to buy the Holy Spirit. We should also repent of our modern forms of claiming we can possess God for our own use or profit.

THE VOICE OF GOD (GOD SPEAKING TO US) OUTLINE

This is the index to a series of posts on the voice, words and Word of God, the centrality of God’s voice to everything, and the argument that God both still speaks and still speaks to us, Links will be filled into the outline as future posts are written.

Truths of the Earliest Christianity that Mutated Leading to Formation of Later Divisions

This is an outline of the first part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by explaining some of the foundations of the earliest Christianity from which later errors diverged. Links will be added as future posts are written.

“Heresies” as a “work” of the flesh in Galatians 5

In Galatians 5:17-23, “heresies” are one of the works of the flesh–something we do, not something we believe. These works are opposed by the fruit of the Spirit.